Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, August 11, 2005
■ Editorial
Celebrating Eugene summers
Summer in Eugene is
waking up at 10 a.m., exhausted, because
the night before was filled with fun or
homework or housework.
Every night during summer in Eugene is
too great to explain; it’s relaxation and it’s
stress, but it’s also knowing that
everything you do is
being done, just for you.
It’s not for the people on campus.
Summer in Eugene is not dressing up for
the cute freshmen, and
summer in Eugene is not caring that your
outfit don’t match, unlike the
perfectly polished
sorority girl sitting two seats down in
whatever pointless intro class you
might be taking at the time.
Summer in Eugene is companionship for
the sake of similarity: You both are here, as
suming no one else has stayed in town, so
bonds grow out of nothing more than the
kinship of location.
Summer in Eugene is drinking your room
mate’s Hefeweizen on a weekday afternoon,
because the sun is shining, and you can.
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■ Guest commentary
We must advocate for better health services
During the beginning of August, my
self and other members of the National
Association of Black Journalists (Oregon
chapter) had the privilege of attending
the NABJ national convention in Atlanta,
Ga. A week of attending workshops,
keynote speeches, career fairs and net
working came to an unsettling close with
the deaths of two outstanding journalists.
Peter Jennings, former ABC news anchor
died Sunday night from lung cancer that
he was diagnosed with only this year.
Jennings played a key role in develop
ing what broadcast news has become to
day, and will be dearly missed world
wide. But what was even more shocking
was the death of 23-year old journalist,
Akilah Amapindi. Amapindi was, like
myself, a student member of NABJ. She
arrived in Atlanta on Sunday to begin a
student project at the convention, and
was hospitalized early Tliesday and diag
nosed with malaria. On the following
Sunday at the gospel brunch, we re
ceived word of her passing.
However, it wasn’t until later that day,
after two plane flights and a three-hour
layover, that her death really hit me.
Amapindi, was only the one-third the age
of Peter Jennings. She represented a new
era — a generation of journalists that rep
resent the face of the world (she was
born in Jamaica and lived in Staten Is
land, N.Y.), a generation of journalists us
ing new and old media (Amapindi
worked in print, broadcast and interac
tive Web), and a generation of journalists
and people who are committed to social
justice and human rights (Amapindi
founded a service sorority at Kenyon Col
lege, Ohio).
Amapindi had most likely been infect
ed with malaria during her internship at
Namibian Broadcasting Corporation in
southern Africa, which she had just com
pleted in July. Her work and aspirations
are an inspiration, and although I never
met her, I feel close to Amapindi because
we both represent that new generation.
It is the responsibility of our generation
to concern ourselves with world-shap
ing news regarding politics, culture,
economics, science and health. Because
malaria is a parasite infection, it will be
much more difficult to create a vaccine
for it. And although the impact of
malaria is not recognized in the West
ern world because of the lack of deaths
here, the deaths accumulating in the de
veloping world should be enough indi
cation that there is a need for increased
research and funding.
Malaria causes or contributes to 3
million deaths per year, the majority of
them children. Children are dying at a
rate of four per minute, 5,000 a day and
35,000 a week. The number of malaria
related deaths in Africa is close to that
of HIV/AIDS, but the amount of fund
ing for research and treatment is in no
way comparable.
The deaths of Peter Jennings and Aki
lah Amapindi on August 7, 2005, send
two important messages to the world, es
pecially the developed world:
1. We need to take care of our own
health; risk of lung cancer and HIV/AIDS
can be eradicated or significantly reduced
by the choices we make.
2. We need to voice the concerns of
health and other issues to our govern
ment representatives, advocating for
more funding for health services, sci
ences, and training. By making the
changes in our lifestyle to reduce the
risks, we can allow more funding to go
towards health epidemics that are less
preventable.
There is more information on malaria
at www.malaria.org. Also, Amapindi did
not have health insurance, and her fami
ly does not have finances to ship her
body to Jamaica, or for memorial servic
es. Donations can be sent to: Akilah
Amapindi Memorial Fund: c/o NABJ,
8701-A Adelphi Road, Adelphi, MD
20783-1716.
Jordan Thierry is a student
at the University.
INBOX
Bush administration
commits acts of treason
How does one keep up with the
unfolding of high-crimes initiated by
the Bush administration, let alone
the brewing innuendo of “treason” in
ferred by some congressmen and many in
the intelligence services?
It is an act of treason to go to war based
on lies and the dissemination of informa
tion; information that administration offi
cials knew to be false, i.e., uranium from
Niger, aluminum centrifuges supposedly
used for uranium enrichment, ties to al
Qaida, and Iraqi ties to the 9/11 attacks. It
is also an act of treason to disingenuously
foment fear with a nation’s citizenry to
make the case for war. Remember the rhet
oric about “mushroom clouds,” “biologi
cal weapons drones,” and “45-minute
attack window”?
It is an act of treason to “out” a CIA op
erative, bringing untold damage to our
intelligence agencies for the express pur
pose of punishing individuals who criticize
administration policies. Let’s hope that
special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald can
find out which “high official” in this ad
ministration is responsible for compromis
ing our national security.
There are glimmers of hope for justice.
The media seems to be awakening from its
deathly sleep, perhaps smelling high
crimes blood in the water. Additionally,
prosecutor Fitzgerald continues to dredg
ing under the Neocon cesspool, and Con
gressman John Conyers continues his in
vestigations into the Downing St.
(“intelligence is being fixed”) Memo. Also
of note, the Democratic Party of Oregon
has lent its support by passing a resolution
calling for articles of impeachment of
George W. Bush if these investigations
prove administration malfeasance.
Gerry Rempel
Eugene
ASUO Senators owe
University students apology
In response to Nicholas Wilbur's
“ASUO committee neglects duties”
(July 19,2005):
What an insightful, albeit disappointing
article. This is an example of the coura
geous reporting that I love to read. Unfor
tunately, this expose concerns the ASUO
and their recent malfeasance. As a student
at the U of O, I along with other students
finance the student government's payrolls
and budget with incidental fees and am
deeply concerned about their performance
this summer. Apparently they have not
been doing their jobs and it seems that
they have lackadaisical and nonchalant at
titudes about their duties. I will admit that I
did not vote for any of the members, but
after reading this article, I realize that it is
my duty as a student to vote. The ASUO
senators are a disgrace to our school and
they should be held accountable for their
actions (or lack thereof). If the Greentape
Notebook states that the nonfulfillment of
duties is in violation of code, then a griev
ance must be filed. I don't care whether it
is the summer session or not, they should
still meet, if not transcend their obliga
tions. Is it acceptable for our state senators
to forget about their responsibilities in the
summer? Isn't there a system of checks
and balances for our student government?
What I mean is that typically another body
of government or agency acts as a watch
dog to oversee their duties. This task
should not be left to news reporters. These
are just a few of my concerns. Hopefully
this weak performance won't foreshadow
the not-too-distant academic year. If the
senators have any guts, they should make
a public apology condemning their lack
of professionalism.
David Yaffe
Economics Major
Editor in Chief of the Utility Times
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