Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, September 29, 2005
NEWS STAFF
(541)346-5511
PARKER HOWELL
EDITOR IN CHIEF
SHADRA BEESLEY
MANAGING EDITOR
MEGHANN M. CUN1FF
JARED PABEN
NEWS EDITORS
EVASYLWESTER
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
JOE BAILEY
KATY GAGNON
CHRISTOPHER HAGAN
BRITTNI MCCLENAHAN
N1CHOIAS WILBUR
NEWS REPORTERS
EMILY SMITH
PART-TIME NEWS REPORTER
CLAYTON (ONES
SPORTS EDITOR
SCOTn. ADAMS
LUKE ANDREWS
SHAWN MILLER
SPORTS REPORTERS
AMY EIGHTY
PULSE EDITOR
TREVOR DAVIS
KRISTEN GERHARD
ANDREW MCCOLLUM
PULSE REPORTERS
AILEE SLATER
COMMENTARY EDITOR
GABE BRADLEY
IESISICA DERLETH
ARMY FETH
RICHARD PRYOR
COLUMNISTS
F1M BOBOSKY
PHOTO EDITOR
NICOLE BARKER
SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
KATE HORFON
zane ritf
PHOTOGRAPHERS
KATIE GLEASON
PART-TIME PHOTOGRAPHER
fONAH SCHROGIN
SENIOR DESIGNER
JOHN AYRES
JONNYBAGGS
MOLLY BEDFORD
KERI SPANGLER
DESIGNERS
CHRIS TODD
GRAPHIC ARTIST
AARON DUCHATEAU
ILLUSTRATOR
TRACY TIERNEY
REBECCA TAYLOR
;OPY CHIEFS
EILEEN CHANG
IENNY DORNER
IEFFREY DRANSFELDT
IOSH NORRIS
MIND! RICE
OPY EDITORS
STEVEN NEUMAN
ONLINf IPPLEMENTS EDITOR
TIMOTHY ROBINSON
WEBMASTER
BUSINESS
(541) 346-5511_
|UDY RIEDL
ENERAL MANAGER
KATHY CARBONE
BUSINESS MANAGER
1AUNA DE GIUSTI
RECEPTIONIST
|OE BEES
ALAN FULLERTON
RYAN JOHNSON
ROB WEGNER
DISTRIBUTION
ADVERTISING
(541)346-3712
MEUSSAGUST
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
MIA LEIDELMEYER
SALES MANAGER
KELLEE KAUFTHEIL
JOHN KELLY
LINDSEY FERGUSON
WINTER GIBBS
KATE HIRONAKA
DESI MCCORMICK
STEPHEN MILLER
KATHRYN O'SHEA-EVANS
EMILY PHILBIN
CODY WILSON
SALES REPRESENTATIVES
BONA LEE
AD ASSISTANT
CLASSIFIED
(541) 3464343
TRINASHANAMAN
CLASSIFIED MANAGER
KORALYNN BASHAM
ANDO
AMANDA KANTOR
KERI SPANGLER
KATIE STRINGER
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING
ASSOCIATES
PRODUCTION
(541)3464381
MICHELE ROSS
PRODUCTION MANAGER
KIRA PARK
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
JAMIE ACKERMAN
CAMERON GALIT
JONAH SCHROG1N
DESIGNERS
The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub
lished daily Monday through Fri
day during the school year hy the
Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing
Co Inc., at the University of Ore
gon, Eugene, Ore The Emerald
operates independently of the
University with offices in Suite
300 of the Erb Memorial Union.
The Emerald is private property.
Unlawful removal or use of
papers is prosecutable Dy law.
ir.PA^
Aaron Duchateau | Illustrator
e JLki'vinjg-JLedrning^Center^
EVERVTHHKi VOU
HEED TO SURVIVE
WITHOUT
THE HASSLE OP
Cfl(DPUS m
IHTERACTIOH
■ In my opinion
Assumptions
the wrong pastime
When you assume, you make an ass
out of you and me. Doesn’t sound too
respectable, and yet somehow, assum
ing is a favored pastime these days.
People seem to really enjoy getting up
in arms about issues without ever
spending the extra few seconds it
would take to find out whether they
actually had a reason to get up in
arms at all.
Here’s an example that might apply
to you: The recent change in athletic
ticket policy at the ASUO was, shall we
say, controversial. An alarming number
of people have taken it upon them
selves to protest outright the disqualifi
cation of spousal equivalency tickets in
a less-than-subtle manner. For the most
part, they do seem to have a justified
reason to be upset.
What protesters don t know is that
currently the policy states that any left
over student tickets, not picked up by
the Wednesday before a game, go on
sale to students. Up to four tickets can
be purchased and given to whomever
the purchaser chooses, even people
who aren’t students. My oh my, that
looks very much like a solution to the
problem that would benefit everyone.
And if only people knew about it, they
might not be so ready to get upset.
That’s just one example of an as
sumption based on misunderstanding,
and there are plenty more. You’ve prob
ably seen it 10 times a day, whether it’s
someone rushing past you on the street
and almost knocking you over or your
boss asking you to put in a little extra
overtime at work. For all you know,
that person rushing past is going to the
hospital where his or her child is being
bom, or your boss has a sick relative in
the hospital.
It’s a common thing for people to au
tomatically decide they know enough
to justify an argument, or get upset,
RICHARD PRYOR
LEFT OF THE MIDDLE
without ever fully acquainting them
selves with the facts of a debacle. The
fact of the matter is, you just don’t
know what’s really going on without
asking, or even taking the time to do a
little bit of research.
There are an infinite number of rea
sons why a person might do anything
at any time. It’s that pesky free will
thing we are constantly struggling with.
Somewhere along the line, it became in
fashion for people to assume that the
end-all-be-all reasoning behind any
course of action must be because of the
worst reason. The only reason some
one would rush past you on the street
is because that person is just plain
rude; the only reason your boss would
ask you for overtime is because he or
she wants to slack off; the only reason a
decision-maker would make a contro
versial call is because they want
to. Sure, it's all possible, but is
it likely? Doubtful.
Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not
saying apologize to the next guy on the
street, love your boss and your local
elected official. I’m not writing this arti
cle to give people the proverbial “right
answer” or to tell anyone what to think.
I’m writing this article to get people to
think, period. Ask yourself, what is
bothering me, and how much do I real
ly know about that thing? How many
preconceived notions do you really
have? That is worth looking into,
wouldn’t you say?
It is utterly within the realm of pos
sibility that you are one of those people
who will learn everything there is to
know about a situation, like the athletic
ticket situation, and still disagree.
That’s fine, it is your God-given right to
disagree with anyone at any time.
I mean, it is going to happen. People
are going to have different viewpoints,
and that is just the way it is. Free
will, remember.
The difference between disagreeing
without having asked any questions
and disagreeing after having asked
every question is that you actually
asked a question. Now you know, now
you can sleep at night knowing
you have a good reason for thinking
what you think and believing what
you think.
There is an old saying: knowledge is
power. It seems to reason, then, that we
would all want to have as much knowl
edge as possible and be as powerful as
humanly possible. If you can ask ques
tions yet still disagree with whatever is
bothering you, you’ll now know
enough to have a realistic shot at
making a difference. You won’t have to
just get upset; you can actually do
something about it.
It all boils down to: knowing every
thing there is to know about something
has got to be worth something to some
one. It takes 10 minutes to read an arti
cle in the paper or watch a news story
on television about why a controversial
decision was made. It takes two min
utes to ask your boss if everything is all
right when they want you to work over
time, and it takes a split second to give
die next guy onthe street die benefit of
the doubt. No one wants to make an
ass out of you and me.
rpryor@dailyemerald. com
OREGON Diiir EMERALD l£TTER$l>GilCy
Becfeontc
submissions are pn&rred. Letters are twitted to 250 wards, and guest commentaries to 550 words Authors are limited to one submission
wdude phone number and address for verification. The Emerald reserves th«ptto edit for space, gramtrtarand *fe. Guest submissions are pubfcshed ^discreao-ofttte&axald |
■ Editorial
Pedal to the
metal for
public safety
It’s a sunny fall day and you’re driving to Port
land. With a straight stretch of road ahead, you
press the gas pedal. Your speed climbs quickly to
85 mph.
Perhaps you worry that the blue and red lights
of an Oregon State Police trooper will flash
behind you.
Chances are, they won’t. Budget cuts between
2000 and 2004 have reduced the number of
troopers by 36 percent, according to statistics re
ported Wednesday in The Register-Guard.
Meanwhile, speeding citations have dropped
29 percent, driving complaints have increased 70
percent and crash complaints have increased
32 percent.
Speeding may not sound like a serious offense.
Yet it’s a factor in about one-third of motor
vehicle fatalities, according to 2003 information
from the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
By contrast, alcohol was the sole cause of 25
percent of traffic fatalities in Oregon in 2003,
according to The Associated Press.
The risks of speeding are even greater for peo
ple in their first few years of college. About 33
percent of males and about 19
percent of females ages 21 to 24 involved
in fatal crashes were speeding, according to
the NHTSA.
Drivers are also speeding faster than before.
More than half of speeding tickets issued by
troopers in 2004 were to people traveling faster
than 80 mph, according to The Register-Guard ar
ticle. Oregon citations for speeding at 90 mph and
faster have increased 4 percent during the past
five years, according to The Associated Press.
The solution to increased speeding is two-fold.
Foremost, drivers must understand the risks of
speeding and slow down.
Oregon’s Legislature must also find ways
to prioritize funding for public safety, specifically
putting more troopers back on the roads.
Using gas-tax revenue or a surcharge on car in
surance premiums, methods that lawmakers
have considered in recent years, would
be a slight cost relative to the benefits of
safer highways.
Speeders should also shoulder the burden.
State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, managed
to pass a bill that will give speeders up to a $1,000
fine and possible suspension of their licenses if
they exceed 100 mph or have repeated offenses.
These harsher penalties will help, but they aren’t
strong enough. Drivers traveling 80 mph in a 65
mph zone deserve more than a $237 fine.
Let’s put the pedal to the metal when finding
ways to reduce speeding, not when driving
around our state.
3«S£-' “-g-|-g-:
CORft€CTK>N t
* Wednesday’s “University drops DMAS
policy,’* should have stated that one stu
;4enl complaint spared an investigation
Into the Office of Mutadtural Academic
Support. Charles Martinez should have
been identified as the snterim vice provost
0t f|fcGffic*Of fasfitufionai Equityand pi*
versitv. and to Wi*-! com
with th# Bias Response *
article a**> shouldinveirpocted that only
”'"
' - '
nor Kuiongoski
mm$ ipat* iacwa*£n%hoio .caption
^identified Houle Bill 5584. Also, Go\t
Ibd Ktdongoski should have been noted as
Efening a bill related to the Oregon Oppor- ;
FJunity"
• The name of Mathew James
Hangsleben was misspelled in Wednes
day’s “Carry guns with caution. ”