Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thursday, October 20, 2005
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The Oregon Daily Emerald is pu6
lished daily Monday through Fri
day dunng the school year by the
Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing
Co. Inc., at the University of Ore
gon, Eugene, Ore. The Emerald
operates independently of the
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300 of the Erb Memonal Union.
The Emerald is private property.
Unlawful removal or use of
papers is prosecutable by law.
Although Jake was worried about being placed into Carson Hall with a com
plete stranger, everything had gone smoothly for the f irst two weeks....
Everything changed however, when he made a startling discovery....
Aaron DuChateau | Illustrator
■ Guest commentary
Presidents' tips for community
to have a fun, safe Halloween
Dear University of Oregon and Lane
Community College students,
Halloween is a time of celebration
and exciting activities at the University
and LCC. Both schools are planning
many events for the Halloween week
end, and you are all invited to attend.
While we know that most Univer
sity and LCC students drink respon
sibly, and that many students don’t
drink at all, we urge you to remem
ber your obligations as a Eugene
community member. From past ex
perience, we have learned that the
actions of a few intoxicated or irre
sponsible individuals can ruin an
entire party and threaten the safety
of other community members, not to
mention create an unfavorable im
age of college students. As you plan
for your weekend, be cooperative
with neighbors, police or other per
sons who may come to discuss any
issue of concern. Assist your friends
in making sound decisions so situa
tions won’t escalate.
There are a few things you can do if
your party gets out of control:
1. Call the police if uninvited guests
disrupt your party, or if your guests
won’t pay attention to your requests to
behave and obey the law. Call before
things get too out of control. Police will
view your attempt to keep things under
control as a good thing.
2. Respond positively if a police offi
cer comes to your house. The officer is
most likely responding to a complaint.
Make sure the person interacting with
the police officer at the front door is
sober and responsive to the officer’s re
quests. Do as much as possible to com
ply with what the police are asking you
to do. Enlist the help of your friends
and housemates.
3. Interfering with a police officer
makes a bad situation worse. Use
common sense and cooperate. Don’t
throw bottles at or near police offi
cers. If you have committed a crime
and a police officer asks you to identi
fy yourself, you will need to do so.
Giving a false name is a separate of
fense, and will likely worsen what
might have been a warning or a cita
tion into a trip to jail.
4. Understand that you can be arrest
ed. A police officer may take someone
into custody for any violation of law
that carries a potential jail penalty. This
includes most state criminal laws and
many city ordinances. For some viola
tions, an officer may detain you while
verifying your identity and issuing a ci
tation.
5. When a police officer asks you
to dear an area, leave right away. If
you stick around after the warning
to watch what’s going to happen,
you may be cited for interfering with
a police officer. If police warn that
they are going to use tear gas, you
need to leave the premises as fast as
you can.
We hope you will have a great time
this year at Halloween parties. Take ex
tra care to make sure your parties are
under control. Thanks for your cooper
ation and have a great weekend!
Adam Walsh is President of the
Associated Students of the
University of Oregon
Jeremy Riel is President of the
Associated Students of Lane
Community College
INBOX
Tactless cartoonist should
take more care
I’m an avid reader of the Oregon Dai
ly Emerald, and I find that for a free
newspaper, it’s pretty good. Normally I
glare over the political cartoon on page
2, because last year I found the car
toonist’s brand of liberalism insulting.
Yet the cartoonist last year never went
after any student groups on campus,
and mostly stayed on political bashing.
This year, on the other hand, the
new cartoonist Aaron DuChateau has
gone after student groups, such as the
College Republicans. Even though I am
not a Republican, and have no affilia
tion with this group, I still feel threat
ened by this cartoon. If DuChateau can
so freely depict the College Republicans
as drunks, without any action on their
part to support his assault, what’s to
stop the cartoonist from making racist
commentary about the Black Student
Union or depicting the religious groups
on campus as extremists? Mr.
DuChateau has the right to his opinion
and freedom of speech, but he should
also take into account the repercus
sions of his actions. A large portion of
the publicity student groups get comes
from the Emerald, and any unfounded,
unfair, bad publicity they get directly af
fects their membership and in some
cases funding.
If Mr. DuChateau can’t be tactful, I
hope that the Emerald will consider
getting a syndicated cartoonist; one
whose professionalism will be an asset
to the paper rather than a liability.
Katie Wells
University Sophomore
■ Editorial
Ethics do
not only
apply when
convenient
Although The New York Times has endured
much criticism for the actions of its once-mar
tyred, now-demonized reporter, Judith Miller, we
cannot forget that some of the improprieties now
causing such a stir were brought to light by the
paper itself. And some of them weren’t.
On Sunday, the paper turned inward and pub
lished a self- critical investigative article on the se
ries of events that occurred at the Times. The re
porting on Miller came to a critical and now
controversial conclusion:
“Interviews show that the paper’s leaders, in
taking what they considered to be a principled
stand, ultimately left the major decisions in the
case up to Ms. Miller, an intrepid reporter whom
editors found hard to control.”
Despite Miller’s reputation as a “divisive” loose
cannon, her editors apparently did not review her
notes from interviews with her confidential
source. If they had, they might have learned that
she seemingly recorded the name of CIA agent
Valerie Plame during a conversation with I. Lewis
Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff.
She claims Libby hinted at Plame’s role, but did
n’t identify her by name.
The stories also imply that Miller intentionally
misidentified Libby, her unnamed source, with
the understanding that Libby’s motivations for
the disclosure were politically motivated.
Times editors probably didn’t handle the Miller
controversy in the best possible manner. During
Miller’s imprisonment, Times editors suppressed
Times reporters’ coverage of her source and other
issues — apparently, they didn’t want to compro
mise her legal situation, according to the Times.
In the end, the editors’ decision to report on
their own inadequacies remedies some of these
prior missteps. The stories reveal that Miller’s ac
tions were not as lofty as previously pegged.
These revelations do not dilute our previous
assertions that imprisonment of journalists rep
resents a serious offense to journalism, nor does
it negate the need for a federal shield law.
This story underscores why courses on com
munication law and media ethics should be re
quired, not optional, at this University’s School of
Journalism and Communication. Such classes
provide students with a foundation for an ethical
career, and prepare them for the world of mod
em journalism.
Miller’s actions also strengthen the case for the
adoption of a strong and binding code of ethics.
We cannot de-certify an unethical journalist, as
doctors or lawyers can disbar a corrupted mem
ber of their profession, nor should we be able to
do so. But creating a universal code would be a
good first move. Such a code should clarify how
confidential sources should be used — to help
provide the public with information it wouldn’t
otherwise receive.
The Miller scandal has again cast one of the
nation’s most prominent sources of news in a du
bious light. Miller is partially responsible, as are
Times’ editors, who made a noble but perhaps
misguided attempt to protect one of their own.
Yet we must encourage newspapers to follow the
Times’ recent example, investigating and report
ing news even if it is embarrassing.
raSes awareness of violence" should have stated that the
• Because of an editor’s error, the photo caption accom
panying Wednesday's “Torrey campaign hinges on educa
tion” should have stated that Jim Torrey is running for
state Senate.