Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thesday, October 25, 2005
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■ In my opinion
Fan conduct needs to improve
Tomorrow night, the Student Sen
ate will decide what, if anything, to
do about the embarrassingly unbe
coming conduct of student fans at
our home football games. I'm glad
the Senate is addressing this issue.
As a fan who so far has sat in the
student section for every home game
this season, I can say that the situa
tion definitely needs to change.
More and more student fans at
Autzen are behaving without any
sportsmanship or class whatsoever.
I’m not just talking about the
small number of fans at every game
who get kicked out for assault or ha
rassment. I’m also talking about the
growing number of fans who refuse
to behave with any decorum. A foot
ball game is not a tea party. But nei
ther is it “Lord of the Flies.” There’s
no reason to behave like a mob of
savages.
Oregon has a classy football pro
gram. Autzen is a classy stadium.
It’s sad to see a small but noisy
group of fans doing their best to tar
nish that image. Autzen has a proud
reputation as one of the most intimi
dating stadiums in the nation. What
a shame it would be to see that repu
tation replaced by a reputation as
one of the most obnoxious stadiums
in the nation.
When the opposing team comes
out on the field, I like to “boo” them.
But apparently I’m behind the times.
The thing to do these days is to start
screaming curses at them. Or at least
that’s how it would appear from my
seat in the student section.
One example that springs to mind
is the USC game. It was the most-at
tended sporting event in Oregon’s
history, yet I had the .luck of sitting
near the knuckleheads who decided
GABE BRADLEY
THE WRITING ON THE WALL
to start chanting “Fuck You!” which
eventually morphed into the only
slightly more creative “Fuck USC!” I
wasn’t surprised that a couple of
jackasses would start such a chant. I
was, however, surprised that most of
the student section joined in.
If someone wants to start a chant
of “Let’s Go, Ducks!” or “Oooooo"
or even “De-Fense,” I’ll be chanting
right along. But I was embarrassed
that my fellow students decided to
represent us the way they did. After
that game, some student fans were
downright hostile to the visiting
fans. So much for hospitality.
The company that makes “Grand
Theft Auto” should buy out the “NCAA
Football” franchise. That way, subse
quent versions of the video game can
have a more realistic fan experience. In
stead of seeing the fans do the wave or
hold up their pointer fingers, we can
see the fans flip off the other team. In
stead of seeing the fans hold up a sign
that reads “This is Our House,” we can
see the fans hold up a sign that says
“Fuck You and Your Momma Too.”
Fans who refuse to be sportsman
like are a disgrace. I don’t think that
a large number of student fans are
obnoxious people. I just think
they’re obnoxious when they drink,
which is way too often. Any solution
to this problem has got to address
the issue of alcohol being smuggled
into the games.
I have had beer spilled on my
jacket at every game this season. I
have had to avoid stepping on bro
ken glass in the student section at all
but one of the games this season.
It amazes me that some people
can’t go four hours during a week
end afternoon without drinking.
What are pre- and post-game parties
for if not to drink? You have to drink
during the game as well?
Luckily, many of these fans are
gone by halftime because they were
never really there to watch a football
game anyway. But those who stay
are often toasted enough to make up
for those who leave.
There are times, especially after a
big play, where the student section
becomes a somewhat of a mosh pit.
That’s a big part of the fun of sitting
in the student section. However,
when the drunken fool next to you is
bumping into you every five minutes
because he can’t stand up straight,
that’s a problem.
I walk into every game with a wa
ter bottle in plain sight that could
easily have vodka or wine in it. It’s
no wonder that so much alcohol is
smuggled into the games — I could
do it in plain sight if I wanted to.
Tighter security and monitoring of
the student section is the first step.
Also, the ASUO should revoke ticket
privileges for students who repeatedly
need to be removed from the games.
If they want to come to Autzen in or
der to get drunk and act like dumb
asses, let’s take away their tickets and
give them to people who actually
want to watch a football game.
gbradley@dailyemerald.com
INBOX
A time and a place for
adolescent attitudes
I suppose it takes a bit of distance,
and perhaps an actual job to give
one perspective. At least that has
been my experience having moved
away from Eugene and the Universi
ty, struggled in the traces of real life,
experienced victories and setbacks,
and simply enjoyed life away from
the monotonous and tiring turmoil
of University existence. Do not mis
understand me, there is a time and a
place for University endeavors and
the maturity that comes with intel
lectual development, diversity in
thought and idea, and the unmitigat
ed exchange of ideas and theories
that is requisite to the University and
its surroundings. As Solomon so
wisely opined, however, there is a
time and a place for everything un
der the sun, and reading Pete Lim
baugh’s letter to the editor reminded
me of the end to the pre-pubescence
that at times embodies those who at
tend the University and think of
themselves far more than reality
ought to permit.
Mr. Limbaugh, do you need to be
taught as a Middle School student
who can't see past the snot at the
end of his or her nose the reasons
that Mr. Warren and the member
ship of the College Republicans
might be offended and insulted by
the insinuations made by the comic
depicting them as fall-down drunks?
It is the quintessential stereotype
that because all Nazis are white,
therefore all white people must be
Nazis. Are there lush drunks in the
rank of the College Republicans of
the world? Certainly. To deny this
would be tantamount to lunacy. But
I believe you will find that among
the rank and file membership of the
College Republicans are working
class, decent, articulate, even-hand
ed young men and women who
want nothing more than to develop
their intellectual potential and pre
pare themselves for the world that
most certainly exists beyond the
sheltered walls of the University of
Oregon. To insinuate that they are
drunken imbeciles who want noth
ing more than to trod upon the rights
and wishes of the average person is,
in my view, equal to a person argu
ing that all Democrats, whatever
their reasons and experiences, are
no better than doped-out hippies
who want nothing more than to
suck the life out of a welfare check
and socialistic medicine. Life teaches
us that such a stereotype, as seduc
tive and potentially true as it might
seem in the patchouli-oil stenched
halls of PLC, possesses no weight in
the walks of reality and life, and
therefore are to be dismissed by the
reasoned mind. If anything, you
should be dismissing it just as readi
ly, if for no other reason than to pro
tect yourself from the very real likeli
hood that placing you in the world
of Kansas or Nebraska, the average
American would view you with an
equally dim light as you seem so
ready to view Warren and the Col
lege Republicans.
Scott D. Austin
Alumnus
Limbaugh and DuChateau
fail to consider both sides
I do not see Mr. Limbaugh’s pur
pose in his retaliation to College Re
publicans Chairman Anthony War
ren (“Republican Party in need of
new representative,” ODE Oct. 21).
Limbaugh brought up points that
had nothing to do with Mr. Warren’s
previous letter regarding a politically
charged cartoon. Mr. Limbaugh
writes, "... where is Warren’s respect
for the Yin and Yang of American
politics?”
Are you kidding? Where was illus
trator Aaron DuChateau’s respect for
the other side when he created a
cartoon demeaning to the College
Republicans? Also, if DuChateau in
deed created that cartoon for his tar
get demographic, he really needs to
check up on who that includes'. The
target demographic includes all stu
dents, faculty and staff at the Univer
sity. Certainly, that includes Repub
licans, not just liberals. Since when
is it cool to entertain by making fun
of and misrepresenting other people?
Janiece Stanaland
Eugene
■ Editorial
New FCC
law raises
privacy
concerns
When you access the Internet at the University,
who’s watching what you type? If the federal gov
ernment gets its way, law enforcement officials
may soon have easier access to your e-mail and
Internet telephone conversations.
And you may have to help pay for the up
grades that will make tapping electronic commu
nication easier.
An August order by the Federal Communica
tions Commission requires universities to up
grade computer networks by 2007 to comply
with an 11-year-old wiretap law. Installing new
Internet switches and routers, at a combined cost
of as much as $7 billion, would allow any net
work communication through university Internet
to travel into a network's operations center where
that communication could be packaged and
saved for possible evaluation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation or other agencies.
Some universities have rightfully expressed
outrage over the price tag associated with the re
quired upgrades. Every cent of the upgrades
would come from universities themselves and the
students attending those schools. According to
one estimate, this could mean an increase of $450
per student, per year, in order to fund the techno
logical changes.
As terry w. Hartte, a senior vice president or
the Lawyers for the American Council on Educa
tion, eloquently told The New York Times, “This
is the mother of all unfunded mandates. ”
Indeed, in the middle of an education funding
crisis, it is beyond ridiculous that universities
should be expk^ed to come up with millions of
dollars to fund state-of-the-art equipment and
staff members to oversee the process, all within
the period of less than two years.
Universities will expend much effort dealing
with these new system requirements, first in de
ciding how to fund the whole process (a decision
that in itself should be extensively discussed),
and then in ensuring the upgrades are made cor
rectly. Institutions of higher education should use
their time and money enhancing students’ edu
cations, not spying on their computer networks.
Universities are not yet addressing civil liber
ties issues surrounding the mandated surveil
lance upgrades; federal officials must still receive
court orders before they can gain access to online
communications. Yet previously, law enforce
ment agents tapped computers on a case-by-case
basis, ensuring more privacy for people not sus
pected of criminal activity. The upgrades will al
low much more information to be readily avail
able to law enforcement from afar.
The potential for abuse of this new capability
to remotely monitor information runs counter to
the goals of universities: to promote an open ex
change of diverse views. It would be a shame for
students or professors to censor opinions that the
current administration might find unappealing.
Evolving technology will undoubtedly neces
sitate more monitoring of electronic communica
tion. But there is no reason the FBI and other
agencies can’t continue using more traditional
and low-tech methods of gathering information
about specific individuals.
Luckily, Hartle plans to appeal the upgrade or
der in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of
Appeals. If that court has any respect for specific
needs of universities, and the rights of privacy in
general, the demand will be reversed.
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