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The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub
lished daily Monday through Fri
day during the school year by the
Oregjn 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 by law.
■ In my opinion
Media: Cut the SCARE TACTICS
Nowadays, there are many things
that Americans have to worry about:
terrorists, West Nile virus, Norwalk
virus, floods, mad cow disease,
tsunamis, meteors, earthquakes, cho
lesterol. It seems as though we are all
doomed; one thing or another is deter
mined to wipe us off the planet.
The media is always covering some
new sensational threat that, up until
now, we have all managed to be com
pletely ignorant about. Every time the
media covers some new report, some
new threat, people panic.
That panic is, to a certain extent, un
derstandable. When virtually every
newspaper and news report is full of
grave statistics and expert testimony, it
is reasonable that a viewer would begin
to worry; after all, most of these disas
ters are possible. But these reports need
to be taken with a grain of salt.
Take, for example, the possibility of a
tsunami off of the Oregon Coast. Soon
after the tsunami in Asia, people began
to wonder whether such a catastrophe
is possible elsewhere, especially in the
United States. At this point, some
sources were already warning about
such a disaster occurring in Oregon. A
reprinted article from the Register
Guard that appeared on oregongeolo
gy.com read: “At 9 p.m. Jan. 26, 1700,
a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and ac
companying tsunami hit the coast of
Oregon. The size of the event and the
kind of damage it caused, both near
and far, were similar to that caused by
Sunday’s earthquake off Indonesia’s
Sumatra coast.” The article goes on to
explain that this type of disaster hap
pens every 300 to 500 years. So, obvi
ously, Oregonians should begin to pre
pare for a wall of rushing water.
Reports continued about how Ore
gon is not prepared for such an event
and that towns and cities would be ut
terly devastated. Then, on Oct. 19,
2005, the NOAA National Weather Ser
vice accidentally issued a tsunami
warning for parts of the Oregon Coast.
JESSICA DERLETH
FREEDOM RINGS WHERE OPINIONS CLASH
This warning activated the state’s
emergency alert system as well as the
panic button of many citizens. Police
and fire agencies were flooded with
phone calls. People had no idea what
was happening or what to do.
I think that some of this panic can be
attributed to the scare tactics that me
dia were using prior to this incident. It
is important that the government,
cities, families and individuals are pre
pared for disasters, but the media often
goes about things in the wrong way
when it comes to encouraging prepara
tion. Newspapers and news broadcasts
sensationalize the problem. They talk
about how devastating a disaster could
be. They count the possible dead. They
total the cost for the city and country.
They then tell you that there is a 10 per
cent chance of this happening in the
next 100 years.
I am not saying that this informa
tion shouldn’t be reported on. It is
very important that citizens, and the
government, think about such possi
bilities and prepare for them. But
newspapers shouldn’t work to solve
problems by scaring their readers. To
a certain extent, that is what hap
pened on the Oregon Coast, and all
people did was panic. They thought
that they were facing a tsunami equal
to that in Asia. This scare tactic is cer
tainly not exclusive to tsunamis. The
same thing has been happening in re
gard to diseases and other disasters.
Recently there has been talk of mas
sive earthquakes hitting Oregon. This
theory of an earthquake is along the
same lines of the tsunami; it has been
300 years and it is time for it to happen
again. This report is very positive in
that it focuses on what needs to be
done and what preparations need to be
made. It appears that several buildings
on campus — Facilities Services, River
front Innovation Center, Prince Lucien
Campbell, Straub, and McArthur Court
— are very likely to suffer severe dam
age if a major earthquake occurs. It is
good to know this information, to
know that something needs to be done
to improve these buildings.
It is rather alarming to see what a
major earthquake can do to this
school. And it is also worrisome to
think about how people would react
to an earthquake. Having grown up in
Southern California, I have been do
ing earthquake drills — crawling un
der desks and standing in doorways
— since I was in pre-school. I have
also been in some memorable earth
quakes: Ones that woke me up in the
middle of the night to the sound of the
water splashing out of the above
ground pool. So, I do know how
frightening earthquakes can be and
how important it is to be prepared.
The media should examine these
disaster possibilities and the readi
ness of the city, state, and nation.
But newspapers and news shows
need to show some journalistic in
tegrity and refrain from using scare
tactics. They shouldn’t start out a
segment by describing the ground
shaking for minutes on end, 30 feet
tsunamis, soil liquefying, dams fail
ing, bridges collapsing and thou
sands stranded in shelters.
That is not good journalism; that
is a scare tactic. I cannot say what
drives journalists to present the
news in this light. Maybe they are
trying to entertain, or entice readers.
I do not understand. I just know that
it isn’t good journalism.
jderleth@ dailyemerald, com
■ Guest commentary
Using immoral tactics to force
morality on others is hypocritical
In response to the Guest commen
tary by Carrie Freeman that attacked
columnist Army Feth’s decision to
wear a fur coat (“Protecting animals
is happier than selfishly wearing
them,” ODE, Nov. 2):
It’s interesting that Freeman claims
that Feth mischaracterized the Dalai
Lama’s peaceful Buddhist principles,
when Freeman evidently has no prob
lem with mischaracterizing raising
farm animals as slavery or saying that
humans are animals. Nor does she
have any qualms stating that being
compassionate and wearing fur are
somehow mutually exclusive. Free
man associates farm animals with
slavery, yet Freeman has no shame in
using African Americans and stepping
on their backs by associating what
they suffered with the suffering of
farm animals.
PETA recently apologized and
pulled a bus tour that equated farm
animals with slavery, after African
Americans protested this compari
son. (The fact that PETA tried the
same tactic with Jews and the
Holocaust, which met with similar
protest, makes their most recent
apology hollow). The objections and
feelings of African Americans to
this comparison evidently means
nothing to the supposedly
compassionate Freeman.
Freeman claims that animals raised
on farms are raised in cramped cages
and then electrocuted “up their butt” or
gassed in a “primitive gas chamber”
begs the question, what world is she
living in? Fur farms have a certification
program developed in conjunction with
the American Veterinarian Medical As
sociation and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Farms are certified by in
spection by an independent veterinari
an to verify compliance with these
standards. Farms must be re-inspected
and recertified every 3 years. About 95
percent of domestic mink production
occurs on certified farms that meet in
dustry standards and have passed vet
erinary inspection. Industry guidelines
regarding euthanasia follow the recom
mendations of the 1986 American Vet
erinary Medical Association Panel on
Euthanasia. The guidelines recom
mend the use of carbon monoxide or
carbon dioxide bottled gas for mink
and lethal injection for fox, which is
also used to put your dog or cat to sleep
humanely. This information can easily
be found at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Web site.
Freeman claims animal lovers are
compassionate, but that does not
explain the millions of dollars in
damages caused every year
by animal rights terrorists. Ask Anna
Wintour who has been attacked by
these “compassionate” people
just how compassionate they really
are. How many college research
laboratories have been destroyed by
these compassionate people? Why
are two compassionate PETA
employees facing multiple counts of
animal cruelty in North Carolina?
Forcing one’s own morality on oth
ers is not compassionate.
Those who result to the use of
lies, force and intimidation to
achieve their ends do so because
they can not achieve them through
reason, truth, and morality. Freedom
means freedom to choose whether to
wear fur or not, without the use of
lies, force, or intimidation.
James Mullen lives in Maryland
■ Editorial
Economic
development
no excuse for
seizing land
We commend the U.S. House of Represen
tatives for overwhelmingly passing a bill to
day that would sanction state and local gov
ernments that use eminent domain for
economic development. If the bill passes in
the Senate, all federal funds designed to im
prove or grow the economies of those states
or areas will be cut off for two years.
Eminent domain is the government’s power
to use private property for its own purposes
without the owner’s consent. The Fifth
Amendment requires government to appropri
ate land for “public use” and give landowners
“just compensation.”
Traditionally, the Supreme Court approved
eminent domain for public projects like
roads, airports and schools, and for
revitalizing destitute areas, such as New
York’s Times Square.
But in a landmark decision this June, the
Supreme Court ruled that the city of New Lon
don, Conn., could use state eminent domain
law to force several homeowners to give up
their property for commercial use. The city ar
gued that forcing homeowners to sell land for
business development would create more
than 1,000 jobs and increase tax revenues, re
vitalizing the city. Nine petitioners sued the
city, claiming economic development was not
a valid “public use” of their land.
In a narrow 5-4 ruling, the Court interpret
ed “public use” to include economic purpos
es. The decision outraged property rights ad
vocates and many non-profit groups who
feared it would allow government to misuse
eminent domain power.
We were disheartened by the ruling. Nearly
any construction project can be construed to
have economic benefits, such as creating jobs
and attracting businesses. Although oppo
nents assert that states, not the federal gov
ernment, should regulate the use of eminent
domain, the right to own property without the
threat of seizure is a pillar of our nation. Al
lowing government to replace one business
with a different one that might generate more
tax revenue undermines the very idea of the
American Dream.
We thus support the House’s decision to
pass HR 4128. It would not prohibit state and
local governments from using eminent do
main for legitimate projects, but it would
make them carefully weigh the benefits of
gaining land through eminent domain against
losing federal money.
And governments will probably reconsider.
According to an Oct. 31 Congressional Budget
Office report, “implementing the bill would
have no significant impact on the federal
budget because most jurisdictions would not
risk the economic development assistance
they receive from the federal government".”
The bill defines economic development as
taking private property without the owner’s
conceit and transferring it to another private
entity for “profit, or to increase tax revenue,
tax base, employment, or general economic
health.” It specifically exempts “removing
harmful uses of land” and acquiring private
property for hospitals, military bases and oth
er public facilities.
The bill also rightly prohibits the federal
government from using eminent domain for
economic development.
We hope the Senate will quickly act
on companion legislation introduced by
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Citizens who wish
to protect the sanctity of their homes
and livelihoods from undue government
seizure should urge their senators to enact
this necessary legislation.