Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2007)
• The “3,000 Dead” cover of our Jan. 4 issue has generated mostly positive calls and letters, none yet for publication. Several people have asked where they can find extra copies to pass around or send to friends and family. We will have a free stack at our front desk for the next couple of weeks. Some noticed that no credit was given for the cover image; that was at the request of the East Coast artist who gave us permission to use it. He tells us he created the “War President” photo-mosaic in 2004 and has grown weary of the negative feedback. • The Bush and Cheney decision to escalate the Iraq War, defying Congress, the American people, his generals and the Iraq Study Group, has left many of us scratching our heads. But then we’ve been scratching ourselves bald in recent years. Here’s one perspective that hasn’t gotten much press. On http://electronicIraq.net this week, Mideast analyst Trita Parsi says regarding Bush’s address on Iraq: “There was little new about the U.S.’s strategy in Iraq, but on Iran, the president spelled out a plan that appears to be aimed at goading Iran into war with the U.S.” She goes on to say that “Rather than talking to Iran and Syria, Bush virtually declared war on these states.” If this perception is true, or even half true, the escalation finally makes sense. • Worth noting who was sitting next to the governor last week at the Lane County inaugural luncheon at King Estates Winery: Ben Westlund, now a Democratic senator from Bend, and for a short time an independent, and before that a Republican. Nominated for the state Senate by both R’s and D’s in Deschutes County, Westlund ran a quick race for governor against Ted, but money and signatures stopped it, along with polling that we suspect showed him pulling more votes from Kulongoski than from Saxton. Now that he’s fol- lowed the Wayne Morse trail through Oregon politics, maybe he should take on Gordon Smith in 2008. • Makes us proud that Oregon’s Secretary of State Bill Bradbury has gone several times to Tennessee to work with nearly 600 advocates spreading Al Gore’s powerful message against global climate change. Makes us wonder if this could be Gore’s field organization for “Re-elect Gore in November 2008.” After his recent rip to Tennessee, Bradbury speculates that Gore won’t choose to run, but he could be drafted. • Now that’s more like it: After beating two top ten teams — Arizona and UCLA — in eight days, the Oregon men’s basketball team finds themselves vaulting from 15th to ninth in the latest AP poll. It’s too early to count chick- ens — or NCAA tournament berths — just yet, but it’s got to feel good for this once über-hyped junior class (with stellar senior Aaron Brooks) to finally come together as a team the way they have this year (and don’t count out inconsistent but talented freshman Tajuan Porter). Doesn’t feel half-bad to be a Duck fan, either. • Army Spec. Suzanne Swift’s court martial is over, and the Iraq veteran was sentenced to 30 days in detention and lost all the rank she had earned. Swift, who went AWOL rather than return to Iraq where she was sexual- ly abused, will be reassigned to a new job in clerical shipping and ordering. We hear she will be transferred March 30 to Ft. Irwin, Calif., 917 miles from her home- town of Eugene. Her mother, Sarah Rich, said last week that Swift is not doing well following her court martial, even though she avoided a long prison sentence and a Suzanne Swift dishonorable discharge. “For the record this ‘deal’ was anything but ‘phenomenal.’ It was more ‘abominable.’ Soldiers who’ve been in combat in Iraq who have PTSD from sexual abuse don’t deserve to be stripped of their rank and sent to prison. Be mindful who you trust to take care of your children.” Updates are available at http://suzanneswift.org • Fun to see a reference to Eugene’s political consultant Dan Carol and his “Kumbaya Dammit” column in the Washington Post Jan. 11. Carol’s column on progressive politics has appeared many times in EW and elsewhere in nation- al magazines and caught the attention of Post writers Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts regarding Tony Snow. The White House press secretary has tossed around the word “kumbaya” four times recently. The writers say the “Kumbaya” song “began as a spiritual, turned into a folk anthem, and has evolved into political shorthand for idealistic, fuzzy-wuzzy moments.” Only Carol, however, appears to be adding “dammit” to the word, injecting a bit of his signature irony and feisty attitude. SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com 8 JANUARY 18, 2007 news The R-G has also received letters to the editor critical of the ad. Richard Reed wrote Jan. 16 that the paper has “given the finger” to citizens and eroded the wall “between the purity of the journalistic ethic and the cesspool of marketing mendacity!” The finger ad has drawn criticism from across the nation on journalism web blogs. Upshaw’s column was posted on the widely read Romenesko web site of the Poynter Institute for journalism education. On visualeditors.com the ad drew a long list of comments. Seattle news designer Paul Morgan called the ad a “sad state of affairs The Register-Guard has won one of the for my former paper in Eugene.” The ad blurs highest dishonors in journalism. the line between advertising and news, he The R-G won a “Dart” for “thumbing its wrote. “Would the paper run a story critical of nose at the news” from the Columbia that company on the same Journalism Review. The page as that ad?” magazine, published by One comment found the the journalism school ad tolerable, saying it was no that administers the worse than an internet pop-up Pulitzer Prize, criticized ad. But other comments were a finger-shaped ad from that the ad layout was visually Sacred Heart hospital ugly and said it appeared that that jutted through the the story around the finger text of a news story was part of the ad. A comment which wrapped around questioned whether Sacred the finger. Heart also paid for the space CJR wrote in its that the story ran in around the “Darts and Laurels” col- finger. umn that the ads that ran Other comments ques- in October were “knock- tioned whether the story ing down still further the wrapped around the ad was ad-edit wall.” CJR con- picked to not conflict with the tinued, “Thus forced to ad. One blogger joked that he read around that grossly would have run a story like gratuitous graphic, some the alleged finger in the readers suspected the An October ad in the R-G Wendy’s chili around the ad as paper of giving them the a protest and been fired. finger.” — Alan Pittman EW reported on the ad Oct. 28, noting that it appeared to conflict with professional journalism ethics codes calling for newspapers to clearly separate ad- vertising from news. Earlier R-G stories on Sacred Heart gamma knife machine being advertised read like the ad, the article noted. UO Journalism Prof. Jim Upshaw wrote UO football coach Mike Bellotti finished an op-ed in the R-G in November, which also a disappointing season this year, and UO fac- criticized the “invasive” finger ad. The view- ulty are up in arms over lavish athletic spend- point column was headlined, “Advertiser has ing, but the UO still pays Bellotti about $1.3 newspaper wrapped around its finger.” million per year. briefs R-G FINGER AD GETS A ‘DART’ COACH’S PAY TRUMPS PROFS
