A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about Dan Lawton’s research into political diversity at the UO. Well, Lawton penned an opinion piece for the Ol’ Dirty yesterday that expands on his original article.

Among the full-time faculty of the University departments of journalism, law, political science, sociology and economics, there are 111 registered Oregon voters. Two of them are Republicans.

[T]here were 98 Democrats, nine Independents, two Republicans and two members of the Pacific Green party staring back at me. Both of the two Republicans were in the School of Law, and one of them was University President Dave Frohnmayer.

Frohnmayer, you ol’ polecat! But seriously, you should read Lawton’s whole article. It’s an argument that we at the Commentator have voiced many a time: namely that a politically homogeneous faculty is doing a disservice to students who come here to be intellectually challenged.

There were some articles in the ODE today that provided very interesting quotes. I know, we’re the Commentator we should be scooping the ODE and blah, blah, whatever.

Just check out these quotes, some are funny, some aren’t. They’re things to mull over as you go into the weekend.

First from UO, ASUO president closer than most.

“Student voice isn’t with Cimmeron Gillespie and the radicals who want to see the incidental fee doubled every two or three years,” Dotters-Katz said. “It’s a ridiculous and disrespectful notion to say that we didn’t listen to student voice. Because we did what students really wanted. They’re talking about the students who are in the EMU and want bigger budgets. We’re talking about the 22,000 students we represent. We did what they wanted.”

A good hit at Cims Gillespie is always a plus in my book.

“(Dotters-Katz had) no regard or consideration for those that he worked with,” ASUO Sen. Deborah Bloom said. “It was pretty upsetting to see our collective morale weared down by his deprecations. It definitely affected how we acted as a body when we had to answer to someone who showed us no respect.”

Dotters-Katz called Bloom’s appointment the worst of his tenure, saying, “Egos of that size don’t have a place in the ASUO.”

Sam’s just flinging the disses around.

Kallaway called McLain’s relationship with the administration “more effective.”

“She not only consulted with the administration, but she told the students what she was saying to the administration,” Kallaway said. “There are times when (Dotters-Katz) has chosen not to share.”

Hmm.

Next one from the Athiest Appeal.

The group applied to be a recognized ASUO group but was denied. The ASUO explained that the group must exist for six months before it can gain official recognition. “The ASUO hasn’t let us use any kinds of materials,” Gubbins said. “It’s like they don’t even want us to be a group.”

I like how Gubbins apparently didn’t pay attention to the ruling at all. Yay, athiests.

The last few come from Andrew Edwards’ Op ed Of briefs, blurbs, and tweets.

The interesting quotes don’t come from him but rather Sean Smith a former editor/writer for Premiere and current one at Entertainment Weekly.

“Brevity is really efficient, and reading Twitter posts, or Facebook status updates, or headlines on an aggregator site like Drudge or Hollywood Wiretap allows you to skim through huge amounts of data in a very short period of time,” said Entertainment Weekly L.A. Bureau Chief Sean Smith, who has written features for Premiere, Newsweek, and Entertainment Weekly. “But what it threatens to do is to turn journalism into a series of headlines, rather than a series of stories,” which he said can’t convey complexity and nuance beyond the most basic facts.

“We become miniaturists, sculptors of non-fiction haiku,” Smith said. “What’s sad about that is that now more than ever, I think, the public needs journalists to step back from the day-to-day of breaking news to make sense of the world around us - to provide insight and context and depth of reporting and knowledge on a subject.”

“My fear is that fewer and fewer people click past the headline at all,” Smith said. “And that leads to the only thing more dangerous to a democracy than an uninformed public: An uninformed public that thinks it’s informed.”

Well, campus today is all aflutter for the impending “march on Johnson Hall“. In what seems to be a deliberate attempt to rekindle past glories, the “Step Up, Oregon!” faction is going to demand that Oregon distance itself from a clothing manufacturer accused of employing sweatshop labor, breaking the law, and generally being very, very bad.

Even the ASUO is trying to get in on the action.

I want to avoid weighing in on whether Russell is an evil company or not; They may very well be, and I’m in no position to say they aren’t.

The problem I have with virtually every argument that I’ve seen advocating breaking with Russell (apparently in violation of OUS rules) is that they do little more than repeat Workers Rights Consortium talking points without even a hint of skepticism.

We’re told that closing down a factory “…prompted Worker Rights Consortium investigations, which found that the decision to close the factory was at least partly because of [unionization attempts], constituting a violation of Honduran labor laws.”

That’s all very well and good, but did anyone honestly expect them to come to any other conclusion? The WRC has painted a proverbial target on Russell’s back, and I think everyone would be absolutely shocked if they didn’t reach the exact conclusion that they did, in fact, reach.

To put it another way, I find the WRC’s “findings” about as convincing as a report reading something along the lines of “an investigation by the Democratic National Committee found that George W. Bush was a bad President” or “investigations by the Communist Party of the USA found that capitalism is bad”. Those statements may or may not be true, but, like anything coming from the WRC, they’re not exactly unbiased.

As part of their college education, students are expected to show at least a modicum of skill in critical thinking.

It would be nice if those skills could be put to use questioning the veracity of claims of corporate wrongdoing made by an organization whose express purpose is to accuse corporations of wrongdoing.

I’m not necessarily disputing the claims that Russell may in fact be a rotten company. I’d just like to see people be a bit more careful about repeating what amounts to little more than propaganda.

Then again, hope springs eternal.

I almost keeled over from apoplectic rage today when I picked up the Ol’ Dirty. The top story is a profile on Nathan Ruddick, AKA The Phantom - that douchebag who flies through campus on his longboard doing lame tricks and nearly running into people. You’ve all seen him - board shorts, headphones, a look of faux concentration as he powerslides in front of you.

I’m really glad that the ODE decided the most important news of the day was the twat who annoys the living hell out of everyone. Coincidentally, OC contributor Justin Hurst wrote an article about The Phantom for last year’s Hate Issue. Here’s a snippet:

I did not think I could hate this felcher any more. That was until I saw him ride up on the crowded sidewalk, where he decided to powerslide right in front of a group of fine looking females. This caused them to shriek and jump back to avoid being taken out by the tail of his board. Not only does this fuckass dance around like a retard, but he decides that an empty street isn’t good enough for him, so goes out of his way to showcase his useless talents by pissing a bunch of people off who are only trying to make it to class without some nugget skidding in their path. He uses people on campus as obstacles in his imaginary longboard course, and if that doesn’t make someone a dick, I’m not sure what does. If he truly wanted to impress anybody he would ride a fucking skateboard and do a kickflip like any reasonable person who wanted to perform tricks on a board.

I usually like Matt Petryni’s columns. I don’t always agree with the guy, but he usually seems genuinely thoughtful and I’d put him at the top of the list of this year’s otherwise… lackluster opinion roster over at the Emerald. That said, today’s piece, which attempted to link industrial farming with swine flu (or pandemics in general), was all sound and fury (well, sound at least, and only if you were to read it aloud), signifying… nothing in particular.

(more…)

In a typically quotidian column, “Eagle Eye” Alex Conley has decided to tackle the question of President Obama’s “First 100 Days”. Unfortunately for Obama boosters, unambiguous successes have been few and far between since January 20th. After demolishing some conservative straw men, Conley has to admit as much.

What’s interesting about his article, however, isn’t the paint-by-numbers conservative bashing or his shopworn cheerleading, it’s Conley’s apparent difficulty in admitting that, thus far, Obama’s tenure has not departed radically from many of the policies supported by his predecessor.

Thus, we’re informed that Obama has gotten “a strong start in the right direction” and that “[m]ost of Obama’s policies in general have been a reversal of previous policy.”

Evidently Mr. Conley is unfamiliar with the President’s positions on TARP and other bailouts, “Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell”, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, gay marriage, marijuana legalization, Iran’s nuclear program, the Armenian Genocide, or torture. Even President Obama’s much-vaunted turnaround on Cuba has not amounted to much as of yet.

It seems that old “Eagle Eye” is more impressed by Obama’s towering poll figures on tough questions like “Does he understand the troubles of average Americans?” than the President’s actual policy positions, many of which are barely distinguishable from Bush’s.

Just thought I’d call attention to the fact that Commentator Publisher Guy Simmons has a letter-to-the-editor in today’s Emerald, laying to rest any notion that Truman Capps’ lamentable pro-gun control article was written or edited by anyone with even the slightest clue of what they were talking about.

Extra points for using the phrase “statist pukes.”

It turns out that this is becoming a personal folly that the rest of you get to witness.

Previously, I noted the odd advertising choices on the Ol’ Dirty’s website.

Well, there’s more, and it hasn’t gotten any less weird. An image for your consumption:

My apologies for the size, I had to do it in paint and photobucket…a frustrating task.

Look, I realize that the Emerald is out to make money, they are a business of sorts. My only issue with the ongoing persecution of their advertisements is the lack of sensible marketing behind it.

Three different ads for lawyers based in Portland? Really? Because that’s going to help anyone who gets in trouble in Eugene, especially students.

They got rid of the sex toys advertisement which is somewhat disappointing. The mortgage refininancing is still there which is a nice touch, you know for all those homes that I’m buying.

The only two that make any sense are the Debt consolidation and Tote bags links. Although the tote bags one is pushing it. I looked at the site, they sell Safeway bags with your name on it. Because when I’m shopping for food at the local Safeway what I really need  isn’t a generic Safeway brand bag but a bag with my name on it. It really sends the message that I care about…something.

My favorite ad though was the one for the Adult Shop in yesterday’s print ODE. Apparently, Sasha Grey and Jesse Jane will be in Salem this weekend, in case you happen to like those particular porn stars.

Not quite as good as the Ron Jeremy visit my freshmen year.

[Ed. Note: The writer was misinformed. Sasha Grey and Jesse Jane will be appearing in Salem on April 4th, not this weekend. Apparently, it will be from 7pm to 10 pm at 2410 Mission St. SE. Salem, Or. We are sorry for the misinformation.}

I’m issuing this as an editorial. I’ve talked with Guy, the publisher, and he is in agreement with it. If any of the staffers disagree, that’s fine. You’re welcome to write your own opinion and post it on the blog. Without further ado:

It has come to the Oregon Commentator’s attention, as it probably has to most of the campus, that the Oregon Daily Emerald is on strike.

In a front-page editorial and separate broadsheet issued this morning, the Emerald presented what it says are unacceptable conditions forced on it by its Board of Directors and stated that it would cease publishing until the board meets the staff’s demands.

The full substance of the Emerald’s argument will not be restated in this editorial, but we will summarize it for context: The Board of Directors, going directly against the wishes of the Emerald staff, hired Steven Smith to be the paper’s new position of “interim publisher” for a year while it searched for a permanent publisher. (more…)

The ODE published an anonymous letter today, titled “Speaking out,” which related a tale of sexual assault. It’s a usual story of date rape: I thought you were my friend - I thought I was safe - I got sauced up on drugs and booze until I was comatose - I can’t believe you took advantage of me - I am traumatized – You are a jerk.

I am aware that I’m opening a real can of worms here because such conflict exists between the  personal responsibility and “blaming the victim” crowds. I just don’t think letters like these serve any purpose (outside of being therapeutic for the author). Sexual assault prevention advocates often defend the practice of passing out drunk by saying “girls have the right to have fun.” That’s true; they do. It could also be said that you have the right to sleep on train tracks, but that isn’t going to stop you from getting hit by a train. Which brings me to my point: No one ever talks about what is really important - not getting raped in the first place.

As the old adage goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” How come there isn’t any emphasis on teaching women that if they incapacitate themselves with drugs people will take advantage of them given half a chance?

If you know why, tell me all about it in the comments.

This paragraph is from an AP story by Michael Marot about Rulon Davis, a defensive-end competing in the NFL combine who survived a horrible accident:

In July 2005, he was rear-ended on a California highway, thrown off his motorcycle and into the path of an oncoming semitrailer, which ran over both his legs. Somehow, Davis survived with no broken bones and no ligament damage, though he couldn’t walk for a month and had to retrain his legs.

And this is a paragraph from today’s Oregon Daily Emerald article about the combine by Robert Husseman:

In July 2005, Davis was rear-ended by a semi on a California highway while riding a motorcycle, throwing him off the bike. The semi ran over both of Davis’ legs. Somehow, his bones weren’t broken and his ligaments weren’t damaged, but it took Davis a month to relearn how to walk.

Hmm.

UPDATE: Husseman also incorrectly listed the top four football positions in terms of highest average score on the Wonderlic test. (He claimed they were offensive tackle, quarterback, center and guard.) The correct order is offensive tackle, center, quarterback and guard.

I was taking a gander at the Daily Emerald blogs when I ran across this post by ASUO report Alex Tomchak regarding the new ASUO “sustainability” committee. Tomchak calls “sustainability”

a muzzy term people generally use when they want to say they are in favor of protecting the environment but don’t want to look like hippies.

Well put, though I’d go further and say it’s a word that’s generally used when people want to justify spending other people’s money. The tidbit that really caught my attention, however, was at the very end:

‘Some senators have also said they want the definition of “sustainability” to be more elastic and oblique, rather than confined specifically to the environment.’

How terribly convenient.

Why, it’s almost like these bottom-feeders want to be able to spend money with few of those pesky “rules” and “regulations” getting in their way.

In any case, it seems to me that the Emerald’s readers might be interested in knowing that certain members of their student government (finding out which ones would be a good start) are angling to redefine the word “sustainability” in order to put themselves in a better position to raid student money.

I’d love to see the Emerald do some more reporting on this, letting the student body exactly which of these senators is proposing redefining the word “sustainability” and asking them to justify themselves.

Imagine my surprise when I opened up today’s Daily Emerald, only to find a guest column by one George Beres, Pacifica Forum stalwart and one of Eugene’s more prolific writers of letters-to-the-editor.

For whatever reason, the Emerald saw fit to publish Beres’ latest rant, the somewhat cryptically titled “Fear of subduing conflict discussion“. Evidently unaware of the massive media attention given to protests around the world in response to Israel’s recent “Operation Cast Lead” (including coverage on this very blog and in the printed magazine of the student protest here on campus), Beres starts yammering about how Jews “Zionists” are silencing dissent:

Nothing has been more hotly contested than the policies of the new state of Israel in Palestine. I’ve found it raises a broader question: Can this subject even be discussed? Zionists and Israel sympathizers have said no and silenced such dialogue at some schools, threatening it at the University.

I’ve seen evidence of it - personal experience that suggests a growing pervasiveness of those willing to halt speech to stop such criticism. Much of it has come from the campaign designed by a writer for the New York Post, Daniel Pipes, who encourages students to create an aura of suspicion around anyone who questions Israel’s behavior.

[...]

I interviewed author John Mearsheimer on his book about Israel’s brutality in Palestine. It was at a news conference in the Portland Hilton prior to his public talk there. Not one other reporter attended. Mearsheimer told me he was not surprised, having seen Zionists influence the news media against him, as well as object to his campus appearances.

It’s a Jewish “Zionist” conspiracy, you see. And they’re in the media, orchestrating smear campaigns against their foes.

At the risk of being identified as part of the Jewish “Zionist” conspiracy, let me be the first to publically chastise the Emerald for seeing fit to publish such blatantly anti-Semitic rubbish. And let’s be clear here: what Beres is saying is anti-Semitic. Maintaining that Jews are part of shadowy conspiracies, pulling the strings behind the curtain to control the media and silence critics, and having dual allegiances are classic anti-Semitic tropes.

The Emerald, of course, has every right to publish whatever it pleases, and it’s certainly not for me or anyone else to say that the shouldn’t. One only wonders if their editorial policy would be so open-minded if it were instead a white supremecist talking about Muslims.

In today’s ODE opinion page there is a guest opinion by none other than crazy ol’ George Beres. He is a former member of the Pacifica Forum and firmly believes that we’ve all been brainwashed by an insidious “shadow government.” As you might imagine, his opinions on the Israel/Palestine conflict are nothing short of comedy gold:

College campuses nationwide have become the hottest battleground over the question of freedom of speech. That once would have seemed unlikely because free expression on all issues is a basic precept of higher education [...]

Nothing has been more hotly contested than the policies of the new state of Israel in Palestine. I’ve found it raises a broader question: Can this subject even be discussed? Zionists and Israel sympathizers have said no and silenced such dialogue at some schools, threatening it at the University.

I’ve seen evidence of it - personal experience that suggests a growing pervasiveness of those willing to halt speech to stop such criticism.

Ah, yes. The Zionist entity suppressing free speech. That must be why students at San Francisco State University are calling for the SFSU College Republicans to be punished after they held an anti-Hamas rally.

The Daily Emerald ran an article yesterday with the headline “Oregon celebrates 150th birthday,” but when I read it, I was greeted by this lead:

Walking through the aisles at gift shops, students may become overwhelmed with cards containing pictures of hearts and messages of love. However, students won’t find Hallmark cards depicting working settlers sweating over fields, Native Americans being forced into reservations or freed slaves being banned from Oregon on the front of cards, as Feb. 14 celebrates another important holiday: Oregon’s admission into the union.

What the hell, ODE? Oh, I get it. It’s the ol’ “you can’t celebrate things because they used to be bad” angle. Congratulations on jumping the shark there. Anyways, in honor of Oregon’s sesquicentennial and the ODE’s douchebaggery, I thought I’d list some of the really cool things about Oregon:

• The beaches are public: I know, I know. It’s heresy for me to support public ownership, but it’s not like you can build anything on sand anyways (or so that Jesus guy said). Just south of Florence there is 50 miles of unbroken public beach and dunes. And that’s pretty cool. Thanks, Tom McCall.
• Speaking of which, we had one of the coolest governors ever, Tom McCall. He once said in an interview (no doubt addressing the state of California): “Come visit us again and again. This is a state of excitement. But for heaven’s sake, don’t move here to live.”
• Oregon held the only state-sponsored rock festival in U.S. history in 1970. Thanks again, Tom McCall.
• Oregon drinks more Pabst Blue Ribbon than any other state. And we’re talking pure volume, not per capita.
• Portland has more breweries than any other city on earth. Up yours, Cologne!
• Portland has more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the U.S.
• We have the only ski lodge in North America that is open year-round.
• We have Crater Lake, which is a lake on top of a mountain. That’s pretty cool.
• And let’s not forget the Oregon Vortex!
• We’re not California.