Here’s our final, last-minute, down-to-the-wire roundup of opinions about stuff. The Emerald editorial board has been opinionated about stuff all year long, and so have our readers. We appreciate that, and we appreciate the feedback we received all year, both good and bad. When you interact with the media sources that inform you about your world, everyone is better for it. The world isn’t objectively waiting to be reported on; subjective people write stories about it. So stay involved, keep the media honest and keep sending us feedback.
Congrats to the Athletic Department for releasing some of the report about problems in the women’s basketball program. The part they released was all the gossipy “I didn’t like her,” or “I didn’t like him” stuff that we already knew. Now live up to the congrats and release the real dirt — the details of the 31 NCAA violations that the law firm found while it was here. If everyone in the athletic administration is truly clean and honest and doing his or her job correctly, then more information is better, especially at a public university.
Shame on the grass seed pollen for blowing the community’s collective sinuses out of its mind. Sneezing, hacking, wheezing, crying — a body needs time to adjust to increased pollen. Leaping from 15 grains per cubic meter on May 28 to 502 grains per cubic meter on June 1, the pollen level made the student phlegm level leap from 2 sneezes/coughs per minute in classes to 18 sneezes/coughs per second. We can barely hear our professors now. For shame.
Congrats to the state of Nevada for becoming the ninth state to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes. State lawmakers voted Monday to approve medical marijuana and to lessen penalties for possession, thus making it easier for those seeking medical relief to possess plants for their own use. Arizona, Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Washington, Hawaii and Oregon are the other states with similar laws. It is perhaps telling that denizens of the West can show caring and compassion for those suffering from debilitating illnesses. The only problem is, the Supreme Court’s ruling last month may threaten that compassion. Well, the federal laws should be changed, and congrats to Nevada anyway.
Shame on the Oregon University System for beginning a round of union contract renegotiations with proposals to increase layoffs, hire temporary workers and decrease overtime. The Service Employees International Union/Oregon Public Employees Union represents tens of thousands of university workers all over the state. These people keep Oregon’s institutions of higher education running. They deserve job security and adequate pay and benefits. Some of the problem comes from taxpayers, however. Budget cuts to the OUS because of tax-cutting measures of years past have contributed to the standoff. Given that, let’s spread the shame to the taxpayers, the state and the OUS. The citizens of Oregon need to pony up some money if they expect to have any sort of functioning government.
Congrats to the U.S. Supreme Court for stopping the execution of Johnny Paul Penry, who has the mind of a 7-year-old. Texas was making a second attempt to execute Penry when the ruling came down. In 1989, Penry was sentenced to death for murder. The Supreme Court ruled then that Texas juries were not adequately accounting for the mental ability of defendants, and it overturned Penry’s sentence. But was Texas done with him? Oh, no. The state tried Penry again, convicted him again and sentenced him to death again. Luckily, the rules for juries have been changed since the first Court ruling, so if Texas wants to try one more time, Penry’s life is pretty much safe. Thank goodness. But…
Shame on The Register-Guard, The Washington Post, The Associated Press and other sources that described Penry as a “retarded man.” Excuse us? Get with the program. That demeaning label was shelved years ago. Call us idealistic young journalists or overly P.C. liberals, but it’s rude to label people with terms infused with harshly negative connotations, especially in 54-point type on the front page of a newspaper. The Arc of the United States, “a national organization on mental retardation” and the official voice of people with mental retardation, offers on its Web site (thearc.org) plenty of examples of how to use the phrase “people with mental retardation” easily and efficiently in sentences instead of that other label. Please, news sources, think before you go to press next time. Using that label would be like calling a black person a “coon.” It’s unacceptable.