It’s time again to open books and minds into a new year at the University and the Oregon Daily Emerald. With that, I would also like to introduce myself as co-editorial editor for 2002-03 school year.
I transferred from Clackamas Community College in Oregon City and will be completing my bachelor’s degree in journalism here at the University. While at Clackamas, I held a number of positions on its paper, The Clackamas Print, including sports co-editor, opinion editor and design editor.
I hope to impart some of my knowledge and experience to help, along with my co-editorial editor Pat Payne, in making the Commentary section of the paper a standing force with a positive voice for the entire campus. My vision for the Commentary section is to be the voice of the students, faculty and the campus. I want to sound off about things of importance to our readers.
I will be saying it loud and proud and making my statements heard throughout this school year. I’m very opinionated and hope you will come to read my columns and even look forward to them.
I don’t expect to always say what you want to hear, but I do hope if you have thoughts or questions about my columns or anything in the Commentary section, you let myself or Pat Payne know and we can address them.
I trust you will disagree with me sometimes — and am optimistic in that respect — because some of the most honest writing and debate come from divergences. As always, we will feature the editorial board’s editorials, as well as guest columns and letters to the editor (see below for guidelines on submitting your own thoughts).
I look forward to a great year of opinions, heated debate and yes, even some fun while we’re at it. Welcome to a new year at the University.
Contact the editorial editor at [email protected].
It’s Pat Payne again, this time writing as the other half of the duo serving as co-editorial editors for this year. I’d like to share with you my vision of the opinion page for this year.
Civil debate was once an exchange of ideas that often illuminated issues and may have once in a while horror of horrors! changed someone’s mind. Now, it’s all too often an ideological spitting match. The spread of “groupthink” in politics has started to make political actors and activists see themselves as heroes, fighting for the truth, the way, and the light, while all others’ beliefs are not merely wrong, but must be extinguished.
Under the pretense of religious fervor, or a misplaced sense of political correctness, both sides have tried to suppress debate that runs counter to their beliefs. The burning of “Harry Potter” books in the New Mexico desert by a Fundamentalist preacher earlier this year, and the thefts of newspapers on college campuses when articles do not hew closely to political orthodoxy show that the misguided “culture war” rages on. Anyone who even appears to be on the opposite side is labeled a “racist,” a “Satanist,” a “sexist” or worse.
That sort of ideological warfare gets us nowhere. It does not further the search for solutions. Rather, it just furthers the polarization and entrenchment of the public, making common ground that much rarer.
We’re not going to be playing that game. Our opinion page is a forum for rational discussion and dissent, but not for puerile name calling. In short, it is not yet another battlefield in the “culture war.”
Rest assured, however, that if there’s someone out there in public life who truly deserves any of those labels so casually tossed about, we’ll make no bones about calling them that in as many words. But, as always, you, the readers, are encouraged to give us your point of view.
Contact the editorial editor at [email protected].