Normally on Thursdays — during the summer term at least — the Emerald runs down the right side of its Perspectives page a feature called “The week in thumbs.” Regular readers know that this section is filled with blurbs about various ups and downs on the University campus or beyond.
More than just a gimmick to fill space, it usually takes on the important issues of the past seven days, those issues that affect us all and go deeper than just the cursory glance. OK, we’re lying: It really is used just to fill space.
Which brings us to this particular editorial. As some of you may have noticed, the Emerald is being printed just twice a week this summer. (The rest of you might be saying to yourself, “You’ve been printing this summer?”) Usually the three-month period between spring and fall terms provides little in the way of interesting news items.
The consensus among the ODE editorial board, however — determined in a very official way, with the editor sticking his head out of his office and asking for feedback from the rest of the board — is that each thumb needs more than just a small blurb. So, to reflect the Emerald’s by-laws, which in part state that this opinion page “shall strive to enlighten and educate its readers by examining current issues carefully,” we are offering up an entire editorial of “thumbs.”
Oh yeah, and we’re also filling space — seven inches of copy to this point — in case you hadn’t figured that out yet.
Thumbs up to the Multicultural Center for finding a new director:
Just when it looked as if this group might have to go another year without a director, student leaders and University staff got a break when Erica Fuller-Schindler accepted the position after originally turning it down in May.
Fuller-Schindler brings an impressive set of credentials to the job. She spent the past five years at the University of Florida working with students in a multicultural setting, while pursuing a doctorate degree in anthropology. Her research focused on women of culture, development of non-governmental agencies and non-profit corporations, and formulating initiatives that aid women and children, particularly in residential communities and program housing.
She’s a welcome addition to a campus that strives for diversity but doesn’t always reach its goals.
Thumbs down to Bill Sizemore:
The Oregon Taxpayers United spokesperson is back with another ballot initiative, one that could be devastating to the state’s public school system.
Measure 91, one of six measures that Sizemore has on the Nov. 7 ballot, would eliminate about $1 billion a year from revenues that pay for schools, universities, the prison system and human services. For university students, the most severe damage caused by Measure 91 if passed would be a 36 percent increase in tuition. Students on the Oregon Health Plan could also be adversely impacted.
Can someone come up with a ballot measure that kicks Sizemore out of the state, a la “Survivor”?
Thumbs up to Marla Runyan:
Eugene’s newest Olympian is causing commotion in more places than just on the track, thanks to her third place finish on Sunday in the women’s 1,500 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Sacramento, Calif.
Runyan is the first legally blind athlete to make a U.S. Olympic team, summer or winter, and she has become an international story. Yes, Maurice Green, Michael Johnson and Marion Jones are still draining ink wells with their overwhelming publicity, but the 31-year-old Runyan will no doubt be a hot commodity for interviews as the 2000 Olympics in Sydney draw near.
When the international press does get in contact with her, they’ll discover that Runyan doesn’t consider her blindness — she is limited to peripheral vision — to be all that much of an issue.
“I never said to myself ‘I want to be the first legally blind Olympian.’ I just said ‘I want to be on an Olympic team, me, Marla,” Runyan told reporters after her historic finish.
You accomplished your goal Marla, now go kick ass this September.
Thumbs down to bus rage:
In what no doubt is a ho-hum news item to anyone who has ever had to travel a long distance on a Greyhound bus, a bus passenger went ballistic Monday in Arkansas when he was asked by another passenger to put out his cigarette.
The 44-year-old man — from Oakland, Ore. — tried to commandeer the steering wheel, causing the bus to crash. One passenger suffered minor injuries, and the man was arrested without further incident.
OK, despite the fact that any Greyhound rider has probably felt the same emotions this guy did, let’s just chill people. We all know about road rage and air rage — travelers angry with the nation’s airlines — made it into the headlines a few weeks ago. Now bus rage. What’s next? Scooter rage?