Nobody Asked Us...
Got Balls part 2
A little more often than every once in awhile, the Oregon Commentator gets tagged as 'offensive' or 'off-color.' We get some of our best feedback from these people, even if we don't print it all. Our friends at the Eugene Weekly, on the other hand, have reproven their propensity to crumble beneath a modicum of criticism.Prompted by a handful of letters to the editor, Max Cannon's tour-de-force of obscenity (popularly known as "Red Meat") has been permanently removed from the paper. According to the editorial staff, they had "talked about retiring 'Red Meat' for months." In the past year, Portland's Willamette Week and New York City's Village Voice each dropped "Red Meat" from its pages - that is, until the next day's mail hit the fan. Both publications, alternative tabloids the likes of which the EW poorly imitates, quickly reinstated the comic strip.
The EW by contrast maintains its resolve to put the strip behind them. To quote their editorial response, "We enjoy bad taste as much as anyone, but enough is enough, already." Memo to the EW: Look here, morons - you don't mind if we call you morons, do you? - the only reason any UO student has to pick up your tired, vacuous, sixties-holdover of an 'alternative' newspaper is because of Max Cannon's depraved mind.
So all it takes is two letters for the Eugene Weekly to drop one of
the few bright spots in the cultural morass that is the modern comic
strip? Well, let's find out. If everyone who reads this sends an email to
Besides, that penguin is a total shill for Linux.
The Sincerest Form of Flattery
The Oregon Voice has taken their 'original' journalistic style to
the next level with their March 2000 article "www.books.com," following
the OC's "www.beat-the-bookstore.com" by nearly a month. In the
debate over the textbook prices of online versus campus stores, the
Voice
claims the UO Bookstore is the more desirable, a viewpoint contrary to the
OC's findings.
But wait a minute - didn't the Emerald, take this angle shortly
after the
publication of the OC's article? Yes, albeit poorly.
The Voice hardly does any better. The majority of their argument
is based on information obtained from the National Association of College
Stores (NACS), an international trade association. A trade association
for college and university bookstores is hardly a non-biased source; it is
in their best interest to protect their members from outside competition,
such as online (read: independent, non-union) textbook companies. Article
III, Section 1a of the NACS Bylaws states that the purpose of the
association shall be "to unite in one organization those persons and firms
in the college store industry." Claiming 85 percent of college bookstores
nationwide as members, the NACS is closing in on its goal. Way to go,
Oregon Voice - you've brought us all one step closer to loving Big
Brother.