University of Oregon media
Encyclopedia
The University of Oregon
has a diverse array of student-run and student-created media, including the Oregon Daily Emerald
, The Comic Press, the Oregon Voice, the Oregon Commentator
and the Student Insurgent. The University is also the home of two radio stations: KWAX
and KWVA
.
, published Monday through Friday, primarily features news items and commentary pertaining to the University community, and is considered the daily paper of record. In addition to the print newspaper, the Emerald publishes its features on the internet. The Emerald has been in publication for more than 100 years and has many distinguished alumni. A court case involving the Emerald's publication of several first-hand student accounts of drug use during the 1960s became the basis for the subsequent creation of the Oregon Shield Law. The paper became independent in the 1970s after editor Paul Brainerd
realized the potential conflict of interest between acting as a watchdog while simultaneously receiving direct funding and oversight from the university. Today the paper is supported by advertising revenue and is distributed free to students because of a subscription fee paid by the ASUO with incidental fees.
format. The Voice often profiles music acts as they tour through Eugene, and in 1998 the magazine published a widely read interview with Infinite Jest
author David Foster Wallace
.
, is a journal of political opinion and humor, modeled in equal parts after such publications as Harvard Lampoon
and Reason Magazine. Often, but not always, the Commentator is known for a libertarian
or conservative stance. In general, its aim is to serve as a contrarian outlet for students resistant to the prevalent political atmosphere on campus. In addition to its print magazine, the Commentator publishes its content on its website, where it also maintains a group-run blog
frequently linked to by national news outlets. It maintains close observation of liberal commentary on campus, particularly within the Student Insurgent, and secondary commentary in fact forms the bulk of many Commentator issues. It was founded in fall 1983 primarily by Dane S. Claussen, now Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada, and Richard E. Burr, now with The Detroit News
editorial pages.
and the Earth First!
organization. It has also rallied for the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal
and Jeff Luers
, a local eco-anarchist whose 22-year arson sentence was later overturned on the grounds that it was excessive, as well as other imprisoned radical-left voices, often claiming that they are wrongly held political prisoners.
More famously, the Student Insurgent became the center of national controversy when it printed The Jesus Issue, featuring commentary on Christianity
and cartoons of Jesus
, including Jesus with erection
, in response to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
. In response, Bill O'Reilly
called for the firing of university president David B. Frohnmayer
and invited members of the Insurgent and the Commentator onto the O'Reilly Factor, but only Commentator staff accepted. The president of the Catholic League
, William Donohue, called Jesus with erection "one of the most obscene assaults on Christianity I have ever seen".
is a University magazine which presents "the diversity of ideas and people associated with the University, Oregon, and the Northwest."
Other student publications on the University of Oregon campus include the multicultural magazine Korean Ducks, and the multilingual publication Global Talk. Global Talk, a student-created news publication, provides a place to bring language and culture together including one page each for Chinese, French, Dutch, Persian, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, Swahili, Portuguese, Spanish, and other minor languages unrepresented by major departments. Global Talk is funded by several departments at the UO and was founded in November 2005. It is the first university of Oregon multilingual publication published within the university system and within the whole state of Oregon. Other publications include the ASUO Women's Center's newsletter The Siren, and the ASUO governmental newsletter NETMA (acronym for Nobody Ever Tells Me Anything).
The University of Oregon Press
publishes books, which since June 1, 2005 have been distributed by the Oregon State University Press
.
In 2005, members of the Student Insurgent Collective led efforts to defund the Oregon Commentator on the grounds that it had violated its own Mission and Goals statement by ridiculing a prominent student senator. The ASUO's Programs Finance Committee (PFC) voted to defund the Commentator. Later, three members of the PFC resigned their positions under duress, including one whose criminal record was published in the Commentator. The free-speech advocacy and civil rights organization FIRE
threatened legal action against the University, and the Commentator's funding was subsequently reinstated by a reconstituted PFC.
In 2006 the Commentator republished the twelve Mohammed cartoons that had sparked riots across the Middle East after first appearing in the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten several months prior. The Insurgent followed by publishing twelve cartoons depicting Jesus
http://commentator.dreamhosters.com/Insurgent_17.4.pdf, some of which featured the deity with a prominent erection
. Several groups demanded a public apology or a defunding of the Student Insurgent, and news outlets including The O'Reilly Factor
called for the firing of the University's President David B. Frohnmayer
. Both the Emerald and the Commentator publicly defended the Insurgent's right to free speech and Frohnmayer's decision to uphold it, citing the 2001 Southworth decision by the Supreme Court .
The Emerald itself is not a stranger to controversy. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the student newspaper published an annual satire supplement called the Immorald. The 1981 Immorald featured the phrase "Give me a fucking break" in nearly all its stories, which led to an angry editorial in the Eugene Register-Guard, entitled "The Immorald is Not Funny". The phrase had been used earlier that year by Emerald political columnist (and former editor) Greg Wasson, which prompted Max Rijken, a member of the Oregon Legislature, to photocopy the article for fellow legislators and demand that the UO administration take action against the newspaper. The co-editor of that year's Immorald, Mike Rust, went on to co-found the Commentator a few years later.
The other 1981 Immorald co-editor, Mike Lee, had lightly sparred with the Emerald itself a few years earlier, in a mock controversy that had real consequences for the UO mascot, the Oregon Duck. In 1978, the Emerald sponsored a student referendum that would officially declare the cartoon character Mallard Drake as UO mascot. Drake, the creation of Emerald editorial cartoonist Steve Sandstrom, was a black-feathered duck, closer in spirit to Daffy Duck than the UO's Donald. Lee opposed the referendum through an organization called the "Retain Class in Your Bird" committee, itself a parody of a campus radical group, the Revolutionary Community Youth Brigade. Students ultimately voted for Donald over Mallard, in an election that drew more votes than the student-body president on the same ballot. UO officials later used that election as evidence that students "officially" voted for Donald Duck as campus mascot.
broadcasts classical music
and KWVA
which broadcasts a variety of music and talk.
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
has a diverse array of student-run and student-created media, including the Oregon Daily Emerald
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon Daily Emerald is an independent daily newspaper published at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The paper, which has been published for more than 100 years, has trained many now-prominent writers and journalists and has made important contributions to journalism...
, The Comic Press, the Oregon Voice, the Oregon Commentator
Oregon Commentator
The Oregon Commentator is a student publication at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded on September 27, 1983, and first published on October 24, 1983, it is a self-described "conservative journal of opinion," modeled after such publications as Harvard Lampoon and...
and the Student Insurgent. The University is also the home of two radio stations: KWAX
KWAX
KWAX is a non-commercial classical music radio station in Eugene, Oregon, broadcasting to the Eugene-Springfield, Oregon area. The station is a listener supported service of the University of Oregon...
and KWVA
KWVA
KWVA is a college radio station broadcasting from the EMU building on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Licensed to the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, it serves the Eugene metropolitan area...
.
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon Daily EmeraldOregon Daily Emerald
The Oregon Daily Emerald is an independent daily newspaper published at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The paper, which has been published for more than 100 years, has trained many now-prominent writers and journalists and has made important contributions to journalism...
, published Monday through Friday, primarily features news items and commentary pertaining to the University community, and is considered the daily paper of record. In addition to the print newspaper, the Emerald publishes its features on the internet. The Emerald has been in publication for more than 100 years and has many distinguished alumni. A court case involving the Emerald's publication of several first-hand student accounts of drug use during the 1960s became the basis for the subsequent creation of the Oregon Shield Law. The paper became independent in the 1970s after editor Paul Brainerd
Paul Brainerd
Paul Brainerd is a pioneer in the field of computer-aided editing, design and publishing. Born in Medford, Oregon, to Phil and VerNatta Brainerd, Paul Brainerd attended the University of Oregon where he was the editor for the school's paper, the Oregon Daily Emerald...
realized the potential conflict of interest between acting as a watchdog while simultaneously receiving direct funding and oversight from the university. Today the paper is supported by advertising revenue and is distributed free to students because of a subscription fee paid by the ASUO with incidental fees.
The Comic Press
The Comic Press was a semi-monthly newspaper written and edited by students at the University of Oregon during 2008-2009. The Comic Press's mission was to 'provoke intelligent thought and discussion through humor.' It republished a number of webcomics and contained topical and humorous features about a wide variety of campus topics. The Comic Press was originally known as The Weekly Enema," but the name was changed with the release of their 7th issue.Oregon Voice
The Oregon Voice primarily chronicles popular culture in a zineZine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
format. The Voice often profiles music acts as they tour through Eugene, and in 1998 the magazine published a widely read interview with Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest is a 1996 novel by David Foster Wallace. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a semi-parodic future version of North America, and touches on tennis, substance addiction and recovery programs, depression, child abuse, family relationships, advertising and popular entertainment,...
author David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California...
.
Oregon Commentator
The second oldest publication on campus after the Emerald, the Oregon CommentatorOregon Commentator
The Oregon Commentator is a student publication at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded on September 27, 1983, and first published on October 24, 1983, it is a self-described "conservative journal of opinion," modeled after such publications as Harvard Lampoon and...
, is a journal of political opinion and humor, modeled in equal parts after such publications as Harvard Lampoon
Harvard Lampoon
The Harvard Lampoon is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.-Overview:Published since 1876, The Harvard Lampoon is the world's longest continually published humor magazine. It is also the second longest-running English-language humor...
and Reason Magazine. Often, but not always, the Commentator is known for a libertarian
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
or conservative stance. In general, its aim is to serve as a contrarian outlet for students resistant to the prevalent political atmosphere on campus. In addition to its print magazine, the Commentator publishes its content on its website, where it also maintains a group-run blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
frequently linked to by national news outlets. It maintains close observation of liberal commentary on campus, particularly within the Student Insurgent, and secondary commentary in fact forms the bulk of many Commentator issues. It was founded in fall 1983 primarily by Dane S. Claussen, now Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nevada, and Richard E. Burr, now with The Detroit News
The Detroit News
The Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival Free Press's building. The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1, 1919, the Detroit Journal on July 21, 1922, and on November 7, 1960,...
editorial pages.
Student Insurgent
The Student Insurgent is a journal of radical politics published by a Collective of students and occasionally community members. The paper's coverage shifts periodically, but has covered anti-capitalist, radical environmentalist, and anti-war topics. Notably, the Insurgent has expressed solidarity with such groups as the Animal Liberation FrontAnimal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
and the Earth First!
Earth First!
Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that emerged in the Southwestern United States in 1979. It was co-founded on April 4th, 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, and less directly, Bart Koehler and Ron Kezar....
organization. It has also rallied for the release of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death. He has been described as "perhaps the world's best known death-row inmate", and his sentence is one of the most debated today...
and Jeff Luers
Jeff Luers
Jeffrey "Free" Luers is an political activist from Los Angeles, California, who served a ten year prison sentence for arson in the U.S. state of Oregon. On February 14, 2007, The Oregon Court of Appeals overturned Luers' sentence, instructing the Lane County circuit court to determine a new sentence...
, a local eco-anarchist whose 22-year arson sentence was later overturned on the grounds that it was excessive, as well as other imprisoned radical-left voices, often claiming that they are wrongly held political prisoners.
More famously, the Student Insurgent became the center of national controversy when it printed The Jesus Issue, featuring commentary on Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and cartoons of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, including Jesus with erection
Jesus with erection
Jesus with erection is a controversial satirical cartoon published in the March 2006 issue of the Student Insurgent, a student newspaper at University of Oregon....
, in response to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
. In response, Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
called for the firing of university president David B. Frohnmayer
David B. Frohnmayer
Dave Frohnmayer was the 15th President of the University of Oregon. He was appointed president on July 1, 1994. His last day as president was June 30, 2009. His tenure as president is the second-longest after John Wesley Johnson. He is the first native of the U.S. state of Oregon to run the...
and invited members of the Insurgent and the Commentator onto the O'Reilly Factor, but only Commentator staff accepted. The president of the Catholic League
Catholic League (U.S.)
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization...
, William Donohue, called Jesus with erection "one of the most obscene assaults on Christianity I have ever seen".
Flux
Flux is an annual magazine written and edited by students at the University of Oregon School of Journalism & Communication. It contains in-depth features about a wide variety of topics, many of which are based in the Pacific Northwest but have national appeal and interest.University published media
The Oregon QuarterlyOregon Quarterly
The Oregon Quarterly is an American magazine published by the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.According to the website:Oregon Quarterly is the magazine of the University of Oregon. Four times a year, we present the diversity of ideas and people associated with the University, Oregon, and the...
is a University magazine which presents "the diversity of ideas and people associated with the University, Oregon, and the Northwest."
Other student publications on the University of Oregon campus include the multicultural magazine Korean Ducks, and the multilingual publication Global Talk. Global Talk, a student-created news publication, provides a place to bring language and culture together including one page each for Chinese, French, Dutch, Persian, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Scandinavian, Slavic, Swahili, Portuguese, Spanish, and other minor languages unrepresented by major departments. Global Talk is funded by several departments at the UO and was founded in November 2005. It is the first university of Oregon multilingual publication published within the university system and within the whole state of Oregon. Other publications include the ASUO Women's Center's newsletter The Siren, and the ASUO governmental newsletter NETMA (acronym for Nobody Ever Tells Me Anything).
The University of Oregon Press
University of Oregon Press
University of Oregon Press, or UO Press is an American university press that is part of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon.Since June 1, 2005, books published by UO Press have been distributed by the Oregon State University Press....
publishes books, which since June 1, 2005 have been distributed by the Oregon State University Press
Oregon State University Press
Oregon State University Press, or OSU Press, founded in 1961, is a university press that publishes roughly 15 titles per year and is part of Oregon State University...
.
Student media controversies
Controversy has occasionally surrounded the Commentator and the Insurgent. In 2001 the Insurgent gained national attention for publishing in the December, 2000 issue, a primer on violent methods of ending scientific testing on lab animals, opposite a page detailing the names, phone numbers, and home addresses of science professors alleged to be involved in such practices.In 2005, members of the Student Insurgent Collective led efforts to defund the Oregon Commentator on the grounds that it had violated its own Mission and Goals statement by ridiculing a prominent student senator. The ASUO's Programs Finance Committee (PFC) voted to defund the Commentator. Later, three members of the PFC resigned their positions under duress, including one whose criminal record was published in the Commentator. The free-speech advocacy and civil rights organization FIRE
FIRE
FIRE may stand for:* Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a civil liberties organization* Fully Integrated Robotised Engine, a model of engine produced by Fiat* Future Internet Research and Experimentation...
threatened legal action against the University, and the Commentator's funding was subsequently reinstated by a reconstituted PFC.
In 2006 the Commentator republished the twelve Mohammed cartoons that had sparked riots across the Middle East after first appearing in the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten several months prior. The Insurgent followed by publishing twelve cartoons depicting Jesus
Jesus with erection
Jesus with erection is a controversial satirical cartoon published in the March 2006 issue of the Student Insurgent, a student newspaper at University of Oregon....
http://commentator.dreamhosters.com/Insurgent_17.4.pdf, some of which featured the deity with a prominent erection
Erection
Penile erection is a physiological phenomenon where the penis becomes enlarged and firm. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, vascular and endocrine factors, and is usually, though not exclusively, associated with sexual arousal...
. Several groups demanded a public apology or a defunding of the Student Insurgent, and news outlets including The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
called for the firing of the University's President David B. Frohnmayer
David B. Frohnmayer
Dave Frohnmayer was the 15th President of the University of Oregon. He was appointed president on July 1, 1994. His last day as president was June 30, 2009. His tenure as president is the second-longest after John Wesley Johnson. He is the first native of the U.S. state of Oregon to run the...
. Both the Emerald and the Commentator publicly defended the Insurgent's right to free speech and Frohnmayer's decision to uphold it, citing the 2001 Southworth decision by the Supreme Court .
The Emerald itself is not a stranger to controversy. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the student newspaper published an annual satire supplement called the Immorald. The 1981 Immorald featured the phrase "Give me a fucking break" in nearly all its stories, which led to an angry editorial in the Eugene Register-Guard, entitled "The Immorald is Not Funny". The phrase had been used earlier that year by Emerald political columnist (and former editor) Greg Wasson, which prompted Max Rijken, a member of the Oregon Legislature, to photocopy the article for fellow legislators and demand that the UO administration take action against the newspaper. The co-editor of that year's Immorald, Mike Rust, went on to co-found the Commentator a few years later.
The other 1981 Immorald co-editor, Mike Lee, had lightly sparred with the Emerald itself a few years earlier, in a mock controversy that had real consequences for the UO mascot, the Oregon Duck. In 1978, the Emerald sponsored a student referendum that would officially declare the cartoon character Mallard Drake as UO mascot. Drake, the creation of Emerald editorial cartoonist Steve Sandstrom, was a black-feathered duck, closer in spirit to Daffy Duck than the UO's Donald. Lee opposed the referendum through an organization called the "Retain Class in Your Bird" committee, itself a parody of a campus radical group, the Revolutionary Community Youth Brigade. Students ultimately voted for Donald over Mallard, in an election that drew more votes than the student-body president on the same ballot. UO officials later used that election as evidence that students "officially" voted for Donald Duck as campus mascot.
Radio
The University, under the Associated Students operate three radio stations on campus. KWAXKWAX
KWAX is a non-commercial classical music radio station in Eugene, Oregon, broadcasting to the Eugene-Springfield, Oregon area. The station is a listener supported service of the University of Oregon...
broadcasts classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and KWVA
KWVA
KWVA is a college radio station broadcasting from the EMU building on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Licensed to the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, it serves the Eugene metropolitan area...
which broadcasts a variety of music and talk.