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Archive for the 'Narcissism' Category

Issues on stands

February 25th, 2010 by D

The new issue has been distributed, this morning, around campus a little bit. Look for it to be fully distributed by Nekblad and Kiefer by around mid-day. Josh McCormick’s cover makes it a real piece of art in-hand.

Go grab yourself one.

Misleading the Masses

February 24th, 2010 by D

There was a letter to the editor in Monday’s Emerald signed by members of the Climate Justice League (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Heart!) denouncing the ACFC’s recent decision not to fund OSPIRG. In part, the letter said:

“Although OSPIRG provided all of the materials and information the committee asked for, ACFC never clearly articulated a reason to not fund OSPIRG, except a vague sense of uncertainty.”

Of course, those who have read anything about the ACFC’s decision understand that the ACFC clearly outlined why they decided not to fund OSPIRG. Even more surprising is that many of the signers of the letter — including Sen. Jeremy Blanchard — attended the meeting and heard the ACFC’s reasons in person. A response was printed yesterday, signed by ASUO Senate President Nick Gower and Sen. Demic Tipitino (in addition to many others, including myself) that said:

“The problems with OSPIRG were clearly articulated, and they have been for years. OSPIRG sends student money off campus to pay non-students to lobby for issues that have little relation to the University of Oregon campus. Additionally, OSPIRG’s system is structured in a manner that partial funding would make the organization ineffective and an even greater waste of student dollars.”

Do the Planeteers need this outlined again? Let’s go “bulletpoints” on this one, shall we?

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Not to disappoint you but..

February 19th, 2010 by D

Was on KWVA to talk about OSPIRG and no one from the OSPIRG side showed up. Alex Tomchak Scott tried to get about 4 pro-OSPIRG people to come, and they either all canceled or couldn’t come. Lyzi Diamond showed up though.

In any case, it was fun because we talked about Tree Bomb and the EMU renovation. I alluded to the fact that “only the winning side decided to show up.”

Sorry, all.

OC on KWVA 88.1

February 19th, 2010 by D

I’ve been invited to talk about OSPIRG on KWVA 88.1 campus radio later tonight. The downside? Robert D’Andrea will be part of the guests as well.

Tune in tonight to 88.1 or listen from iTunes at 6:30PM.

New Button Added for Sudsy Tees!

February 18th, 2010 by D

Just added a sweet new button for y’all to buy Sudsy Tees from us if you’re not in the direct vicinity. Due to eBay costs and shipping, the price of the shirt is $16.95 when purchased online, but you can use your credit/debit card or Paypal to buy it!

As always, you are also welcome to send us a check for a mere $15, or come down to the office in person and purchase a shirt less the shipping and eBay tax for just $10.

CLICK HERE TO BUY A SUDSY TEE

New Sudsy Tees Available! Just $10

February 15th, 2010 by D

Just got a new batch of Sudsy Tees in. They come in Black, Kelly Green and Royal Blue. Sizes are Med-XL. Price of a tee is just $10!

I’m going to put a button on the website here in the next few days so you can use your Mastercard or Visa  (or Paypal) to buy one. In the meantime, if you want to order one, please send an e-mail to us at:

ocomment@uoregon.edu

Hey everyone! Look at how good I look!

January 28th, 2010 by D

Cattermole noticed this picture today in the Emerald. Take a look at what website our beloved ASUO Senate is looking at during their meeting.

Mark your calendars, Sarah’s coming to Eugene

January 20th, 2010 by Ross Coyle

Not Sarah Michelle Geller or Sarah Jessica Parker, but Eugenes own favorite Sarah Palin! According to the Register Guard, she’ll be at the Hilton Eugene April 23 to “speak to the faithful”. My question is whether they’ll have the meeting in the conference center or if they’ll be able to fit everyone in Sarah’s hotel room.

From what the article says, Palin’s coming as a keynote speaker for the republican annual Lincoln Day Fundraiser (they’ll be a few months behind by April 23). Republican Party Leaders have been working for almost a year to bring her to Eugene.

No information was disclosed as to how much it cost the party to bring Palin to Eugene, or how much seating at the convention will cost. Interested Republicans can sign up by calling 541-342-4166.

Oregon Commentator Archive Updated

January 7th, 2010 by D

dingbat

I know you’ve all been clamoring for an updated OC Archive, and lucky you it has finally been posted. The Archives from this year and the end of last year have been updated, with my end goal being to scan in all of the old issues as well.

Until then, enjoy Volume 26 and Volume 27.

Decade of Debauchery

December 19th, 2009 by D

As this decade (the Twenty-oughts) comes to a close, the Commentator will inevitably examine the impact of several movements, from politics to pop culture, from the last ten years. In kind, much has happened over the last ten years to the Commentator itself, and I believe it to be important, dear readers, for you to learn about who we were at the turn of the century, if only to better understand who we are today.

Perfecting the Art

frohn dead

Just one month before the turn of the century, the Oregon Commentator was in some relative hot water over a front cover they had ran purporting then University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer to have died. Frohnmayer famously had a heart attack at a medical conference in Bethesda, Maryland but had escaped the ordeal relatively unharmed.

At the time, “Das Frohn” was rather upset about the cover, “Quite frankly, he was pissed off,” said then-OC editor Bill Beutler.

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Lest We Forget…

December 6th, 2009 by Vincent

Sometimes, living in the Pacific Northwest, it’s easy to forget just how loathsome and malignant hipsters are. They are, after all, nearly as ubiquitous as such similarly squishy and useless northwest fixtures as “fog” and “moss” [Fog is not squishy. -ed], not to mention their close namesakes, hippies. We observe with embarrassed disgust these irritating, unimaginative raiders-of-long-dead-pop-culture pedaling around town on their fixed-gear bicycles, frequently sporting absurd facial hair and 1980’s garb — though neon-colored early-1990’s clothing has in recent years begun to creep into “fashion”.

But lest we forget how miserable and, ultimately, brainless and malevolent hipsterism is, one need only take a glance at the sorts of antics International Hipsterdom routinely engages in, specifically the marketing of designer jeans produced in such transgressive, counter-culture places like North Korea. According to the Swedish hipster at the center of all of this:

The idea for the project was born out of curiosity for North Korea, which has grown increasingly isolated in recent years under Western criticism of its human rights record and nuclear ambitions. “The reason we did this was to come closer to a country that was very difficult to get into contact with.” [emphasis added… also, die a painful death of syphilis, or something, you putrid sore]

Frankly, I agree. Damn the West for “isolating” North Korea by “criticizing” its human rights record. I guess when you’ve had the collapse of Enron happen on your soil, you’ve got no place pointing fingers at all those gulags. After all, it isn’t as if North Korea hasn’t walled itself off from the rest of the world since the 1950’s. Then again, no one ever accused hipsters of having any sense of history — unless you’re talking about what sorts of clothes were trendy from about 1978 until sometime in the 1990’s, that is.

Thankfully, it seems like non-hipster factions in Swedish society have come to their senses, refusing to allow shelf-space to so-called “NOKO” branded designer clothes (if you didn’t hate hipsters before, just take a look at the wastes of sperm pictured in the BBC report). At least one of the founders of “NOKO Jeans” admits that North Korea “sometimes treats its citizens terribly.” Huh. You don’t say. Well, it’s a good thing, then, that a gaggle of well-intentioned young lads decided to give it the good old college try and did what they could to fix the situation by… err… peddling North Korean-made clothing at exorbitant prices in Swedish luxury boutiques (the jeans were reputedly slated to be sold for $215). I’m sure that they really would’ve made a difference if the forces of international capital hadn’t forced their wares off the shelves.

The game’s just so loaded, you know?

At any rate, the next time you see some hipster galavanting around campus, cocksure in his faux-Mercury mustache or her unconvincing “nerd-girl” attire, just remember to ask that person if they’d buy the latest, hippest “NOKO” jeans if given the chance. At the very least, it’ll make them feel uncomfortable, defensive, and most importantly, unfashionable. What’s certain is that the those of us who don’t necessarily mind being used as marionettes by the forces of international capital need to take every advantage over this vile sub-species that we can afford, even if it means making them feel that they’re not decked out in the most transgressive and “avant” of duds.

Because that’s the real crime.

Journalistic Failure

December 5th, 2009 by Guy

The original publisher of the Oregon Commentator, Dane Claussen, once said that the OC’s purpose was to print the news that, “the other publications are unable to tell you because of inexperience, incompetence or the narrow-mindedness of their staffs.” That was some 26 years ago and it seems the OC still has purpose. Not to continue to toot our own horn or anything but, as any regular reader of the blog knows (because we’ve been pimping it hard), the OC has recently published a 25th anniversary book edited by the current publisher Timothy Dane Carbaugh.

Call me crazy, but it seems to me students creating, printing and selling a 300-page hard bound history book completely on their own volition about a student organization that’s survived significant adversity for more than 25 years would be a newsworthy event. Which is why I am glad to finally announce that, now just about a month after the book was released, the Daily Emerald has gotten around to publishing a story.

You’d think that this would be the sort of thing that would hit the front page of any daily student newspaper, but here at the University of Oregon you’d be wrong. Instead, the story was buried deep in the “scene” insert. I would link to the article, but it is suspiciously absent from their online content. Luckily for them, we’ve published the article here.

I wonder if ol’ Mr. Claussen would chock this up to simple narrow-mindedness or gross incompetence? I can’t say, but you take a look at this editorial cartoon about Sarah Palin’s book recently published by the Emerald and you will probably agree that it is a real chicken shit outfit over there.

Going ROUGE

Do not ridicule someone’s “intellectual substance” if you are going to screw up the spelling of “rogue”.

OC on TV Part 2

December 3rd, 2009 by D

Apparently you can embed this file. Oops.

New Button to Purchase “By the Barrel”

December 2nd, 2009 by D

bythebarrel

We just added a new button (look to your right) underneath the “Current Issue” button that you can click and be able to purchase a copy of our book By the Barrel: 25 Years of the Oregon Commentator.

Clicking the button takes you to another page that has a short description of the book as well as a picture of the cover and a list of chapters. At the beginning and end of the page there is a link that allows you to purchase a copy of the book with your credit/debit card or with PayPal.

You can also click this link and it will take you to the same place.

For just $10 you get a book that’s hardbound, has a dust jacket and has 24-pages of glossy color in the middle. Increase your money’s utility this holiday season by giving it to us.

Oregon Commentator to appear on KVAL morning news

November 29th, 2009 by D

KVAL

Guy Simmons and I will be appearing on the KVAL morning news, specifically an interview with anchor Shelley Kurtz on Monday, November 30th.

It will be my first time on TV since I appeared on Ramblin’ Rod when I was 7. I’m not sure about Simmons though; he’s from Alaska, I’m not sure if that kind of technology has made its way up there yet.

The story will be about the Oregon Commentator’s book, By the Barrel: 25 Years of the Oregon Commentator. Be sure to wake yourself up and watch us or DVR it or something.