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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1973)
House passes shield law By NAN HENDERSON Of the Emerald SALEM (Special)—The House Monday passed an “unqualified” reporters’ shield law which guarantees journalists the right to refuse to divulge their sources of information. But the passage followed a strong move to send the bill back to committee to add some qualifications about who the measure protects and under what circumstances. The bill, SB 206, passed the Senate several weeks ago and now goes to Gov Tom McCall. He is expected to sign the bill as he has called it, “a priority piece of legislation.” Rep. Robert Ingalls (R Corvallis), who carried the bill on the House floor, said many reporters felt they did not need a shield law before last June’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court which stated the First Amend ment to the U S. Constitution guaranteeing freedom of the press does not protect reporters from being compelled to reveal sources. Since then, Ingalls pointed out, many reporters and press organizations have begun pushing for an unqualified shield “because sources just dry up” under the threat of being ex posed. “Passage of this measure is necessa»-y for protection of the public’s right to know,” Ingalls, a newspaper editor, said. Other legislators indicated they disagreed with Ingalls by voting in favor of the motion to send the bill back to committee. “I make this motion with a good deal of regret because I sat on the committee that considered the bill,” Rep. George Cole (D Seaside) said. ‘‘But, I am not satisfied with the end product because it shields practically everyone that is involved with the dissemination of information,” he added. Cole also pointed out that the bill makes no provision for compelling a reporter to reveal sources in cases with ‘‘an overriding public interest.” He said the bill “goes far beyond what is necessary for newsmen to protect their sour ces.” Rep. Norma Paulus (R-Salem) supported Cole’s motion and appealed “to both the con servatives and very liberal elements of this assembly.” Liberal Arts revision Students may advise dean Students may soon have an opportunity to be members of the advisory committee to the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. The committee serves as an advisory body to the Dean on all matters of policy, with the major emphasis on promotion and tenure within the College of Liberal Arts. The advisory committee recently established an ad hoc committee, with the purpose of investigating a proposal that three student members be added to the advisory committee. Student input is essential to the ad hoc committee, according to a member of the committee, biology professor Edward Novitski, who stresses that committees often have a difficult time obtaining the opinions of students. To help close this communications gap, the ad hoc committee is asking students who have opinions, pro or con, in regard to student representation on the Advisory committee to make these opinions known. An ASUO proposal that students become members of the advisory committee was made last November before the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts. The proposal asked that the three students “function as full members, participating in all committee activities.” The proposal also stated that at least one of the students be an un dergraduate, at least one a graduate student, and that there be one student each from the Humanities, the Sciences, and the Social Sciences. The original proposal provided for the student members to be nominated by the ASUO President and confirmed by the ASUO Senate. As the Senate no longer exists, a new method for Pre-school education panel meets tonight A symposium on “Questions and Issues in Pre-School Education,’’ will be held at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the second-floor auditorium of the Clinical Services building. The panel discussion is part of a “Week of the Young Child,’’ being held this week and sponsored by the Oregon Association for the Education of Young Children. Participating on tonight’s panel are Siegried Englemann, associate professor of special education, Mary Rothbart, research fellow in the department of psychology, Martin Waechter, visiting professor, special education, Marion Corlin, associate professor, department of family life, William Shep part, assistant professor of psychology and Robert Leber, professor psychology. All panel participants are associated with the University. German AUTO SERVICE VOLKSWAGEN MERCEDES & PORSCHE DATSUN& TOYOTA FACTORY TRAINED EXPERTS /(Irtratn , ! *uio inm/ GUENTER SCHOENER Bus. Ph. 342-2912 2045 FRANKLIN BLVD Eugene, Oregon 974U3 election will have to be deter mined if the rest of the proposal is accepted, Novitski said. Students who wish to state their opinions have been asked by Novitski to make a written statement of their views and present it to one of the five ad hoc committee members. The members are: Stoddard Malarkey, associate professor of English, 118C PLC; Novitski, 65 Science; Michael Posner, Professor of psychology, 316 Condon; Steven Rendall, associate professor of Romance Languages, 210 Friendly; and Jack Sanders, associate professor of religious studies, 221 Chapman. The written statement can also be left in the office of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, located in 114 Friendly Hall. Paulus, an attorney, said she would rather not have any shield law because “passing the measure will give way to the growing opinion that freedom is a privilege, and I abhor that.” But. she said that if the Legislature passes a shield law it should include “some very minimal qualifications.” Paulus urged that the bill be amended to include provisions giving any defendant the right to compel newspersons to reveal sources or unpublished inform ation to prove his or her in nocence. She argued that the real basis for any shield law was not protecting the public’s right to know, “since I have seen no evidence of a need for this bill in Oregon,” but that “the U.S. government has no business using the press as an in vestigative arm.” Rep. Keith Skelton (D Portland), an attorney, said he has “been trying to get a shield law passed in Oregon for many years.” The measure has failed during previous sessions, he said, because of divisions on the issue among “members of the press.” But, he pointed out that since the Supreme Court ruling last June, 35 reporters across the country have been jailed or fined for refusing to reveal their sources. “Reporters are being told what to say and what not to say by judges of this country,” Skelton said. The motion to re-refer the bill failed, 22-38, and the bill was approved 49-21. Tooli ATLANTA 12-STBINfi 6U1TAR; Blind Willie McTell KWAX-FM 91.1 wanda remarkable NUC PRESENTS Thur., April 5 OUR DAILY BREAD OUR DAILY BREAD, directed by King Vidor, is a prime example of 'he social consciousness film that developed in the early thirties. It delivers compellingly the mood and climate of the Great Depression with all its human waste: the establishment of a "back to the land" cooperative is a true emotional reaction to the grim facts of life in the thirties, not an outgrowth of reasoned economic theory. The depiction of the digging of a ditch to bring water to the parched cornfields is in the vanguard of cinematography, bearing comparison to the Odessa-Steps sequence in POTEMKIN. aiso, MARIANA a short documentary film whose heroine is a 23-year old Chilean university student, deeply involved in the struggle of Chilean women to achieve dignity in their society. Admission $1.00 All profits go to movement and community groups All you smokers who plan to quit someday: ~ Canyou throw away that pack mVHF tr ■■w-11, ,IWW • It’s not easy, is it? In 20 years, after 146,000 more cigarettes, you think it’s going to be easier? Don’t kid yourself. Quit now. You’ll never get a chance like this again. U S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare This space contributed as a public service.
