Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 1977)
Vol. 79. No. 30 Eugene, Oregon 97403 Thursday, October 13, 1977 Discussing the Alan Bakke reverse discrimination case Wednesday were Ron Griffith and Barbara Caulfield, assistant law professors, Julia Laranang, representa tive for the National Committee to Overturn the Bakke Decision, Angelo Gomez, law student and moderator tor the panel, and Paul Olum, vice-president for academic affairs and provost. The discussion was part of the two-day Bakke symposium sponsored by groups opposed to Bakke's contention he was denied admis sion by the University of California medical school at m mm > Photo by Steve Scher Davis because he was white. His case is now before the Supreme Court. The symposium was sponsored by the Minority Law Students Association, the National Lawyers Guild, the Native American Student Union and the Asian American Student Union. Bakke on trial: Reverse discrimination decisions threaten women, affirmative action By JAMES MILLER Of the Emerald If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Alan Bakke, the deci sion wiH not only affect admis sion programs, but minority employment and women's rights as well, Barbara Caul field said Wednesday during a panel discussion on the Bakke reverse discrimination case Caulfield, an assistant law professor at the University, said the civil rights of women are "intertwined'' with those of minorities. "Any attack on race as factor will also be an attack on sex as a factor," she said. She also stated that the affirmative ac tion programs in employment practices are in jeopardy due to the Bakke decision. “Right now employers are waiting to see whether they have to continue with quota hir ing or not,” she said. Speaking with Caulfield in the EMU Forum were Dr. Paul Olum, vice-president for academic affairs and provost, Ron Griffin, assistant professor of law, and Julia Laranang, representative of the National Committee to Overturn the Bakke Decision. Griffin said the thirteenth amendment is adequate jus tification for state affirmative action programs. "tf discrimination is a relic of slavery then states are called upon to eliminate that discrimi nation. Affirmative action prog rams have been shown to be an effective means to this end,” he said. CHum said various types of discrimination are practiced by all universities. “We are talking about some thing that happens in every university,” he said. "No uni versity relies simply upon GPA and SAT scores. Preference is given to students because of athletic ability, leadership, or geographic location.” Olum said that race should be in cluded in these considerations because of the existing struc ture of society. “Whether we like it or not, communities or minorities do exist and are separate from the rest of society. Leaders are needed in these areas. We need black doctors and lawyers in black communities. Trust and confidence play im portant roles here." CHum said that while he sup ports special admission prog rams in general, he believes the University of California at Davis system was wrong. “It was too rigid; the quotas should have been more flexi ble. That was a big mistake," he said. The panel members in gen eral were not optimistic about the chances for a reversal by a conservative court. "I would hope that the Court would say do it over but in a better way, Olum said. “But there are strong moral and constitutional arguments on both sides of the case.” “My major concern,” Caul field said, “is that the Supreme Court will simply base their de cision on the University of California at Davis system specifically, and noton affirma tive action in general. If that’s the case, the decision will sup port the California court.” She said the makeup of the Su preme Court was also a worry. See related stories pages 3 and 5. Mass transit plan previewed by council By GARY NORRIS Of the Emerald The Eugene city council received a preview of the Eugene-Springfield Area Transportation 2000 plan (ESATS) at its Wednesday meeting. The study—to be released by the Lane Council of Governments (L-COG) in about 2 weeks—must be adopted by July 1, 1978 by the governments of Eugene, Springfield and Lane County, in order for this area to re main eligible for federal funds for projects. The study also carries with it a mandatory five-year update cycle. The plan contains four major elements: • Policy: According to the summary the council re ceived, this element of the plan “is intended to give public direction concerning transportation-related issues bet ween now and the year 2000. • Transit: This section recommends development of a bus rapid transit system. Such a system is defined as “an express-like transit routing supported by local bus routes.” Any area rapid transit system plans will be mainly an upgrading of existing lines, according to city planning en gineer Dave Reinhard. "Articulated” buses, those which bend in the middle to negotiate comers, might be used in the future, Reinhard said, along with 80-passenger “super buses.” Another facet of improved transit service, accord ing to Reinhard, would be giving priority treatment to ex press buses at intersections. • Streets and highways: The plan recommends no major construction projects before 1990, but intends to meet increasing traffic load until then by widening existing streets and intersections. Major projects proposed after 1990 include a controUed-access facility to replace Sixth and Seventh avenues, an extension of the Washington Jefferson Street bridge and a replacement or modification of the Ferry Street bridge. According to Reinhard, ESATS researchers “went through a process of looking at corridors where there would be serious overloads by 2000. ” • Financing: This section notes that “based on existing funding levels, insufficient funds will be available both in the short run (between now and 1983) and in the long run, to pay for recommended capital improvements.” The plan suggests some ways to address the problem. ESATS tries to work with existing transportation sys tems, according to Reinhard, because “between now and 1990 we are facing fuel uncertainties and a lack of fund ing.” “We feel that we are building toward alternative sys tems by working with the ones we have now,” Reinhard said, “but the funding constraints that we re facing could make other issues academic.” Councilman Brian Obie was concerned with the amount of public appraisal the study is to receive before being adopted. “A lot of people have strong feelings about this,” Obie said. “ Shouldn’t there be a way people can express their feelings at the front end of the process, so we don’t get into the final phases and have people throwing up their hands and saying ‘why wasn’t this done before?’ ” Eugene city planner Jim Farah replied that the report is to be distributed widely throughout the community. Public review will continue from its release until area governments take steps to adopt it — about April or May, 1978.
