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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 1982)
debbie howlett reporter’s notebook A group of young journalists, high school students at last Wednesday's 56th Annual High School Press Conference, became involved in an event that was not on their conference schedule — an unplanned, spontaneous collision of beliefs The event was a comment on the political inclinations of "today's high school student ” The students gathered in front of the EMU, out of curiosity most likely, to listen to the rhetoric of the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade paired with a goodly amount of right-wing rebuttal by a not so organized assemblage The "leader'' of this assemblage was Mike Cross, a University student and a Republican challenger for a state senate seat This group of onlookers, 90 percent of whom had conference name tags affixed to their lapels, showed some of the things that the high school students of the 1980s seem to be made of: A strong conservative bent and genuine intolerance What ensued was not the exchange and evaluation of ideals It was a barrage of wadded paper, rash generalizations, immature tittering about "how funny" the RCYB looked and taunting chants of "USA, all the way." My concern does not lie with the content of the spirited debate, I feel the high school ranks could do well with such experience, provided that both sides are given "equal" opportunity to speak — and honest evaluation It was the "inequity,” the total and complete intolerance for the RCYB's words by these high school journalists, that bothers me I am concerned and worried that this group, these young adults so intent upon learning the parameters of journalism — objectivity, fairness and the right of free speech — would conduct themselves with such a level of intolerance Even though some of these students may decide not to go into journalism, it is none the less disheartening to view them voicing opinions fraught with misplaced generalizations It was their incomprehension of what they were opposing that scares me My point is not that I am intolerant of their views: I appreciate their patriotism and the right to believe in their country My point is that their opinion was formed with incomplete information and very minimal thought These students did not allow themselves to view both sides objectively, to learn about a different ideal Instead, these young students settled for an hour of name-calling and heckling This prejudice — opinion formed without full knowledge — is a tragedy It is a shame that these students, many of whom will undoubtedly become journalists, let emotion and personal bias, guide them to their conclusions It is a shame that on their trip home, they will pat each other on the back, much like they do after a Friday night football game, and congratulate themselves for being "journalists " letters Advocate I am writing this letter to en dorse Rep Margie Hendriksen for the Oregon State Senate During tfe 1981 Legislature Rep Hendrirsen worked closely with the Multnomah County District Attorney s office and proved to be one of the leading victim advoca es in the House of Representatives She sponsored and helped pass laws which protect people from violent sexual attacks De spite pressure from other members of the House, Rep Hendriksen pushed out of com mittee and passed a bill allowing the district attorney to appeal erroneous pre-trial rulings by trial courts in forcible sexual assault cases She assisted my office in its efforts to improve the criminal laws protecting children, handicapped and senior citizens from abusive conduct At a time when the resources of our communites are precious, Rep Hendriksen has helped law enforcement insure the rights and well being of the people of the State of Oregon I hope the citizens of Lane County allow Rep Hendriksen to continue her efforts in the next session of the Oregon Legislature Michael Schrunk District Attorney 'WHO'S INSIDE?' Dr\litinal Fairer I VIIIIVUI I Ull V Some clarifications are necessary on the Political Faire mentioned in the Oct 7 Emer ald First, the Political Faire is co-sponsored by the ASUO, SUAB, and SURC Second, Rep Jim Weaver's office did not contact us requestng a special time for an appearance Originally, the Faire was scheduled for three days Only in the first phone call four weeks ago did we mention to Weaver s office, and all other candidates involved in the faire, that there was a choice to appear on one of the three days However, due to limited fund ing and staff for the Faire, it was necessary to combine all debates into one day, Thursday Oct 21, since we must pay for the EMU Ballroom All candidates were informed of this change and rescheduled for debates on Thursday except in the debate planned between Jim Weaver and Ross Anthony We have gone through a great deal of effort in preparing the debate formats for the entire day Both Anthony's and Weaver's office were notified of the debate formats possible, the time period for Thursday even ing, and the panelists from the various media in Oregon who would participate Anthony's office confirmed the time with the ASUO while Weaver’s office did not We hand delivered letters to Weaver's office and made numerous phone calls asking of Jim Weaver s decision by Sept 27 Not one lettter or call was returned to confirm the debate Consequently, Ross Anthony -1 Oregon daily _ _ emerald The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Monday through Today except during exam week and vacations, by the Oregon Dally Emerald Publishing Co at the University of Oregon. Eugene, OR, 97403 The Emerald operates independently ot the University with offices on the third floor of fhe Erb Memorial Union and is a member of the Associated Press News and Editorial 68* 55 It Display Advertising and Business 6** 3712 Classified Advertising 63* 4343 Production 666-43*1 Circulation 6**5511 Editor Harry Esfeve Page 2 Managing Editor News Editor Assistant News Editor Editorial Page Editor Photo Editor Sports Editor Associate Sports Editor Entertainment Editor Night Editor Associate Editors Higher Education Departments and Schools Student Government features Politics Community Genera! Start Advertising Manager Classified Advertising Production Manager Controller John Healy Marian Green Cort Fernald Joan Nyland Bob Baker Mike Riplingpf Paul Da.uer Jonathan Siegi* Cort Fernald Debbie Mowlett Sandy Johnstone Richard Burr Sean Meyers Michele Malataa David Brown Darlene Gore Sally Oljar Victoria Koch Jean Qwnbey will be speaking to the students and the Eugene-Springfield community In place of the debate, questions from the audience will be addressed However, through-out the entire day, debates between legisla tive candidates will be held and both Vic Atiyeh and Ted Kulon goski have been invited to speak as well The ASUO, SUAB, SURC cordially invite all students and citizens of Eugene and Spring field to attend this event and find out more about the candidates in their districts. We are only sorry that the public will not have the opportunity to attend a formal debate between the Fourth District Congressional candidates Michael Prothe representative, SUAB Topsy-turvy This letter is in response to George Streisinger's "Constitu tional letter" (Oct 5) Mr Streisinger. and others like him. need to do their histor ical homework For if any party has been guilty of (naking "end runs" around the Constitution it has been the Supreme Court itself To use Mr StreisingOr's ball game analogy, the Supreme Court is no longer merely an umpire making judgement calls based on a faithful adherence to the rulebook (Constitution) as It was originally written Rather modern Supreme Courts have re-written the rulebook at every turn Blithely ignoring volumes of commentaries by the architects of the Constitution about the original meaning of such things as the First Amendment, the Court opted instead for the maxim set forth by Justice Evans Hughes in 190? "The Constitution is what the judges say it is " Thus nine |udges now arbi trarily mold the Constitution to achieve whatever they perceive to be the greatest social good For example, in 1973 when the Court decided that women must have the "right" to abor tion. it played Silly Putty with the 14th Amendments and voila' the constitutional right" to abor tion Many constitutional scholars (even pro-abortionists) noted that the Court had greatly over stepped its jurisdiction in Roe v Wade Indeed, Court insiders, recognizing the constitutional absurdity of the decision, named it "Harry's abortion” in honor of Justice Harry Black mun who brokered it. No, the beloved senator from North Carolina is not undermin ing the Constituiion On the contrary, it is an imperial Court, handing down its arbitrary, amoral, unquestionable deci sions from on high, that has turned our constitutional foun dation topsy-turvy Tom Visoky graduate, journalism Scathing The scathing attack on Springfield "The other city” in the Emerald deserves an equal ly scathing response in defense of Springfield's honor Eugene and Springfield at the core are mill towns, but that's where the similarity ends Eugene has four layers of slime that have defaced its true identity and good character The first layer is the pseudo socialities comprised mostly of eastern carpet bagging snobs who dress fashionably, love the arts and should be in Boston to pursue their snooty endeavors The second layer is the burned out hippie sect circa 1969 who roam the Fifth Street Market sampling afterbirth quiche with Keseybransprout yogurt and rave about the low ash content in Haight-berry shakes The third and possibly most repulsive layer is the Chicago L A suburbanites who brought thetr sterile upper middle class lifestyles with them The last layer is a composite of tne other three with a dash of University intellectuals who combine to create the worse America has to offer People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones By the way, the Springfield Per forming Arts Menage or SPAM debuts next weekend It s a puppet show at the Big M Shopping Centre Greg Hume Springfield Monday, October 18.1982
