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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1984)
editorial Students must unite for campus safety Rape and sexual assault are creating a campus crisis. Consider the last two weeks alone. On Oct. 30 at 8 p.m., a woman who had just parked her car across the street from McArthur Court was dragged into Pioneer Cemetery and raped. The same night another woman walking along 15th Avenue and Alder Street was approached from behind and pushed to the ground by a man. She got up and ran away. On Nov. 1 at 3 p.m., a woman called Campus Security after being harrassed by a man in a car who got out and followed her into the EMU. On Nov. 2 at 8:30 p.m., a student reported hearing a woman crying and moaning in Pioneer Cemetery. A man was seen running away from the area. The list of sexual assaults and rapes goes on. Female students have been assaulted and raped in almost all areas of the campus, including the dorms. We urge students, both male and female, to come together to deal with this problem. We urge the ASUO to take up the issue of rape on campus with renewed vigor and to discuss ways to stop this trend of violence against women. In the Sept. 28 Emerald editorial we brought up the fact that the lights on 13th Avenue between Kincaid and Univer sity streets were not being turned on at night, making the area more convenient for potential rapists, The lights are still not on. We also suggested that the University hold night classes in centralized, well-lighted areas such as Condon and Chapman halls. We hope this will be the case during winter term. Campus Security has stepped up its efforts to make the campus safer for women, but the responsibility does not rest with them alone. Students need to work together and help out. One idea is to form student-run, male-female escort ser vices to walk women back to their dorms, homes, cars, etc. when requested. Currently, a fraternity-run escort service is in use on campus. While this is a good start, we feel that an escort service that includes both men and women needs to be established if it is to become successful. Students must organize and share ideas on how to lessen the potential for rape on campus. It’s a problem that must be dealt with. Tensions reaching peak for U.S. and Nicaragua Is the United States government creating what it says it fears most in Central America? Has the United States pushed a desperate Nicaragua into the hands of the Soviet Union? We feel that these are important questions. During the past three years the United States has systematically done everything in its power to destabilize the Nicaraguan government. This has included the CIA min ing of Nicaraguan waters, and the publication of a terrorist manual which advocates “selective violence” to be used in creating social chaos in Nicaragua. To carry out its destabilization program, the United States has armed and trained the contras, a rebel group bas ed in Honduras that has pledged to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. International press reports reveal that the contras have killed over 800 civilians (mostly women and children) so far, and destroyed property worth millions of dollars. It was CIA planes that assisted the con tras in bombing the Nicaraguan port of Corinto last year, and it was CIA speed boats that were used in a separate attack on coffee and cotton warehouses near the port. For three years now, the Nicaraguans have been fighting a war on their borders largely financed and organized by the United States. With the arrival of a Soviet freighter in Nicaraguan waters several days ago which U.S. intelligence sources believe might be carrying Soviet MiG fighter jets, a new question arises. Does Nicaragua have the right, as a sovereign nation, to procure weapons in order to protect itself? We do not like the idea of Soviet freighters carrying ad vanced fighter aircraft into Central America. But we also don’t like the idea of the United States supporting a covert war against Nicaragua. Neither do we favor U.S. military escalation in the region, soon to be demonstrated by the Big Pine war games scheduled to take place along Nicaragua’s borders in January. U.S. policy in Central America has heightened military tensions in the region, and pushed Nicaragua into further reliance upon the Soviet Union for economic and military aid. Perhaps this is what President Ronald Reagan has wanted all along, in order to justify a Grenada-like invasion of Nicaragua. With a U.S. warship now stationed off Nicaragua’s Pacific coast, tensions are running high in the region. America has set the stage for another round of gun boat diplomacy. QRIrSAn $-o>r o- Sq-tC V»5. letters Take action! Women, how can you feel safe at this university? As women, we are concerned with the 11-year-old molested in the EMU. We are concerned with the woman assaulted on 15th and Alder. We are concerned with the woman raped in the cemetery. And we are very con cerned because we know that rapes occurring in the dorms are not being reported. This in cludes date rapes. If all rapes are not reported, they will not only continue, but the universi ty and the community will never realize the extent of the problem. Rape must not be tolerated on this campus. We at the Women’s Referral and Resource Center have taken the first step to help prevent rape on campus. We are in the process of establishing a Rape Report Hotline. As of Monday, Nov; 5, women can call and report rapes, acquaintance rapes, assaults, harrassment or any other form of sexual abuse. The hotline will respond im mediately by publicizing a description of the assailant/of fender, any characteristic ap proaches or mannerisms and a warning for women to avoid the area where the assault occurred. All calls will be treated with strictest and utmost confidentiality. This is a significant step, but this is only the first step. Anyone interested in combat ting all phases of this campus’ I most vicious and intolerable problem, including the possible inception of a men’s organiza tion to fight rape, is encouraged to call the WRRC. We need your help; this is a man’s problem too. To report or to volunteer, call 686-3327, 24 hrs. Chris Gonzalez Women's Referral and Resource Center Had enough! I am enraged to find out about the two reported rapes an cam pus last week. I am even more enraged to know that there have been a series of rapes in the dorms as well. Unfortunately, they haven’t been reported! Damn it! As a woman on campus, I don't like having to live like I'm the criminal. Imagine going in to a public bathroom and hav ing to look under all the stalls to be sure you’re safe. Imagine having to be scared shitless to go downstairs and do your laun dry. Imagine. . . f Well, I've had enough of the imagination. It's time to (lo something. I will no longer sit back and just let this happen — 1 won't wait until the quota is reached before anything is to be done by Campus Security or Eugene Police Department. We must get our act together now! On other campuses across the nation the students have responded. Passivism concern ing rape must die. We must speak out. Flyers with descrip tions of a known rapist are distributed as well as informa tion concerning which areas are unsafe. Red spray paint with the words "A women was raped here” is sprayed on the area where the rape occurred. Vigilante groups have arisen with more foot patrol. Damn it! Rape is not a joke. It is an act of violence against women — a brutal, degrading act. I've had enough! I.aura Romano Eugene 1 letters policy The Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing fair com ment on topics of interest to the University community. Letters to the editor must be limited to 250 words, typed and signed, and the identification of the writer must be verified when the letter is turned in. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, style or content. Letters to the editor should be turned into the Emerald office. Suite 300, EMU. Oregon doily emerald The Oregon Daily Emerald Is published Monday through Friday except during exam week and vacations by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403. 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