Oregon daily
emerald
Thursday, May 9, 1985
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 86, Number 150
Live comedy at the Forum
Comedian Ray Hanna keeps 'em laughing Wednesday night in the Forum Room of the EMU during the
live Comedy Night sponsored by the EMU Cultural Forum.
Students were entertained by Hanna and fellow comedienne Susan Rice for an hour and a half on topics
ranging from pathological bank personnel to men's derrieres, with an assortment of satirical songs and im
itations thrown in.
Photo by James Marks
Rally scheduled
to show support
for divestment
By Paul Erteit
Of the Emerald
The ASUO is sponsoring a rally in Salem Friday
morning to show support for a bill that would force
divestment of state funds in South Africa.
House Bill 2001, which is before the House Human
Resources Committee, prohibits investment of state
funds in firms doing business in countries that practice
apartheid. The bill also directs “prudent divestment”
of current state investments in those firms over a two
year period.
The bill, which singles out and condemns the
racial policies of South Africa and Namibia, affects the
Public Employee’s Retirement Fund, Industrial Acci
dent Fund and short-term funds.
During a work session Friday afternoon, the com
mittee will vote on a proposed amendment to the bill
that will require the state treasurer and the Oregon In
vestment Council to divest funds along the lines of the
Sullivan Principles. Those principles stipulate that
businesses operating in South Africa should follow
non-discriminatory practices.
Scott Jones, assistant state affairs coordinator for
ASUO, says the amendment would water down the bill.
“That is not an amendment I would accept,” he
says. “I don’t think the Sullivan Principles are an ade
quate measure to end apartheid.”
The principles only affect hiring practices for the
few blacks working for those companies, he says, but
do not address the widespread social and political
restrictions placed on blacks. Divestment, on the other
hand, puts direct economic pressure on the South
African government, he says.
The work session is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in
hearing room D. The rally will be held at 10:30 a.m.
outside the Capitol Building.
Speakers at the rally include Rep. Margaret Carter,
D-Portland, the sponsor of the bill and Debra Cook, of
Clergy and Laity Concerned.
The ASUO is organizing carpools to Salem to leave
the parking lot at Moss Street and 15th Avenue at 9 a.m.
on Friday.
Fire strikes Carson Hall
Carson Hall was the sight of a fire early
Wednesday evening, which left an
estimated $500 in damage. There were
no injuries. The fire occured at 5:23 p.m.
when an unknown substance was left
unattended in a kettle on a stove in a
first-floor kitchen.
Returning to the hall after an evening
jog, Eric Chantelois, a resident assistant
at Carson, noticed smoke billowing out
of the kitchen and flames about two feet
long coming out of the kettle. He yelled
to Debra Fesak at the Carson desk, and
she called the fire department.
“1 didn’t even smell the smoke. 1
didn’t notice anything until I heard Eric
yell,” said Fesak. When she looked into
the lobby, she saw smoke rolling out of
the hallway toward the main desk, she
said.
The water sprinkler system activated
shortly thereafter, said Chantelois. Fesak
and Chantelois quickly shut the doors to
the cafeteria and evacuated the building.
Soon after, the fire department arrived
and extinguished the fire.
“It all went very quick," said
Chantelois.
Marge Bigelow of campus security
said fire fighters and campus security of
ficers arrived at the scene within five
minutes of the initial call.
The kitchen was charred and the lobby
flooded with water, which leaked into
the basement.
It has not been determined who left the
kettle unattended.
Bias-lawsuit bill defeated
SALEM (AP) — The Senate on
Wednesday narrowly rejected a bill to
allow students who think they’ve been
discriminated against to file lawsuits in
state courts.
The measure, Senate Bill 413, was
defeated on a 15-13 vote with no debate,
but its floor manager, Sen. L.B. Day, R
Salem, said he would attempt to win
reconsideration of the bill on Thursday.
Day said students who think schools
have discriminated against them because
of sex, race, religion or other factors
either have to file a complaint with the
school or file a lawsuit in federal court.
Giving them a chance to take such
suits to circuit courts would be more
equitable than having schools decide
whether they've discriminated against a
student and less time-consuming than
going to federal court, Day said.
The bill would apply to all students in
grade school through college, he said.
Stupidity on parade
By Patrick Low
Of the Emerald
If you can’t fight mediocrity, thg
logical solution is to embrace it,
acknowledge and celebrate its pro
found influence on civilization, and
then hope it works for you.
This philosophy apparently
motivated a number of campus
students to submit a total of 22 brain
numbing home movies to the EMU
Cultural Forum for its first Stupidest
Home Movie Contest. And on Friday,
the best of them will be shown at 8
p.m. in Room 150 Geology.
“It’s going to be a celebration of the
creative ineptness of the common
man,” said Jeff Vetterick, film and
video coordinator for the Cultural
Forum.
The Stupidest Home Movie Contest
is an offshoot of the Forum’s Annual
Film/Video Art Show, a showcase for
professional filmmaking talent, cur
rently in its fourth year.
This year, Vetterick decided to give
amateurs a shot at fame, so he added
the stupid movie contest.
“On the one hand, we have this
avant-garde, artsy and prestigious
event, so 1 figured why not have
something for the common folk, so-to
speak, in the form of a stupid home
movie contest?” Vetterick said. “1
was sure there was a lot of stupid
talent out there.”
However, making the selections for
the Friday showing proved to be a dif
ficult task for the judges, all of whom
were carefully selected “for their
ability to withstand cruel and unusual
visual abuse.”
“We wanted something that people
would laugh at — not laugh with,”
Vetterick said. “But how do you
quantify a concept like stupidity? The
judges had to struggle with that.”
However, Vetterick said the win
ners won’t be publicized until Friday.
Friday’s show will be hosted by
Portland comedian J.P. Linde, who
will be bringing along one of his own
home movies for the occasion.
The winner of the contest will be
announced sometime during the
show and will be awarded a $100
check.
Admission is free, but barf bags will
not be provided. Bring your own.
See related stories Page 12