Oregon Daily
Emerald
Tuesday, October 21. 1986
Eugene. Oregon
Volume 88. Number 34
Affirmative action office faces policy complaints
By Michael Rivera
Of Mm Emerald
Barbara Pope, director of the
women's studies department, has asked
the University administration to appoint
an independent committee to look into
the University's policies and procedures
on sexual harassment because of com
plaints by some women who say current
policies are ineffective.
But Bean Comrada. director of the
University Office of Affirmative Action,
said she "would hope people would
complain if they felt that way..
"If people feel their grievances have
not been treated appropriately for
whatever reason, then they need to make
that known." Comrada said.
A number of women — faculty, staff
and students — expressed an interest in
forming a committee last week after the
Oregon Daily Emerald’s Oct. 13 story
which contained allegations of sexual
harassment against former University
professor Stephen Reynolds. The allega
tions. made by former students of
Reynolds, claimed Reynolds purported
ly had a long history of sexually harass
ing his female students.
Reynolds was convicted this past
summer of the first-degree rape and first
-degree sexual abuse of a five-year-old
girl.
Alison Baker, executive assistant to
the president, said that rather than ap
point a new committer;, she prefers that
the women go through regular channels.
She suggested that Pope and other in
terested women go to the University
Committee on the Status of Women with
their concerns.
The committee was established by
faculty legislation to advise the presi
dent on the status of women on campus.
Baker said.
"If you appoint an independent
committee, there's going to be as much
controversy about who's going to be on
the committee as well as about the
issue." she said.
Besides, no women have expressed
such an interest to the president. Baker
said.
"I am sort of ignorant about exactly
what the problem is,” she said. "I have a
problem defining the problem."
Baker isn’t sure whether women are
concerned because they are unaware of
what the University policy is regarding
sexual harassment, because they find the
policy inadequate or because they
believe the policy is inadequately ad
ministered. she said.
Connie Scolla. a University student
and library aide at the Main Library,
believes the policy is both inadequate
and inadequately carried out.
Scolla went to the OAA in the spring
of 1985 on the advice of her supervisor to
report that she was being harassed by
Reynolds.
Scolla talked to Comrada. who gave
Bean Comrada
her literature to read and told her of the
options available to her. she said Accor
ding to Scolla. Comrade asked her to
return after she had decided how she
wanted to deal with the situation.
After perusing the material. Scolla
decided she wanted to file a formal com
plaint against Reynolds, she said. She
also decided to send him a registered let
ter telling him how she felt about the
situation and asking him to discontinue
his attentions, she said.
When Scolla told Comrada of her
decision, Comrada said that her propos
ed line of action was inappropriate for
the given circumstances, and that it
would be more effective just to write a
letter and hand it to him. Scolla said.
But Scolla wanted to pursue a for
mal complaint, she said, because her
understanding was that, by doing so. the
incident would lie investigated, the
department head would be notified and
the complaint would tie noted in
Reynolds’ personal file.
“I wanted him to have some kind of
recorded history in his personal file and
in the Office of Affirmative Action."
Scolla said. "I wanted to send him a
registered letter so I could avoid another
personal encounter with him ”
But because Comrada was an
authority figure. Scolla said, she figured
Comarada was "the person to listen to
and followed her recommendation."
Comrada helped her start the letter.
.Scolla said, but it took her three days to
build up the courage to give it to
Reynolds. After she gave him the letter,
the harassment did stop, she said.
Even so, Scolla does not believe the
pmblem was resolved as easily as it
might have been.
"Affirmative action is not work
ing," she said. "Something needs to be
done so that things like this don’t go as
far as they have done."
Continued on Page 4
Many still unaware
of alcohol's dangers
By Sarah Kitchen
Of lh« Kmrrald
According to a report published by the Will Rodgers In
stitute, many peuple need to know the facts, not the myths
about alcohol.
In observation of the third National Collegiate Alcohol
Awareness Week, the institute published tips on alcohol con
sumption. Tips include advising people who are going to
drink to eat food high in fat before and during drinking, to
space their drinks, and not to drive, even after just one drink.
The institute believes if more people are aware of the ef
fects alcohol has on the body, and the amount of alcohol the
body can tolerate within a certain amount of time, traffic
fatalities may be reduced. As it stands now. one American
dies in an alcohol-related traffic accident every 35 minutes.
Karen White, administrative assistant for Alcohol
Counseling and Education Services at 1461 Hilyard St., said
she doesn't believe many people are aware of the driving
while-intoxicated rules.
"Not many people realize that the alcohol blood level
limit of .08 is not a minimum; a person can be arrested for
having even less alcohol in his bloodstream," White said.
White said for a 150-pound male. .08 is equal to two
drinks in a two-hour period.
"Also, not many people know that if someone is stopped
for driving under the influence and refuses to take a
breathalizer test, his or her license will be automatically
suspended for one year." White said.
"If a person fails the breathalizer test, his or her license
may be suspended for three months, during which time an
occupational license may be issued." White added.
The Will Rodgers Institute also reports that there are cer
tain myths about alcohol many people still believe, or do not
understand. A stimulant such as caffeine will not reduce the
amount of alcohol in the blood, a cold shower will not do any
good either.
According to Maureen |enne. a counselor at Drinking
Decisions. 1188 Olive St., social drinkers should learn to
space their drinks, keeping the consumption of alcohol to one
drink per hour. Staying occupied while drinking also will
Continued from Page 1
Marijuana legislative issue
raises heatea discussion
By X. Kang Xie
CM Ihr Km«raid
For the second event of the
University’s Alcohol Ur tig
A w a r e n e s s W e e k . I h e
Associated Students of the
University of Oregon sponsored
a panel discussion on the
Oregon Marijuana Initiative,
Ballot Measure Five.
Lane County District Attorney
Doug llarcleroad delta ted with
|ohn Sujoe and Sendee Bur
bank, two drug law reform ac
tivists before approximately tit)
people who attended the event.
"Everyone agrees that our
society has a problem with drug
abuse, the real hard question is
what we're going to do about
it," Sajoe said.
"As far as marijuana goes,
we've tried marijuana prohibi
tion. We've tried it for 50 yeurs.
Hut what have we accomplish
ed?" he said.
In 1935, when marijuana was
made illegal for the first time,
over HK).O(M) people triad it. Sa
joe said. By 1980. 70 million
people have tried the drug, he
said. Looking at these statistics.
Sayjoe believes that marijuana
prohibion has failed
"Now we should try a dif
ferent approch." Sajoe said
The measure will allow
adults to grow and possuss
marijuana in private for their
personal consumption. Using
Photo by Shu Shinn ( Hon
/ohn Say joe. left. Doug Harcleroad, center, and Sandee Bur
bank discuss issues surrounding Ballot Measure Five
the drug in public, and use by
minors would remain illegal.
"I think when we’re con
sidering ballot Measure Five
people need to remember that
we're not voting on mari
juana . .. we're voting whether
or not adults should be arrested
and go to jail for their choice on
using marijuana."
tiurbank. director of the Yes
on 5 Tour, believes the law is
good because of its stipulation
that the drug will be for private
use only.
District Attorney Harclemad
disagrees. If the ballot measure
is passed, people will think it is
now legal to privately consume
and cultivate inarijuuna. he
said.
"That is 100 percent wrong."
he said. "It is still a violation of
federal law."
The federal law will still be in
effect, he said, so even if the law
passes it will still be illegal
under federal law and there will
not be sufficient power to pro
secute all of the cases.
Ilarcleroad said.
The law is ambiguous, and
leaves interpretation between
public and private use. and sell
ing and cultivating of the drug,
he said.