Continued from Page 2
legislatures could not limit its
availability.
Bork disagrees with this ex
pansion of judicial authority.
He has written that "Roe v.
Wade is an unconstitutional
decision, a serious and wholly
unjustifiable judicial usurpa
tion of state legislative authori
ty.” And he's right
But the larger question is not
simple. If the abortion ruling
usurped the role of the state
legislatures, then didn't many
of the civil rights rulings also do
that? Complicating the question
of judicial authority vs.
legislative authority is that
legislatures, since its members
are voted by majorities, can be
unjust toward minority con
cerns Given the temperament
of a certain era and place (for ex
ample, Mississippi. 1962)
perhaps the authority of state
legislatures should lie usurped
by a "higher power," such as
the Supreme Court
The argument over Bork's
confirmation is not simple.
Bork is probably politically con
servative. His statements about
abortion, homosexual rights,
the death penality, and other
divisive issues, offend liberals
like Ted Kennedy But it is un
fair to assume that Bork lacks
the integrity to separate his per
sonal views from his respon
sibilities as a judge. As Maurice
Holland, the University’s clean
of the law school, has testified.
Bora is a formidlble scholar,
with a keen legal mind, and has
been a responsible judge whose
decisions on the Circuit Court of
Appeals have been well within
the mainstream of judical
thinking.
Hut such an astute evaluation
falls on deaf ears. Liberals fear
Bork because they see him as a
man who will oppose their ef
forts to enact change through
the courts rather than the
legislatures. As a result, they
have over-simplified and
distorted his views, taking them
out of their proper legal context
and placing them within the
more explosive socio-political
context. It is a tactic that is like
ly to work.
Cruising
Continued from Page 1
*»
"Since all the other things
don't work, that is an approach
we haven't tried yet. and I think
we should,” Mason said.
"I'm not totally callous about
their needs. My problem is
where do you put such an event
without it affecting people who
live there," he said.
In presenting the proposed
ordinance to the commission.
Mason outlined the recent
history of the "Gut."
Since 1974. the city has
undertaken such measures as
barricading streets, talking to
high school classes, publishing
a "gut cruisers guide," and
selectively enforcing laws, in
order to eliminate problems
cruising has created The efforts
have met with little success.
Mason said.
"The selective enforcement,
in my opinion, has always been
a band-aid approach." he said
When police eliminate traffic
congestion in an area off
Willamette Street, it soon
becomes a problem elsewhere,
he added.
The problems associated with
By GARY LARSON
Although their descendants firmly deny this.
Neanderthal mobsters are frequently linked with
the anthropological treasures of Olduval Gorge.
t.r«|>hi< by Urr«tn« Hath
cruising include hit-and run in -
cidents. assaults, rapes and the
selling and use of drugs.
"The youths themselves are
victims down there," he said.
According to Mason, a city at
torney has reviewed the propos
ed ordinance, and "his feelings
are that it's not a ordinance that
violates the Constitution.”
At the present time, the local
chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union is studying the
ordinance, said Christine
Donahue, neighborhood liaison
for the City of Kugene.
Financial aid definition
of independence changed
The federal government
has once again altered its
definition of an "indepen
dent student." but this deci
sion probably won't affect
many students, according to
Edmond Vignoul. student
financial aid director for the
University
Previously, students could
only be classified as in
dependent if any of the
following conditions
applied:
• turn 24 years old before
(anuary l. 1987.
• are an orphan or ward of
the court.
• am a veteran.
• are a graduate or profes
sional student not claimed as
an exemption on parents'
ll.S. income tax return for
1987
• are married and not
claimed as an exemption on
parents' U S income tax
return for 1987.
• have legal dependents
other than a spouse.
• were not claimed as an
exemption on parents' ll.S.
income tax returns for 1985
and 1 9 B ti an cl can
demonstrate self sufficiency
during l‘)B5 and I'lHti by
showing evidence of an an
nual income of at least
$4,000. not including finan
cial aid
Now, however, students
can Include financial aid as a
resource in showing an an
nual income of at least
$4,000
“Students are being given
the illusion that they are go
in g to receive more
assistance as a result,"
Vignoul said. "That's not the
case.”
“The new definition isn't
much different than what it
was before," he continued
"We don't expect many
more students (to qualify as
independent), and if there
are. we certainly have the
manpower to handle them."
Vignoul also said that most
students should know about
the change, and if they have
questions they should talk
with an advisor in the Office
of Student financial Aid.
2li0 Oregon Hall.
Convocation
Continued from Page l
While Kill/ agreed with the
president's assertion that the
Constitution did have ramifica
tions for the rest of the world,
he took issue with Reagan's
overt praise, contrasting that
view with Supreme Court
Justice Thurgood Marshall's,
who earlier this year called the
Constitution an "imperfect
document,"
ni u n u ni c n t u o u s social
transformation.'
Katz concluded t>y saying.
“In tli ink i hr about the
bic entennial, it seems to me ap
propriate to praise the framers
and the document. And in do
ing that, we have to be realists,
and we have to tie committed to
the notion that it is the capacity
of tiie Constitution and the coil
‘The Constitution stands as a bulwark
against revolution on the one hand and
legislative sovereignty on the other’
— Stanley Katz
Uuoting Marshall, katz said.
'The government (the founding
fathers) devised was defective
from the start, requiring several
amendments, civil war and
stitutlonal system to adapt itself
to a radically changing nation.”
This ability to adapt to
change is the Constitution's
greatest asset, Katz added
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