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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1989)
University. Symposium combats, defines discrimination / By Frale de Cu/man Emerald Assoc iate Editor Understanding anti aware ness of one's actions were among the methods of combat ting discrimination tlist tisseti Wednesday in the KMW Forum Room .is part of the ASl 'O Win ter Symposium on racism. The Council for Minority Ed lit at ion (f.'MK) also held a simi lar dist rimination workshop on Tuesday, which discussed the "Similarities and Differences" of cultures and tile need to re define dist rimination Perhaps the most popular view of a person who disc rimi nates against others is that of a "fat. balding. ugly rai ist of Euro-American descent." said Dianna kale. CMF coordinator of intergroup relations "It can 1m- done by nice people and people we work with every day All of us have people we know and love who discrimi nate ” The problem, however, lies in the way people handle the issue Systematic and inslitutional ized discrimination that has ix I ^ I_... 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This fantastic response to the call of service & promotion of world peace and understanding between cultures is to be applauded. There are still many positions open tor summer and fall placements. All degrees and majors are needed. Campus rep., Jake DuDell is available for questions and interviews all academic year. Monday-Friday at Career Planning and Placement Service, Hendricks Hall, Room 244. Call 686-3235 for an appointment. Applications available at front desk. Juniors, now’s the time to gather information and prepare for your candidacy. Peace Corps: An experience you'll never lorget. curred throughout th<‘ United States arc not aided by token gestures of cotnpliani e to an in stitution’s affirmative action policy. Kale said Hut at the same lime, it is morally irresponsible to not deal with the problem, she said The conflict is in the way the problem is addressed Listening and act epting what a person has to sav are key con cepts in helping a person over come a discrimination prob lem, Kale said Before the heal ing process can In-gin. a person must lx* able to turn to others for help, she said But it is not always easy to share one's problem with an other Imm ause to do so requires trust of an individual some thing that is not always present in today's societv. according to Kale "In the ‘50s, discrimination was like getting hit over the head with an ax You c an see the person who wields the in strument and you can feel the pain of the blow." Kale said But in the l'.mo's. it's like gel ting knifed with a razor blade, vou can w.ilk down the street before realizing that vou're bleeding " Tuesday's workshop cen tnred around the way people view others who an1 different from them By using masks and dividing the partic ipants into groups dominant and subcultural people i an see how easy it is to judge others by their appear ance. hales said In the exercise, participants arbitrarily designated as part of the ''subcultural'' group wore duck bills and elephant noses, while the "dominant" group remained without masks The game was meant to illustrate the attitudes and reactions p«si ple of Hum-American descent have when interacting with people of color. The 10-minute exercise was done to "broaden the concept of racism and discrimination so people can look at their own ai lions when dealing with oth er people." hale said It also may help people un derstand how discrimination can happen and how it is per petuated throughout one's ac tions. she said Hut in develop ing an awareness of the effer Is of one’s actions on others, the misconception ol "once a rac ist, always a racist." can he eliminated hale said The exercise in which people compared th<* similarities and differences of the two groups showed that on a Iwsic level, despite physical differences, all groups an? similar But it also pointed out that the seeds of discrimination are present in every individual Tor many, the hour spent at the workshop was a rewarding one. "The workshop assisted me in analyzing and evaluating my attitude towards people of col or.” said Marlene Drescher. of fice of student advocacy direc tor. It's important that people of Euro-American backgrounds be exposed to these issues and think about them. Drescher said But a lack of cultural sensi tivity also may result from a lack of exposure to different cultures and an ignorance of their needs and sensitivities. In taking part in the work shop. "I'm taking another step in that direction (becoming more culturally sensitive)," said Don l.ytle. director of the business school's undergradu ate program In this way. "I will not unintentionally offend others by my ignorance." ho said. Cross-cultural understanding promoted By Amy Choi Emerald Contributor People who study languages or politics, and those who like discussing controversial is sues with students from all over the world have one more place to go. At 5 p.m every Thursday, students from different countries will gather at the EMU In ternational Lounge to discuss such topics as racism and environmental Issues. The discussions, coordinated by the For eign Students- Association (FSO), are aimed at promoting understanding among people from different cultures, said May Sagbakken. FSO director, and a student Irom Norway. "We try to show slide shows, videos or in vite guest speakers to every discussion meet ing.” said Sagbakken. “I think those who an; studying languages and politics should really come.’* She said at the next discussion meeting, a movie about South America called "God and Politics" will be shown. "We certainly urge more students to come ~ especially American students," said Cheolho Lee. FSO assistant director, and a stu dent from South Korea "Because the United States is so powerful. Americans need to know more about what's happening outside this country.” he said. "Sometimes it's hard to deal with people from different backgrounds and cultures.” The FSO is an umbrella organization of 13 subgroups. It received about $17,500 from the ASUO this academic year, an amount used mainly to fund cultural events and to subsi dize activities organized by various subgroups* The biggest upcoming event this year — the International Festival — will take place April 2-9. Environmental issues will be the fo cus of the Festival. Sagbakken said. "We have about 1.700 international stu dents from 70 countries at the University, so I think we should be able to offer a week that is educational and fun," Sagbakken said. She said the biggest problem she faces in organizing these activities revolves around fi nancial constraints and outside participation by people who are not actively involved with the group. "We need ideas," Sagbakken said. People who want to get involved can join the FSO committee meetings held every Friday from 2:30-4:30 p m., in the FSO office. Room 206 of the EMU. “Coffee hour, that's the place where you should go if you want to know what kinds of activities are going on with the FSQ." she said. Last Thursday, about 20 international, mi nority and gay students gathered to discuss discrimination issues and how they affect their lives. "When economic conditions in the socie ty get worse, women, people with AIDS or ref ugees are those who usually get blamed.” Sagbakken said. “Racial discrimination is quite easy to identify," said Scott Shoup. a gay student ma joring in Asian Studies.“but discrimination based on sexual orientations are a lot more subtle. I'm often asked not to express affection to other men in public, “Our nation is getting more to the right,” he said "The further right we get. the more people are encouraged to attack gays, i think most gay people fear their own sexuality. Fart of it is the fear of the unknown, part of it is the fear of being different.” He said that the culture in Eugene allows women to express their affection to each other, but for men. it's a totally different story. "You cannot show affection to another man in public unless he is your father or brother," he said. Another Norwegian student. Kristin Skogen. who is majoring in International Stud ies. said. "It's quite impossible for a white to feel what being discriminated against is like.” The discussion group then shifted gears to talk about racism in the University communi ty Tai-Hsean Ong. a Malaysian student, said some professors change the format of examina tions so that American students can have an advantage in doing them —■ such as putting more emphasis on theories instead of quantita tive skills in some subjects. But some students said they don't have much experience in being discriminated against by the University. Sagabakken expressed dissatisfaction with the way women are treated in American socie ty According to Masayuki Hamazaki, a Japa nese student majoring in sociology, the AngloSaxon middle class females are "overly represented" in the feminist movement. He said in the Anglo-Saxon culture, peo ple are socialized to confront and fight for their rights while women in some other cul tures "are not trained to confront."
