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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 2, 1989)
Editorial First round is bad, worse yet to come After much anxious anticipation, the University on Thursday released its plans (or a brutal first round of budget cuts designed to guide the University through the ItlHO-tll biennium Quite simply, the c uts are as lead as we (eared Two master's programs, the < ionter for Gerontology and six community services programs u ill he eliminat ed under (lie proposed cuts, as vs ill at least 24 faculty positions Students will have to put up with enroll ment caps on three1 programs and the elimination of approximately 100 c lasses And while these cuts look bad. there could be more on the way The University expects to save* $1,825,500 annually through these moves less than the $-14 million over (lie* next biennium requested In (an Neil do Id sc h midt Also, the I ’diversity is waiting to sec* il the* Legislature will alloc ate funds to higher educ etion outside the spending limit, it it tails to do so another round of < uls v\ ill certainly ensue* Tin* old maxim "beggars can't be choosers" is cer tainly applicable in examining the administration's proposals We re unhappy with many of the programs and services the University has chosen to trim, but we're strapped at offering any alternatives. Some Holes: • Thi' budget tuts are forcing the University to move further and further away from its mission as a liberal arts school The professional si bools are taking over The College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Human Development and Performance are tai ing cuts of about St all, 00(1 each. Ihe College of Business Ad ministration will see a trim of only one-tenth of those two i_olleges; the s< bools iif law and jourilalisn 1 are not being asked to reduce their budgets at all. • The cuts will also force to students to rei eive an edu i ation that is not as "stale of the art" as they could get elsewhere. The University finds itself having to forego plans to build a multi-purpose computer lab, despite the advantages offered to students by computer educa tion and literacy opportunities. • Students will have fewer support programs in other areas as well, especially mental health ones. The Wid owed and family Crief Counseling Center will be dropped; the Student Services office will not only have to reduce advising and counseling for students, it will have to trim the advertising budget that informs stu dents of such services. • The University w ill also see a reduction of custodial services, (liven the amount of disappointment ex pressed in our letters column over Ihe present level of upkeep and maintenance, additional cuts do not bode well £se 3qm 0* op^k^jBK.'mrcf. 9 V/■;->-W''T---S,w "So far, 50% think Bush is WISHY’... 50% think he’s WASHY’...” Forum Need to dispel homeless stigma a battle By Donald F. Kostur I n'iid the artic le "Lugene ma\ see transient in crease" (01)1 May 2.t| with an inward groan of sadness Throughout the article, from the first paragraph on. the reporter uses the phrase Commentary—___~ homeless people" indiscriminately and in con nection with topic s and issues whic h reinforce negative stereotype's of people' who have lost their homes Before I continue, those of you who have* read to this point, please make the effort to re-read the above named artu le As you read the article, ex amine vour own emotional and intellectual re spouses to the dcsi riptiems and quotes the author selected Lumping all of the people who arc' without homes into a generic label of "homeless” is a dis service- to us all Dispelling the stigma attached to those who are homeless is one of the major battles in creating humane and appropriate services for our neighbors who have lost their homes And yes. they are our neighbors Over HO percent of the homeless families with children receiving shelter in Lane Countv are from lame County ("homeless people") Over 00 percent of the pen pit" with a mental illness receiving emergency shelter m Kugene are from Lane County ("home less people"). At Family Shelter House, over ti() percent of the families have one. or more, mem bers working full-time. To suggest that we not provide food to the hun gry until we clean up the drug problem in Lane -County i.s-4tirHcrous~. To imply that ™titimeless" equates with "transient" is irresponsible. To state that people who are homeless come to Eu gene because we have "good emergency hous ing" does not fit the data. To state that the availa bility of drugs, food and shelter will bring "more homeless people who use drugs" creates the ap pearance of a frightening equation. Quoting a person who is homeless making damning statements about others who are home less is .1 powerful technique. Quoting Eugene po lice officers using the term "homeless" when they are referring to a transient lifestyle blurs a distint turn which must remain clear if we are to speak, or write, intelligently about the variety ol people and unique situations in their lives. Stat ing that "homeless people are also attracted to Eugene because the University community is tol erant of them" would certainly end my tolerance it I believed most "homeless people" were dumpster-diving, drug-using miscreants. Turn to Homeless, Page 3 Letters_ Educate self I i onsidcred whether 1 should respond to a homo phobic response to a letter to the editor {01)1' May ~li) I de i ided to dispel the myths in the response, not for the benefit ol the writer who is beyond reach, hut for those who read these letters and c are to edui ate themselves beyond these let lers Anti-gay beliefs are not spray painted on the buildings; in stead they are engraved on stone in the policies on the in side. in the form ol institution alized discrimination against lesbians and gays You can land I can) see anti-gay igno ranco plastered everywhere on this i ampus There .ire no classes in the regular i urriculum for lesbians and gavs There is no gay newspaper supported by ASI A) funds Public Safety doesn't ai t on violence against lesbians and g.n s family housing ev eludes lesbian and gav couples from eligibility lor housing History Knglish. etc depart ments institutionalized the ex clusion ol lesbian and gay bis lory, .irt, poetrv religion. eti If it is possible lor people with different sexual orienta tions "to exist without beating r<n li other ovtir the head." then win are lesbians and gays heat en over the head, about the shoulders shot, raped and hashed bv those heterosexuals with anti-gay beliefs' I suggest you all educate yourselves, not by mereh ask ing a lesbian or ga\ man what their issues are, hut In picking up a gay history book, a lesbian puhli< at ion or the Lavender Network Teresa Keeves Eugene Know more All ot us coni erned about the future ot a coherent program in the study of religion are doubt less grateful for the coverage th.it the Emerald has given to the problem in recent weeks Nevertheless. your art it le on Max it) is in need ot .1 couple of minor corns lions I am not now head of the Re ligious Studies Department I’rotessor Kim is filling that role quite ably ! did not quite say lli.it the administration is "just giving us something more to worry alxnit " K.ither. I responded af firmatively to a reporter's com ment. after we had discussed the lai k of spei ilii itv in the ad ministration's announcement ot Mav 25. that that announce ment was just one more thing to worry about Hv the time this letter is printed, of course, we shall all know more J.T. Sanders Professor, religious studies Special rights? I would like to respond to Michael Heneke. (Christopher Doughan. and Finn |ohn (ODK. May 30). Words and phrases used in your letters like. "special rights." "special privileges." "selfish." "logical." "hetero phohn ." "(Come on. get real," "heterophobic babies." "spe cial cases." "granted." "but." and "double standards," all show a lack of knowledge in the politii s and real life strug gles of oppressed groups. I have been .it this University for five years and have always noticed political graffiti on this campus but never before have 1 heard so much outrage about the cost of clean-up. moral standards, and the tactics a group uses to gain liberation as now since the graffiti happens to be gay lesbian oriented. Never before have I read so many homophobic statements started with. "I support the gay lesbian struggle, but ...” or "I support the disenfranchised, but "as now Nor have I seen one letter in the Kmerald that supports queers on a material level rather than a verbal level. Michael, Christopher and l inn. I hope to see you working in the CALA office, attending gay lesbian pride rallies, and going to homophobia work shops to learn what "special rights” really means. Other wise. shut up about your so i ailed support and critical anal ysis of the way some queers represent their frustration with this homophobic institution, community and student body. Finally, 1 am very pleased to see Paul Olum take a stand against homophobia by creat ing a campus task force on homophobia. Laurel Sharp Anthropology Convenient The Science Library could la more convenient if it had a change machine for photo copies — so we don't have to go to the EMU to get some change after 5 p m. (Indeed, the Science Library's front desk can give us some change until 5 p in. only.) Marisa liidayat journalism -Letters Policy_ Letters to the editor must he limited to no more then 27)0 words, legible, signed and the identification of the writer must he verified.
