EDITORIAL
Say no to restrictive
abortion measures
This November. Oregon voters will have a chance
to vole on issues that could affect the entire nation.
Two measures that could have this national impact are
state ballot measures 8 and 10 — the abortion ques
tions.
In states such as Idaho and Missouri, the whole
country watched to see how the stringent pro-life
measures would be received.
If passed, Measure 8 will prohibit all abortions ex
cept to prevent the death of a mother or in cases of re
ported rape or incest.
This measure should be defeated easily. Oregoni
ans stand firmly in the corner of the woman’s right to
choose and Oregon voters will once again turn away
this attempt to legislate personal moral decisions.
However. Measure 10 has a better chance of being
approved by Oregon voters.
If passed. Measure 10 will require doctors to give
twfo days notice to parents before performing an abor
tion on a minor.
On thr* surface. Measure 10 doesn t look very
harmful. In best case scenarios, parents should lake
part in one of the most important decisions their child
might face. However, the world is not made up of fam
ily units resembling the Brady Bunch or the Cosby*
There are cases in which it would not Ik* in the
child's liest interest for the parents to be informed. The
varying family situations arc* not taken into considera
tion by Measure 10.
Then? are also no legal alternatives provided in
Measure 10 for girls wanting to avoid telling their par
ents. States that have passed similar parent notification
laws, such as Minnesota, have allowed court chal
lenges to that notification. Oregon's version would al
low no exceptions.
Those involved with abusive or incestuous family
situations are not the only people who would be left
out in the cold by the pro-life legislation.
Girls from a “perfect" and communicating family
might find it easier to seek illegal, uncontrolled abor
tions rather than having to shatter their parent's expec
tations.
In this respect. Measure 10 would not promote sin
cere family communication.
The decision to inform others should be made by
the person closest to the issue — the woman seeking
the abortion.
Leave the decision-making to the person who is go
ing to be effected by those decisions. Vote no on ballot
measures 8 and 10.
"UNDERACHIEVER”
READ MW
LIPS,,
DUDE.'
Coca-Cola’s apartheid aftertaste remains
When divestment from South Africa was
a big issue on the University campus a cou
ple of years ago, Coca-Cola was targeted as
one of the biggest investors in the apartheid
system.
But a couple of mild concessions by
Coca-Cola and the matter is forgotten. Until
now.
Coca-Cola has reappeared in the EMU
Fishbowl It did not win a taste tost with
Pepsi nor is it going to cost less. Coca-Cola
simply put in a lower bid than Pepsi
Members of the Black Student Union at
the University haven't forgotten. They ran a
taste test last week outside the EMU Fish
bowl. Coke in one container, the blood of
South African blacks in the other. Drink
Coca-Cola and you support the apartheid
system.
Coca-Cola has sold its individual plants
in South Africa to blacks. But it still retains
trademark and buttling rights It still gets 80
percent of the profits from the South African
Coca-Cola plants.
The South African government receives
$30 million in taxes from Coca-Cola. South
Africa is still the only country on Earth with
legalized apartheid.
How did Coke find its way back to the
campus?
A state purchasing agent orders for the
whole state of Oregon. The purchasing agent
takes the lowest bid. The University Hous
ing Director said it is not a political deci
sion.
It certainly is a political decision. The
University supports whatever company it
buys from. The University is endorsing
Coca-Cola's policy regardless of whether it
knows it.
It is no excuse to say "the state buys for
us." The state purchaser needs sensitivity
training and the University must address
student concerns before spending its money
Students should let University adminis
tration know they are worried about what
the state higher education system has done,
and they should boycott the Coca-Cola prod
ucts in the EMU and the residence halls.
LETTERS
Judgment call
Environmentalism is in:
chemical corporations, power
companies, packagers ami fast
food industries are hastily tak
mg on that new green protec
tive coloration. We even have
an "environmental president "
In this climate, the Oregon
Committee for Recycling was
created to defeat Measure t>. the
Oregon Recycling Initiative
Ami it was inevitable that the
No on 4 Committee would send
a mailing to all of us "environ
mental voters.” signed by the
persons who describe them
selves as active environmental
ists, claiming that shutting
down the Trojan Nuclear power
plant would damage the envi
ronment.
If you can't convince, con
fuse! And they do. telling us
that our impulses to protect the
environment by requiring recy
clable packaging and by clos
ing Trojan is right, but that our
vote to do so would tie wrong
Apart from taking up the
study of ecology, nuclear phys
ics and the economics of pack
aging and electric power, there
are paths out of this confusion
One is to note when* the In#
money is spent and to ask your
self if that is where you want
your vote to go Another is to
realize that the "expertise" of
the agencies hired to defeat the
environmental initiatives is
dedicated not to the truth, hut
to winning Dispensing wis
dom is not their business
Do you want Trojan closed
until it can lie operated safely
and its radioactive wastes can
lie safely disposed? Should
packaging lie rin yclable or re
usable? Trust your judgment!
Vote Yes on measures 4 and l>.
Kllen Spear
Eugene
Manifestations
ll is the Manifest Sanctuary
law that protects people in
mental hospitals from politi
cians forcing themselves on tfn?
otherwise defenseless mental
patient
There has never been a docu
mented cast; where a politician
has been caught inside a men
tal hospital trying to tell the pa
tient what he or she has to do.
or moving that patient out of
thi' hospital.
If a politician was caught in
side the hospital without noti
fying the patients' families, no
matter what the case, the politi
cian does not belong there
I’cte Kena
Graduate student
Corrections
must be multiplied by a factor
of to to account for those who
are silent.
These facts become even
more frightening when one re
alizes that the aggressors in
these crimes cannot be pinned
down into one particular cate
gory of men They include men
of all races, creeds, ages and
backgrounds When one broad
ens the definition of violence
against women to include atti
tudes and verbal abuse, all
women should be counted
among the oppressed.
Avoiding situations that are
potentially dangerous (in any
sense) and voicing one's objec
tions to those situations is ev
eryone's inherent right, includ
ing Dole's.
We praise Dole for her aware
ness of the precariousness of
women's lives and for her de
sire to deal with it in her own
way. We do not think her ap
proach is at all out of propor
tion.
How fat?
Until Kunando Long's and
K.J Christiano's responses to
Enna Dole's letter {Ol)E, Oct.
16) show exactly how far wom
en have to go before they can
possess the simple right of per
sonal freedom.
The incidents that she de
scribes were all too familiar to
myself and other women. Long
and Christiano. have you ever
had to worry' that you wouldn't
be able to walk safely home at
11:30 p.m., or been followed
too closely by a woman on the
street? No! Then maybe you
should rethink. Why do you as
sume. lxing, that she was ad
dressing all men and not just
those who don't respect wom
en's rights? And why
Christiano, do you assume that
women invite harassment7
Yours is the most harmful argu
ment I've heard.
You both missed the point so
completely that I have to ask if
you truly don't understand
what women often have to face
— or W you just don’t want to.
Trivial diatribe
In response to Knnandn lamg
«)»/•.. Oct 1H);
Your contemptuous little dia
tribe trivialized women's prob
lems and twisted Knna Dole's
remarks into a predictably pa
triarchal self-detense.
We feel that her concerns am
appropriate when one consid
ers the dangers that women
face in their lives. A large ma
jority of women have been or
will lie sexually harassed
and or abused in their life
times: at least every three min
utes a woman is beaten, and ev
ery' five minutes a woman is
ra|H»d
These statistics reflect only
the reported cases. Some ex
perts believe that the numbers
Marina Wolf
Russian
Andrea Henry
Inti. Studies
Karen Smith
International Studies
Tuesday, October 23. 1990