EDITORIAL
Measure 7 unfair
to disadvantaged
Oregon voters should respond to Measure 7, the
six-county work-in-lieu-of-wclfare-benefits pilot pro
gram, with a resounding no.
It passed. Measure 7 would begin a three-year pilot
program in six Oregon counties. The program would
suspend food stamps, unemployment and Aid for Fam
ilies with Dependent Children. People who wish to ob
tain public assistance would be placed in jobs by the
state employment division at a rate of $3.87 per hour
90 percent of the current minimum wage.
People who are. lor one
reason or another, dependent
on public assistance need to Ik:
trained for longterm skilled la
l»or positions They should not
be placed in dead-end. make
work jobs. Self-esteem comes
from knowing vou c an take
« are of your family and yourself. Working at .1 non-es
sential )ol> and at subtninimum wages would do little
to boost anyone's self-esteem. These jobs would also
become dead-end avenues to dependence
Information supplied by the Human Servo es Coali
tion of Oregon states the average take-home pay (after
state and federal social security taxes are paid by the
employee) would bo $7-41 per month. This is $139 be
low the poverty level for a family of three.
There are also no provisions in the measure lor dis
abled nersons or mothers who need dav care
I( single mothers are expected to work to make up
for the lost AIK: payments, who will pay the additional
t.hilt! c are costs? This would come out of the mother's
already below-poverty-level income
Proponents of the measure claim it will reduce and
eventually get rid of an unemployable work force
However, the- measure* w ill add to a temporary, depen
dent. low -skilled work forc e rather than creating a sta
hie. independent, skilled work force
One group that c ertainly would benefit from Meas
ure 7 would Ire those employers who receive the tree*
labor (all labor would be paid by the government) If
only six c ounties are going to take part in the* program,
employers in those six counties will have an unfair ad
vantage over employers outside the program
He fair to dislocated workers and the disadvan
taged Vote no on Measure 7
President rebuffs minorities, women
Ceorge Hush gave progressiveness an
other kic k in the shorts when he vetoed the
Civil Rights Act of 1990 on Monday. He
made a grave mistake.
Hush vetoed the hill because he claimed
it would have set up a quota system and be
cause of a couple of phrases in one section
of the 30-page bill
Civil rights leaders called it their most
important legislative priority. Kven Hush's
appointee to the IJ.S. Civil Rights Commis
sion said Hush's interpretation was inaccu
rate.
The president has dealt working people
a crushing blow. The bill had repeatedly
been weakened over the past months so leg
islators could pacify Bush. The House and
Senate passed the bill with healthy margins,
but not enough for a two-thirds majority to
override the veto.
The legislation contained anti-discrimi
nation clauses and would have allowed em
i ployees to sue an employer regarding any
aspect of employment.
The bill would have given victims of in
tentional discrimination the right to sue for
punitive damages. Bush sent a message to
the American public. By vetoing the bill he
has insulted minorities and women.
The legislation would have improved
workers’ rights regarding suits against an
employer. Employees would have two years
to sue an employer for discriminatory se
niority plans, instead of the current six
months.
Victims would be authorized to sue for
up to $150,000 in punitive and compensa
tory damages for intentional discrimination.
Only victims of racial discrimination may
sue undercurrent law, not victims of sexual
or religious discrimination.
It's sad that it has taken so long to garner
a good civil rights bill. It's even sadder
when the United States has to legislate civil
rights. But saddest of all. we have a presi
dent who vetoes the Civil Rights Act of
1990.
LETTERS
Crybabies
Regarding the article in a re
cent ODE concerning the fear of
many homosexuals on campus:
I. as a straight, normal per
son. also have fears that per
haps some of these people
might approach me and try
something on me.
It sure is strange that the
term "gay hashing" has come
into use recently, but how
about "straight-hashing"?
Why don't these crybabies
grow up and realize that if you
( house a lifestyle that is not the
accepted norm, you're putting
yourself into the position oi Irv
ing criticized?
Ron Williams
Stall
Let's get active
Defining what is Judaism' A
religion? What if you don't be
lieve in God or prayer are
you still Jewish? Is it .in ethnii
group? What alaiut blai k Jew s '
We i an disi us.s what it
means to he Jewish forever, hut
one thin# remains clear: Only
hi1 can define ourselves.
lews, let's get active, lait's
show our presence on this cam
pus and in our community.
Only 2 percent of the U S pop
ulation is lewish; we need our
voices to lx? heard.
Oil’s gel to know and get in
volved with our co-minority
groups: GALA. Black Student
Union. MEChA. Muslim Stu
dent Union and Native Ameri
can Student Association We at
the Jewish Student Union want
to work with you and for you.
last's celebrate the fact that we
are all unique. We are lucky
enough to tie different.
Jewish students should speak
up and reach out Get in touch
with JSU. come to meetings,
get to know our wonderful 1111 -
lei Kahhi Italian Sills There's
more to living lewish than just
our last names
Phil /uckerman
Student
Proves point
In regard to the responses to
"Outta M\ lace" (O/
Oct.18)
I don't think there's any need
for you to apologize on behalf
of all males since her letter was
specifically addressed to “the
men on this campus who in
vade women's privacy.”
Any man who does not fit
this description need not be of
fended We recognize that all
men are not horrible, sexist
people However, I would like
to publicly thank Kouando
Long for proving the point that
Lima Dole's letter needed to he
written
Also, to K I l.'hristiano. 1
would like to sav that the ma
son women are objectified and
used in ads to sell everything is
because as with almost every
thing in our society, men con
trol the advertising industry 1
don't appreciate your gross
generalizations and your insin
uation that everything women
do is done to please or compete
with someone else and that
none of us have enough self-es
teem to want to look good for
ourselves
List hut not least. I'd like to
sav that if there is sue h a thing
as a "world of feminists.”
please let me know where it is
and I'll Ik; on the first ship out.
Kronda Adair
Student
Climate control
In response to Konando Long
and K | Christiano's letters
(ODE, Oct. 1H):
I guess the best response to
these letters would be a slightly
humorous elaboration on the is
sue ol violence against women
on this campus. Alas, humor
does not come to me.
Anger comes and has not left
me since 1 read the Emoruld
this morning I find myself fan
tasizing about feminist censor
ship of DDE letters Or even
better, a daily statement to the
effect that it only takes 30 per
cent of a women's strength to
break an aggressor's nose.
Wouldn't a broken nose be a
neat way to identify male ag
gressors on campus streets or
on a date?
Instead, of course, male edu*
1 it ion on the issue of violence
against women has to be the
"rational" answer Send them
to Women's Studies 101.
Yet 1 have come to doubt
whether we will achieve this
raising of men's consciousness
when the world around us is
still so full of sexist images,
values and people.
Mere 1 am confronted with
Long and Christiano, another
two men who refuse to lake re
sponsibility for the crimes their
gender has committed. Ridi
cule and "blaming the victim"
is still what a woman has to ex
pect when she dares open her
mouth and talk about the
abuse, the harassment and the
constant fear of men.
I appreciate Dole's courage
and her clear articulation of
women's experiences on cam
pus.
Attitudes such as Long's and
Christiano’s are responsible for
creating a climate on this cam
pus in which the next rape will
almost certainly occur - deal
with it.
l.isa Kuppler
Graduate. History