EDITORIAL
Police already have
powers they need
riic Oregon House passed a bill last week allowing
police officers to stop, question and detain people tbe\
believe are about to commit a crime
Hep. Kevin Mannix. I)-Salem. said be sponsored
the bill because Oregon is the only state that won’t al
low polite officers to approach and question .1 person
who is about to commit a crime
According to Mannix. under current law. it a po
lice officer sees someone in a dark alley at 2 a m the
officer c annot stop that person and ask what they're
doing
Wrong! Police officers already. have the right to
stop uid question siispii ions individuals if there is re.i
suitable cause Instead of enacting more legislation to
nit lease polit e powers, the state should better define
the word "suspicious" as it applies to behavior The\
should also im rease the training and education of po
lite officers .is to police rights and limits when stop
oing and questioning people
Of course, for the entire system to work, citizens
must better edui ate themselves as to their ow 11 rights it
stopped by a police officer for "suspicions ai livity 01
lor appearing to he "about to commit a crime
Everyone agrees police should be allowed to light
t rime and criminals as effectively as possible And il
all policeman were perfect crime lighting "robot ops"
without human flaws such as rat ism or personal bi
ases, this law would he fine But as the beating of Rod
ney King in Los Angeles proved, the police department
is made up human beings just like the rest of society.
(Jiving police the right to (mil over anyone they
think might be about to commit a crime is gist too
much power Will suspicion mean die cop doesn't
•hink people of color should tie in particular neighbor
hoods after hours? Will people driving less expensive
automobiles he tree to roam through the "good side ot
town"?
Why open up the laws so police could more easily
justify such cases?
The large majority of policeman are honest, up
standing citizens. But in the interest of civil rights and
fair treatment for everyone, they do not need more
power House Bill 2921 just increases the ambiguity
surrounding the policy of what constitutes suspicion.
More importantly, in light tit the terrifying, yet en
lightening. incident in Los Angeles, citizens should
have some role in overseeing claims of police harass
ment and abuse Instead of giving police more power,
local governments should create a police review board
an independent commission made up of citizens
and police officers who would review police actions
and policies.
Unfortunately. HB 2921 does not address review
hoards, just police powers. Some legislators have said
the hill Inis a fair chance of becoming law . hut tin* hill
still has to get through the Senate for approval Two
years ago the Oregon Senate defeated .1 similar hill,
.mil it should he ilcle.iled again I’Le mole power one
group 01 l ives, the grealei ( Inlin e it li.is to .ilinse il
Oregon
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LETTERS POLICY
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LETTERS
What’d we do
As responsible i itr/.eiis of .1
(ountry which lias just "won'
a war I think, we need to know
vsh.it we (ini to tins defeated
1 ountry of people Cnfortunate
ly tins reijuires the exertion oi
some effort com ern and saiti
f 11 mg some personal time i
know it's a (wither hut trust
me. it s important
It's important to know that
the I ' S vs.is not as <k i urate as
tliev had hoped with their
"surgical' bombing of Iraq
High schools marketplaces
neighborhoods and Iraqi civil
1 a ns were the targets of many of
our allied bomhs
Why was this information
not on the news7 for some rea
son the I' S government did
not think that the American
people would like to hear about
these atrtx ities Nevertheless
tliev are a re.ditv for the survi
vors
We know about the tortured
Kuwaitis hut most Ameru alls
don’t know about the < harred
Iraqis The entire C in If War is a
tragedy and for A merit ans to
treat it as a victory is blood
thirsts and ignorant
There is evidence of what we
did to Iraq file journalist and
former 1 s Attorney (leneral.
Ramsev (dark made a video
showing mm h of the destroyed
1 ivilinn life in Iraq This video
is i ailed Now here to Hide
bill has not been allowed on the
major television networks
t all vour local news stations
and demand the airing of tins
shot king dm umentary The
film will also be shown on
1 am pus so look (or aunounr e
ments
You owe it to humamtv
\ndrea Alirell
K nglish
Doesn't mix
In response to the artit le
Ameru ans friendly. not
triends 1OIV Apr -1)
book around this 1 nmpus and
you vvill lind many different
ethnii groups representing
many nationalities Dutch, Her
man. Afrit an Norwegian. Japa
nese, Trem h. Chinese and
Mexu an fhis campus is a veri
table nest of ethnic and nation
al diversity
During my experienc es here
in the United Status .is .1 japa
ni'M1 t'xi hange student. 1 have
attempted to enhanc e mv un
derstanding of American rul
lure i have found American
i ulture to he fast mating offei
mg one unique experienc e nttei
another
I have apprec iated crhservmg
the lilierated spirit of Ameri
cans and so have other foreign
ers Foreigners are eager to in
tegrate liberating prim iples
with their own 1 ultural valves
However, in opposition to
our 1 uteri ultural attitudes,
many American students have
ethnoi outri< attitudes The
C S has heen heralded as a
"great melting pot" diverse
ethnic groups integrating with
eac h other
t 'nfortunatelv, it has heen
my experience that Americans,
when given an opportunity to
expand their know ledge of nth
er countries simply turn their
1 heek.x the other way
The purpose for exchange
students is not only to broaden
the mind of the foreigner, hut
also to open up new opportum
ties for the natives to meet in
ternationals
Instead of a melting pot.
America is actually stew verge
tables and me.it. using spar a in
the same bowl hut always dis
tinct and never one
ka/ Negishi
Psychology
Rocked system
The ret ent findings regard
ing li t ( hair and ASl'() presi
dential candidate Mike Colson
add further turmoil to a system
nic ked with strife.
Our student government
taies diverse problems, the
least of which lieing the seven
budget diffic ulties brought on
by Measure 1) A11 ASUO exec u
live plai ed in doubt by allega
tions of unethical conduct will
he ineffective in dealing with
sue h problems An effective
student administration must
provide a united front rather
than f.u tionali/ed politic al con
troversy
Thus, we feel that Colson
should do the right thing and
withdraw from the ASUO pres
identiul race Placing greater
pressure on an already tenuous
situation. Colson will In- unable
lo provide the leadership re
quired to steer the University
through these troubled times
Colson should show the stu
dents of the University that he
really (ares Hy withdrawing
he will place the future of the
University above his own per
sonal interests
Frances Stern
Dennis Westlind
Students
Prescription
Someone altered a resident e
hall restroom sign to read
"vvomvn" instead of women,
.md Teresa Knezek is upset
[ODE, Apr t) She can't under
stand why many womyn
i house to ( hange the tradition
al spelling to show that we are
independent beings in our own
right and not mere appendages
ol men
knezek resorts to sari asm un
supported by logii to make her
point She suggests that to he a
feminist is to say. I am so
weak and helpless in the tai e of
the ( ruel oppression perpetual
ed by our cruel, patriarchal so
i iety that I demand spei lal
treatment (and perhaps a heavy
dose of prcsi upturn tranquiliz
ers) to soothe my inflamed poll
tit al sensibilities
Those who believe this paro
dy is simplistic or inaccurate
must not try to argue knezek
claims to have heard it all, and
doesn't want to listen to any
one with a different point ot
view
1 know there's no point in de
bating with the close minded
knezek. so I won't try Hut 1 do
have one suggestion for her
She should consider changing
her major to something besides
psychology Or failing that, she
should stay out of the mental
health professions once she
graduates
It makes me really nervous to
think that someone with the at
titudes she professes might
someday have the power to
force prescription tranquilizers
(or worse treatments') on those
whose politic s she disagrees
with.
If she finds the existence of
graffiti so profoundly upset
ting, she might consider that
lieing a janitor is an honorable
job
Betsy Brown
Kugene