Oregon Daily
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24,1991
EUGENE. OREGON
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 19
Springfield debates Rights Commission’s future
Focus turns
to gay rights,
religion
By Gerrit Koepptng
Emerald Reporter
The religious right came out
swinging tit Monday night's
Springfield City Council meet
ing.
The issue was over whether
the City Council should perma
nently disband that city's Hu
man Rights Commission, hut
the real issue behind the debate
was primarily over homosexual
rights
Last week thro e c o u n c 11
members, Half Walters, Larry
Shan/, and Ceorge Wojcik, ten
tatively voted to disband the
committee because of the com
mittee's repeated insistence
that homosexuals be given pro
tection under the city's anti
discrimination statute
A final vote was slated for
Monday night, but public testi
mony from many of the more
than 4SO people in attendance
dragged past midnight. No de
cision was reached by press
time.
Before the public hearing be
gan, Rob Du I’ree of the Spring
field police department said
that in 1091 there were four re
ported cases of hate crimes,
three of which were racial In
the previous year there wore no
reported cases, he said
Many people who opposed
the committee said that since
fiTvrHo by And?*
Joseph Allison ot Springfield gives his view of the Human Rights Commission on Monday night as tho
Springfield City Council debated whether to disband the committee
there worn so few violations, no
need for a full-fledged Human
Rights Commission existed.
But people such as Sandy
Shirley, 1366 L Street, Spring
field, countered that Du Free's
statistics only consider vio
lence against minorities and do
not take Into ai count the fre
quency of disc rimination and
harassment
Most of the opposition to the
commission came from the
group's stand on homosexual
rights
John English, Springfield,
said ho was concerned about
his children and their values.
"Springfield residents find it
reprehensible to support homo
sexuals touching that lifestyle
to our children." he said
He also said if homosexuals
were given legal protection,
then, for instance, a landlord
who didn't want a guy or lesbi
an couple flaunting their lifu
style in front of his or her chil
dren could not prolix t the chil
dren without tile landlord loos
ing everything from disi rimina
tion lawsuits
Martin KuVoal, president of
tho Springfield and liugene
N AACP, said it was Impossible
to say that one group has pro
tection from discrimination but
another does not He advocated
tho return of the commission
and the protection of homosex
ual rights
Daryl a Meet, n disabled
Springfield resident, came to
the opposite i onclusion He
s.dd that if you combine the ho
mosexual cause with tlie cause
Turn to RIGHTS, Page 3
Spnngfield’s
City Council
controversy
In August 1<)‘I0. I Im
S|>rIiifjfic?Itl Human Rights
Commission asked tIn- <'itv
Council lo ailil guys and les
hinns to thu list of othur mi
nority groups that urn pro
tected h\ tin' i Ity s .inll-tiIs
crimination ordinance At
thr timu, a majority of conn
i ll members indicatuil limy
would probably support
such an effort
Within 11 a v s, the No Spe
cial Mights (,om in i tine, a
branch of the staum hly con
servative Oregon Citizens
Alii a me, staled that it
would sponsor a referendum
if an ordnanc e was passed
protecting gay and lesbian
rights
Three months later, the
Human Rights Commission
asked the < ily council to re
fer the issue to Springfield
voters.
In januarv 1991. the poli
tical balance of the Council
shifter) to the right when two
liberal council members
were replaced by conserva
tives. Kail Walters and Lurry
Schanz.
Kvenlually the issue was
tabled until a month ago,
when the council appointed
liberal a f fir mat 1 ve - action
specialist Kon Sinecure to
the Human Rights Cnmmis
Turn to COUNCIL, Parje 3
INDEX
You have a choice_
Bochum: of a billing entry on their
fm: cards, some inlcrn.ition.il CTFs
may believe they arc obligated to buy
their mandatory health Insurance
through the AS!JO, when in fact,
they have the option of buying
through another carrier
See story, Page 4
Openings available_
Students seeking to round out their
fall term course loads are in luck.
From physics to political science, an
thropology to art history, a few class
es are available for student sign-up
See listing, Page 5
Smith suspended_
The Oregon football team will bo
without the services of cornerback
Daryle Smith, who was suspended
indefinitely bv head Coach Rich
Brooks on Monday, reportedly for
disciplinary reasons.
See story, Page 13
Two graduates start lecture taping service
By Daralyn Trappe
Emerald Associate Editor
When Todd Lynch transferred to I ho
University from UC Irvine in l'.Wt, he
noticed thiil something was missing
here After graduating in December, tie
decided to fill ttiat void and has started
a new student service on campus
After working out a deal with loot
notes. the program that offers written re
< minis of lectures lor several courses.
Lynch and fellow graduate Waller Mai
Beth have liegun a program of taping
lei lures and selling those tapes to stu
dents.
"It's an extraordinary study aid and
the students really got a lot of use out of
it (at UC Irvine), so after we graduated
we decided to give it a shot and see if
we could make this service a reality,"
Lynch said.
Ho and MacBeth ran their idea by sev
eral organizations, both on and olf cam
pus, and all made offers. Lynch said
But the two eventually decided to join
forces with Loot notes. The new service,
known as Replay, lias just one term to
prove itsolf
"This service is a division of foot
notes, hut it has to he completely self
sustaining, it has to produce enough
money on its own to exist." Lynch said
"After a term, if it's not breaking even,
then it won't be subsidized."
Several professors have agreed to 1m:
taped, but some have declined, Lynch
**no<o by .***♦ Pm\mt
Todd Lynch, co-lounder ot a new lecture taping service. Replay, gets his tape
recorder ready tor action Replay is charging $15 a term tor lecture tapes.
said
"The great majority have said yes, but
them have i>een a few who are appre
hensive about it. And then there are
some that are saying yes, hut they want
to keep an eye on it," Lynch said. "It's a
brand-new service, so teachers aren't
sure how it's going to work, hut for the
most part they've really embraced it
(biography Professor William la>y will
have his Natural Environment course
taped this full. Having used the written
Footnotes for several years. Loy said
there are some drawha< ks to such ser
vices, hut the benefits are greater
"I do feel that having these services
encourages some people not to come to
class, but on the other hand, it’s impor
tant lor foreign students (and) for stu
dents who are out sir k for a week and
Turn to REPLAY. Page 3