Oregon Daily
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1991
Rise in hate crimes
alarms community
By Kirsten Lucas
f merald Reporter ________ _
As Sandy Tsunpyoshi crossed 13th Street with her 8 month old
baby arid a friend on the evening of May 1<). 1991, a red car sped
by. As il passed, the driver and passengers spewed racial slurs
She stopped in her true ks, determined to gel the license plate
number. As her friend frantically searched for a paper and pen, the
car turned around and pulled up only 3 feet from where Sandy
stood holding her child
"You fucking bitches!" yelled one ol the passengers, who then
pulled back the corners of his eyes, making "slant eyes
Then one of them spit at her. As she looked into his face, scenes
from The Exorcist flashed through Sandy's mind. His.,face was that
of a person possessed not by the devil, hut by hate.
All of tins happened right in front of the office where Sandy. .1
third generation Asian-Amoricnn, works as a stafl psv< hologist at
the University Counseling Center
When Sandy told people what happened to her. she said they
couldn't believe it.
Well, believe it.
Hate crimes are on the rise all over Oregon and esper ially in
Lane County In the first half of this year. 33 hate crimes were re
ported in Lane County, 30 of which oci erred in Kugene. said Creg
Kikhoff, human rights analyst for the City of Eugene.
Over the same period ol time last year, only seven hate 1 nine .
were reported in Lane County, said Steve Kincaid of the Law i n
forcement Data System.
LKDS, a state agency, monitors hate crimes 111 Oregon Under the
y 1.189 Hate Crimes Reporting Act. local police are required to report
all hate crimes to LCDS
Hate crimes, otherwise known as bias crimes, are legallv d< lie*
as crimes that are motivated by the perpetrator s perception of dil
feronces between himself and the victim, Kikholf said
"What we're finding out is that il is individuals, (spec due. y
white, middle 1 lass males) rather than groups who are responsible
for the crimes," Rikhoft said
Of the 33 hate crimes committed in Lane County over the last six
months, 11 were based on racial prejudice. 1U on sexual orienta
lion, five on national origin, three on religious (reliefs, two were
anti-Semitic and one was unspecified, Kikhoff said
Hate crimes range from property damage, such as slashed tires
and graffiti, to harassment, verbal and physical intimidation and
assault. Tho majority are categorized as harassment. Kikhoff said
Although Kikhoff said he thinks more crimes are being reported,
he does not txdieve this is the sole reason for the statistical rise
Kikhoff believes that more hate crimes are actually living com
nutted fait he could only speculate as to the reasons behind the
trend
Turn to HATE, Page 4
Me and my monkey
Warren Moore and his "orangutan." George, entertain bystanders on the Downtown
Matt Thursday Moon per forms in chanty benefits at nursing homes, hospitals and
children's centers
Photo by Andro Ramon
INDEX
Last chance_
Don't forgot today is tin: last day to
submit registration forms, add a
class, or change from audit to credit.
Not gonna take it_
Geology Professor Hurve Waff and
students from tiis 9:30 a m. Dynamic
Earth class decided to express their
frustration over construction noises
Wednesday by marching down the
street to Johnson Hall and telling tile
administration that they had had
enough.
See story, Page 5
Rock this way
Chock out this week's entertain
mont section featuring interviews
with rockers Blues Traveler and Cur
tis Salgado. Both bands, and The
Doobie Brothers, will bring their
shows to Eugene this weekend
See stories, Pages 7-10
Groups join forces to combat hate crimes
By Daralyn Trappe
fmofald Associate Editor
In an (•Hurt to prevent .1 repeat of tin:
violence that marked last weekend. tlio
ASUO, tho Office of Public Safety and
tht! Eugene Police Department are join
ing forces for Ixith immediate preven
tion and longterm solutions
At a press conference Thursday, three
members of the ASUO, along with OPS
director Carey Drayton, outlined some
of their plans,
"Thuro've been several cases that
we’re really concerned about, that in
volve violence anti people getting hurt,
so (we are) trying to prevent that and
taking a pro-active stand," Drayton said
This past weekend, several incidents
occurred in Eugene, some in the vicinity
of campus on 13th Street arid In the Kin
caid Street area, Drayton said
"Not all of it involved students,
however some of it did and that's why
wo were concerned," Drayton said. "We
had a lot of person-on-person crimes,
not necessarily all racially motivated or
hate-motivated There were white on
white crimes against persons, black-on
black crimes, there were hlai k on-white
and while-on-black crimes. All of that
happened in a two-day period "
ASUO, OPS, EPD
hope to curb violence
To prevent a recurrence ol these inci
dents, OPS will work with tiro city ol
Eugene this weekend to got information
on tho typos ol parties going on. Drayton
said. OPS will ho oontuotnd if there are
parties or situations where students are
likely to !«■ involved. OPS will in turn
contact other University departments in
cluding the Dean of Students office,
Drayton said
"Wo will work together with the Eu
gene Police Department to ensure the
safety of our students even though it s
not immediately on the campus." He
added that h'PU has committed to in
creasing the number of officers dedicat
ed to the west university neighborhood
Bobby Lee. ASUO Affirmative Action
coordinator, said he behoves changes in
Eugnno are leading to conflicts
"I think Eugene is facing a lot of dem
ographic changes The University is
starting up a new year, different kinds of
people have to interact and in the pro
cess of doing that, there are going to l>e
some confrontations," he said
"On top of that, there's a tremendous
problem here in Eugene with alcohol
abuse people's reasoning g«tls .shot
when they're intoxiisited, so these con
front.itions turn into violonr e
Lee said he believes the lies! vv.iy to
handle the problem is for students and
community members to work, with OPS
nnd the Eugene police
"Traditionally, the University of Ore
gon has a difficult time working with
the Eugene police, that's no secret," Lee
said "Hut there's just no other way
that we can counter this kind of neg.i
live energy."
Gerry Moseley, vue provost for stu
dent support and ucudemit servii es,
said alcohol abuse at football games is a
problem that will lie focused on
Discussions are under way on the
greater enforcement of the policy that
requires a license or permit for a person
to drink alcohol in the parking lot at
Autzen Stadium, he said
Mona Gentry, Saferide eo director, an
nounced that rides will he provided un
til 2 a m this weekend. Saferide usually
offers its services from <> p in to mid
night, but is extending weekend hours
on a trial basis. Saferide can be reached
at
Therese Dufiruvac. ASUO Programs
Turn to PLAN Page 4