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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1992)
eananCT Honk your horns for speech rights II it .sounds like people .ire blowing their horns more than usual, vou’ro not-imagining things After a long ban on flunking « ar horns a- a manner of exprt-s sion. lingerie drivers are free again to s|M:ak'out with a toot. We should all thank I uge-ne lot bringing the vital issue ol horn lion king to our attention The Oregon Court of Appeals uierl i:orrei!!v . lew davs ago that f.ngone’s ordinance again horn honking was u neon st i tut ion a i f he ordiuanie was challenged In two drivers who were ticketed for honking their horns during the toot Persian Cult War demonstra tions. i no <;oun sujij ini: Dan w«i,s ion un>ao iw’cauv*' h regulated more than just |«i!rn!nil public safety prnb Inns i .mscfl In horn honking !l I.ugene wants to bun horn honking. th<- court indicated. it weds to address exactly what those safety problems are It \ ricin idoits that horn honking umade into an issue in tiie first j»!.h <■ Horn honking should lie .t pro teeted form of freedom of speech bv any standard, li public siifets is truthfully the i out e:n, as supporters of the ordinance claim, the cits could do much more bv getting bad drivers off the road llugone wasted our time The Constitution shouldn't be overlooked because of unsubstantiated lehrs about horn honking It won't cause accidents People aren’t about to swerve out of control just bec ause someone beeps If that were the case, horns wouldn’t !«• built into cars in the first plac e. Honking your horn es the equivalent of shouting praise through vour window or c hipping your hands at a good speec h It may be a little more annoying, but it poses no more safely hazards than revving a c ar motor II hugene insists on doming up a new proposal banning < hwtnic horn users, there needs to In* a better rationale than public: safety The citv has more pressing needs than making sure the horn honkers are under control like mnviHr straightening out the budge! mess or revitalizing downtown Sadie, horn honking ranks last on most lists of citv ■ oncerits. And there are certainly fat more dangerous meth ods of expression than horn honking. Imagine the uproar if i ifi/ens started burning horns as a matter of protest Horn honking only leads to noise pollution, but born burning would not only be a fire1 hazard, it svould also result in melted, tarnished brass littering our community — and vyr can't support that In any means Horn honking'1 We had to make a big deal over horn honking!1 The Court of Appeals shouldn’t be criti cized. The ordinance was unconstitutional and dc served to be hooted out. But why did it have to be brought up in the first place? Ore mu i Daily Emerald ut.iTmrrairra J * *» 1 > Pa t i ■> pv/t? «k^«! (A* a'*! t MuUi am; IM..• v!:Tf a. ' *vg :*•« * /'■*• ! ,tl !h« l Jr vtyvty O? O«gon J O !h# t 'n«*rA*1 Opfer.l «r ndt»pdnt)Qr''>y 0# t' M«* • • » • •' .»«!•.!- . 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M.I V Kh» .» Nia. » A ; ,f A" , 146 3/1? 1464141 V .. .. uir'K. *M 'tK* *T If I wats a centre teaman ^ 1 until the voters tl\rcWjjjJ I me out Jkny openings 1 1 for fxjraeone with 0 pj « my qualifications t J One moment, I'll check untie n \ Unskilled Labor r*Ti* 1111*12 Track down criminals, not kegs m Write -Angles Hope Nealson II was .i < .isc iif having .1 ques tion vuu always wanted in ,c-k fiul were afraid In <isk il Retrnilv while being liund 1 tiffed .mil h.iiilcil into the liu■ gone police department by an ofluer, .1 question (topped into rnv mind However liei.nise the officer was shaking and spilling him sell into a lren/\ I del idl'd iiciyhc dial p.irtu ul.it moment wasn't the lies! time to ask That question was lor the en tire lingerie police department, and il goes something like lies k there not enough crime in i.ugene to kis-p you hus\ . or do Mill gel oil on grabbing lollege students Irmn their hikes or ti.it king tin-rn down at keggers Ini ause of I he neat, warm feel ing ol power M>u gel when you husl them7 I would like In know since w iiell did 11 liei time an officer s agenda of the night to find and jail those student criminals who (Hod forbid1) wrote the WKONO AUDIO SS on their keg receipts' Ur chase down and ink' ! those renegades who rule down Alder Stieel WITH Ol T A HIM. UUH'P The* I.ugene police depart tnenl must have a lot of spare time on its hands to dedic ate so muc h energy and devotion to fielding these hardened keg I runinals and bike ( onvic Is The officer explained to me at the police station tlr.it ire arid the University Office of I'tibhc: Safety review keg lists on Fri day afternoons (at least from l.merald Distributors) They check all the names and find out which ones are students Then they c.het k the addresses No, they don't wait for a noise complaint or drive by .1 house with students spilling into tiie \ urd with l>ecr c ups In their hands before tit keiing vou They lake the inilialive ,ind seek oul the trouble before it begins Anil I found out that some times they don't even knock At least this offic er didn't He walked into my apart ment at 8 15 p m and demand ed to see my identification He then ordered ail 15 people who wen- hanging out to leave No, there wasn't any noise com plaint No, students weren't running around naked on inv balcony w ith beer cups in their hands We were having a good time and waiting for the party to begin If the officer had card ed more than the two triends ot mine who asked what was up. he would have discovered lh.it everyone at the party was over 21 Hut hey' liven d he couldn’t bust me for serving minors or disturbing the peace, at least he got me on one count ol false sw earing It’s a tough job, but some body s got to do it Well, at least our tax dollars are getting put to good use Those parties i an gel pretty out ol control beer music people having a good time Thank t hid the polic e are there to pul that to an end! We don't want loo muc h fun hap pening lit hugene. espec tally when there is real i rime going on around town like stabbings and beatings No wonder there's such a feeding of overwhelming love loc the police nationwide And no wonder so many students I've talked to share my food af lec lion for the fd’D It's sad, really I used to think ol the police as allies who were out there to protect me ancl help me out Hut one wrong ad dress. and I'm a criminal along with the sex offenders and thieves The; bottom line is that our public servants are supposed to lie working lor students and keeping the peace, not abusing their positions ol power by looking lor students to harass With so much recent student animosity toward the police. I wonder what will happen The bottom line is that our public servants are supposed to be working for students and keeping the peace. when the police really have .1 crisis situation lo control or maintain7 The polite believe tiles .ire slopping problems lie lore they begin by showir strong present e. In reality, .ire building .1 powder kcj animosity tb.it m.iv blow up in their faces the next time there is ,1 student polite confront.1 twin. 1 wonder how the student .it tit tide will be toward them and how willing student* will be lo do what they say I'll gladly hand over tin $7<K). which would have gone lo Eugene businesses and the Eugene e< onomy I will gladly do the *10 hours of community service Alter all, I del commit a crime However, it's ridiculous to waste m\ time and taxpayers' money hooking me and student keg offenders like me into pc It shouldn't be such <1 big deal The punishment docs not fit the 1 rime (lulling f i ngerp r i n t eri searched, called the prettiest booki-e we've had in a while and taking oil all ol my clothe-, (yes. even my underwear) so I could i twinge into the latest j.ni garb was probably tho most hu initialing exponent e of my lile I didn t deserve that, and oth er students shouldn't have to experience it It is outrageous that writing the wrong address on a keg re ceipt qualifies individuals to that level ol c ivil disobedience, and it should lie changed (live me a fine Give me com inunity service But leave m\ body out of it Hopr Vea/son Is ln fl.llH red Hot lor the Emerald