Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, November 09, 1992, Page 2, Image 2

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    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
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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