EDITORIAL
New OCA initiative
makes little sense
The Oregon Citizens Alliance announced Thursday it
will begin filing anti-homosexual initiatives in 32 Ore
gon counties and cities for special elections this June.
OCA loaders hope the new. softer initiatives. filed
specifically in the regions that passed Ballot Measure 9
last November, will build support for anothor state
wide measure on the 1994 ballot.
It is not a surprise that the OCA followed through on
its promise to propose a kinder, gontler Measure 9. If it
had not been for Multnomah and Lane counties, Mea
sure 9 would have passed easily. The CX'A knows that
omitting the descriptions of homosexuality as ‘ab
normal and perverse”will ease citizens' concerns about
the original measure.
What is surprising is
how tamo the now lan
guage is. It basically
denies "minority sta
tus, affirmative action,
quotas, special class
status, or any similar
concept based on
homosexuality.'' At the
The OCA has
raised a different
question with this
initiative — what
is the point?
same time, the lan
guage prohibits firing an employee based on sexual
preference.
In other words, the language does what the(XIA orig
inally said Measure 9 did; it denies special rights for
homosexuals. Measure 9. however, went much further
by condemning almost every aspect of homosexual life,
desnite OCA claims to the contrary.
The OCA has raised a different question with 'his ini
tiative — what is the point? The sole purpose of Mea
sure 9. ridiculous as it was. was to define
homosexuality as immoral. The OCA wanted to impose
its own morality on Oregon based on a dislike for gay
and lesbian citizens.
The new OCA initiative admits homosexuality is a
private matter, and that nobody should be fired from a
job based on sexual preference. However, the crux of
the initiative, which w-as denying minority status to
homosexuals, was never an issue in the first place.
Homosexuals have never wanted special rights with
in society. The famed "homosexual agenda” is to sim
ply ensure that homosexuals are not denied the rights
given to ovory person. In other words, sexual preference
should not harm a person's ability to rent a house,
apply for a loan or find a job.
The OCA claims gays want affirmative action, and
that for every 10 job openings, several go to homosexu
als In actuality, gays want to make suro homosexuality
has no bearing on hiring. Gay citizens are rightly con
cerned that they could be denied employment because
of their sexuality.
The main concern for homosexuals is the now initia
tive. if it passes, will be open to broad interpretations.
Citizens from the 32 counties should recognize the
futility of the initiative, and its thinly-veiled discrimi
nation, and turn it down in June.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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LETTERS
Earth change
Stephanie Sisson's column,
"Earth will adjust to
catastrophes." {ODE , |an 11)
displayed an amazing amount of
ignorance.
I agree the Earth will surv ive
regardless of the burdens we
place on it Our planet's abilitv
to continue sustaining life,
however, is truly threatened by
environmental destruction Life
on Earth is made possible by the
intricate and delicate balance of
species and conditions
Every species on the planet
depends on another for survival
Without plants, we could not
breath; conversely, plants could
not live without the carbon
dioxide animals produce
Nothing could exist without the
ozone layer to shield us from the
sun's radiation.
Sisson's contention that
statistics are "created to make
Americans feel guilty about the
harm we're doing to our planet"
is truly ridiculous These
statistics accurately reflect the
devastation occurring to our
ecosystem on massive levels
Even if the United States' level
of pollution is indeed "the lowest
of countries comparable to ours
in economics, government and
industry" (whatever thut means),
we have done more than shift the
environmental burdens of our
rampant consumption to
developing nations like Mexico,
where environmental restrictions
are minimal or unenforced.
1 strongly disagree that "the
Earth must change with us."
Unfortunately our planet, which
has taken millions of year to
evolve to its present state, will
not change in a few short
generations to meet our greedy
demands We need to change so
our planet will continue to
sustain life
Kevin Durant
Undeclared
Go George
I. for one, as a God-fearing
Americ an, ain getting sick and
tired of the lilieral press giving so
much attention to the
inauguration of Presidentelect
Bill Clinton.
We can't forgot that tho
honorable President Bush still
has a low days to go Think of all
the possible historiuil events that
can take place in that amount of
time (another great war in the
Middle Hast) keep it up (reurge!
Bush will tie pi.ii ed among other
greats of our wonderful
government, like Rn hard Nixon
(the best) and | Kdgar Hoover,
when that sad day comes
Stay true to the flag fight,
fight, fight
Dennis Gubbins
Anthropology
Insult
. 1 found Stephanie Sisson's
column "Earth will adjust to
catastrophes" (ODE . Jan. 11) an
insult to anyone who has a mere
cursor* knowledge of the current
worldwide environmental crisis
She uses superfu ial facts and
figures to make her argument that
human-caused catastrophes are
not to be worried alxiut be< ause
Mother Nature will prevail
In effect, her argument allows
for the fact that man will render
extinct a few thousand plant and
animal species and a few
hundred of his own cultures in
the name of progress
I would like to point out that
her language of progress is bused
on the assumption that humans
are separate from the nutural
world Her statement that
"mankind's existence demands
progress” points to a eurocentric
attitude that has been the basis
[or destroying other cultures,
including those that existed
before the arrival of Europeans to
this country.
The idea that we are somehow
moving forward into better lives
through technology and progress
is pure illusion. In fact, a
technological society is pushing
itself and the world closer toward
doomsday all the time
Progress, a purely Western
idea, is disrupting life support
systems worldwide The statistics
are not "created to make
Americans feel bad": they are ,i
reflection on our
o> el i v
consumptive, wasteful society.
Take a look at a reputable source
like the Worldwatch Institute's
publication State of the World
It's clear that humans are
destroying their foundations for
survival it is the imbedded
attitude that we are somehow
apart from Mother Nature we
should fear most
Andrew Fischer
Environmental Studies
PIRGs
Since the early 1060s. the battle
for a ( leaner environment has
been fought in Congress and on
a grass roots level With the
election of Hill Clinton, the
environmental movement in the
t Jailed States stands to have more
influence than ever before There
are estimated to he as many as
10.000 environmental
organizations in the country
today Despite their size and
influence. environmental
legislation is threatened by large
corporations with their political
action committees.
The Public Interest Research
Croups, along with more than 70
national organizations including
Common Cause, Public Citizen,
and the I .vague of Women Voters,
are pushing for comprehensive
reform of the congressional
< anipaign svstem
Before Clinton's election, he
promised lo support such
legislation in order to stop special
interests from buying our
politicians' legislative powers.
Without this legislation, the
United States government will
continue its disturbing legacy of
ignoring legislation to protect the
environment and consumers in
favor of special interest lobbyists
and corporate inuntn
Throughout this term, OSPIRG
will organize a "Campaign for a
Clean Congress" on campus. If
you find this issue to bo
important, this is a perfect
opportunity to get involved in a
campaign that will channel
political power where it bulongs
— in the hands of American
citizens.
Margaret J. Tibbetts
OSPIRG