OPINION
No one chooses to
be target of hatred
How many people re
member when Dan
Quay le said being gay
is "a wrong choice that one
makes?"
It has taken me a long time,
but with all the debate right
now (especially in the press).
I've finally come around to
agreeing with him. He was
absolutely right. Now. of
course, it's too late. He could
have been our 42nd president,
proudly and intelligently pro
tecting our military from this
insidious menace — the
homosexual. But he's not.
I've never understood why
some men (and women)
choose to be gay. Sure they
have a lot of fun, are more
creative and often have a
larger disposable income. I
can see why a young lad
reaching that tender age of
decision might he tempted by
all of those nifty attractions,
but he's really not thinking
things through at all
He should realize he's go
ing to be the victim of all
kinds of vicious teasing and
he's probably going to get
lieal up a lot. Even worse, he
faces an entire lifetime of job
and housing discrimination,
and could be the target of
venomous ballot initiatives
in Oregon and Colorado, the
rhetoric of which will en
flame and unite homophobes
everywhere He also can nev
er hope to be a general or an
admiral or ... a president (nei
ther can Danny boy at this
point) if he were ever to come
out of the closet.
No. the heartaches of being
gay in this heavily prejudiced
society far outweigh the joys.
It's too bad that so many
young lads aren’t able to real
ize inis whan (hay lace the
decision
Following this same train
of thought, there are a lot of
bad choices one can make. J
mean, why would someone
choose to bo black’ Being
black in a white society must
be at least as difficult, if not
more, than being gay in a
straight society. If you're gay.
at least you can crawl back
into the closet
Of course looking around
Eugene, it's good to see not
too many people decide to
become black. Hey. this is a
diverse college town. We
make smart decisions here,
like removing the seats from
the park at Eighth Avenue
and Monroe Street. (Most of
you probably weren't here for
that one. our city council
wanted everyone to know
that three or more African
Americans together in one
place at the same time, more
often than not, is probably a
»a»8)
Along the same line, there
is another decision that about
half of all people make that
seems pretty shortsighted:
why would anyone in their
right mind decide to become
a woman? Oh sure, you got to
wear makeup and look pret
ty. have doors opened for
you. cry if you feel like it,
and express your true feeling
to your friends But look at
the disadvantages: lower pay,
glass ceilings. i’MS, Boh
f’ackwood and his kind They
must overcome all of this, not
to mention being the physi
cally weaker sex. Some
choice!
After reviewing nil of the
above, I can't understand why
we're not all (righthanded)
heterosexual, white, middle
class males. Boy, I wish every
one would get it together and
make the right choice.
David Strother writes a
monthly column for the Em
erald.
ASUO wants program modified
By Bobby Lee
ho ASUQ Executive l* cur
rently evaluating Presi
dent Clinton's revolution
ary National Service Trust Fund
program that he has pas
sionately talked about through
out his campaign and presiden
cy This proposal is a major
change in the way federal finan
cial aid is deliverer!
The concept behind the
National Service Trust Fund
would allow a student to take
out a loon for a college educa
tion and pay back the loan
through community service,
which would entail working as
police officers, teachers or drug
counselors. Tins program would
also allow some high school
graduates to do their volunteer
work before college, in exchange
for vouchers to pay for all or
part of their tuition costs
With regard to post-secondary
education and access, this may
be the most exciting and innova
tive public policy that the new
Clinton administration is dis
cussing.
Now. facing fiscal and politi
cal reality, it appears Clinton's
generous rhetoric is becoming
more modest Initially, this pro
gram will only extend to thou
sands rather than millions of
young students. According to
officials familiar with Clinton's
NSTF program, the President is
likely to initially propose the
creation of u $2 billion to $4 bil
lion trust fund, which would
accommodate about 100.000
volunteers.
Most of the trust fund would
probably he focused toward
grass-roots volunteer organiza
tions already in place, such us
Boston's City Year, an urban
corps program in which volun
teers ages 1H to 23 work in
schools and lower- income
neighborhoods Or the fund may
go to a current effort in Austin.
Texas, where Chicano college
students from migrant farm fam
ilies work as mentors for disen
franchised Chicano high school
students.
Officials who are evaluating
I he NSTF program concluded
that the government cost for
each volunteer could run to
$20,000. including $5,000 or
more in tuition loan* or vouch
ers. However, this amount is a
drop in a bucket compared to
the current administrative cost
for loon and grant systems
Some opposition includes the
higher education system, which
is weary because of the dramatic
changes the may on ur in the
federal loan prog^m Mean
while. police unions have
advised Clinton aides they
would support creating a do
mestic police corps to put
100.000 additional officers on
the streets of U S cities, but they
opposed allowing new college
graduates to become "tem
porary" police officers for two
years as a means of paying off a
government loan.
The ASUO Executive will
soon be launching a lobby effort
to have student input iru luded
in the whole NSTF process
before anything gets finalized
The overall intention of NSTF is
admirable, but there are some
concerns that I believe need to
be addressed (there are 22 pro
posals in total that the ASUO is
currently proposing)
The Trust Fund should not
undermine current grant pro
grams In the lust decade, due to
the shifting balance between
grants and loans, more and more
needy students have linen forced
to take on increasingly large
loan burdens to finance their
education The ASUO will lobby
against this program replacing
or in any way diminishing the
Pull (Irani
The ASUO proposes that the
Trust Fund be accompanied by a
Pell (Irani entitlement. In the
F'iscal Year 1993 Appropria
tions. tiie maximum Pell (Irani
was significantly reduced to
$2,300 (from $2,400). though,
ironically. $3,90(1 was author
ized in the 1992 Reauthorize!ion
of the Higher Education Act
The entitlement would ensure
that all students who qualify for
a Pell Awurd would rei oive the
full amount.
ASUO recommends the NSTF
be one of many loan options,
which should also include some
of the current loan programs
such ns the Perkins Loan or the
Stafford Loan. This would
ensure that many students,
especially non-traditional stu
dents who may not he able to
participate in the NSTF. have
other financial aid options
ASUO recommends the areas
currently specified as communi
ty service jobs should he
expanded to include other vital
community service positions
such as working in battered
women or rape c risis programs
and community advocacy pro
grams Many people already
provide necessary advocacy
assistance through legal work
counseling for different types of
abuses, working to clean up the
environment, and giving a voice
to the under-represented.
ASUO recommends the pro
posed living allowance amount
is- determined according to local
costs of a living area, dependenl
cnre or disability-related expens
es. and other social factors. The
$10.OIK) dollar living allowance
may be enough for someone in
a rural sotting, hut it is extreme
ly low for those living in major
urban centers. I (does not take
into account the needs of those
with dependents or disabilities.
A $10,000 living allowance
would prevent a large utunlier of
(H-ople. os (km tally non-tradition
al students and students of col
or. from participating in the
community service repayment
program.
Overall, the spirit of NSTF is a
powerful idea in the abstract
and it diK-s provide more oppor
tunity for potential students in
the luiuro. However, we need to
carefully watch how the politi
i al wind shifts the focus of its
intention. We must continue to
fight for the change Clinton has
promised from the beginning
If you are interested in seeing
the rest of the proposal, please
contact me in the ASUO Lxecu
live offe u. :t-»l>-.1724 Or , if you
are interested in writing your
own thoughts to the Clinton
administration, please write to:
U.S. Capitol, Washington. I).C.
20515.
Hobby Irr is ibv ASUO prvsi
drnt
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