EDITORIAL Court made correct decision on districts Monday's U.S. Supremo Court decision striking down racial gerrymandering will have far-reaching offocts on the American political front. In a 5-4 vote on the last day of the session, the court said districts in which electoral boundaries were drawn for ethnic reasons violated equal treatment statutes for voters. But the decision has created more problems than it has solved. First off. does the decision sound a death knell for all “majority-minority" districts, or just the ones that bla tantly disregard any semblance of geographical order? Monday’s case centered on two congressional districts in North Carolina, created at the urging of the Justice Department after the 1990 census. Though 22 percent of the state's residents are black, the entire delegation was white. In order to equalize the delegation on ethnic lines, the North Car olina legislature hewed out two new districts, and blacks were elected in both of them The problem: The dis tricts were not like tradi The court did not deny tho right for ethnic districts to exist; it merely affirmed that such districts must fall between logical boundaries. tional "majority-minority" on os in which zigzagging boundaries enclosed largo black or Hispanic communities. Instead, for example. North Carolina's new 12th District snaked along the Interstate H5 for 160 miles. linking one small black com munity to another. While opponents of Monday's decision will scream that the Supreme Court just took a giant step backward on equal rights, such is not the t ase. The court did not deny the right for ethnic districts to exist: it merely affirmed that such districts must fall between logical boundaries. Congressional districts should have something in com mon other than race. The residents of North Carolina's 12th District did not have the same regional goals or ideals — they just had the same color of skin. Such acts do not ini rease minority empowerment: they foster resentment, stereotypes and racism. Yes. whether it be traditional or reverse, racism is still the denial of a group's civil liberties by another. Districts should reflect area demographics as much as possible. Obviously, the two districts struck down bv the Supreme Court did not do that. They were mere ly politically expedient measures done to fulfill a Justice Department requirement while not upsetting the other district boundaries. Oregon Daily PC OOl JtM lUGlNt 0»€GO**?«.J the <*ogo<’ OMy f mmasd -s puOt'Shed daily Monday through today during me school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer t>y ihe Oregon Da>>» Emerald Publishing Co Inc at me University ol C>ago«. I ugeneOegon I no f met ax) operates mdeoendentty o> me University roan otves at Su«e 300 oi me Eft) Memorial Union and r» a member of mo Associate) Press the Emerald .» pnvete properly The o«a«rtui removal or use of papers a prosecutafere by leer E dr lor Pei Matech Photo Editor Anthony f orney Associate Editors Ed Carson Martm l.shor Scot Clemens Night Editor Pei Maiech General Manager: Judy He) Advertising Director Mars Wan* Production Manager: Michele Ross Advertising: frer.me Heft Jeremy Mason Van V O'Bryan II. Angie Wmdhevn Paine* Wong Classified Becky Merchant Manage Business: KAthy Carbone Supervisor Production: lngr46-043 JUST A TO* UP MCWNWNf SENATE RNMKEOia.! GARAGE V*&u SENATE iONAHCEOITTi GARAGE SENATE I GS32S3I GARAGE *UTU||W»C BEWWfc utsiuHi»a LETTERS Brave new world Oregonians watt.hod the promised ftO-day deadline for a solution t<> the timber grid lot k pass Now we must wait indefi nitely for President Clinton's new administration and army of scientists to answer to those whose jobs and communities are threatened Science has apparently become n religion of the new guard Humanity has not been a priority of the ft()-day decision making process that is expected to result in tremendous job loss es. Wit are entering a "brave new world” where scientists have free rein lo decide how and where we will live, work and play Human needs take Iasi place lo the need to study Indef initely where people can no longer work and live It is a frightening concept And our politician* seem afraid to chal lenge the new untested si tence. even though sc lentifu: theories are, by definition, just educated guesses. Whatever happened to com mon sense? We are throwing away family-wage job# in the name of science, as if it is a new religion that we must embrace if we are to be politically come t We now face a school budget crisis, and it is no coincidence that we are having a timber cri sis at the same time. Schools receive millions of dollars every year in timber receipts, which have also been cut dramatiiailly as a result of timlier gridlock in the courts. lean Sjogren Koseh. iH Stay public I am a student at the Universi ty. and I am writing you this let ter in hope that you will consid er my opinion in making a decision almut the future of our school. I believe that our school should absolutely not be con verted into a private school. For one thing, ihe price would go up even further, and the majority of students are already on financial aid The community of Eugene would crumble due to the status of people attending the Univer sity The school itself is very important to me as well as all the other students Nobody wants to see it t hanged Thank you for your time Please take this matter into account Stephanie Keisberg English Memorial fund Juno ll. 1 . my son John Alfrud S< hwab. a former class of '93 junior, died in a tragic acci dent In Ins honor, the family ties established a memorial fund via the University Foundation and the history department in his memory Kac.h year, a deserving student in the history department yyill fie awarded a scholarship to fur ther his or her education 1 would like you to please publish an article that announces the one year anniver sary of his death and invites all ami any interested friends, stu dents and colleagues to cun tribute donations to John's fund in his memory. Approximately $700 is still needed before the funds can be awarded. The family would very much like to see the schol arship begun and keep John's memory preserved on the Uni versity campus. Plase help us raise the remaining money so some deserving student can be rewarded. All contributions can lie made to: University of Oregon Founda tion. John A Schwab Memorial Scholarship Fund. P.O. Box 334fi, Fugene. OR. 97403, Attn: C. Cole. Thank you tor your help. I.inda Schwab Delray Beach. Florida Close Up Orego^ias much to he proud of especially its young people. As the coordinator for the Close Up Foundation's program in Oregon. 1 have recently had the opportunity to work with 4(it) high si Itool students and teachers representing 50 Oregon schools who traveled to Wash ington. D C,, to investigate the Working ot the federal govern ment While here, the groups had the opportunity to see that Washington is more than a city of marble facades and distant bureaucrats. The students shared their views with many of these people and with students from other areas of the country. The 23-ycar-old Close Up Foundation is the nation's largest civic education organiza tion With educational programs serving thousands of middle and high school students and teachers, the Foundation teach es the participants how democ racy works — and how to make it work for them Also, the local congressional delegation has been equally sup portive in helping to show all of the students that democracy is not a spectator sport and for it to survive, all of us must become active participants. To all who helped make this experience possible, 1 say thanks. (Tirissy Brunner Oregon Outreach Coordinator, Alexandria. Virginia c COMfcfcAn TH^nkvouM TWANffVOU VEPV N\UCM! i Tm tovvOX v <1 4 jr»«r - y -