EDITORIAL Ethics dictate: forget Packwood’s diaries Personal diaries, it seems, aren't so personal after all. That seems to be the opinion of the Senate ethics com mittee. which voted last Friday to subpoena the diary of Sen. Bob Packwood. in an effort to uncover more evi dence to support allegations of sexual misconduct that have been leveled against the senator by more than two dozen women. Packwood. charging the ethics committee with attempting to conduct a "drift-net" search for informa tion against him. has refused to comply with the sub poena. 11<> also has issued a c lear threat to those senators who would support the enforc ement of the subpoena, stating that the diaries contain information not onh on Packwood but also on the sox lives of other members of Congress. Whether Backwoods warning will be effective in deterring the ethic s committee is uncertain. A more important question i-. whether the committee has a legal and moral right to compel him to reveal the personal thoughts contained in those diaries. Some observ ers in the ( ase, inc hiding !-arry J Sabato, professor of government at the University of Virginia, have expressed the opinion that the committee can make Packwood surrender the diaries if thev wore pro duced and maintained with public, money. If so, then Pac kwood’s journals are fair game; thev were tran scribed from audio tape by staff members and wore kept, once transcribed, in Par kwood's .Senate office in Wash ington However, the difference between what is within the committee's rights to subpoena and what tsn t seems fairly arbitrary We can assume Par kwood would not have used his staff for thi; purpose of keeping a diary if he had known doing so would forfeit his right to keep that diary private Past attempts by government to fore e public officials to reveal their diaries have met with mixed success. In 1077, the Supreme Court upheld the right of former President Richard Nixon to keep his diaries out of pub lic hands in the? wake of the Watergate scandal. How ever, investigators charged with uncovering information on the Iran-Contra scandal of l‘)Ht> were suci esslnl in making President Cleorge Bush adhere to a subpoena requesting his personal diaries, the contents of which made headlines in December 1992. Hypothetic ally speaking, if the technology existed for investigators to read a defendant’s mind — if some invention made it possible to probe a person's inner most thoughts no one would feel comfortable allow ing that mind-reading device to fie used. What's the difference between private thoughts in someone's mind and the same private thoughts when put to paper (or audio tape)? It Packwood had relayed Itis thoughts to his doctor or his lawyer, instead of his tape recorder, every word would he protected. Why should it be safer for a person to talk to his psychiatrist than to himself;’ , Emerald PO BO I 31V9 lUGfMC OftCGON 97403 T‘-t> Or*} v> r.» •> * "'fW.W ,* put>.«*h«*1 da * M .lily V'.'Oa-/' * * ‘ t. ' ' " ; me v. *\v yea' and Tuesday and Thursday dur>ng me summer by me Oegon Da y Emarakf bu&i*h,rtQ Co . Inc . a< me Urvv*r*t> o< Oaoon. I Oregon The operates indeporxXmt'> o* me UmvenMty arth oh - es a? Su^e 300 of me | *?• Me^o aJ Unu'y a*x1 % a menbe o» me Avt* a’ed f*»rv. The i •» private property The removal Of u^’ o’ papers ■•» prosecularve EdMof-<n*Ch»ef ;<*« Berg Managing Editor Editorial Editor Graphic* Editor Fraalanca Editor Cae* Arxje»ton Thom Mr" Pastov J«Ht A -ie<* Sports Editor Editorial Editor Photo Editor Supplements Editor Nigh! Editor i i. > M«*l P<*hard! Anthony fc*"ey K»fy So»0 Associate Editors Scot Oamens, S!udo"'t CJr*(v^^fAcfnrif.es, Reboc. .1 Mt»"itl Comma o.-fv R<v«rs Janssen Higher £(fuc4&on/Aclm>t**ir&<M . Mews Staff. lean Bower. Dave Oarbonnea.. 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WfLLi SUD Thisl 3 6t SOME v LETTERS Respect nudity Attitudes, not naked flesh, en courage men to tri\ ialize wom en The man who harasses an employee alter attending a nude Uir is responding to attitudes like those ns «mtIv expressed. lit* lias been told that a woman who would hare her body lacks still respect. therefore, he need not rtispei t her He has learned that respei t for women is qualified, and that flesh is the qualifier Other women have told him this He learns that only a woman who conceals her hod\ and her m-x uality is to tie taken seriously We have juries releasing rap ists het ause the y u tun wore no underwear Rampant date rape Abused yx ives. (.lass i tilings and pay disparity hath of these shows, among other things, a lack of respect for the women involved Until we demand re spec! for all women, we have lit tle hope of change. There is nothing degrading about dancing nude The degra dation comes when society , in i hiding other women, make set ■ ond -< lass citizens of these women Perhaps when we no longer divide women into class es by sexuality , we vs111 not find a Plavboy bunny unfit to in- attor ney general Perhaps an Italian politician who happens to he a porn queen will not he so neyxs worthy Perhaps yvomen will begin earning respect the same way men do by their accom plishments Shasta Willson Physics/Mathematics Crisis unreal Some people support a sales tax het ause they think a "crisis" in st hiMil funding exists and kids yvill suffer. But the facts show otherwise For example: We currently spend more than $7,000 per student per year. This is more {as a percentage of our income) than all other states except five! Oregon schools want a budg et increase of 9.4 percent. This is 3 H percent more than inflation and enrollment rates would jus tify (Cascade Policy Institute) Administration and central ser vice t osts rosi* tn.a percent dur iii)5 tin’ Iasi 11 year-id, hut teach ers' salaries have only increased ]H percent. No i orrelalion between mon in spent oil schools and a "qual ity" education has ever heen established (Dr laic Hanushek Lducational Resenrc her. 1 jniver sitv of Rochester, N V ) In addition to the above rea sons for voting no on the pro posed sales tax, the following should he considered Ballot Measure 1 creates a new tax-i oilection bureaucracy The Legislature can alter and increase its sales tax re\ enues hv reduc mg present exemptions without a vote of the people Landlords' property tax iil i rouses will he passed on to renters who then also pay a sales tax 'Tliis hurts the poor renter Finally. the transfer of wealth (St billion additional taxes) from productive private citizens to unproductive state bureaucrats helps destroy the ability of pri vate enterprise to produce jobs, products and capita) For tins rea son alone, we should vote no on any new tax Tonie Nathan Chairwoman Libertarians Opposed To a Sales Tax Right of way Undoubtedly traffle regula tions an- necessary requirements they ensure consistency and safe ty for those who take to the city streets These rules form the basis of a social pact between motorists, hit vdists and pedes trians According to this pact, each person plates a great deal of trust in others we trust that complete strangers are aware of these same regulations and are following them so that no one receives injury. The article appearing in the EmenildOct. 1H hit very close to home lor me Ordinarily. I follow the rules, indulge in a helmet, and ride defensively. Despite all of this, 1 now find myself with a broken leg and various hits of hardware holding my ankle together. Why? Because a motorist did not follow the rules, thereby endangering my life Consequently, 1 found n very serious omission in Tamara (ones' article A warning to mo torists, os pet iall\ those driving anywhere near campus, would have lieen appropriate within the scope of her otherwise fair and enlightened article. Motorists need to he more aware of and respect bicw lists on the road: many of us do follow the rules and do not deserve the conse quent es of impatience. And please, if you are involved in an .11'. ident. stay at the scene and wait for an officer to arrive! The consequences of not adher ing to traffii regulations can be very unpleasant Elaine Lawson Eugene Double-speak I have been shocked at the number of police crackdowns in the campus area. The com mentary by Dennis Baker [ODE. 0< t 25) was t\ piuil of the sort ol misguided justification of an all out war on the most economical and environmentally safe type ol transportation Baker says. II some ot the pub lic resents traffic enforcement as a means ol protecting people from injury and death. 1 cannot apologize for that." a classical police double-speak. Crossing 13th Avenue in trout of Gilbert Hall last week. I was nearly run over by a crazed motort vole police officer accel erating at more than 30 inph to catch a bicyclist who had just run a stop sign Undoubtedly the bicyclist had endangered thousands of lives by not stopping at the stop sign I don't believe the officer even saw me on the crosswalk If it is safe ty that the police yv.int to ensure then maybe it is time they start to consider their tactics. 1 would much rather bo run over by a 30 pound bit vole than a 500-pound motori ycle. Perhaps Sgt. Baker won't apologize for threatening us with injury and death. Shawn MacDonald Finance Management