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
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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