EDITORIAL Open the doors: Let students attend According to Professor Davison Soper, president of the University Senate and acting chairman of the Assembly Committee on Multicultural Curriculum, the Oct. 13 meeting of the committee was. for some reason, not open to guests. He said the group was new and needed priva cy to get to know one another. Picture a fairly stale room somewhere deep in the bowels of tho Universi ty. In that room, under the lovely glaro of fluorescent lights, is an intimate meet ing of people trying to get to know one another. Most likely, if this was a regular University meeting, all that the people wanted to do was to get finished with it and go home. People have the right to be interested and informed. The right to attend should not even be an Issue. Incidental f of l,ommiuno momnor rresion i-amion said that jaws dropped when he walked into that room on Oct. 13. It is strange that a meeting intended to allow people to get to know one another could conjure up that kind of emotion. Granted, the multicultural c urri< ulum committee is acting in the best interest of the Universi ty. but people have the right to be interested and informed. The right to attend should not even be an issue. These meetings that are for the benefit of the students, and the University should generate interest. Instead, an in< ident like this does just the opposite. People who might have interest in this committee or others around campus are sure to be less eager to provide insight if this is the feeling that is being transmitted. Most people at the University are here Ihh huso they have a general inter est in education. Part of the education process is the opportunity to serve on committees and show interest in the workings of the University. The Assembly Committee on Multicultural Curricu lum seems like the kind of committee that would beg for interest rather than turn it away. But oven if it isn't, it ought to have accommodated Cannon. After all. Cannon is a member of the Incidental Fee Committee, not some heckler. What’s more. Cannon was invited to the meeting by a member of the committee: Diana Collins Puente. While he shouldn't have had to receive that invitation (these meetings should he open to all), the fact that he did makes it seem even more indefensible that he was sent on his way. Peter Swan, assistant to the president for legal affairs, found that the meeting did fall under the Oregon Open Meetings Law. Soper most likely wasn't aware of this law, but that doesn't excuse his action. At a University where the exchange of ideas is supposedly valued, no meeting of this type should have to fall under some law in order for it to lie made open to the public. Emerald PO OOOtM. CUGfNC 0«*G0W «M03 !N» OrVvV* /.» ► l • t*.KJ «S pUt*afc«d duty f • ..gh T -iay tjuf »\J t?H> •C^oo: year and Tuesday ar\<J Thursday during th# aummt* by the Oagon Oa> » Emaratd Put* *h«ng Co tne a« the Unwtwsrty o* Oregon, Eugana. Or ago*' The rmarafcf operates tfxJepe'KJenlly of the Unrvertrty wth ohB.es »? SuTr 300 of the l t Kir— • ,i l>- • .1 ? s a tombac of the Associated Press The f "'tV't-ii 4 private property The untowM removal or use • • papers -a p<cmscutabta by ta*» Edttoc-ln*Ch»af: Jafce Berg NU»n«giny cant* • •v'vW'^hi Editorial Editor Dav>d Thorn Graphic* Editor Jo" T’itHay Fraalanca Editor Jatt lAfintar* >■ lumv Editorial Editor Photo Editor Supplement* Editor J&H P»CfchJfdt Anthony Forney Ka»y Soto Associate Editors: Scot Demons. 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Clayton Yao *Um%f <x*n.346-5511 Oftfc« 346-5512 Display Aovanising.wj/w D—lftad Advising 346-4343 v« 0*0—C »• * ttWOQR feOttJOOD M*S VVflSD MH**UF wtm Dtao^E piwncj and rttfUOfrUfi*** 7 y.S. SEN OPINION Beware of cops on Halloween Li v S vi (it <i v Btnvare, till ye innocents Hallows draws near Out into the witching hour t tmit’ r matures that we fear Clad in blue and wielding guns, they're waiting by the phone, For a tall that gives them license to mine bursting in your home Oiii r again, the October party ing season liogins, opening up a myriad of social opportunities for ( ollege revelers People will pull out all of the stops to plan Halloween festivities, complete with wacky costumes and lots of boor. Hut come midnight, the real ghouls of Halloween will hit the streets Dressed ill frightful blue cotton over bulletproof vests, they hungrily si an your neigh borhood tor happy young people ha\ mg fun And when the Blue Demons i .ill h y ou. they yvili not let you go until they have scared the pride, the dignity and the money out of you i.el me explain mv apparent distaste yyith police officers, along with my friendly seasonal yearning to beware of them this Halloween. You see, it is my experience that many of them would rather spend your tax dollars busting harmless parties than on any real dangers to the community. Take mv previous Halloween, for example. The woman who lived behind my house called the cops be< ause there was a prowler in a cowboy outfit star ing into her window Hy sterical, the single mother told tin* police that the creep who had scared her may have been from the par ty around the corner. They told her not to fear, they'd be right there But they never bothered to check up on my frightened neighbor They never bothered to investigate the party either, vvhii h was a two-kegger at the house next door to mine Instead, two luigene police offi cers chose to bvpass both the peeping-toni complaint ami the real party, and forced entry into iny home so that they could bust 15 college students with a total of a 12-pack of beer between them Frightful, truly frightful To condense a long, rather amusing story into a short one: 1 rec eived a c itation for "fur nishing alcohol to minors" that night No matter that I was tomb stone sober No matter that 1 was a minor my self, xvith no fake II) to buy Inter for the* other minors No matter that they violated the* Fourth Amendment with an ille gal entry and search of my home 1 greeted them outside a closed door with a "What seems to Ice the problem, officer?" and one of the olio ers told me he and his partner "had better take a look inside to see what you an* serving.” Aware of my rights. I told him that he wasn't invited inside*, lb* then informed me that 1 was under arrest and burst m 1 don't think they liked getting a lavs lesson from a c ollegc* kid in a vampire costume No matter that the two officers "< arded" all of the people there i laitning to be age* 2 1 and over, and then lot them all go No mat ter that the people at the two-keg party next door, forewarned by the woman who called, were yvaiting for the cops to come knock on their door In this day and age, the ghosts and goblins can't even claim the young as their Hallows victims anymore The young belong to the cops now. 1 have a theory about all of this Once upon a time, police officers were people too. kids even. They used to dress up in silly and magical costumes on Halloyveen and probably stole candy from littlor kids, throw eggs at i ars and even got obnox iously drunk when they outgrew those activities. Now, because they are grown ups and cops. the\ see the holi day in a different light It means increased security concerns ot teen-age vandals running amok and of out of control costume parties. Halloween is no longer fun. it's work Bitter about no longer being able to bob for apples, they bob for parties. Not to say that police officers aren't deserving of some praise in society. Their absence would make the city a scary place indeed. (I'm thinking specifical ly from the point of view of a female who is sometimes afraid of the night and who lurks in it.) But if the two particular offi cers who invaded my home were concerned with the origi nal complaint that brought them there (a female who feared what lurked in the night) instead of taking the easy way out. they would inspire much more of my respect for their occupation, instead of snotty little columns about their ineptitude There are real dangers out there to he investigated. Stu dents have been drinking forev er and will continue to do so The Halloween season poses threats of vandalism. violence and other crimes more serious than a i ollege booze-a-tbon. In that light, doesn't the act of ille gally searching and citing a bunch of students for furnishing alcohol to minors seem a tad wasteful of time and money ! Incidentally, the story has a relatively happy ending. I plead ed not guilty in court (which aroused a contemptuous look from the judge, who also must have thought ''the party” was at my house) and got a lawyer. Once my lawyer told the details of the c ase to the district attor ney. the charges against me were immediately dropped. But they never did find that prowler Ua Salciccia is a columnist for the Emerald.