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
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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.