EDITORIAL Its no surprise that Collins Puente’s tired The seemingly sudden resignation of ASUO Vice Pres ident Diana Collins Puente last week offered an oppor tunity for many non-traditional student leaden to voice their frustrations at a campus environment that they per ceive as hostile to minorities and women. During her resignation news conference very little explanation was given for Collins Puente’s decision, except the repeated assertion that the University wasn't doing enough to combat institutionalized racism and support non-traditional students, loosely defined as stu dents of color, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and women. In her emotional farewell, Collins Puente told her audience that she was 'tired." After spending five years at the University as one of its most dynamic and vocal student leaders, there’s no reason to doubt that she’s tirod. She has additional reasons to leave her position and the University, however - among them, two internships waiting for her in Washington. D C. Hut even if she were leaving just because she’s tired, it would still bo unfair to blame her exhaustion and frus (ration solely on the unresponsiveness of the University. Collins Puente must bear some responsibility for those things herself. "1 came on this campus with the intent to stay here in Oregon, which is 90 percent white," Collins Puente said, "to achieve change, to better the lifestyle and the educational system and the justice system for people of color, for lesbians, gays and bisexuals, for women, and for non-traditional students." (Emphasis added to the "ands”) No wonder shi> was tired Kni ti and every one of those goals is noble, and worth pursuing. Hut it the person trying to re.u h those goals is unwilling to compromise, then nothing but frustration and stalemate will result. In response to past complaints that she should repre sent the entire student body, instead of just its multicul tural components. Collins Puente said that she would "always he the multicultural advocate." It's difficult for a person with strong convictions to try to represent even side of every issue, but that is exai t ly what Collins Puente agreed to do when she ran for vice president of the ASUC). I he letters stand for Asso ciated Students of the University of Oregon. That's till of the students, Collins Puente said people don't understand why she can’t be "moderate." The answer is simple, because compromise — being moderate — is part of the job. Certainly racism and discrimination are problems on this campus. But they're problems on every campus everywhere. Collins Puente's panel of speakers includ ed Rob Alvarez, a student from Rutgers University in New Jersey, who testified to that very fact. That's not an excuse. That doesn't mean that the Uni versity should give up hope of one day having a peace ful, tolerant and fully integrated campus. That doesn't mean it should stop working toward that goal. But a res ignation. no matter who it is from, does little to further the cause. Ori son Daily PO DO* m* CUGf Nf 0*100*97403 I'w (Vegon Parfy f™»u .3 pubushod daily Monday thr -ugh I "day du'-ng inn schoo-' yeai and Tuesday and Thursday doing I he kummei By me Oregon Daily f meia'd PubAShmg Co.. Inc nl the University ol Oiy o Eugene Oregon The ImerekJ operates independently ol me Univeiviy «nm o'" *14 at S I 300 ol me Fib Memorial Union and i» a memoer ol me Associated Press Ii>« I men*.! >s pnyate yvoperty The uniawlui removal c* use :*' pape*a 4 prOMKutati* Editor-In-Chief. Jake Bceg Calmy Anderson Sport* Ediloi Sieve Mena David Thom Editorial Editor Jen Pvvhart* Jen I’aalay Photo Edltoi Anthony Forney jell Winters Supplement* Editor Kay Solo Night Editor Jui-n Swensen Associate Editors f dw.vd Kioplenstem Student Government Acl'Wicn Rebecca M.*"B Community Juiw Seen sen JAgher Education Administration News Staff: Mandy Baueum. Wilson Chan. Dave Chartxxmaau Jen Dads. Meg Dedoiyh Amy Davenport Cara Lcnevarna. Mata I nets. Martin f inner, Sarah Henderson tleatherio y*mes Yin leng leong Ma-ius Metand, Tnsta Noe. t htabem Reen»td*na. Kate Satou"" Uoroe Reeve* la Saocoa. Scott Simonson, Stephan* Sisson. Susanne Stehens. Jui* Seenaen. Mchele Thompson Aguiar, Kevin Tnpp, Amy Van Tuyl. Daniel West General Manager Judy R*d Advertising Director Man Waite* Production Manager KAchow Ro*s Advertising: Sutvr Dutta, Nicole Herrmars Teresa Isabelle. Jell Manon. Jeremy Mason Michael Malone Van V O'Bryan II. Rachael Tru#. Ketsey Weceli Ang* Wmdheuti Classified: Becky Merchant Manager Victor Meyus. S** OLt> N^DONM. $VM90L 0ALD EA6K New Nkhonm. $YMf)OL <9UlNiA Plfe OPINION Do your part now to stop uua r.._. in Robbie Reeves in* Oregon Citizens Alliance is at it again. Nev er heard ul the CX A lx*fore' Well, welcome to Oregon, and leave your indifference at the state line The OCA is a group of conser vative Oregonians that insists on making its narrow-minded reac tionary views the law of the land (or Oregon. Oh. so I'm biased against them Actually, it's pretty hard not to Im*. The (X’.A has several agendas, sin h as the anti-abortion (anise (it unsuccessfully tried to ban abortion in 1990) However, the (X iA is U*st known for its crusade against rights for gays and les bians in Oregon. The group has campaigned for several years against the cause of gay rights In 1992. the group sponsored the now-infamous Bal lot Measure 9. w Inch would have added to the Oregon Constitution an amendment that would have declared homosexuality "unnat ural, abnormal, and perverse." The measure failed by several hundred thousand votes, but suc ceeded in making Oregon look like a place where bigotry was tolerated by a lot of its citizens. And so the OCA took its anti gay rights initiative to other cities and counties in Oregon, for the most part in Eastern and South ern Oregon, areas known to be more i onseryative than places like Eugene and Portland Many of their efforts, includ ing one in Springfield several years back, have been successful, and more elections are sched uled. However, the group has not been able to muster the votes statewide to pass a statewide measure against gay rights. Until possibly this November, that is. Tile CX'.A. along with similar groups in Washington. Idaho and several other states, is trying to pass a measure that would pro hibit gays and lesbians from acquiring any sort of "special rights." Special rights, you might ask' What are those? Well, from reading in between the lines, that can roughly be interpreted us the right to not lie discriminated against because one is gay, I don't know Maybe the (XiA thinks that if everyone was legal ly free from discrimination, then maybe it couldn't discriminate against people anymore with its illogical and discriminatory bal lot measures. (And wouldn't that be a shame for the (X!A'| The sad thing about the whole situation is that, unlike the garbage that the OCA likes to throw around about gays "com ing after your children" and the like, gavs are not looking for "spe cial rights.” but equal rights. The CX'.A, in the true spirit of friendship toward gays and les bians (translated, in another wav of showing their Neanderthal out look on modern society ...), recently established a group called HOPE, which stands for Help One Person Escape. The group is designed to "help" guys, lesbians and bisex uals to "escape" from the lifestyle that the CX1A believes is bad. Various CX1A officials have also boasted of taking gavs and les bians into their homes, where they invariably "renounce" the gay lifestyle, convert to rabidly conservative creatures both reli giously and conservatively, and begin to support the OCA This goes to the crux of the OCA s outlook on society. The OC.A believes gays and lesbians choose, incorrectly, to be gay. whereas heterosexuals choose to be that way. 1 have absolutely never heard of a person that went home one night, took out a piece of paper, and listed the pros and cons of being a particular sexual orien tation. in an effort to decide whether to be heterosexual or homosexual. Maybe the people in the OCA do this, but ! doubt that anyone else does. After all. does it really take a college degree to figure out that sexual orientation is not cho sen like a major, but is a given trait, such as one’s eye color? And so the OCA continues to spew its conservative rhetoric to the state, a state where a signifi cant minority of the citizens apparently believe the OCA enough to vote for its initiatives. The fight for gay rights will probably tx> coming back to a bal lot box near you this November The OCA group is currently in the process of gathering signa tures for the ballot initiative, start ing in places such as Springfield (a surprise?). Please don't sign the petition. It would be nice if things like equality and human rights didn't have to be voted on by people. However, because we live in a world that is far from ideal, one has to concede that the OCA will probably make it onto the ballot. The OCA likes to prey on the fears of the more impressionable Oregonians. It is toward them that the (XIA directs statements about "militant homosexuals," trying to destroy such things as sacred as family values and America. Don't believe it. The OCA needs to create a climate of fear m order to justify painting a pic ture of gays and iesbians as some sort of enemies of humanity. With less than !0 months remaining before the November general election. Oregonians neod to organize now to defeat this ini tiative. Many things can be done to defeat this nonsense. Register to vote here in Oregon, volunteer for an anti-OCA organization, and maybe oven donate money to the cause. But, above anything, don't be indifferent. The OCA has cam paigned against gay and abortion rights. Next time, it could be you and your rights that they could be after. Human rights for all is too important a cause to leave to chance. Robbie Reeves is a columnist for the Emerald.