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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1994)
EDITORIAL Don’t judge a slide by its label The (Jniversitv knight Library is beginning lo ( hange tlu) referent os of Japanese sources from the abbreviation JAP to the abbreviation JPN. but it is a useless change An article that appeared in the Emerald Jan 27 intro du< ed the idea that JAP. which was used as an abbrevi ation in the Japanese colic* tion at the library, was a rac ial term for Japanese. Of course the library had not intend ed to cause racial tension on campus — if anything it instigates diversity just look beyond the label Hut the idea c aught on, and now the library is beginning to rename tint collection Librarian (loorgo Shipman said, " 1 he library is happy to make the change in the spirit of diversity, sensitivity and respect." The fact may be argued as to the happiness involved in changing three letters on more than 25,000 labels. Racial issues at the l Diversity are sensitive ones, maybe too sensitive. The collection, like every other collet • tion like it, is named by the first three letters of the c oun trv's name - MHX abbreviating Mexico, for example The abbrev iation system has been used in the library fur nearly i.r> years There has not been any sur c essful attempt, or any attempt, to < hange the system before Is the issue of rac ism progressing in a positiv o forward dins tion in is the promotion a useless sense of i hange'' i he JAP abbreviation oc curs on more than 25,000 slides in the collec tion. < .hanging the collection will take years and a large effort by the library staff Hut as the world continues to evolve and diversity con tinues to expand, is the simple abbreviation on a slide colter tion really important in the big picture of diversi ty!’ At least we are lucky enough to have a collection that represents many c ountries and their cultures available to the students and the community. T hat incorporates diversity itself. The old saving "Don’t judge a hook bv its cover” is a good one. (Tanging labels is simply changes labels If rac ism is the issue, the root dwells far beyond the label. It seems ironic that the labels are the issue of change. The ac te al substance of the collet tion is one of the most diverse and interesting means of experiencing the Japanese cul ture or any t ullure that is available in the library. It adds insight into the < ulture. All one has to do is look beyond tlic* label Years of work spent to change the' slide labels in an attempt to "change in the spirit of diversity" is not u use ful change. The time spent changing could be time spent further incorporating Japanese culture into the United States The library staff should be commended on its efforts to incorporate the change and its willingness to com promise. Hut the staff should evaluate the time involved, the money that will bo spent, and then c onsider if the cTango is one that will best serve all of the library users or simply the few that have responded to the article Tho collection that exists is a tremendous service to the users — a service that must continue to lx> maintained. Hut the* center of the issue should Iw the* content, not the label. Emerald PO OQ* JIM luCIMC ORt&Oll *J*CsJ Th© i VapcYi D.* r * •» pubi<V'«0 cJa>f> Moxiay Ifwough f r*iay cJuf^g tN» k.*xx* ,ra' and Tueida, and Thursday dwnng th© »umm©? by lh# Oregon Da*;> fme'aid Put- sh.'vj Co I'v a! tn© Ufvvtwvfy o* Oregon f ugen* Oregor T op««»<<*» «x»ap*>fXJ«r'tiy o* th© l>w©fvty of*. m h Su*t© 300 o* th© l :f Mr ••.«.' arxj ••» a men ‘bCK o? th© *5V>- almJ P»©m T'.r * /•>*».«/ % |y vat© property Th© um*',1 WOvit1 • V ' papers ■* pros** ,Aat>tf Managing Editor Editorial Editor Graphics Editor f MWi»ncc Editor Edilof m-Chio* mv l\&iu Pav'd Thom hf" PftMly A*?* A ipof T» t On Of Editorial Editor Photo Editor Supp**m«nt» Editor ■'•no W ' \ !*%• * .*« Sr •> 1'f KSo<v Assocuilo editor* t J * •;■ >• vn- • •» •" cOWmu/Vfy Jw «’ S*c»' iStf'- i:0u££l'O-,vA&r. 'iit>£!*, News Staff: (My Btucwtn. Enc Bociihaiter Wilson Chan, Dave Charbonneau. Amy Colombo. J*m Daw Meg Dedoiph. Amy Davenport. Cara Echevama, Mafca *'#**», Martm f Sartfi Menderscv.' Heather te Mmth Vm Lang teong Manus Majand. Tn*ta No«r Elisabeth Reenstjema RobOe Reeves Ua Sa*c*cc*a Scofl Simonson. Stephan** S*av Sosanne Siemens }>,•*♦ Swan**' Mchete Thompson-Aguiar Kev r Tripp. Amy V.i Tuy. Daniel W«wi General Manager Judy H*iO Advertising Director Mart Waiter Production Manager: fcAchete Ross Advertising: IV.an Daw Sub*r Dutta Nicole Herjmart Teresa Isabel* Je?i Marion Jeremy Mason Mchael Mtfefle. Rachael Tru*. Ketsey Wehe« Ang* W-xJhe«m Classified Becfcy Merchant. Mkmagtv Victor Mens. S*m T/e Tec* Distribution: Andy Harvey John long. Graham S*mpaon Business Kam> Carbone, Supervisor Judy Connolly Production: Dee McCobb. Production Coon*naior Shawna Abeie Greg Desmond. Ta»a Ciauitney LV«1 Joss Stacy MrtcheH, Jennifer Roland Nan Thangv»H. Clayton Ye* Hmwwroom. Offtc«..J4B-5612 DispUy Advertising 346-371J (MM Advertising.346-4343 LETTERS Some crow? h‘l iis riot talk, falseh non. the hour is getting late — Jirni Hendrix As I write this letter. I am see ing through teers It's Valentine's Day. mid instead of composing a message for a beloved one I in [or< ed to respond to the boys whose letters desec rated me I he i ore issue burning at the stake is this George kakis aiadenili tree ihaii stripped me of mr civil rights as defined In I itle l\ ' The Altai k. April 1 19‘U During an outdoor art < lass, 1 was re< lining against a tree I lie student assailant stealthily stalked near, pounced, landing on top of me He Ion efullv pressed his body against mine gripping till shoulders shaking me. grow ling 1 pen eived this as a rape attempt' Mr O't.onnel [Old- I eh U) dismisses the crime by i itmg a si roam of stats praising the i lass, then dei lares the harassment never occurred Mr l.ehrman s affirmative action inquiry lODh. Fab ')) was a travesty of justic e They implied that 1 was an unroa sonable woman, and therefore no sexual harassment took place The administrators who agree with their determination are brand. Davis, Wong. King, Swan. Degidio l.ehrman implied 1 lied in my testimony concerning the nega live rein turn from Mr Wells at affirmative action w hen I phoned him April in. 1901 1-ehnnan said No der ision is made on the Imsix of a telephone inquiry " The hu t is Wells did not make an appointment with me to file a for trial complaint because, as explained by Lorraine Davis, Mr Wells had determined that nothing discriminatory took place Uhmmm, would you Ikas c.aro for some (Tins' Devon Gray Eugene Thanks I'd just like to thank Mitchell Tan and Susanne Steffens, an interracial couple featured in Interracial couples breaking stereotypes" [ODE. Feb. H), fur dispelling the myth that an Asian who dates a Caucasian is attempt ing to upgrade bis or her status I believe that people who still hold on to tins notion Imlieve that whites are the superior ra< e. and that bv associating with them a non-white person is trying to obtain more respect, and perhaps admiration from the soi inly at large This w av of thinking shouldn't be tolerated, it siinplv reflet Is a ( lose minded sot letv that doesn't realize that forming mult 11 ultur al relationships is a means of dis i overing and exponent mg tins wide world Asian/white relationships are frowned upon in main societies, and like Steffens said, this may not be bet ause of rat ist reasons hut ignorant c Asian white rela tionships should indeed be encouraged to foster a better understanding of both t ultures More importantly, however, sut h relationships would help settle the mam falsehoods that whites have about Asians I am glad that there an-1 ouples like Fan and Steffens who have found each other and. as a t oil sequence. discovered whole new worlds Hv getting together, they are not only finding happiness for themselves, hut also educat ing those around them. I empathize with their struggle to improve the lackluster support they are receiving from their homelands, and 1 support their efforts to maintain their rela tionship Yasmln A. Hamid Singapore Censorship lames Patton [ODE. Feh 14) says "The OCA is not trying to ban hooks or authors." then he savs the Oregon Citizens Alliance does not want to ban books "except m the classroom." (X!A employee Scott Lively [Hcgistrr Guard. May 2b. 1992) says. "(The OCA) will scrutinize schools and public libraries for material it considers objectionable. ... If we Find that a book about homosex ual lifestyle is in a library. we will du everything we urn to girt it out of there The OC.A wants to take away my right to go to the library and check out hooks I want to read I call banning and removing hooks from libraries censorship. In AIt'in Knmpf, Adolf Hitler says. "What we have to fight for is the security of our race and our people, the nourishment of its children for the fulfillment of the mission which the Creator of the universe lias allotted also to them everything has to he examined and to be employed or to lie rejii ted according to its use fulness " In 19 0. Hitler's propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels encour aged students at the University of Merlin to burn hooks "which act suhversively on our future or strike at the root of German thought, the German home, and the driving forces of our people I don't want any group to cen sor what I may or may not read lk> you? Heidi Walcutt Eugene Moved Kandy Sfiilts was a courageous, inspired, and memorable indi vidual. though I was stru ken by painful embarrassment in the manner m whu ti 1 was informed of his life. Climbing the last step leading to a junction where an enormous lecture (lass had just been released. 1 noticed a copy of the Feb 1H Emerald on the floor Directly underneath the headline "Nationally known alumnus dies" and across what I soon learned to he Kandy Shi Its' face were the words "DEAD FAG" in thick black ink. Intrigued. I picked up the paper and read the article. This is the first experience I have had on this campus with overt !>ack wardness. I wonder if 1 would have been as strongly moved if 1 had not been shook up by the defacing. What were you think ing? • Kevin Aaron Anthropology
