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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 1994)
Classes focus on minority legal issues By Meg Dedolph Orogort D»-> Errm*m<] 1 wo law faculty, in <onjunt lion with th<> eth nic studies department, are offering two classes on minorities and the law this year l hese classes — one focusing on Asians and the other on Chicanos will lie taught outside of the law school. Elizabeth Ramirez, the chairperson of the ethnii studies department, said the president of the Uni versity and the deans of the College of Arts and N< i ence* have been supportive of the new courses and the department in general. I he College of Arts and Sc ion i es deans have gone out of their way to he supportive," Ramirez said. " They found us now offices on the third floor of (airlinger. ” "We’re really trying to build a program and we're excited to have the fut ilities to do it. There's just a really positive view of this new program," she said. Steven Bonder, an assoc bite professor at the law school who is teaching Chu anas and the Law, said the winter class will bo about language issues, and bow Spanish-speaking people an1 treated "I decided to focus on language because I think that's going to be the issue in coming years." Ben der said. "It’s either a way for people to Ixt taken advantage of who don’t understand the language or an opportunity for discrimination against people who don't speak English." He said he wanted to emphasize the abuses of Spnnisli-sponking people as. for example, consumers or recipients of government services Bender descrilied a California Supreme Court case in which it was ruled that an aspirin manufacturer did not have to print warnings about Keye s Syn drome, a potentially fata! disorder, in Spanish, even though the aspirin was marketed to Spanish speak ing people. I he course will also ini hide a disi ussion of Kng lish-only rules in the workplace and elsewhere, which Bender said he expects to see increase and whether nr not there is a Constitutional right to bilingual education. He cited Iwo rust*!* one. in which n California food procesning plant prohibited worker* from apeaking Spanish while on the job to allay other employees' fears that they were being talking about, and the second, in which an Oregon tavern owner asked Spanish-speaking patrons to sit at corner tables rather than at the lair to keep them from dis turbing other people Bonder's decision to loach this class, which is based on his research, i ame during last veer's Duck Cmll Info Asian Americans and the Law. ES 41CL5 10. CRN 16417/16418. Will be offered Tues days fall term from 4 p.m to 6:50 p m (or four credits In room 301 Condon Hall debates on multicultumlism "There was an exodus from (he < am pus of some of our most spectacular minority students who felt the < lasses had little relevance to them," Bender said "l saw the ethnii studies department had a I hi k of courses, I sympathized and decided to teai h about what I was working on He also hopes that by teaching a law i lass to undergraduates, he can encourage students, espe cially Chicano and Latino students, to apply to law schools Bender said law si bools are lietng encour aged to increase the number iif minority apple ants, particularly (ihicanos and Latinos "Here is an opportunity !> >r me to reach into the undergraduate ranks and introduce them to law school," Bender said "The students who an- inter ested at the undergraduate level I can't resist the temptation to urge them to apply for lays s( hoot " On the other hand, associate professor Keith Aoki's fall term class, Asian American* and the Law .will have a broader focus " The class is looking at how American law has Turn to COURSE. Page 9 ‘The Chamber’ areat summer novel By Kaly Soto O'egon 0*,.y Emerakl Sliced broad? Well, may (mi not but John Grisham's novels do seem to bo very hot property these days. The Chtimlyer, his latest effort is no different. Once again the story is set in Mississippi and deals with murder, racism and justice. Though Grisham does not have the ability to make his prose flow like poetry the way that fellow southerner William Faulkner did he is still tells an interesting sto ry lilts story has al I the elements of a Grisham novel racism, crime, punishment, justice. As far as story lines go. this one is not complicated. Sam Cnyhall, the book's main character, is on death row in Mississippi's noto rious Parchman prison. His crime is murder. Gayhall, a former member of the Ku klux Klun member was convicted of a bombing in whit h the twin sons of a Jewish lawyer were killed. After two unsuccessful trials ( jiy hull is finally convicted of mur der in the third As lhe book opens Cayhall hits fired his legal counsel and is attempting to proceed through the appeals process acting as his own counsel. Then something happens Cayhull gets a visit from a young and enthusiastic lawyer from the west, Adam Hall Hall has been working death penalty cases for a very short period of time, unlike most of his colleagues he is ext iletl as opposed to daunted by the prospect of helping (iayhall nav igate through the last stages of his appeals process At the heart of this novel is the death penalty debate. From the lime the audience is introduced to ('.uyhall he is made out to be a man of little visible remorse Dut, as the book g< a* on Grisham tries to make the audi ence sympathetic to Cnyhull Sympathy is hard to muster, however, because of the nature and brutality ofOayhali’s crime (irisham seem* to hint at the harshness offayhaH's upbring ing ns n contributing factor to his life of crime, but it doesn’t wash I he Inst half of this novel is dedicated to the ins! hours of (j*v hull and the waiting even for the reader (or listener. I a< lually lis tentxl to this book on tape) is like being slowly suffocated. Even though < iayhall is not a < harm ter who arouses much sympathy, his situation is heartwrent hing Toward tfie end of the |*aik tj»y hall is more than ready for the execution to take place Even though Hall makes every effort to gel it sill vis I Qiyhall makes peace with his destiny Though the main purpose of this txH»k seems to be to create a Convincing argument against the death penalty If that was the purpose of the book (irisham failed It would have been made better if the main character wasn't such a despicable guy. If the purpose of this laiok was to entertain, then C.risham was right on target. FREE LEGAL t SERVICES I Legal Services handies a wide range of legal problems from divorces to landlord tenant disputes. + There is never a consultation or settlement lee. I Legal Services stall members are experienced, qualified professionals. I Legal Services are FREE to current fee-paying U of O students. ALSO ' . MltCAOf Student Advocacy otters non-legal services including but no! limited to ACADEMIC AND ADMHISTPA NCW DISPUTES Contact Legal Services, EMU, Room 334 (Third floor above Ihe Fish Bowl). Or call 346-4273 to set up an appointment. [ BLACK STREET - Lki- umntr? I iimTii^I i^I 1 •TSfttS JACKYL Push Comes To Shove JEFFREY GAINS Sc<n**ttt! SftgnsJy CfcuwJ JIMI HENDRIX Woodstock MCA JIMMIE VAUGHAN Strange Pleasure JULIA FORDHAM Falling Forward STsagfg KEITH SWEAT Get Up On It Various Artists K« My A" Classic Kiss Hegroovsd VARIOUS ARTISTS M<mM Motion Picture Soundtrac* SOUNDS OF BLACKNESS |] oiunc itwruc nuuia 1 AKt f> Join Tho B;ind DIM MIA-A'LU I i l Chief Boot Knocka J E ilLMmm JOE DIFFIE Thi/tl Rock from The Sui fw ALAN JACKSON Who Am I RICK TREVINO
