EDITORIAL
Drunk driving will
continue to kill
Drunk driving fatalities in Oregon declined signifi
cantly last year as a result of tougher laws, widespread
education campaigns and the social stigma attached to
driving under tne influence.
A survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention revealed that in 1993, Oregon experi
enced the fourth largest drop nationwide in the propor
tion of alcohol-related traffic deaths to all traffic fatali
ties, down 21.4 percent since 19H2
The study also found that the number of people killed
in U.S alcohol related traffic accidents has plunged
from 25.1(>2 in 19B2 to 17.491 in 1993.
Playing a major role in the declining fatalities, at least
in Oregon, are the stiff and expensive penalties for dri
ving with a OH or higher blood-alcohol level The aggres
sive nature of the punishment moled out to those who
drive under the influence ac ts as a somber deterrent.
Police also use more sophisticated tools for detecting
people who am driving impaired than in the past Pass
ing a field sobriety test is no longer a drunk driver's
greatest « hailengo. Portable breath analyzers and flash
lights that dotoc t alcohol are two examples of the now
technology.
Education efforts by groups like Mothers Against
Drunk Driving appear to be paying off. MADD has
shown the public graphic proof over and over of the con
sequences of drunk driving the loss of life, family,
friends and freedom for the offenders.
Most importantly, campaigns to eliminate teenage
drunk driving are getting through to those needing the
lesson — teenagers. The percentage of teens who die In
alcohol-related fatal accidents in Oregon is 29.H percent,
well below the national average of 40.7 percent. Again,
tough laws act as powerful a deterrent. Anyone under
the ago of 1H loses driving privileges if convicted of any
alcohol-related crime, including minor in possession.
Police officials say another explanation for the drop in
tralfii fatalities are the mandatory seat belt laws and
improved safety features, including air bags, on newer
automobiles
Laws and consequences do not stop everyone from
sliding behind the wheel after a few loo many drinks.
That's where an evolving ->tK.iu! const ien< o lends a hand
in the struggle to stop drunk driving. The public educa
tion and designated driver programs are effective and
sutt e.ssful tools in increasing public awareness, More
over, drinking and driving is simply no longer accept
able in many social circles,
While the news is heartening, much work must be
done on the costly reality of drunk driving. Oregonians
shouldn't rest until all aleohol-rulated traffic injuries and
deaths reach zero.
Be aware, especially over the holidays, of celebrating
too much. Take time to arrange a designated driver or
taxi if holiday plans Include intoxicants. One Universi
ty student has already lost his life in an alcohol-related
traffic accident this year. Let's prevent more deaths.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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■ COMMENTARY
Residency rules discriminatory
Linda Hancock
We, Jeaninarie Dawson,
Audrey Harris and ! are
staking full Oregon res
idem v On Nov 27, an artn le
appeared tn The Register-Guard
about our efforts Since then, we
have been treated as though we
are exposing a set anti Watergate
We are conlat ted daily by the
media from various states. The
As sot Kited Press, radio stations
{including NPKi and television
stations Dawson was spit upon
on campus in an expression of
“Californian* go home." She has
been verballv abused by Oregon
students, and our children have
been harassed at si hoof When
we finally asked an Oregon
reporter why there w as so much
excitement over our appeal, he
informed us it is because Orego
nians halo Cdifomians So what
have we reviled Californians
at tually done f We are t h • i
ing the exclusionary nature of the
new resident > rules 1 n
l‘HI3 we moved here, enrolled
our children in local schools and
sports and entered the Univer
sity Ttiis summer we applied to
the University for in state resi
dency status hut have been
denied beteuse being parents is
not considered n primary activi
ty Yet we each chose Eugene for
our children's sake
One in our group, who is an
undergraduate, was accepted to
many schools, including Harvard
and Purdue She t hose the Uni
versity because of Eugene's
school system and a higher qual
ity of life for her children. A
reporter pointed out that she is
saving a lot of money going to
this university instead of Har
vard Not really Though Harvard
is indeed a few thousand dollars
more expensive per annum than
the University, Harvard's finan
cial aid package is much more
generous, and she would not be
accruing suc h a large student
debt
Anojthei m our group who is
pursuing her doctorate, gradu
ated from a top 10 school {No. l
one in her field) yet did not even
apply to the schools that both
appealed to her ac .nirnmallv and
wore suggested to her (Harvard,
Yak* I Jniversity ami Rutgers i hii
versity) because she did not want
to raise her child in Cambridge,
Mass . New Haven, Conn , or
New Brunswick. N.J All in our
group wore intent on leaving our
home state and would have
uprooted our families and relo
cated whether or not we were
accepted to an institution of high
er learning
Wi seek full resident \ Ixsau-e
w<• consider Oregon our "domi
cile" as defined bv the Oregon
State System of Higher Educa
tion one's "true, fixed, and per
manent home and plat e of habi
tation" (Rule 580—10—029(1).
Wo discovered that the new rules
ore written in sut Ji a way that vir
tually no one relocating to Ore
gon can ret eive residency status.
Like most statte., Oregon
mandates that within 30 day s of
relocating to Oregon a person
must exchange her driver's
lit ense and car license plates
from her home state for an Ore
gon driver's license In addition,
a person must decide whether to
continue to file taxes in her home
state or give up residency for Ore
gon residency.
Notwithstanding these state
requirements. OSSHE has its own
supplemental set of residency
rules and. surprisingly, they dis
criminate against older adults
and parents We are allowed to
become residents in the eyes of
the state of Oregon, hut the
OSSHE has separated itself from
the state The Nov. 29
Emerald editorial stated that
1 out-of-stators who moved to Ore
gon knew the rules and should
have considered the conse
quences before relocating." How
ever. when we obtained infor
mation from the University, the
new rules had not even been
adopted. We were never
informed that we would be
judged under rules going into
effect after we started our pro
grams.
Should students not have been
informed that they could never
he considered full residents in
this state?To t«‘ fair, the Univer
sity School of I-aw grandfathered
in students who began fall term
1993. Even if those of us who
entered the University fall term
1993 were grandfathered in.
where does that leave students
who move here, lock, stock and
barrel w ith children, spouses and
lovers, and relocate their whole
lives? Instead of exceptions being
made, the rules need to he
addressed. The same edi
torial stated that the "effect of
Proposition 9 |sicj was the virtu
al collapse of California's uni
versity system " 1 found that
statement more than a little puz
zling con si dwtng that California
universities, specifically UCLA
and UO Berkeley (my alma
mater), are among the best in the
nation.
In any event, in 1993. despite
observing 20 years'
worth of the draconian results of
California's Proposition 13 and
despite Oregon’s claim for pride
in and support of its education
system. Oregon passed Ballot
Measure 5, One of the results of
that measure was a gutting of
state support for education. Ore
gon then made the conscious
decision to aggressively recruit
out-of-state students The Uni
versity Bookstore at one time
even sold sweatshirts with the
imprint "University of California
in Eugene " The Register-Guard
recently ran an article on tfiat
very topic and noted that die Uni
versity targets wealthy areas in
California — a curious move giv
en Oregon's public resentment of
Californians. The amend
ments to the OSSHE's adminis
trative rules adopted Nov. 22.
1992. serve to deny residency to
virtually all students who had not
already lived in Oregon for 12
consecutive months Ixdore Nov.
1. 1993. While we certainly
understand any university's need
for residency requirements.
OSSHE's rules are written either
with an anachronistic conception
of “student" in mind —• young,
mobile, childless, unencumbered.
Turn to RESIDENCY, Page 3A