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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 1995)
Disabled community can learn much from lesbian and aav activism would lil-i' to express mv Gay. Bisexual, and Trans JLgnndrred f upon the conclusion of a week deditnted lo the celebration of their iden tity As a member of the dis aided i ommunitv at the University, I gladly count mvself among their allies Recognizing that sm h < *le brations can tie valuable in mis ing awareness and cultivating understanding as to what it means to live in a society where (no matter how much certain members of Congress might wish otherwise) diversity is the nil** and not the excep tion. Having said that, and believ ing that dialogue fosters the truest sense of understanding. I would like to complicate the issue slightly by calling into question the assumption that visibility equals celebration and pohtn.il c lout As .1 member of a group of people for whom *uc.h visibility is neither a choice nor a right, hut rather an unavoidable and ot c us i email y exhausting fac 1.1 c an assure you that our < on spicuousness is rarely met with i elebration and certainly does not provide ns with political clout In fact, what is common ly celebrated about disability is not its existence, hut rather the hope that it can eventually l>e "overcome." one is said to have succeeded "in spite of." never "tan at ISO of one >> disability Hut it is «i! precisely this juncture that th«» I.fiHTA pro vides us with inspiration, for in the riot-so-distant past these very same platitudes were rou tinely leveled at those of differ inx sexual orientations 1'he I.CIBT community refer t ed them and asserted their right to celebrate different e hike w ise, we find much to i elebrnte in the fail of disability, in Itv • mg outside of what is erro neously perceived to be the norm As to the form siu h ( olehra lion ought to take, here. too, the LtiUTA serves to inspire us This inspiration lies not in the idea of “becoming visible," which amounts to a de« optively neat and far ilo slogan. Indeod. su< h sloganeering. while understandably templing, can actually lx* quite dangerous serving In cover and nbs« ure the very com pie sit ins the i r.IVI \ is try mg to iirmg to the forefront With its slate of speakers, ral lies and panel disc ussions. the U'.HTA encouraged i ample to talk about issues It IS tins dia logue that will help people to understand what ii is like to lie an I t.HI individual So. building upon this exam ple. 1 would like to unite fel low disabled, handii apped. i rippled, differently ahled. alter aided students, fni ulty and staff to follow the lead of the LGBTA and start actively talking (or signing) about what it is like to live with their imh vidual differences VV♦> t.ottld also invite the par tit ip.itiun of allies. welcoming tt»> support of anyone who rtx • ogm/i's that the statement. 1 don't even think of you as dis abled,” is far from being a t otn plimnnt Rather, it is a denial of a t ru t ial fat et of our Hlniititv ( t>llrt'ii M tin Jerri A is a grad note student in English WHAT 00 YOU THINK7 The Orvgon Daily Emerald welcomes your opinions on this and other issues You may submit a tetter no longer than 250 words to the Emerald offices at Suite 300 m the t MU or seed us your thoughts via « mail at odeyjoregon uore gon odu LETTERS Thought control A well-known religious leader recently staged a spectai le Huge crowds attended While many disagreed strongly with many of his stated Indiefs. they nevertheless were forced grudgingly to concede that his overall goals were of good intent. So, who am I writing about? Pope John Paul II or Louis Fnr rakhan? You'd know if I ini lud ed one of the following statements "He was lionized by the press as the greatest thing since sliced bread, despite the fact that most of Ins utterum es wore little more than hoary plat itudes," or. "Ignoring the theme of the event, the media insisted on concentrating on the admit tedly many faults of both the man and his credo." Bill Smee University faculty Helmet heads I had one of those near-death experiences a few weeks ago that compels me (and perhaps gives me the right) to preach to those of you who haven't been to the edge. While commuting on my hike. I was hit by a car — the driver couldn't see the red light and broad-sided me at 30 inph. My THE ASUO WOMENS CENTER PRESENTS. . Cedar A Lei bun health concerns Cedar B Women of color health issues Cedar B Middle Eastern belly dancing Cedar A Menstrual empowerment through rnuaJ and herbs Cedar D Midwifery Pci‘.( par turn J 00 PM J00 PM Cedar C Introduction to yoga and retaliation Cedar F FVstiodes and women's health 3 00 PM sOO PM Cedar D Safe se* in I99S a JO PM 1 JO PM 219 Gertinger Dance and body therapies head ,md Ihm)\ smashed the dri vet's windshield before 1 was thrown to the pavement 11 nine out with a broken «l.iv i< In, a sprained neck, and a very sont body. but no head injuries (test of all. I remained alive to in k you nil with my wiman about wearing a helmet While I was being driven around after the at < ident, I decided to do a little statist!! al ly valid sample of cyclists to see the percentage of riders wearing helmets Guess what? Kight out of 10 of you are rid ing around without helmets I lev, you’re invincible, so what's the differed) e? I decided there are at least two explanations for these results One is that you’ve consciously decided you are fatalists when it s your time, it’s your time Ihe other is that this is Ihe enactment ot some classic Darwinian theory Those individuals with brains wear helmets and thus preserve their existence Those without brains have no need of helmets As they die out. they improve the genetic pool for the helmet wearers. The world becomes a (letter place. What can I say? No one (.an make you wear a helmet. The point is. you're spending good money and the better part of your day trying to fill your head with ideas arid potential Why lot it spill out on the pavement in ii pool of gras matter because wearing i helmet doesn't look t oot or set-ms like .1 jtiiin to hi).; around? While I was making mv obser vations, I notii ed that the prat to e of riding the wrong wav on a one wav street {on or off the sidewalk) belonged almost exclusively to the helmetless (fearless or clueless — you make the call). Knd of sermon. I'm alive het a use l was wearing a helmet. Unfortunately. 11 an t ride a hike for the time being Lot kily. I can drive my 3.500 pound car. so it you're riding a bike, watch out! Bill Welch Eugene War on unborn The recent 50th anniversaries of the atomit bombings prompt ed debates about the ethics of warfare Meanwhile. America's war on prenatal children raged on unabated, routinely trashing every ethical principle it has consisted exclusively of literal surgical-fist strikes against the innocent and help less. intended to preempt the recognition and prole* lions nor mally at corded at birth Rather than honor the immunity of non-combatants, it has deliber ately targeted them It has employed piiiMimius weapons refusal of quarters and live dis memherment of the unarmed r.i r • t population, even subptt t mg it in experimentation. in contravention of the laws of war ami ail international standards for (fio treatment of prisoners Y«t tin1 war planners continue fo resist providing mi the most basit: safeguards sue h as information about human devel opment rightly fearful that piercing their veil of ignorance will render their proxies unwill mg to continue the carnage. Alfred Lemmo Donrbom, Mich GTFF union I'fte recent story [ODH. Sept -8} about a new tentative agree ment between the Graduate Teat Iting Fellows Federation (G I F F t and the University should raise more questions than it answers for GI Fs who value union democrat y. the i ontinoed existence and i ontin Ued success of their union, and fair treatment for employees of their union. Former president Bob Rofrerts notes that a mail ballot ratifica tion elm lion is set for mid ()< to her Suite Roberts makes no mention of a meeting and. as of this writing, no meeting notice has been sent to G IT's, are we to assume that voting wilt go <jh without the usual prit-ratifii.n lion discussion meeting? Opportunity for GTFs to di* cum proposed contract changes with their elected leaders is essential to union democrat \ and must not he abandoned (ills have ,i right to meet with and question those responsible (or negotiations Finally, we have questions about rei ent ( hnnges in the (i I FF uffii e rile office IS now staffed bv people who i an t answer simple questions Where are regular staff members Diane Kan and Larry Williams' Who is the (ill-1- president' Why are (. I FF memlmrs living kept in the dark' We are aware that cotltrai t nego tiations have reached an impasse, and we are < unearned that the continuity and expertise that Diane and harry have pro vided for several years (and through several negotiations with the University) may !*• iost The GTKF Executive Hoard must act now to si hedule a meeting where these important issues can re* wive the attention of the voting membership Yvonno Rauch Ernest Stromberg graduate students and 1 7 co signers Lots of bang, little bucks. 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