VIEWPOINTS
EDITORIALS OPINIONS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
City won’t let homeless
set up temporary home
■ OUR OPINION: The City
Council is leaving the
homeless out in the cold
OK, class, take out a pier e
of paper. T his is a short pop
quiz In basic economics,
sociology and compassion.
Compare and contrast the
solutions a city should
t ome up with when it has
1) S5 million in surplus
city funds.
2) A large and structurally
sound empty building (pus
sibly more than one).
3) A small population of
homeless < itizens who live
in parks or in cars because
they have no other place lo
live.
•l) An entire community
and a network of < hurches
willing to work closely with
the individuals listed above
51 An approaching winter
season that will probably
present a mere hardship
for the individuals listed in
number three if they are
unable to find shelter.
l ime is up. Please hand
in your papers Your
quizzes will be graded and
returned to you immediate
ly Right now
You get a score of 100
peri ent if you chose to use
some of the funds to convert
the large building into a
temporary winter home for
the homeless.
You still get an "A" if sou
came up with a variation of
the above that included
help from i hurch groups,
private citizens and other
communities.
If you are the i its of
Eugene, you get an automat
ic “F.”
Eugene shouldn't worry
about its transcripts because
it might end up with a
headache bigger than any
thing a nasty report < ard
could give.
The city might end up in
court.
Tom Musselwhite, execu
tive director of the
Homeless Action Coalition
and Project Recover, is gath
ering documentation for a
possible lawsuit against the
city.
The City Council said no
to Mussolwhite's request to
turn a former parks-mainte
nam e building, located at
the base of Skinner Butte at
2^5 Lincoln St in Eugene,
into a temporary shelter for
homeless people.
Musselwhite had every -
thing going his way until
the City Council Grinch
squashed the plan. City
Councilman Shawn Boles is
against the idea and
believes that Eugene
shouldn’t have to take care
of all the homeless people
in this area, lie has a point.
It would be great if other
communities would pitch in
to help people in need As
far as other Lane County
cities helping the homeless?
We don't know why they
haven’t given much support
but our guess is that the
"situation" is too cantrover
sial.
Bar k in Eugene, even the
executive committee of the
Whlteaker Community
voted 8-1 a month ago in
support of Musselwhite’s
plan.
Why can’t we help these
people? The answer is that
we can. hut it's a matter of
getting tough and getting a
little roughed up — like
Musselwhite.
There will be no car
camp on Centennial
Boulevard this year, so
where can the homeless
live? This is the real thing
now. with real people
involved.
It's no longer just a test
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Women don’t need affirmative action'
Rarely do 75 pore eni of Americans agree
on any major issue li is generally
impossible to get a majority, rmn h less
three fourths, of adults to agree on any
thing According to a Man It 1995 poll by the
Washington Post, however. 75 percent of
American adults are opposed to "affirmative
action programs that give preference to minori
ties and women in hiring, promotion and col
lege admissions
In this situation, I am willing to he lemming
like and follow the popular tides As a woman.
I feel uncomfortable with Iwing given an unfair
advantage just for i arrytng the double-X chro
mosome.
Never In my academic
(4nw have I noticed a hios
again*) me for my woman
hood. Instead, I have seen
males around me penalized for
simply being male Who ever
heard of Take Your Sons to
Work Day. or events specifi
cally designed to lure men )o
college'
»iy .
lntsctaM
In fact, I question the mere
existence of programs meant to help women at>
"minorities.” The word minority refers to a
small group that t:ouid be overlooked by Ihe
majority How does this apply to women?
Not only do women outnumber men in the
"real world," but many colleges report a higher
percentage of women enrolled than men
Women study and work in virtually every field,
and yet we are still represented as the down
trodden.
I do not respect or appreciate that image, and
1 definitely do not conform to it It is as alien to
me as is the image of the all-powerful male
What surprises me is that statistically, most
people agree with me, and yet the system
remains static. Unlike the myths, my supporters
are not only upper-class white males who want
to return women to their “rightful place." In
fact, according to the Washington Post poii, 69
percent of women agree that women should not
be supported by affirmative action programs
At one time, society needed these programs
When my mother was in high school, a college
education was an abnormality for women. At
that time, though, an average family, supported
by an average male, could make an average liv
ing
That way of life is gone.
Fifteen years ago, when my sister was consid
ering what to do with her life, college was not
considered an option, but a necessity Her gen
der was not an issue, her future was. When I
went through high school in the early '90s. 1
couldn't comprehend the concept that I was
being “oppressed" by the men 1 surpassed in
many skills and subjects. That equal opportune
ty extended s< hoolwide.
1 he advanc ed i lassos wore equally populated
by both sexes The highest SAT scores were
earned by women. Females led the school
paper, the underground paper and the vear
Ixiok. A v ast majority of student body officers
wen- female, two of the three valedictorians
were women, and half of the salutatorians. This
is the s<« ietv that doesn't give women leader
ship opportunities' My female friends went to
good universities based on their achievements
as people,, not is rewards for being oppressed
I do not feel oppressed 1 feel in control of my
own destiny . As a science major, I am supposed
to feel embittered by my lower education in the
math and sciences and feel forced to study lib
eral arts Instead. I don't No one needs to reim
burse me for the injustices done to my mother
and grandmothers.
If women must la* considered a minority, at
I oast let it help the women who were hurt by a
sexist so< ietv None of my peers were. To atone
for past deeds, why can't this society seek the
forgiveness of those who were wronged? Why
not give the si holarship money earmarked for
today \ young women to the women who actu
ally suffered?
My mother's generation was not given a fair
shot at additional education. Give the scholar
ships and apologies to her and other genera
tions that lat k the money to ftnant e a college
education.
For-women-only sc holarship money given to
women directly out of high school is playing to
untrue stereotypes. Use the money to compete '
sate the women who were wronged and to edu
cate woman of the next generation about their
rights and responsibilities
for many kids today, including my nieces
and nephews, both parents work and the finan
cial burden is carried by both genders Many
children are members of one-parent homes.
Mow could they feel that women are incapable
of supporting a family or holding a good job
when they are raised by women who do?
Learning about that antique system of treating
women like second-class citizens is the only
way this next generation will lie alerted to the
sexism that once existed. It is the only way to
truly overcome past discriminations and leave
that system where it belongs — in the past.
Kay Krautscheid. a sophomore majoring in biolo
gy. is a columnist for the Emerald.
WHAT 00 YOU THINK?
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