EDITORIALS. OPINIONS. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Payment date shouldn’t
depend on postal service
■ OUR OPINION: B would
eliminate fees for mao
delayed credit bills
What you won't hear from
the credit r ard representa
tives in the EMU: Regardless
of when you mail your pay
ment, we will c harge you a
latr* fee/inleres! if it arrives
late
Therefore your credit rat
ing and amount owed
depend partially on the eflfi
Cieficy of the U.S Postal
Service. Not a comforting
thought.
! lowever, a new hill
under consideration in Con
gress would change that
pro-lender polit y. If passed,
the bill would require c redit
t ard i ompanies to consider
payment dates based on the
postmark date. So. if debtors
get their payments to the
post office on the day their
bill is du«. the i rod it com
pany would b«* forced to
c onsider th«* payment on
time, even if it arrived a
week later. Just like the IKS
While politicians who
reside in tin* back pockets of
hig business will oppose the
bill, it would be a great Imkjii
to c onsumers Visa and Mas
terikird have called the bill
"misguided,” but they could
lose? a lot of money if the bill
gets the congressional Oh
(dearly, credit card t om
panies earn enough money
in interest without penaliz
ing consumers for the
lethargy of the postal ser
vi< e. Hut the bill may actu
ally benefit them in the long
run. C kins tuners with more
t ash in their pew kets are
more likely to spend it
well, charge it.
Flier statistics don’t
present complete truth
■ OUR OPINION: Wi it *.*
consider (act can bt»
one sided mlormation
The racist-slanted flier
stuffed in mailboxes and
tat kod to bullet in boards in
Ksslingtir Hall Iasi Wednes
day raises intriguing ques
tions alxnit the nature and
use of statistic s to sway pub
lic opinion.
Apparently compiled by
an Australian journalist, the
statistic s portray African
Americans as criminals who
have a penchant for < ommit
ting acts of violence against
white people. The reporter
said the information he
released "could not possibly
be published or discussed in
the IJ.S. mainstream
media."
He is right
Even if the statistics wore
numerically no urate, they
paint a warper! picture of
reality Americ ans tend to
be easily influenced by
mathematical "fact," but sta
tistics i an lie
In this ( ase, the reporter
has released a selective sw
tion of data that supports
his views it may be true
that 1 .HOG white people are
murdered by blat k people
eat h year, but how many
blat k people art? murdered
by whites' Mow many of
those murders involved
inner-city drug deals or the
police? What is the cause of
the violence?
Statistics don't show the
whole truth, and American
journalists would be irre
sponsible to present them to
the public.
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! DOJV& 0*r TWEBE
No room for gays, lesbians in GOP?
Time So start gearing up for the political
season onus again — tlu* Republican
primaries the race fur Hob Paokwood's
Senate seat and, of course, gathering sig
natures for the referendum measures Oregonians
love so dearly.
Part of the political tradition in Oregon in
ret ont years seems to In* an intense politic al
focus on guy. lesbian and bisexual issues |une
Way la* Cay Pride Mouth, but around here.
November is („ty Politics Month
Okay, so it's only October But why wait for
the rush? There's already plenty going on.
To start us off, there's Hob Dole and the I-og
Cabin Republicans
ror most! ot you wno don t know. the u>g
Cabin Republicans art* a national organization of
gay and lesbian Republicans whose goal is to
achievo ecjual rights for gays and lesbians in the
Republican Party.
1’orsonnlly. I’ve never been able to understand
how someone can be a gay Republican To me,
the two seem diametrically opposed To be fair,
it's an admirable effort to try to get gays and les
bians accepted by a party whose vision of "fami
ly values" clearly excludes those families with
two mommies
Kilter Bob Dole In June, Log Cabin sent Dole a
$1,000 contribution, which was sol it ited by
Dole's campaign manager. John Morgan in
August, shortly after news of the contribution
became public. Dole relumed the money, saying
he didn't agree with the group's views.
Last week., however, be took the money back,
blaming the donation's return on his campaign
committee lie also said that a<< opting the
group's money didn't mean he agreed with their
agenda
Can you say "waffle," boys and girls?
But Dole isn't the only one accepting endorse
ments from those he doesn’t agree with
Gordon Smith, « Republican who will !*•
vying lor Pat kwood x Senate seat, recently
accepted an endorsement from the Oregon Citi
zen's Alliance
The (X.A is a rabidly anti-gay organization
whose main foe us over the past few years has
been to undoor prevent gay rights legislation
Aside from a plethora of local measures, the
group has worked on Measures ‘1 and 13
statewide initiatives that would have prohibited
passage of any gay rights legislation.
Smith opposed Measures 9 and 13, but he also
opposes gay rights legislation. He says gins, les
bians and bisexuals are already protected by the
Constitution.
Without spot ific legislation, however, gays,
lesbians and bisexuals do suffer discrimination
in areas sui h os employment ami housing. In
tboorv thn l mulilitl ion mfll- tif-ilt-, I fivurinnA in
our country, but if it's not spoiled out legally,
•hero is little recourse for those affected by dis
i rimmation
To make Smith's story even more interesting,
he is not only endorsed by the OCA. but by the
(^)l' s only openly gay legislator. Chut k Ciarpen
ter, as well
An IX. A and gay-backed candidate? 1 never
thought I'd s<'e the day.
Of i ourse. the <X:A is on the warpath again,
gathering signatures for yet another anti-gay ini
tiative Oregon voters have defeated this kind of
thing twit e now, but the OCA is going to keep
trying until it has made this palatable enough
for the voters
OPINION
With a little luck, though,
the Supreme Court will !*• able
to shut up the (X'.A’s anti-gay
rhetoric for good. They have
heard arguments for Colorado's
Amendment 2 and will decide
whether states can limit gay
rights legislation. Amendment
2 passed in Colorado in 1992,
the same y ear Oregon voters
defeated Measure 9. The (hi
o ratio supreme t.ourt eventually proclaimed
Amendment 2 unconstitutional. This is the first
gay-rights-related uise the Supreme Court has
heard in almost ten years.
And this is just the beginning. I hove no doubt
the (X1A will get all the signatures they need for
their new initiative, and that's when the cam
paign will get really ugly I’m pretty sure gay
rights can't la* avoided in the presidential cam
paign. and I'm sure there are lots of twists and
turns ! can't possibly foresee
On one level, it's nuidlv amusing to watch
politicians do backflips around gay. lesbian and
bisexual issues On another level, it's frighten
ing to see the anti-gav conservatives have such a
stronghold on party politics.
Mostly, though, this is painful.
It’s painful to see people so divided on this
issue What this really comes down to is an
issue about whom wo love. And in a country
supposedly based on freedom, shouldn't choos
ing who to love las the ultimate freedom?
Iran ,\l Hand, a junior majoring in itnimahsni. is
a columnist (or the Emerald
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The Oregon Daily Emerald welcomes your opin
ions on this and other issues You may subnet a let
ter no longer than 250 words to the Emerald offices
at Suite 300 m the EMU or send us your thoughts
via e-maii at ode#oregon uoregon edu