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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 8, 1995)
Affirmative action receives close inspection by five-person panel ■ DISCUSSION . . explores the pros and cons of the po^cies By Cindy Long My.Se' fGuCJKVf tchtoi Five people from the Univer sity and community tame togeth er to discuss the pros and cons of native d< lion in a panel dis cussion last WH*k I in* panel lociudecI Bed • I.uke. the multicultural trainer and equity specialist for the 4J School Distru t and the Univer sity Graduate School. Henry I.uvert. Fugene Springfield NAAUI* president, Maurice Hol land. law professor; Marshall Sain edit, office of Multicultural Affairs director; and Thomas S< hoenborn. Commentator edi tor-in-chief Fai.h panelist was given 12 minutes to state their viewpoints followed bv a brief quest ion-and answer-period Ham eda said affirmative at turn program* have helped him in his earner "I thank God for having had affirmative action programs that created opportunities for mvseff," he said Holland, on the other hand, said affirmative action plans i os! him a mb early on tn Ins i areet and is concerned about the costs to people who are not targeted in affirmative action plans "I don't think that people who are in favor of affirmative action should so quickly deny that it has considerable costs in terms of injustii e to individuals," he said Holland also said that oppo sition to affirmative action is not necessarily equal to racism. "I don't think opposition to affirmative action means that the pursuit) is opposed or hostile to minorities." he said l'he problem with opposition to affirmative action is that pint pit* who art* Opposed to it don't i*riis id* in1, other sol t Luvert said When l.uvert vs as promoted to Sergeant in th« firt* department, people assumed tl was bee a use of affirmative action and not his m i oinplisliments Heaven forhui Don't give me #*»j i radlt for h*% ing any know! edge of doing anything." ht> said, adding that at the time of his promotion, Kugene didn't have on affirmative action program Sc hoe n born said In* is not against affirmative action if it does not «n< ourage the hiring of less-qualified candidates ami is only meant to east n wider net for the hiring pool ff that is what it is. then 1 am in favor of it," In* said New Asian-American women’s group formed ■ STUDENTS: The group hopes to work with other campus groups By Ashley Bach University students Mivuki Taguchi and Cindy Nguyen both had the same dream: to provide a support group for Asian women to discuss their experi ences. The only problem was that neither of them knew the other existed until thev began talking one day Thev pooled their ideas together, which eventually resulted in a new student group — the United Women of Asian Heritage (UWAH). The group, which has met three times this year and held an open house Tuesday night to generate interest, hopes to find its own niche among the many Asian student organizations on i atupus I'aguchi said they < an offer it unique forum. "A lot of the groups out there are brood in their apprnnt h," she said “Women aren’t always atilt* to come together ” Taguchi and Nguven. both seniors salt) t)it> group will tr\ to create dialogue between both Asian*Am«ricnn and interna tional women students They will also work with tin* ASUO Women’s ( enter and the Black Women of At hievement within tint black Student Union. "We hope we can just break a lot of the harriers we have between each other." Nguyen said. Nguyen, who is Vietnamese American, and Taguchi, who came to the University from Japan, hope with their diverse backgrounds they can rater to the needs of ail her kg rounds Bnrunite I j»i. .mother member of the group, sees l >WAH reaching that goal "It's an empowering experi ence for international students," she said "And it will help Asian Amerii .ins| find their roots, which is a wonderful thing.” The group is currently seeking recognition front the AStlO so they may he a funded organize t»on next year While they expect to he recognized in the next few months, the women don't see it as a big issue, "Just as long as we hove a group of committed people," Taguchi said "That's all that's impor tant." The group can fat contai ted at tag uc h i@gl ads tone. uor egon edu or by i ailing t>Ht> -toto Commission aims to protect Eugene citizens ■ GOVERNMENT: Founded m 1960. {he group advises city government on civil rights issues By Abe Eslimada In just the Inst few years, the Human Rights commission has made a difference in Eugene Thanks to the 15-member commission. Eugene’s anti-dis crimination ordinance was revised to protect gays and les bians from housing, employment and public accommodation prej udice. The group also proposed the creation of the Centennial car camp as a temporary solution for the homeless problem in Eugene. In response to the shooting at Temple Beth Israel in 1904. the commission helped organize a candlelight vigil as a statement against anti-Semitism in Eugene Greg Rikhoff. a human rights analyst for the group, said the commission’s work is not mere ly limited to changing city ordi nances or processing complaints The commission also plays the role of conscience for the city, he said. "Most of their work is to deliv er hod news to the city govern ment." Rikhoff said. "The com mission asks City Council, 'Mev. wait a minute, have you thought of the implic ations of a particu lar action? Are you creating a pol icy that allows people to partici pate in city government?’" The City Council selects Kugene citizens, representing dif ferent social and racial groups, to serve with the commission. A City Council member also sits on the commission. Currently, that member is iaurie Swenson Crib skov. The commission was founded in i960 and was originally called the Committee on Race Relations By 1975. the committee had sep arated into five groups that addressed not only the concerns of racial minorities, but also women, the elderly and people with disabilities. In 1990, a mayor's task force recommended that the five com mittees combine again into one group that is now the Human Rights Commission. The commission has a broad range of responsibilities that are mainly behind the scenes, Rtkhoff said. The group advises city government on human rights issues, helps educate various s«m - tors of the community such ns schools and businesses through workshops and talks, and also provides support and referral ser vices. Rikhoff said he believes that the commission's work load will only inertias*! in the face of lim ited resources and lack of time The committee is currently developing solutions to dual with problems, such as incidents of violence against immigrants, which i ould potentially grow in m ope and frtijuencv in the near future. In particular, incidents of harassment against interrat nil couples have increased in the last five months. Kikhoff said It was watching the state of race relations deteriorate in Eugene that prompted Tyrone Janes to join the commission sev en months ago. "I've noticed more open hos tility towards people of color." said Jones, w ho is African-Amer ican "Now, there are more phys ical attacks, more open name calling and just more open nega tive behavior as a whole." As the community becomes more diverse, Jones said he believes the commission's work gains even mom importance. “When we invite high-tech companies such as Hyundai into our community, we're bringing a different culture in. too." he said. "We need to focus on educating the community and making adap tations Some people say we need to help thorn team our language and our customs Hut we should also learn to respect their culture as well," Custom Color Calendars & Gifts 4 Add your favorite color photo or graphic to any of our great gifts and calendars Hill your branch office 1265 Willomtftt • 344 3555 fax 344-0870 *5 Off All NEGEV shoes 687-0139 LAZAR'S with coupon (i li V tO) STYLED TO PIT YOUR . . . STEP UP, & BE COMPORTABLE, WITH WHO YOU ARE. LITE, 57 w. Broadway & 957 Willamette YOU ASKED FOR SPORTS? WE GOT ’EM! TWO SATELLITES! Come watch all of the games with us! 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