DEWPOINTS
EDITORIALS OPINIONS LETTERS TP THE EDITOR
Prostitution sting raises
legal, moral questions
■ OUR OPINION; Adults
should be allowed to sell
the.r bod>es for sex
Following a drug sting
operation, Eugene indit e
wore bat k in the Whiteak«r
neighborhood last week to
cart off the city'* prostitute*
As "successful” as this oper
ation may have been It is. at
its core, a waste of time and
money
Adult prostitution is a
victimless c rime and should
be legalized
In the best of all possible
worlds, women and men
would not need io sell ihelr
bodies for sex, No one
would Ire physic ally t»r omo
lionaily abused. would run
away from home or would
Inn ome drug-addicted
Women would have equal
economic opportunities and
would not find themselves
trapped in abusive relation
ship* with pimp*, husbands
or boyfriends. In an ideal
universe, no one would
"need" to sell her body to
feed her i hildren or get a
drug fix. Without question,
we should strive to eradi
cate these factors from our
society.
However, making sex for
sale illegal does not elimi
nate these problem* It exac
erbates them,
Criminalizing prostitution
stigmatize* women who an*
already dinging to the*!lot
tom rung of the locioet o
nomli ladder Most
Amerit an* i onsuiei these
women "Impure" or fallen."
This perception is based
on a t enluries-old idea that
a woman’s body should not
lie defiled between the lime
she leaves the ownership of
her father ami enteis into
the service of her husband
Until the 19th century, rape
was considered a property
crime, and restitution was
paid to whoever "owned"
the woman at the lime
A* much as w<* think we
may have evolved from thi*
archaic thinking, the atti
tude* stilt linger.
When we arrest prosti
tutes. we think we re pro
tecting them We think
we re helping them to end
their wicked lifestyle Vet.
almost all of these women
go back to the street* with
less cash in their pocket*
and the need to turn more
tricks to pay back the pimp
who bailed them out or get
the fix they need
We like to believe that
police officers can show
these women that they have
options and can get off the
street if they want to This is
true. Hut all of that can be
accomplished through com
munity outreach programs
In fact, by legalising pros
titution. but restricting it,
we could eliminate many of
the problems assoc iated
with it
Street prostitution would
remain illegal, but prosti
lutes would tx> able to set up
shop in zoned districts and
take out yellow-pages ads
like other businesses, sex
sellers would need to be
licensed by the city. To
renew the* license, they
would need io report for
health testing and counsel
ing once a month.
This would increase tax
revenue, eliminate prosti
tute dependence on abusive
men. give women a way out
and curb the spread of sexu
ally transmitted diseases It
would allow women to have
complete control over the
use or misuse of their bod
ies.
No, it wouldn't solve all
the problem#, but it's a step
in the right direction.
Emerald
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LETTERS
Mind exploitation
The Nov, 29 edition of The
Megiiiter Guard featured an arti
«Je reporting the role of Univer
sity p*y« hology profeasor Ray
Mytnon in evaluating a QA p*y
chic research prefect railed
Star-gale
I responded with a letter to
The Negater (iuard ml t lor cntt
cal of this t twifliMHii » of tire Uni
versity with OA activities. hut I
w» mow tomemed with point
ing out the context of Slarg.it*!
within an ongoing procession of
exploitative mind fexoan hex
I*kI Sponsored by the U S Intel
ligence community
I was not surprised that The
RcgtiierGuard dor lined to pub
lish my response Like other
Eugene newsprint organ x
speaking from various statu es
of so-called progretstvism. The
Negater Coord prefers that
those criticisms of the CIA it
sometimes publishes deal with
remote skullduggeries in far
away lands,
Wwa- -mlinuing
role of the U S Intelligence in
high-tech mind experiment*
upon prisoners, patients and its
own all loo willing corps of
recruits continues in hidden
corner* of Amana and it gen
erally ignored, as well, by hyp
ocriticat human rights
organisations such as Amnesty
International.
I don't mean to suggest that
Slargate itself is necessarily a
front for such experiments, but
it's naive to imagine that CIA
interest in the paranormal is
limited to investigations of the
performances of a few remote
viewing superstar psychics
Certain govern mentally con
traded laboratories such as the
Stanford Research Institute,
which is discussed in The Reg
ater Guard article, are well
known holbedt of Or
Strangelove protects mlent
upon exploring the more literal
computer human interfaces
and "psychic" broadcasts possi
ble when microchips, btochips.
micro receiver'transmitters and
other parasites of genet lu'elec
tronic configuration are
implanted and wired directly
into mammalian brains
The iomI empire of privileged
information, which some intel
ligence factions ultimately
expect to consolidate in this
country', will, if it comes more
fully to pass, he no respecter of
those transcendent gifts of
mind and spirit bestowed with
in us through the ages by intel
ligent nature in response to our
own yearnings Rather they
will invade, colonize, and
enslave those human outposts
where souls one* grew
John A Hicham
Eugene
Library lout
I never imagined myself sub
mitting a letter to the editor,
most likely as a result of my
dominant "latssez fa ire" atti
tude Vet. after an infuriating
incident in the library during a
recent weekend, the need to
vent my frustration and the
means to do so became appar
ent.
On Nov ft», m an attempt to
complete a Women s Studies
paper in peace. I headed to the
Knight Library I settled into a
window seat and began to tack
le the readings necessary for the
paper ! specifically chose an
area of the library that was vir
tually unpopulated, assuming
that this atmosphere would be
the most conducive to studying
1 enjoyed a solid 30 minutes
of silence Indore my ears were
assaulted by an unruly individ
ual’s headphone clamor “Of all
the available locations to study,
he had to come here and dis
rupi me,” I thought
After half an hour of pencil
lapping, horribly off-pitch
singing, and the display of
numerous other disruptive
behaviors, I dec tdesl it was tune
to let this indisniuai know that,
yes. this is a library, and that I
would appreciate the common
courtesy associated with such a
place — silence.
His reaction paralleled that of
an individual incapable of rec
ognizing any perspective other
than his own.
“Thi* U the only table large
enough for my map." he blurt
ed I hadn't asked for a justifi
cation for his location, rather
that he refrain from polluting
the airways of what is usually
considered a sanctuary for the
ears,
"I don't give a f— about you.”
was his next refute
“Is that what Jerry taught
you?” 1 questioned as I stared at
the late-smger’s image on the
individual's T-shirt
All I expected from this indi
vidual was common courtesy
Because he was in a public set
ting known for its quietness,
my request wasn't unreason
able. T he lack of respect this
man displayed now manifests
itself in the image of the late
Jerry Garcia
I find it hard to believe that
there are individuals who feel
they have no responsibility as
human beings to be respectful
of others.
John Fujita
Psychology
Enlightening ‘Emerald’
My memory may he failing
me. but I seem to recall a time
when the Emerald was not
completely unreadable If there
was. that time has pass«d
Reading the Emerald, we
have learned that the Republi
can Party has altered the Con
stitution so that their presidents
can remain in office for six
years (ODE. Nov 28} Accord
ing io the Emerald. George
Bush began his term in 1987.
while Bill Clinton will only
receive a four-year term
In addition, we have been
told that residing in Ireland is
synonymous with living in an
unhappy and abusive marriage
Apparently, all Irish are
unfaithful wife-beater*
We hope that the Emerald
will continue to enlighten us on
the affairs of ihe world
Robert ML Farley
Political SaenctfHsior,
Erik Loomia
History