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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 20, 1996)
VIEWPOINTS (OITQRlAl S OPfMiOWS |fll(RS TO THf t QlTQff Long overdue proposal has many advantages ■ OUR OPINION: Turtton program will benefit future students immensely For on<*. the Oregon utitn government ispaying atten tion to students needs. Because of Salem Rep Peter Courtney, proposed legist# tion U now in existence that it aimed at helping Oregon i ana aav« money on tuition — before student* reach col lege At Oral, the idea aounda utwtrac I, and it is already attracting adtidsm. Critics believe the idee of pfe paid college tuition is too pmb I emetic and they are point ing to problem* with Florida's program Hut with the rising costs of tuition and the prospect of even fewer Americans having the opportunity to arm themselves with a col lege education, there is no way this program's guaran teed positive effects will not outweigh it* ptaisible prob lem* One of the places where* the proposed program secerns to have the capacity to (pi wrong is related to parent* planning their child's future What if the* child does not want to stay in Oregon? What if the child does not like the parti to tar Oregon collage that his or her parents selected? Or (cot ter yet. what if the child doe* not want to get to col lege? All these "what ifs" are of no consequence. If the* child is not content with the insti tuiion that parents have selected, the parents, or sup plier of funds, can easily receive their money l>ac.k without intermit. Another advantage of the prepaid tuition program i* that the money from ton tracts purchased today will benefit universities now. instead of ten years latrr Thu will encourage and allow parent* to start plan rung and investing in their children's education and future right away The uni versities will receive money now, and parents who might not have the money for tuition in the future will bn motivated to stan saving. Hut parents are not the only one* who will benefit from this program Hum nesses and other family members can purclutae the contracls. These businasaes could distribute the con tracts as scholarships and therefore benefit the com munlty. Critics’ argument* that the pro Mid tuition would result in future losses for colleges are completely illogical. If people are willing to purchase contract* and sup* port higher education now. there is no reason they would not lie willing to pur chase further contracts. This will assure that them* will be no possibility of Oregon col ieges being in debt It is about time that Ore gon stop* parsec uting its education cystem and start* (raying attention to the need* of its students Rep, Court nay is on the right track There is no ma son we, th«* students of a university, should not com pletely support this pro gram, whit it will provide benefits ami opportunities we did not have to future generations of college stu dent*. , ,JI • < KIDS SCMOOl JNIFORM, I95CH-. PROPOSED NEW KJPS SCHOOL UNIFORM, 1990*. Recorded jail conversation steals rights Though it happened 12 year* ago thi* spring 1 atilt remember the day of my firm <(inflation vividly, if not fondly With dancM Jaw and twisting hand* 1 entered the umfiaimnul boa; and solemnly began. “Forgive m father, far I have tinned A* a T-yeaf old. I didn't have much to confess .I bad yelled at roy mom and (jeon mean to my *i*t»r la impwntly revisited tonfo**ion). but 1 had the MCUftty of knowing 1 could confess* The sacrament of reconciliation it both an immetiMtiy holy and a completely private time for Homan Catholic* While the other sacra ment* (such a* baptism, holy matrimony, rdf .) at* generally one* to *b*r» and celebrate. racon < dun.m I* the moat intensely private of your inner thought* — said out loud Absolutely anything can be aaid In the priest —* really. directly to God and you will receive forgivtuuMM and a penance (something to alone for your tin prayer* or action* you mutt take) And it I» kept completely between you, the priest and God While I have never had anything mayor to eon foe*. I waa always comforted by the knowledge that tf I met Maided to tali, even Just to think something through. I could turn to a priest and be comforted — be unconditionally forgiven And it would never be spoken or heard of again, unless* I chute to revisit the confessional and that particular »ub)« t Unfortunately, soma Unc County authorities decided that all people don't have that right During the sm ramenl of recant ilialion. Conan Wayne Hale and Father Tim M»* kaiti* were recorded Every word they said, every breath they uttered (though meant only for ted) are now on tape for other ear* to hear There i* a difference between Hale and 1 He may have bad something to confess. Something big digger than stealing hi* sitter* gummi boar* or not cleaning hi* room Ha may have con based to murder I would Ilka nothing better than to hava the guilty party cunvictedof threw crime* But to want that to happen to Hale on the batts of a private confession. 1 would have to go back on something I believe in even more strongly — each person * right to practice hi* or her rail gioo h> much the same way I support other peo ple*' freedom of tpeach right*. 1 support evi dence being withheld to support the freedom of religion What 1 question ic how this entire situation got thi* far in the first place There were no sign* in ihe Jail that day While soma claim pris oner* leave their right to privacy et the door. Father Mac kaiti* definitely did not That alone it enough to make the evidence worn inadmtsst hie to me Second Oregon Court of Appeal* ha* already ruled on a case dtnscilv bearing on thi* "The clergy penitent privilege belongs to the penitent." Meaning of course, that only Hale ha* the authority to release what is said in a confev sional Especially in the Roman Catholic Church where the priest is just an earpiece for I'hmI. this makes absolute sense — only the thinker can release his private thoughts. Ai < ording to Deschutes County District Attur ney Mike Dogan. “If the sole purpose of the priest's appearance at the jail was to engage in this religious ceremony of confession, then in all likelihood, the priest-penitent privileges apply." But by taping the private confession, a whole OPINION can of worms has been opened. it may be too lata for th«* tape not to be used in the trial, f or if Hale realty did con fwss to something during that confession and the prose* ution listened to St. even if they did n't use the tape in court, they could use it to get leads In that case, the defendant may have to request that the <«|*>t*» brought lonvard simply to show that In* prosecution used it unfairty ThU is obviously not something that occurs •naryday Hut Ucould This travesty rales right up there with the Telec onitnunkations Act (or unconstitutional! ty Htwiw, while free speech still survives oti the Internet, freedom of religion has lawn wiped out fur inmates in lane County The Bill of Bights clearly state*. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the tree swards* there of..." While tame County authorities might not be Congrats. they have the same responsibil Hies to hold this law to the fullest of their capa bilities. And they haven't. fine part of Catholic confession is that it CAN NOT be shared outside of the priest penitent relationship (unless, of course, the penitent decides it should bej. The priest u invested with this responsibility For now. until privacy is insured, the sacrament of reconciliation cannot be morally given by a priest This takes away a major, perhaps neces sary. sacrament for any prisoner Because taped confessions remove inmates' ability to fully practice their religion, they should be declared illegal. It could take extra procedures (pastoral ere dentists verified, altering recording equipment, etc..), but it must be done to ensure every citi sens basic rights Prisoner or no. everyone should be able to have Cod in their lives Kay Kmutu hmd. a sophomore majoring in bkdo S' ant* psyc hology, it a columnist for the Emer d Email kaykdtgladatom. uangon *du
