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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 1997)
▼ EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Steven Anbury MANAGING EDITOR: Thom Schoenbom NIGHT EDITOR: Steven Asbury EDITORIAL EDITORS: Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond J editorials, letters, commentary and perspective ids. 1 I I f J NEWSROOM: (541)346-5511 DISPLAY ADVERTISING: (541)346-3712 BUSINESS OFFICE: (541)346-5512 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: (541)346-4343 ■ OUR OPINION: Thurston High School principal dealt poorly with the alleged sexual misconduct of its faculty 1/ 'elcome to Thurston > High School, a school y' with many claims to ■ fame, including this one — it is now the sexual harassment capi- ^ tal of the Springfield School District. Over the last few months, a wave of sexual viola W« 1 BACKGROUND ■ 1993: Thurston wrestling coach Gary Bowden is accused of being involved with a sexual prank. ■ 1994: An assistant coach allegedly in vites a Thurston student to his apartment, kisses and fondles her. ■ April 1994: Anne Gunningham, the a junior at Thurston High School, gives birth to a former assistant volleyball coach’s child. The two are later married in Septem ber of 1996. ■ Sept. 30,1996: Warren Weiseth, the Thurston volleyball coach, resigns in the face of allegations from seven former players who claim Weiseth sexually harassed them. ■ Nov. 11,1997: Thurston Principal Wayne Hill and Athletic Director Dale Bach man are placed on administrative leave. ■ Jan 11,1997: The Springfield School Board officially terminate Wayne Hill after holding a hearing on his role in the previous sexual incidents. They find him guilty of failing to investigate and properly deal with the sexual misconduct cases. tions at Thurston has been exposed, leading to the termi nation of Thurston Principal Wayne Hill. In the wake of these allegations, many people have serious doubts as to how safe Thurston and other high schools really are. The problems at Thurston High School seem to go way back. The first problem came to light when seven Thurston volleyball players brought forth allegations that head-coach Warren Weiseth had been sexually harassing them and had even offered to engage in sexual activities with one of the stu dents. Weiseth re signed, but the prob lem didn’t go away. Following the vveisem resignation, sprmgtietd School Superintendent Jamon Kent launched an investigation, which revealed a long histo ry of sexual abuse and harassment. Kent’s investigation uncovered several previous incidents, including an assistant volleyball IRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald coach having sex with and im pregnating an underage student, an assis tant wrestling coach charged with inviting a student to his apartment and then asking for oral sex and an alleged sexual prank in volving the head wrestling coach. In each case, Hill had dealt with the problem him self instead of reporting the incident to the proper authorities. As the principal, Hill has certain respon sibilities, not only to his students, but to the public as well. On the one hand, Hill did deal with each incident, but in many cases his actions were far from sufficient. In the case of the assistant wrestling coach, Hill simply gave a stern warning and told him to make sure there were no more inci dents. By neglecting to look into the issue further, Hill allowed more incidents of sex ual abuse to go on — many unreported un til recently. Hill has repeatedly argued that he was treated unfairly by the Springfield School District, and that if he had time to prepare more witnesses, he would have cleared his name. Unfortunately for Hill, it is too late for excuses. He has already allowed gross violations of student-teacher relations to go unchecked, and now is the time to pay up. Hill was looking to protect the image of his school by sweeping these issues under the rug, and they ended up blowing up in his face. The relationship between a teacher or coach and a student is one of trust. When teachers and coaches use their power for sexual purposes, that trust is shattered. Parents send their children to school with the belief that the school will protect them from incidents like those that happened at Thurston. Unfortunately, too often school officials are more concerned with protect ing the image of their institution than fu ture victims of sexual misconduct. When that happens, the safety of students is jeop ardized and sexual violations are allowed to continue. Sexual misconduct is never okay, but when it happens at a high school it is par ticularly disturbing. The problems Thurston is now dealing with may very well be typical of other high schools as well. We hope others will learn from Hill’s mistakes and deal with the problem now. If not, it is inevitable that more Thurston scandals will arise and more Hills will end up terminated. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. “Society is better served by protect- 1 ing our cherished right to free speech, even at thecostoftolerat- j ing speech that is I outrageous, of fensive and de meaning.” Federal Judge ! Shira Schelndlln, after refusing a \ ban on the sale of \ sexually explicit j magazines on ■ military bases. “i apologized, but 1 most people in the i world would say he’s acting.” Chicago Bulls | forward Dennis \ Rodman, in reference to the \ cameraman he \ kicked in the groin \ during a game on \ Jan. 15. “Dennis, I'm mak- ; ing a plea to you: Think about this with your guys. Other than just bringing attention j to yourself, what's ! good for the game | of basketball?” NBA Hall of Famer Julius Erving \ to Rodman on “NBA on NBC" on \ Sunday. \ “I felt that (if lac- j cepted the mon ey) I would be los ing the beauty inside of me.” Mexico City cabby Manuel Lublan, 1 after returning $53,000 left by \ one of his passen- i gers and refusing \ the reward. President Clinton After his inaugura tion on Monday, the prez is riding high. Madeleine Albright The first female secretary of state was approved by the Senate on Wednesday by a 99 0 margin. Madonna The newly-respected actress won a Golden Globe on Sunday for her performance in “Evita." I Lara Moore, Lyllye Parker, Marshall Sauceda, Chris Silva All four University employees re ceived Martin Luther King Jr. Awards on Wednesday “for demonstrating moral courage,” among other things. Dennis Rodman After the Bulls forward kicked a cameraman, even his coach, Phil Jackson, said Rod man’s time may be up. Manny the Hippie David Letterman’s former sidekick was denied early release from an Ohio jail on Tuesday. Newt Gin grich The firm House repri mand of $300,000 will be a lot to pay — even for a politician. Todd Bridges The former “Different Strokes” star was arrested again on Sunday — for as sault with a dead ly weapon. America Online The on-line service provider has been plagued by technical prooiems ana user overload since implementing a $19.95 monthly flat rate on Dec. 1.
