Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, October 23, 1997, Image 1

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    SPORTS
Rising star
Stanford's Kristin Folkl, as one of the Pac
10’s most ipowerful volleyball players,
proves she’s got the killer instinct
PAGE 7
AWARENESS
&
Restroom message
New urinal screens in EMU and fra
ternity bathrooms emphasize male
involvement in rape prevention
PAGE 3
B THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1997
TODAY
The University will
sponsor actii 'Hies
for the Notional
Young Women 's
Day of.Action
WEATHER
Today
Chance of showers
High 59. Low 44.
Friday
Chance of rain
High 57. Low 47.
Community Activism
ITT
4
CHAD PATTESON/Emerald
Citizens involved in the National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality match through Eugene’s downtown mall Wednesday.
Marchers protest police action
The march
was part of
a national
effort to
raise
awareness
about police
behavior
By Michael Burnham
Community Reporter
More than one hundred people united
Wednesday afternoon to march the streets
of downtown Eugene to protest against po
lice brutality.
The Eugene march was in recognition of
the second annual National Day of Protest
to Stop Police Brutality. The march was or
ganized by a New York City-based organi
zation called the October 22 Coalition.
Eugene’s version of the march drew pro
testers of all ages, and some of them
brought their dogs or carried signs in
protest of police behavior. Others donned
elaborate costumes, with one person
dressed as a tree and another dressed as the
Statue of Liberty. Some marchers dressed
as mocking effigies of Eugene police offi
cers, complete with tree branches for billy
clubs and plastic badges and helmets.
The protest was organized as a non-vio
Turn to MARCH, Page 4
CHAD PATTESON/Emerald
City Council member Bobby Lee speaks with concerned citi
zens after the protesters’ arrival at City Hall.
MEChA conference set to mobilize community
Identity and cultural issues
will be the focus of this year’s
Pacific Northwest conference
By Kristina Rudinskas
Student Activities Reporter
Cultural identity, Chicano history, NAF
TA and Mesoamerican myths and history
are just a few topics that will be discussed at
the 1997 MEChA Pacific Northwest Chicano
Leadership Conference, beginning on cam
pus today in the EMU Ballroom.
MEChA chapters from Oregon and Wash
ington, as well as high school students, com
munity leaders and interested organizations,
will represent the Pacific Northwest.
“Overall it is just to educate people about
Chicanos and Latinos and the issues they
face on campus, in the community, in the re
gion and across the nation," explained An
dres Barajas, internal coordinator for the
University’s MEChA chapter.
The Gardenburger boycott was discussed
at last year’s regional conference and was
brought to wide-spread attention at the Na
tional MEChA conference. It will be dis
cussed again this year as an important issue
in the regional caucuses.
MEChA chapters may also plan an event
for the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexi
can-American War and reestablished the re
lationship between the two countries.
Friday will highlight a keynote address
from human rights activist Rocky Rodriguez
of the National Xicano Human Rights Coun
cil. She will discuss self-determination and
spiritual development.
Chicano history seminars and panel dis
cussions on Chicano and Latino identities
and contemporary Chicano issues will con
tinue through Friday afternoon.
James Garcia, assistant director of Multi
cultural Affairs at the University of Oregon,
will discuss theGANAS program he helped
Turn to MECHA, Page 3
UO plans
for ethnic
major in ‘98
Students who support the new
major hope the program will
bring tolerance to campus
By Laura Cadiz
Higher Education Editor
The University joined the ranks of all the
other Pac-ll) universities by adding the ma
jor of ethnic studies to the College of Arts
and Sciences.
The Oregon State System of Higher Edu
cation board approved the major Friday;
before then, the University was the only
Pac-10 college without such a major.
‘‘This is an incredible thing for the Uni
versity," Multicultural Center co-director
Jay Breslow said. “The ethnic studies de
partment will bring so much to the Univer
sity; it will help with racial discrimination
on campus.
“The only way to get past that is through
education and reading about our different
cultures."
Faculty and students of the College of
Arts and Sciences started the push for the
major years ago, said Joe Stone, dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences. It will be able
to offer the major by fall term of 1998.
According to Robert Wasson, the multi
cultural advocate for the ASUO, the major
is long overdue.
“I believe the University seriously lacks
diversity in both students and faculty,” he
said. “Not counting international students,
only 11 to 12 percent of the student body is
students of color. While that may be a re
flection of the state, I think the University
should have higher goals that reflect the
state’s diversity.”
Students majoring in ethnic studies will
be taking courses in anthropology, history,
literature and music that all relate to ethnic
issues.
“It’s an interdisciplinary program,”
Stone said. “The fundamental idea behind
the program is to explore the origins and
evolution of particular ethnic ideas but in
the context of American experience over
all.”
Students who support the addition of the
major said they hope the major will bring a
new type of tolerance to the campus.
“I think students will gain a greater un
derstanding of what it means to be an eth
nic minority,” Breslow said. “They will
gain a history of America that hasn’t been
studied before. That will probably be one
of the richest and most exciting majors on
campus.”
Stone echoed Breslow’s anticipations for
the major.
“It will give students a deep understand
ing of the role of ethnic identity in Ameri
can culture and give some students a
chance to explore their own identity,”
Stone said.
Currently, the college is conducting a na
tionwide search for a director for the pro
gram. Stone said the college hopes to have
the position filled by spring term.