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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 14, 1998)
CONTACTING US NEWSROOM: ADDRESS: (541)346-5511 Oregon Daily Emerald E-MAIL: P.O. Box 3159 ode@oregon. uoregon.edu Eugene, Oregon 97403 ONLINE EDITION: www.uoregon edu/~ode Perspectives City, campus don’t always provide With continued action, the Eugene and campus communities could improve by making all citizens feel comfortable in their own homes I * . The experience in Eugene and within the Uni 1 A versify has been quite the opposite of utopia for some. The City of Eugene has made them feel uncomfort able and sometimes unwanted. Whether deliberate or not, this is not an encouraging sign in a city that is touted as progressive and a campus often la beled as liberal. Citing racial strife for his departure, University music pro fessor John Gainer, who is black, left Eugene earlier this year. Gainer had accused the Eugene police of taking him off of a crowded bus to search him because of his race. In April, Eugene and its surrounding community suffered a rash of racist vandalism. Vandals spray-painted swastikas in an alley near the First Christian Church and wrote “Zyk lon-B,” a reference to a chemical used to create poisonous gas in Nazi death camps. And just Friday, a Lane County Circuit Court judge ruled that former University Office of Public Safety patrol officer James Williams, who is black, was subjected to a hostile work environment. Although he was not awarded any mon etary damages, the ruling is still symbolic of the discomfort many minorities are feeling. Kameron Cole, an Oregon Daily Emerald columnist last year, wrote a column on her thoughts about the Universi ty’s racial diversity (ODE, March 4). Cole, who is black, wrote about sometimes being the only minority student in a class — even some of the large lecture classes. In May, the Oregon Students of Color Coalition held its first annual Zero Awards ceremony, giving the awards to 13 University academic departments without any tenured or ugene isn’t an innocent utopia. And more specifi cally, neither is the University. tenure track profes sors of color. vviiai uuca an ui n mean; u means that Eugene and the Univer sity are not the happy melting pots some people think they are. It also means there are people fighting the overt and subconscious racism and exclusion. After the spree of racist vandalism, more than 200 people protested on the Ferry Street Bridge. When Williams felt cheated, he took action. And when students felt their edu cation was being compromised by the lack of diversity, they organized and handed out mock awards. Eugene is not a hotbed of racism, but it is discouraging to know that a town that has successfully fought so many bat tles over rights is still fighting a battle as important as this one. On the other hand, it is encouraging that the communi ty is still fighting the battles, and it is fighting loudly. tnen are they truly part oi tne community r Resi dents of Eugene and students of the University must cele brate this kind of community action because although this is no utopia, it can certainly improve. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial hoard Responses may be sent to ode@oregon .norepon .edu. LITTERS POLICY The Oregon Daily Emer ald will attempt to print all letters containing comments on topics of interest to the University community. Letters must be limited to 250 words or less. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, clarity, grammar and style. Drawing Board WOW OO YOU MiPONO mo CW/VO&tS 1WA.T YJUItt Abrasive. umrsspow5<vc. •»wo a6u$c Pov«« ? The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emer ald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eu gene. Oregon. A member of the Associated Press, the Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Eft) Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law NEWSROOM — S4l.Vi6.5511 Editor in chief: Michael Hines Associate Editors: Rob Moseley, Leanne Nelms Photo Editor: Laura Goss Webmaster: Broc Nelson Design Assistant: Kiley Arroyo Reporters: Peter Breaden, Amy Goldhammer ADVERTISING — S41.346-A712 Becky Merchant, director. Rachelle Bowden, Leigh-Ann Cyboron, Dan Hageman, Doug Hentges, Andy Lakefish, Justice Rhodes, Ericl Schiess, Ryan von Klein, Emily Wallace. CLASSIFIEDS — 54I.M64S4S Anne Nielsen, manager BUSINESS — S41S46-5S12 General Manager Judy Riedl Business: Kathy Carbone, business supervi sor. Melanie Jones, receptionist Distribution: John Long, Peter Breaden PRODUCTION — 54I.M6-4I81 Michele Ross, manager Tara Sloan, coordina tor. Laura Daniel Emerald
