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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 13, 1999)
Thursday, May 13, l1)1)1) Weather forecast Today Friday Cloudy Showers, sun High 56 Low 42 High 58, Low 40 Gaining ‘Momentum’ The dance department’s annual spring student dance concert, titled ‘Momentum, ’showcases the ivorks of student choreographers /PAGE 10 Harker bows out After just one season,forward Skousor Harker announces plans to transfer to a Division IIschool/PAGE 11 ^ An independent newspaper I Volume 100, Issue 152 University of Oregon www.dailyemerald.com from Prejudice to Positivity Amanda CoumvTimemld Al Nakatam of Maui, Hawaii, talks to the crowd at the Ben Linder Room. i rageay inspires a couple to face their prejudices and help others learn By Erin Sneigrove Oregon Daily Emerald Having lost one son to shooting and two sons to AIDS, speakers A1 and Jane Nakatani shared then personal tragedy with the Univer sity community last night. At a workshop titled “LGBT Is sues in APA Society: The Person al Story of the Nakatani Family,” Al and Jane talked about their ex periences, not to gain pity but to promote change, they said. Their goal is to help people realize the value of all human lives. “I’m sharing my story for mul tiple reasons,” Al said. “I want to teach people about death and dy ing, about parenting gay and les bian children, and most impor tantly about the importance of ac ceptance,” Two of the Nakatanis’ chil dren, Glen and Guy, were homo sexual. Instead of supporting her sons, Jane said she initially shunned them. She felt ashamed of her children. “I was a homophobic moth er,” Jane said. “I told gay jokes and I made fun of pride pa rades. When I found out I had two gay sons, I couldn’t believe it. I thought being gay was their choice, but I now know other wise.” Shocked at their sons’ revela tions of their sexual orientation, the Nakatanis faced an addition al trauma when the middle son, Greg, was shot in 1986. From what Al and Jane understand, their son was killed because of a meaningless argument with a stranger. His assailant was never found. “When Greg was killed, I real ized I had been a denigrator,” A1 said. “I had pinned all my hopes on Greg— that he would get mar ried, have children and carry on the family name. I realized then that I had devalued the lives of my other two sons.” Glenn, the eldest child, died of AIDS before Al and Jane had the opportunity to make amends, making Guy the last surviving son. But Guy did not have much time left. Learning from their past mis takes, Al and Jane accepted Guy wholeheartedly, having him live in their home for the last two years of his life. During that peri Turn to NAKATANI, Page 6 IlliillllSSI Higher ed budget passes in Senate The $2.3 billion budget is $87.6 million above operating expenses By Teri Meeuwsen Oregon Daily Emerald Except for one voter, the Ore gon Senate placed the higher education budget in the hands of Senate President Brady Adams, R-Grants Pass, to pass on to Gov. John Kitzhaber. “This will send a very strong message to the governor,” Adams said. The budget carries $87.6 mil lion more than its basic operat ing budget and $14.6 million above the governor’s budget. The lone dissenter, Sen. Avel Gordly, D-Multnomah, said she voted no because higher educa tion needs full funding, not just partial funding. “I consider myself a champi on of education, from pre-K-12 through higher ed,” she said. “I advocate higher ed, but it must be done in the right way.” Sen. Susan Castillo, D-Eu gene, said while there is a con cern about fully funding higher education, the Senate has made a strong investment. “We have made a good down payment on higher ed,” she said. "Higher education is tied to the quality of life and it has been cut since the implementa tion of Measure 5. This will give them good support.” The full $2.3 billion budget will fund the new budget mod el, a new system that will help keep student money on cam pus, make the university sys tem’s seven universities more accountable and encourage program and campus improve ment. The budget model will also allow the university system to take a market-driven approach to educating students. “We don’t want Oregon stu dents to be turned off by a low funded university system,” Turn to BUDGET, Page 6 Senators’feelings mixed about Dixon’s future senator Wylie Chen calls Dixon an asset and says decision is Dixon’s By Jason George Oregon Daily Emerald Student government leaders were in disagreement Wednes day concerning Michael Dixon’s future on the senate. Student Senator Dixon was sentenced in Lane County Court Monday to 18 months probation, 20 days of road work crew and a $500 fine for two counts of felony burglary of more than $5,000 worth of property from the Bean Com plex. In another incident, Dixon, 19, pleaded guilty May 10 to stealing more than $50 of phone services from the Uni versity. He has entered into a correspondence program until Dec. 13. If he commits a crime before Dec. 13, he will be sen tenced for the phone service theft, according to the district attorney’s office. Dixon did not return a phone call from the Emerald. Dixon’s status was not dis cussed at the Student Senate meeting Wednesday. Senate President Michael Ol son continued to support Dixon and said on Tuesday he will “not seek his removal,” but oth er senators were quick to disas sociate themselves from Ol son’s stance. “I hope people do not believe that the statements of one sena tor represent the entire senate,” Senator Autumn DePoe said. “The question I have to ask my self is, how long does it take to forgive? I am really torn. I feel like it is his decision or the stu dents’, whichever comes first.” Senator Jamila Singleton said she, like Olson, still supports Dixon staying on the senate. “My opinion is that Michael has proven himself as a student leader,” she said. “To penalize him by asking him to resign would be ignorant.” Senator Eric Pfeiffer said his feelings on the issue have changed. He is still against the Emerald’s conducting back ground checks on student elected officials, which is how Dixon’s charges were discov ered. “I think what he has been trying to do is change his be havior. This is good,” he said. “But I have to admit that I have to go against many of my con stituents and say that I am dis appointed. I would like to see the issue brought up at the next senate meeting instead of us all agreeing that we support Michael as a person.” Senator and ASUO Presi Turn to DIXON, Page 6
