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Mountain Mysticism
The University Theatre
presents Dark of the
An independent newspaper
Volume 100, Issue 158
University of Oregon
www.dailyemerald.com
Students unite to end violence
Raising awareness of sexual
assualt was the goal of the
Take Back the Night March
By Jason George
Oregon Daily Emerald
The community turned out Wednes
day night to say enough-is-enough.
Beginning in the EMU Amphitheater,
over 300 people attended the annual
Take Back the Night March, which fea
tured booths, music, speakers and the
march itself. The mission was to raise
awareness of sexual assault and “to
show support for the survivors,” said Va
lerie Wright, events coordinator for the
Women’s Center.
Hosted by the Women’s Center and
the Sexual Assault Support Services, the
march is an annual event, in its 21st year
in the United States. The rally began at 7
p.m., with participants making signs to
carry during the march. Christine Scott
of Eugene brought her daughter Sophie,
7, to the event because she felt this was
an important event for them to attend.
“One, it is important as a woman, and
two, it is important because she is going
to be a woman,” Scott said.
Scott’s sign read, “Violence Perpetu
ates the Problem.”
Lisa Foisy, director of the Women’s
Center and a sexual assault survivor,
said that the event was a positive night
for her. She hoped education and aware
ness of all types of violence against
women were realized by the people in
attendance. “To be part of a community
and to say ‘look how many survivors we
have’,” was also an intention of the
event, according to Foisy.
Just as the sun set and the music of
Mare Wakefield ended, the speakers
took the stage. The first speaker was Uni
versity Alumnus Robert Wasson. Was
son spoke to all of the students, but par
ticularly addressed the men in the
audience several times. “I challenge each
of them to not just show up ... but to
make it relevant everyday in your lives.”
A workshop for men was held in the
EMU Walnut Room to discuss what
could be done by these men to end male
violence. The workshop was presented
Turn to MARCH, Page 6A
Catharine KendaU/Emeralu
Participants paint signs to hold during the parade, one of many activities that made up Take Back the Night.
Students want written support of diversity from UO
Activists want the University to
create a new position to
specifically promote diversity
By David Ryan and Maritza Ryciak
Oregon Daily Emerald
In the wake of Tuesday’s nine-hour sit-in,
student activists are working to supply the
University with something colleges from
Santa Barbara to Cambridge, Mass., have —
written support of diversity.
A committee of administrators, stu
dent activists and a University senator
began drafting a statement of support for
racial and social minorities Thursday
morning.
The meeting came two days after 31
protesters were arrested for trespassing
during a sit-in at Johnson Hall. The sit-in
started from what some students called a
racist comment made in a planning, pub
lic policy and management class last
week.
Following a class discussion over an e
mail listserv, student John Convy allegedly
made threats of sexual violence toward at
least three women.
April Reeves, a student committee mem
ber, said a statement of support would al
low the administration to set an example to
respect diversity.
“To accomplish that, you must first have
a commitment,” she said.
Students on the committee said they will
draft a proposed statement today. Reeves
said the statement will focus on diversity
education and awareness, developing effec
tive programs and providing a supportive
education environment.
Nathaniel Bachelder, another student
committee member, said diversity is about
educating people how to deal with each
other in a melting-pot environment.
“The point of die University is to prepare
us for life after college,” he said. “If people
find hatred is acceptable here, they’re going
to think hatred is acceptable after they grad
uate.”
Other universities’ support programs
have given student activists a reason to de
mand something similar from the adminis
tration.
“We want to light a fire under their ass
Turnto DIVERSITY, Page3A
Thurston
students find
solace in words
One year after the shooting,
students use poems and
personal writing to heal
By Jack Clifford
Oregon Daily Emerald
The secretary in Thurston High School’s
main office is asking why a reporter is on
campus grounds. It’s 10 days after the Little
ton, Colo., killings, and I’m here to inter
view two students for an article to be pub
lished on the one-year
anniversary of
Thurston’s tragedy.
There is supposed to
be a ban on all news me
dia on the school’s cam
pus, though, and she is
rightfully questioning
my presence. As I stand
at the desk, similar
thoughts enter my
mind.
Vultures. We in the
media have been called that and worse. If it
bleeds, it leads. Some people say that’s our
unofficial creed, and who in our profession
can argue otherwise?
Don’t we all remember the front-page
photo in The Register-Guard the day after
Thurston’s shooting incident? Didn’t seeing
the crush of TV trucks and swarm of “jour
nalists” posted outside the-school’s memor
ial fence make us queasy?
Jenny Huck, an 18-year-old Thurston se
nior and editor of The Paragon, Thurston’s
literary magazine, finally comes to bail me
out. She has agreed, along with Paragon
staffer Chalan Moon, 17, to sit and talk
about ... well, I guess about writing and its
Reporter’s,
Notebook
tnerapeutic powers.
Later this day, an exhibit at the Spring
field Museum will show through paintings,
sculptures and other art forms how teens
cope with the issue.... 111
of violence. Jenny ThllFStOIl
chooses poetry in- commentary
stead to escape her g Springfield Mayor Mau
maddening teen reen Maine comments on
years. She volun- the community’s recovery
teers a sample of ^
her writing, and
one passage seemingly cries from the page:
“same emotions / different location / always
destructive. / hollowing communities / with
youth violence / covering sobrieties / in a
whispered silence.”
Her focus in writing, Jenny offers, is to
reach out somehow to others, to show them
that the feeling of hurt is universal.
“If I can help stop that from happening
again, then I’ll take a chance with it because
I know how it feels,” she says. “I don’t want
other people to go through this.”
After Kip Kinkel, then 15 years old, al
legedly went on his rampage, real people
died, and real people were injured. But an
abstract being, the local community, suf
fered injuries as well. Jenny guesses that
half the folks in Eugene and Springfield
have since poured out their emotions onto
pieces of paper.
Chalan admits that his writing took a turn
after Thurston High ended up in the nation
Turn to THURSTON, Page 4A