Prejean
continued from page 1A
looking to raise awareness about
the death penalty.
Prejean has been on a “personal
crusade to end the death penalty
in the U.S.,” said Rep. Floyd
Prozanski, D-Eugene, who hosted
a press conference Wednesday to
introduce the author.
“I am here to support this initia
tive,” Prejean said before the press
conference began.
Prejean, author of “Dead Man
Walking,” has toured internation
ally advocating against the death
penalty. She is now concentrating
on the United States to support
American lawmakers’ efforts to
end the death penalty.
Illinois Gov. George Ryan an
nounced Monday that the death
penalty will be put on hold in his
state indefinitely. “I cannot sup
port a system, which, in its admin
istration, has proven so fraught
with error,” Ryan told the New
York Times in article published
Tuesday. “Now people are reexam
ining cases in Illinois that would
not be reexamined in other states.”
Ryan’s moratorium is the first of
its kind. At the press conference
Prejean applauded his taking a
stand.
In a story-telling format, Prejean
told the audience of her experi
ences since she became involved
in 1983.
“Some people call me the angel
of death row,” said Prejean, who
has witnessed five executions
since Sonnier’s execution in 1984.
As a Catholic nun, Prejean be
lieves in compassion and kind
ness. She started working with the
poor in 1980 after hearing a fellow
nun speak on poverty in the Unit
ed States.
“When you live a life of privi
lege you don’t know you have a
life of privilege,” Prejean said.
She began by volunteering at
the Hope House in Louisiana,
which led to her involvement
with the criminal justice system
and death-row inmates.
After seeing Sonnier die, she
knew that the reason the death
penalty was possible was that peo
ple are disconnected from it. She
thought, “if they could see it they
Oregon's Death Penalty roller coaster
Total death row inmates: 25 as of Oct. 11,1999
1859 Oregon becomes a state, death penalty legal
1914 Oregon abolishes death penalty by margin of 200 out of 200,000 voters
1920 Death penalty reenacted for first-degree murder
1958 Voters uphold death penalty by 2 percent margin
1964 Death penalty repealed 3:2, Gov. Mark Hatfield commutes all sentences
1976 With Gregg v. Georgia, U.S. Supreme Court leaves decision of death
penalty to states
1978 Death penalty reinstated
1981 State v. Quinn found 1978 statute unconstitutional in violation of de
fendant’s right to jury determination
1984 Death penalty reinstated
■Since 1903,60 people have been executed in Oregon
SOURCE: History of the Death Penalty in Oregon: members, tripod.com/ocadp/history. htm
would reject it.”
Since then her battle has been
relentless. In 1993, her book,
“Dead Man Walking” was re
leased and remained on the New
York Times bestseller list for 31
weeks. In 1996, the book was
made into a movie starring Susan
Sarandon and Sean Penn.
One of the shocking things Pre
jean discovered was that in many
cases the criminal justice system
was failing accused murderers,
who were disproportionately
poor. They were receiving inade
quate representation; sometimes
their lives were put in the hands
of lawyers who had never defend
ed a criminal case.
“If [the lawyers] don’t know
what they don’t know they lose
the client’s life,” Prejean said of
the court-appointed attorneys.
Her book gives a detailed account
of the complexity of the legal sys
tem and why it is so hard for poor
people to have adequate defenses
when their lives are on the line.
She said she also found blaring
racial differences in capital cases.
Today, in eight of 10 capital cas
es that district attorneys pursue,
the victims are white, while 50
percent of homicide victims are
people of color, Prejean said.
“Race matters — it always mat
ters — and nowhere does it matter
more than in the criminal justice
system,” Prejean said.
Prejean emphasized that she in
no way condones the terrible acts
that the inmates have committed
and it is important not to forget the
victim’s families. Her efforts also
include advocating for the fami
lies of both the inmates and the
victims, who are often forgotten,
she said.
After her speech audience
members had a chance to take the
microphone.
“The more people study and the
more people know, the less they
support it,” said De Anna Home, a
University law student.
“By encouraging people to feel
that the death penalty is the solu
tion to their grief, I see it as an in
justice to victims as much as those
sentenced,” she said.
She also said she did not know
one University criminal law pro
fessor who supports the death
penalty.
“It’s amazing what ignorance
can do,” said Gabbrielle Lobue, a
senior Japanese major who said
she knew little about the death
penalty before Prejean’s speech.
“Before I came to this I was lean
ing in support of the death penal
ty, but now I am more aware of the
flaws in the justice system. I will
commit to an open mind.”
One audience member asked
Prejean what she thought of the
economics of the death penalty.
Prejean said the economics of it
is a moral issue. Capital punish
ment is expensive. The average
cost of trying a capital case is $2.3
million in Texas.
“We should pour [the money]
into the fabric of life that helps
people to be good,” she said.
Sandals
continued from page 1A
shoes to determine their age.
“ Archaeologically, the collection
here is distinctive,” Connolly said.
“There probably isn’t anywhere in
the world that matches our collec
tion of ancient twine ware. ”
In contrast with states to the
north and south, “Oregon is really
interesting because throughout
the last 10,000 years twining has
been the predominant basket
making tradition,” Connolly said.
The exhibition has items from
all over the northwest, but the ma
jority of the display comes from
Oregon caves and estuaries.
The display contains aspects of
ancient weavings, preserved in
two different ways: either found in
dry caves, such as in Eastern Ore
gon, or buried in the wet silt and
mud in estuaries along the coast.
“Basketry touches you a little
more because of all of the personal
decoration,” Connolly said. "It’s
part of the culture and heritage of
this place we live.”
Baskets made as recently as this
year and ceremonial caps are also
woven into the eclectic exhibit.
“Baskets are something that
never age or go out of style,” Plaa
said. “It’s remarkable the quality,
really incredible.”
. Items in the display are careful
ly preserved year-round by muse
um staff and volunteers.
Jackie Tucker, museum volun
teer, said the ancient basketry is
susceptible to damage by light and
changes in the atmosphere.
“We want to be able to —100 to
200 years from now — still have
these,” Tucker said.
The museum is open noon to 5
p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.
Smash
continued from page 1A
products from campus.”
Despite being banned from
campus, Gardenburger, a sub
sidiary of Oregon-based Flav-R
Pac, is the largest maker of meat
less patties in the country with a
48 percent share of the market.
This week, another Oregon firm
is staking a claim to the industry.
The meatless patty revolution
got a vote of confidence Wednes
day as Eugene-based Smash Inter
national announced the acquisi
tion of Jamie’s Great Hamburgers
locations in Eugene and Portland.
Smash International, the fran
chiser of Andrew Smash, serves
exclusively meatless menu items
along with Smashies, a type of
smoothie made with blended
fruit, juice and sherbet.
“I see our type of restaurant as the
wave of the future,” Smash Interna
tional co-founder and CFO Ken
Landau said. “We’ve been so suc
cessful in Eugene because in Eu
gene, people just like good food.”
With the expansion, Smash In
ternational has three franchise lo
cations with one more scheduled
to open this spring. Landau ex
pects to open 100 stores in the
next five years.
Jamie’s founder and CEO, Peter
Jameson, will join the new man
agement team while he continues
to operate Jamie’s locations in Eu
gene, Portland and Corvallis.
“Andrew Smash is cutting
edge,” Jameson said. “It’s natural
for me to bring what’s new in the
industry to our customers.”
Brothers Ken and Jason Landau
founded Smash International in
Eugene in 1995. The meatless pat
ties are made from soy protein and
have the same texture, taste and
look as a regular meat product.
Landau would not say who sup
plies their meatless patties, but
said they are not from Garden
burger and they are prepared
specifically for Andrew Smash
restaurants.
“All of our food has to pass the
meat-eaters test,” Ken Landau
said. “We want to give our cus
tomers the taste of a meat burger
without sacrificing their health. ”
Senate kills beer garden,
fills three vacant seats
■ Senators felt the
beer garden measure
held too many
unanswered questions
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
The road to a new beer
garden on campus just got a
lot longer after Wednesday
night’s ASUO Student Sen
ate meeting.
The senate voted to bring
back up for debate a ballot
measure for a beer garden on
campus then voted to kill
the measure.
The measure was being
deliberated by the ASUO
Constitution Court and, if
approved by the court,
would have appeared on
this year’s student election
ballot.
On Wednesday night
many senators who support
ed the measure at last week’s
meeting said they felt they
had to change their vote be
cause there were too many
questions about the beer gar
den left unanswered.
“I’m still all for this, but it
was put together really
quickly. There are a lot of
sub-issues that need to be
dealt with,” Sen. David
Sanchez said.
Sen. Spencer Hamlin
added, “I would never vote
against beer.”
Sanchez and many others
had questions about the beer
garden’s location, how much
it would cost to construct
and whether it could obtain
a liquor license in the first
place.
EMU Director Dusty
Miller and Assistant Dean of
Student Life Byron McCrae
worried that the roughly $1
million project, funded by
an increase in the incidental
fee, might go against the re
quirements for the inciden
tal fee or the existing Univer
sity alcohol policy.
“Students in [alcohol] re
covery on campus might not
want that brought in,” Mc
Crae said.
Senate President Jessica
Timpany, who was among
those who helped draft and
back the measure, remained
firm that students should be
Senate news
■Voted to remove from con
sideration a ballot measure
to put a beer garden on cam
pus.
Senators felt there were too
many questions that needed
to be answered before they
would let the measure go to
the voters.
■ Approved three new mem
bers, leaving only one seat
open and filling many of the
holes left after four senators
resigned in the first two
weeks of winter term.
allowed to vote for it. She
said in past years the issue
has been postponed for simi
lar reasons and forgotten,
and she worries this meas
ure will face the same fate.
In other news, the senate
now has only one seat open
after it approved Robert Bo
hannon, Lindsey McLean
and Praneeta Reddy to seats.
All three are members of the
Greek system and makes the
entire senate more than half
Greek.
“It’s a testament to the
Greek system,” Hamlin said.
The senate suffered a
string of four resignations in
the first two weeks of winter
term.
The senate also approved
special money requests from
three student groups, drop
ping the winter-term surplus
from $16,000 to $5,843.
Next week, the senate will
face the daunting task of ap
proving next year’s budget
for the EMU Board, Athletic
Department Finance Com
mittee and Programs Fi
nance Committee. All three
have been deliberating and
approving their measures
during this week and last
week for senate approval.
Due to the large agenda, next
week’ meeting will start at 6
p.m. instead of 7 p.m.
The Student Senate is the
legislative branch of the
ASUO and handles financial
issues regarding student pro
grams. The Senate meets at 7
p.m. every Wednesday night
in the EMU Board Room,
third floor. All students can
attend these meetings.
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Council
CIEE: Council on International Educational Exchange
University of Oregon
In the EMU Building
Eugene
n
877 1/2 East 13th Street
Eugene
(541)344-2263