Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz
Editorial Editors: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
Tuesday
March 7,2000
Volume 101, Issue 112
Emerakl
Those of you who, like me,
have seen movies like “Mary
Poppins” approximately
5,400 times, get ready to sing!
“Cast off the shackles of yesterday,
something-and-something into the fray
... Our daughter’s daughters will adore
us, and they’ll sing in grateful chor-us;
Well done, sister Suffragettes!”
The time was 1910, “the age of men,”
as the movie points out later. But these
women singing the suffragette songs had
an inkling of what was to come. Because
ironically, the first International Women’s
Day (IWD) happened the very next year.
It occurred March 19,1911, in several
European coun
tries. The date was
chosen as a sym
bol, for on March
19,1848, the
Prussian king of
fered a promise of
voting rights for
women, an offer
that still stood un
fulfilled when
IWD first came
around a century
later.
Well, the United
Jonathan
Gruber
Nations came close to making it official in
1975 — International Women’s Year —
and now the United Nations calendar lists
March 8 as the 2000 IWD. In general —
and in Eugene — it is observed on the sec
ond Sunday of March. More specifically,
it’s going to be at the Hilton at 9 a.m.
You may have never heard of Interna
tional Women’s Day. I know that, despite
almost four years on a liberal campus —
including two terms of Women’s Studies
101 (one as a student, one as a discussion
group facilitator) — I’ve never heard of it.
As a United Nations-declared day, you
would think it would get some national at
tention. Unfortunately, none of the major
on-line news services have said anything.
Even the U.N.
Web site is remark
ably unhelpful. But
IWD occurs every year,
and it’s a worthwhile event for
all people to consider attending.
While many of us have never heard of
IWD, I’m sure you have heard of some of
the results that the event has affected
throughout the years. For instance, now
we celebrate yearly a “Take Back the
Night” march. It began in March 1976 as a
result of an IWD conference in Brussels,
Belgium. The first United States’ Take
Back the Night occurred in 1978, when
thousands of demonstrating women shut
down San Francisco’s largest pornography
strip for a night.
According to Kyra Kelly, one of the Eu
gene event’s many coordinators, every
year “the goal is to be more and more in
clusive.” The theme this year is “Blending
Our Voices.” Note that, despite the suc
cessful labor and social demonstrations
that have been part of IWD celebrations
around the world, the Eugene event is a lit
tle different. “We always bill it as a cele
bration,” Kelly said. I agree. It’s a celebra
tion of how much women have achieved
in the fight for gender equality, and it’s a
celebration of hope for future action.
I know that some men have already
stopped reading. Either they think they
can’t go or they don’t care, either of which
is unfortunate. Kelly said that part of this
year’s theme means "getting people to
drop their attitudes about who can or can’t
go.” She said that the coordinators wel
come men to the event, in spite of the fact
that separatist feminist groups criticize the
idea. And they welcome students. And
community members. Get it?
So what does one do at an International
Women’s Day? Listen to speakers? There is
certainly ample opportunity for that. But
there’s a half-hour break between every
session. That length of break is very inten
tional because audience participation is a
vital part of the day. “It gives people a
chance to converse with presenters,” Kelly
said.
As many of the presenters and attendees
are Eugene-based, it also gives everyone
the chance to network within our commu
nity. The fact that we can all come together
on the second Sunday in March is not
nearly as important as the fact that we can
all come together every day, as long as we
have some familiarity with who “we” real
ly are.
Lastly, if you’ve been itching to do some
service on Sunday, they still can use vol
unteers. The volunteer coordinator, Sarah
DeVore, has more information at 346
4095.
So this Sunday, you can talk, listen, vol
unteer, enjoy performances and celebrate
the fact that the movement for women has
come this far and is still making every
one’s lives better.
Jonathan Gruber is a columnist for the Oregon Daily
Emerald. His views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald. He can be reached via e-mail
at jgruber@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
Bryon Dixon Emerald
Letters to the editor
Many are concerned
In response to Bret Jacobson’s editorial
(ODE, March 3), I doubt that John McCain’s
target audience, with respect to his “war on
campaign finance reform,” is merely college
students as Jacobson suggests. As much as
Jacobson would hate to admit it, campaign
finance reform is something that many peo
ple are concerned about.
There is nothing crippling about remov
ing the right of the extremely rich to bribe
public officials. There is nothing American
about special interests with huge wallets
having their concerns taking priority over
those of the American public. If donating $6
million to John Doe’s campaign in (unspo
ken) exchange for legislation that will (one
year down the road) save me ten times that
in tax benefits is a shining example of free
speech, than color me communist.
Should being elected perhaps be about
something other than the amount of money
spent? If limits were set, would candidates
have to rely on themselves rather than com
mercials and outspending each other? What
if media exposure were standardized, and
each candidate were given equal represen
tation?
I am not at leisure to fill the pages of the
Emerald with examples of campaign fi
nance gone wrong; rather I suggest that any
one interested pick up a current newspaper
or magazine on the subject. Personally, I
don’t feel it is in America’s best interest or
its constitution to allow our governmental
representatives to sell the United States to
the highest bidder. The power of our gov
ernment should flow from its citizens, not
special interest groups.
William J. Moglia
German
SAFE sets record straight
As a co-chair of SAFE (Sexual Assault
Free Environment), I’d like to set the record
straight on a few things.
While we as a group acknowledge and
admire the courage of Andrea Fuller Cooper
who told Kristin’s Story on Wednesday,
March 1, we’d like to address the issue of
counseling for sexual assault survivors.
Counseling is an important part of the
healing process for survivors. Because sur
vivors have already experienced a violation
of their trust, it’s imperative that we, as
friends and supporters, give the power of
choosing whether or not to seek counseling
back to them. Counseling is very beneficial
to some, but we must not resort to “tricking”
them into seeing somebody for help.
Responding to the March 1 article, SAFE
wants to clarify its mission statement and
correct some inaccuracies. Our mission is:
“to reduce the incidence of sexual violence
on our campus by increasing awareness of
the rape culture and creating an environ
ment that supports survivors of sexual as
sault.” We have been fulfilling this by plan
ning and organizing events on campus,
such as the Speak Out on Feb. 29.
SAFE works primarily with ASAP (Al
liance for Sexual Assault Prevention), the
Office of Student Life, and the ASUO safety
advocate. As a team, we are working toward
improving general lighting on campus.
Mira Levine, OSL sexual assault educator
and advocate, was also misquoted in the ar
ticle. She said, “There are ways to reduce
your risk, but the only real way to prevent
rape is for rapists not to rape.”
Contact SAFE with questions/comments
at safe@darkwing.uoregon.edu.
Suzanna Ward
SAFE co-cbairwoman