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Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz
Editorial Editors: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
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P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
April 4,2000
Volume 101, Issue 123
Emerald
orce
Perhaps the worst news to tell someone is that of
an unexpected death, and I learned it’s also the
worst time to make quick assumptions about
how close someone was to the deceased.
When someone at my high school died, in pursuit of in
formation, I broke the news to a friend who also knew the
deceased. Unfortunately, I really underestimated how
close the two were.
Based on my one experience, I am terrified of the next
time I’ll have to do something like that. Even if I had
known how close my friend had been to the de- j
ceased, it still takes a pretty high emotional intelli- /
gence quotient to find the right words when deliv- /
ering the news. Or maybe a lot of training. But /
who needs those skills that much? j
Police officers? They seem to get a lot of soci
ety’s unpleasant tasks. Can we expect them to
do other jobs with the same proficiency as
their primary one of keeping society peace
ful? Maybe not. The Eugene Police De
partment has recognized that some jobs
are better left to experts. So in 1989, they
relinquished certain tasks by sponsoring
a program called CAHOOTS.
As acronyms go, it’s unusual to find
one that long that actually makes sense. “Cri
sis Assistance — Helping Out On The
Streets,” however, pretty much sums up
what they do. And as the initials imply, it
is an example of a community organiza
tion, White Bird, collaborating with
the Eugene police.
‘“Community policing’ uses ways of dealing with prob
lems that end up in the police department’s lap, but in
ways that aren’t traditional to law enforcement,” CA
HOOTS coordinator David Zeiss said. Those problems in
clude dealing with public drunkenness, checking the wel
fare of shut-ins and delivering really bad news.
You may have seen the CAHOOTS van driving around
Eugene. It’s big, white and obvious. Other than that,
though, it is easy to have never heard of CAHOOTS.
“We don’t advertise very much,” Zeiss said. “Most of
the time that we operate, we’re already engaged.” So there
isn’t any need for more “business.” But it is an important
to be called away to a public safety emergency?
Though the CAHOOTS van is less likely to be called
away from a location for a riot, murder or traffic accident,
there is still the ever-present pressure of another dispatch.
Anyone who has been a single parent or the only manager
at a restaurant knows the problems of not having any
i backup. There is just one CAHOOTS van, and it can only
\ afford to operate half-time, despite an average of 12 calls
| per day.
| And here we see the problem with declining support
! for public services funded through taxes. When voters
defeated the Lane County public-safety ballot measure
last year, money that could have supported a second
CAHOOTS unit running an overlapping shift never
materialized.
Is CAHOOTS the feel-good but dying dream of a
society that steadily declines in support of public
works? I hope not. Funding people to do what
: they’re good at, what their trained for and what they
want to do will inevitably be much more effec
Katie Nesse Emerald
tive than simply delegating the task to people
who might not fit any of those criteria.
Although the CAHOOTS employees cur
rently have plenty to do, I think it’s impor
tant that more people in Eugene know
about this. For everyone, it is a program
that might be personally useful in a fu
ture crisis, and it might help voters re
consider the next time public-safety
tax measures come up.
For students, most of whom will leave
and unique service available in Eugene. So, from 1 p.m. to
1 a.m., CAHOOTS answers calls that the police feel a
counselor is better suited to handle (generally, these are a
result of folks who call either 911 or, more appropriately,
682-5111).
I have to admire the program for taking on some really
depressing tasks, especially the death notifications.
“When a death occurs and it’s necessary to notify family
members ... they’re not enjoyable to do. But we think we
do a good job of caring for people who receive the news of
those circumstances,” Zeiss said. Again, it’s a job tradi
tionally associated with police, but isn’t it better to send
someone who is both trained in counseling and not going
isugene eventually, u is a great moaei ror otner cities,
many of which have no such program. “It was certainly
unique when we designed it. We didn’t have any models,”
Zeiss said. Now that Eugene and White Bird have done
the hard work, “selling” the program to other localities
won’t be as difficult, and students are the ideal population
to spread the idea.
The next time you need to break some bad news, con
sider how much folks who have to learn from a stranger
will benefit from being told by a professional.
i
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 jgruber@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
World Wide What
Do you think the Student Senate’s passing of a pledge for diversity and
stance against bigotry is in conflict with First Amendment rights?
J—b—e_w... e h
tt I think
people
should be re
spectful of
others re
gardless of
color. ”
Leah Wyatt
freshman
pre-journalism
tt As long as
the pledge is
confined to
the Student
Senate ex
pressing its
opinion, the
pledge does
not conflict
with First
Amendment
rights. ”
Laura Close
sophomore
political science
tt It's sad
that we have
to [have a]
petition to be
aware of
racism. It
should be a
given. The UO
should be
more aware.
Chris Hsu
senior
fine arts
www.dailyemerald.com
Hit’s still
covering up
issues that
are ugly. It