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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 10, 2000)
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 Monday April 10,2000 Volume 101, Issue 127 Emerald I Once again campus is abuzz with protest in front of Johnson Hall. While last year it was diversity, this year is about the University joining the Worker Rights Consortium. The funny thing is both sides agree on the issue, but while students demand immediate action, University Presi dent Dave Frohnmayer is taking a reasonable and measured approach to licensing responsibility. The basic point of this entire dis cussion, that the University should band with others in the nation to join the WRC, is agreed upon by all sides. Students overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure in the recent ASUO elections in support of membership, which the Emerald supported vigor ously. And Frohnmayer has been saying all along that he would be moving in that direction. The basic point of contention, the reason students have been blaring out disgust for the University admin istration on the steps of its building, is that the process is not moving fast enough. The Human Rights Alliance set a March 31 date for University compliance that came and went without administration action. Thus in front of Johnson Hall there stand the tents, megaphones, drum circles and protesters —14 who were arrest ed for civil disobedience Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Frohnmayer’s approach may be slow, but it is definitely a wise way to go. The expiration date for the major ity of licensing contracts with the University is June 30. That makes it unnecessary to rush at this point. And while the desire for immediacy may make some anxious for rapid re sults, the administration knows the results of these policies made today will either haunt or benefit them years from now when current stu dent protesters are years gone and into new avenues of their lives. We sincerely appreciate the ability for all students and citizens to have their voices heard through public gatherings. In this case it’s a protest, and we certainly wouldn’t ask that their voices be diminished in any fashion. For it’s often protesters who keep the rights of free speech alive and well for the rest of us. But in this case, the protesters continue fighting a battle they’ve al ready won. Protesting stu dents should consid er, however, that the University has long been on me rignt patn to Decom ing responsible in its licens ing contracts. Last June, Frohnmayer informed licens ee companies that the school would be moving in the direction of the WRC goals. Later he set up the Licensing Code of Conduct Committee, which has just finished its assigned tasks and ad vised, as expected, that Frohnmayer should join the WRC. And Frohnmayer wants to continue the process through the University Sen ate, which is reasonable. By fol lowing a long process involving as many campus groups as possible, the end result of Frohnmayer’s ef forts should be the most responsi ble and long-lasting. Frohnmayer has everything to gain from a successful worker rights policy and should be trusted to follow through on the effort. If Frohnmayer claims, as he has done repeatedly, that the Uni versity will adopt licensing guidelines, there is no rea son for students to be lieve otherwise at this point. Presi dent Frohnmayer has never shown himself to be un trustworthy or one to go back on his word. The end result will hopefully be a practical, honorable TATArlror Giovanni Salimena Emerald which students can be proud. Students have a right to take credit for their role in bringing about these positive changes. Through hard work, serious discussion and a sincere compassion for the plight of faraway workers the University soon will be a more responsible organiza tion in its licensing practices. But it should nonetheless be recog nized that serious matters such as joining the WRC should be examined carefully through a responsible and pensive process. Even though stu dents have every right to speak their minds, in this instance Frohnmayer’s method of making sure the final deci sion is widely accepted and passed through all the proper channels is re sponsible and should be commend ed. This editorial represents the view of the Emerald editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu Letters to the editor Sports coverage insufficient Mirjam Swanson’s “K.O. Kobe proves his point” in yesterdays Emer ald (ODE, April 6) made me sick. Who is this Mirjam Swanson? Where is she from? Why in God’s name is she covering sports? If Mirjam is into liposuction or oxygen bars or other things from Los Angeles, I’d be inter ested in hearing it, but when it comes to basketball, remember that it’s the OREGON Daily Emerald. If I had a subscription, I would cancel it, and I would encourage any and all Blazer fans to cancel their subscriptions un til this Mirjam Swanson woman is re leased from her duties as columnist or graduates, whichever comes first. Mirjam, to say the things that you said in your column, well, that was hate speech. Here at the University of Oregon, we don’t tolerate that sort of thing. Jacob Johnson sociology Illegal action deserves citation What a sad, sad time it is for ac tivists and protesters around the country. Back in the 1960s, you could get arrested simply for protesting. But as our five fellow University stu dents, including ASUO President elect Jay Breslow, have shown us, you have to actually break the law to get arrested these days. I wonder what those five honestly expected to happen as they sat in Johnson Hall after it closed for the evening. If they thought that the po lice would allow them to stay there, they’re either naive or stupid, neither of which makes me feel any better. If they knew and expected to be cited, however, then they deserve whatever penalty goes along with second de gree trespassing. I would expect noth ing less for myself should I ever occu py a building illegally. A lot of people here seem to think that if you have a really good reason for being there, it all of a sudden ceases to be a trespass ing violation and becomes a major in justice. I normally couldn’t care less about a minor trespassing violation except that I, like them, would like very much to see this University join the WRC. These five kids who sat illegal ly in a building were asked repeated ly to leave by police and eventually had to be removed by force. They weren’t carried off to prison. They’ll most likely pay a small fine and will certainly be able to go on with their lives as usual. Jackson Ross student Thumbs To an original activist Besides making a scheduled keynote speakingengage mentalongwith actorEdward James 01 mos at the Dr. Edwin Cole man Speaker Se ries Wednesday, co-founder of the Black Panther Par ty Bobby Seale took time to speak to the activists protesting outside Johnson Hall. He warned them to look into the facts of any given situa tion and not to as sume too much. To an easier puppy package The Greenhill Hu mane Society, in an effort to make it more affordable to adopt a pet, has reduced the price of adopting a stray to $25 on the con dition the animal be spayed or neutered. Toa smoking weapon According to state news service Xin hua News Agency, a careless smoker caused a hotel fire that ended up killing 13 people Thursday, The fire destroyed the tenth floor of the Meilihua Hotel in the city of Dezhou, about 200 miles southeast of Bei jing To blazing the wrong trail The Portland Trail blazers, favorite NBA team to most Oregonians, have lost five out of their last ten , The squad was picked as one of the best in the league this year but has fal tered lately as the playoffs near.
