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
Wednesday
May 17,2000
Volume 101, Issue 154
EMrald
Another measure dealing with homosexuality
has been put on the ballot by the
Oregon Citizen’s Alliance
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
If the Oregon Citizen’s Alliance and the
Christian Coalition have their way, this
November you will be asked whether
public schools can condone or support
homosexuality.
Or you might be deciding whether pub
lic schools can allow free speech.
Then again, you might be voting on
whether individual lifestyles are a matter
for the government to legislate.
Depending on how you frame the is
sue, you might be voting on all of
these. Because right now backers
are stepping up efforts to qualify
a ballot measure for the Novem
ber election that would prohib
it any discussion in Oregon
schools that “encourages,
promotes or sanctions” ho
mosexuality.
While OCA President
Lon Mabon has the
right to bring the mat
ter to voters’ atten
tion, voters should
turn this possible
ballot measure
down. Banning
any discussion
that “encourages,
promotes or
sanctions” ho
mosexuality in
public schools
attacks free
speech, ig
nores underly
ing issues of
adolescent de
velopment and
does not promote
the tolerance that
keeps societies func
tioning.
There’s no denying
it’s a hot issue. All over
the country, Americans
are figuring out ways to
frame the sensitive issues
of homosexuality. Can ho
mosexuals marry? Can
they adopt? Can they be pro
tected under the law like other
minorities? Do they have special
rights?
And for all the national discussion,
Oregon has had its share. The OCA has
put other ballot measures to Oregonians in
the 1990s limiting the rights of homosexu
als. One, in 1992, asked the Oregon state
government to discourage homosexuality.
Another, in 1994, asked Oregonians basi
cally the same question only in softer lan
guage.
Both were defeated (56 percent “no” in
1992, and 52 percent “no” in 1994). But it
seems that the OCA hasn’t got the message
yet: Oregonians don’t want the govern
ment to legislate such personal morality.
This time the stakes are perhaps even
higher. Public schools, while less open
than universities and colleges, are unique
and special places to learn about other
people, oneself, society and culture —
along with history, math and geography.
For public schools to have limits on what
kind of discussions can take place is dan
gerous, especially when one kind of dis
cussion in particular is singled out for pro
hibition.
The OCA and the Christian Coalition are
worried that being sensitive to homosexu
als and bisexuals in public schools sends
the message that being gay is a good way of
life. Well, the flipside to that is that ban
ning it would express that homosexuality
is a bad way of life — and public schools
are not supposed to decide that for anyone.
Moreover, the topics of sex, gender and
character — all of which encompass cer
tain aspects of homosexuality and bisexu
ality — come to light every day in public
schools. Whom someone asks on a date,
whom someone’s parent is living with,
whom someone likes as a celebrity role
model — these subjects are crucial to
teenage living. To shut one out damages
the development of young adults and ig
nores the reality that such subjects will be
discussed anyway.
With the emotional problems facing
teenagers today, it would be a shame for
guidance counselors to have to turn away a
student who is struggling with sexual is
sues just because the law tells counselors
they can’t be supportive or even “sanc
tion” any feelings.
There is irony in that the backers of the
measure want private matters out of public
schools, but they are fine with discussions
of morality and sexuality that fit their defi
nition of normal and acceptable. The gov
ernment should leave personal matters
alone. If anything, the government and
schools should be accepting of all types of
people, because all types of people make
up the very fabric of this country.
You can’t ignore a whole segment of the
population. And you can’t hide reality.
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald
editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@ore
gon.uoregon.edu.
Letters to the editor
Expose the night, Emerald
I would like to respond to your recent edi
torial regarding sexual assault and the up
coming event, “Take Back the Night” (ODE,
May 12). I appreciate your intent to address
the issue but question your solution. Rather
than create a slick new anti-rape campaign,
why not take a look at the advertising that al
ready exists? Take, for example, the Scan
dal’s ad with the spiked heel and the head
ing, “Weekend Warrior.” Or the recent
Playboy bunny ad reading, “You must have
done something right. She’s coming again.”
Ads like these perpetuate the myths of
woman as a sexual commodity and relation
ships as a battleground and a conquest.
One way to change the rape culture is to
take responsibility for the role we play in
preserving the myths that support it. You can
choose to run ads that respect the intrinsic
worth of all human beings or you can main
tain the status quo. The Emerald already has
the power and the resources to promote
healthy relationships. Why not use it?
As for the suggestion that we develop a
program that gets attention like the Geno
cide Awareness Project, no cause warrants
the manipulation and lack of compassion
that characterized that event. There are bet
ter ways to create social change. There are
empowering, community-building ways to
change our world. The “Take Back the
Night” march is one of them.
If you are truly passionate about this issue,
we hope you will join us May 18 as we march
through the streets of Eugene, honoring sur
vivors and demanding an end to violence.
Lori Brown
ASUO Women’s Center
WRC choices charged campus
I experienced renewed optimism and
pride in my community as I recently
watched students, University President
Dave Frohnmayer and all involved in the de
cision to join the Worker Rights Consortium.
In one fell swoop, Frohnmayer and other
University officials did more to invigorate
the educational climate at the University
than they can imagine. They delivered the
message that the end doesn’t justify the
means,-«nd they put actions to the rhetoric.
This is what I want youth to learn. I want
them to know that the adults around them val
ue principles and moral choices; that the
adults around them value principles and
morals over money; that we understand on
some level why many youths today are angry,
Nike CEO Phil Knight has been generous
to the University in the past, but he showed
his true colors in withdrawing funds. He ap
pears to be only interested in contributing to
educational opportunities for students so
long as the University’s politics match his
own. This is not the sort of price tag that an
educational institution should ever accept.
I am pleased with the clear focus Knight and
other financial “benefactors” have provided
for the long-standing issue of academic free
dom and private donations to universities.
Unlike supporters typically portrayed in
local media, I am a professional woman
working in this community. I pay taxes will
ingly and live a mainstream lifestyle. I am
also one of many people in Eugene who sup
port active, political discourse and public
demonstrations, as well as University presi
dents and officials saying no to donations
with strings attached.
Karin Thompson
Eugene resident
CORRECTION
The article “Bres
low, Magner envi
sion energetic ex
ecutive,^(ODE
May 16)undearly
paraphrased ASUO
President-elect Jay
Breslow’s state
ments regarding
generating inter
est in the ASUO
next year.
Many ASUO cam
paigns, such as
voter registration,
are political, and
Breslowand Vice
President-elect
Holly Magner are
planning fun ways
to generate stu
dent interest.
The Emerald re
grets this unclear
paraphrase.
Quoted
“I think the ethical
approach is to give
him one last
chance. He has giv
en me his word
that he wi ll take
extraordinary
steps to change be
havior.”
—Indiana Univer
sity President
Myles Brand on
hot firing basket
ball head coach
Bobby Knight fol
lowing a month
long investigation
i nto charges of
misconduct to
ward players and
staff. ESPN.com,
May 15.
“It was only about
a week ago that it
started to hit me
that I wastesting
for Anakin...
Darth Vader! It's
just been sort of
hard to grasp.”
-little-known
19-year-old Cana
dian actor Hayden
Christensen on get
ting the much bal
lyhooed part of
Anakin Skywalker
in George Lucas’
upcoming Star
Wars movies.
CNN.com, May 12.
"While this report
established a
record of the
events of April 20,
it cannot answer
the most funda
mental question
— why.”
—Jefferson Coun
ty Sheriff John
Stone on his de
partments
minute-by-minute
account of the
Columbine High
School shootings,
which was re
leased Monday.
The Associated
Press, May 15.
“I think pageants
like Miss Universe
give us young
women a platform
to foray in the
fields that we want
to and forge
ahead, be it entre
preneurship, be it
the armed forces,
be it politics.”
— New Miss Uni
verse Lara Dutta,
who was crowned
Saturday May 13,
on the benefits of
the competition.
ABCNews.com,
May 13.