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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 19, 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 Friday May 19,2000 Volume 101, Issue 156 Emerald Giovanni Salimena Emerald It could seem possible to the average student that while there is a great deal of lip service given to the ideal of diversity on campus, there is really very little action taken. However, 11 University students are about to show that the spirit of diversity is truly alive and appreciated as they head off to the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE) in June in Santa Fe, N.M. The conference, as the name implies, focuses on the important issue of diversity in the higher education arena. With about 1,200 attendees from the ranks of administrators, faculty and students the 13th annual meeting should be able to further the cause fairly well. Having 11 University students attend is in itself im pressive. The five-day conference occurs during dead week and finals, requiring a great show of dedication during a stressful time of year when most students are content to keep focus on their scholastics and the world directly around them. The lessons and knowledge the students gain at the conference should be used back on campus to pro mote diversity. The entire point of diversity, of course, is that different ideas and backgrounds should be ex pressed as often as possible to make the larger group stronger. Thus, we can all grow at the same time the University shows its commitment U to diversity. The more noteworthy fact about student involvement in this cause is that eight out of the 11 students at tending the conference are there on scholarships awarded by the conference. No single institution has ever received as many scholarships as the Universi ty was awarded this year. That’s pretty impressive. That students are so con cerned with the issue and have shown enough dedication to re ceive the scholarships speaks to the pervasive attitude of toler ance the University continually strives to maintain and improve. When students send the message to others that there is real attention and * effort being put into solutions to so cial problems and that positive change can and should come. Attending NCORE and the move toward corporate licensing responsibility (the contro versial Worker Rights Consortium should ring some bells for you) should start to once again put the University on the map of political activism. Such a movement became very apparent last year when students sat in at Johnson Hall with a list of demands to increase diversity on campus and con tinue today with the WRC and NCORE. The rest of campus should be proud, and at the same time take note, of the work of students going to NCORE. The 11 students are a good number that can make the rest of us pleased, but it’s the responsibility of the rest of the University community to keep that spirit alive every day. This editorial represents the view of the Emerald editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu. Letters to the editor Money went for something good On the news, I heard a student who favors the college banding with the Worker Rights Consortium ask one who did not: “Don’t you care where the money comes from?” The student wasn’t given time to answer. I’ll tell him I care where the money comes from; the money Nike earns comes from mothers like me who pay good money to have our kids in good shoes. I, for one, was very happy that some of that money was being returned to the college. Now, no one benefits. Sad. Exceed ingly sad. Melody Gillard-Juarez Bandon, Ore. Ruling proves patriarchy The recent United States Supreme Court ruling that decided a victim of rape and violence cannot sue her at tacker shows that ignorance reigns re garding the seriousness of rape and vi olence against women in this culture. This is a gender issue. If domestic violence and rape of men occurred at the same rate as it does for women, we would not stop until something mas sive and drastic was done to stop such an atrocity. We would do everything in our power to make sure that the abuse stops. Rather, by disregarding the ability to sue under the U.S. Vio lence Against Women Act of 1994, this ruling shows that this is still a so ciety that strongly advocates for men and tends to look at women as the lesser. I would like to propose a visualiza tion to the so-called advocates of jus tice at the Supreme Court who voted against assisting Christy Brjonkala in her strive for justice along with any one who agrees with their position. Take a second, just a second, and imagine what it would feel like if someone held you down, beat you up and rammed something hard into one of your orifices. Wouldn’t you demand a full range of legal freedom to be sure that justice is served on your behalf? Brian Ellis University student Rape attention deserves more • In regards to the Emerald editorial (ODE, May 12) about rape awareness, if people can agree on anything, it is that rape is a crime. If this is under stood, a major part of the apathy peo ple tend to show toward such shock ing rape statistics can perhaps be attributed to the “I’m not a rapist; what can one do but condemn rape?” attitude. However, a crime, unlike a political stance, religion or pair of sports shoes cannot be solved or sold through styl ish 30-second television commercials. Nor would a student group camping on Johnson Hall’s front lawn make a potential rapist stop and reconsider. Justice For All, for what it accom plished, did not get people (outside the anti/pro abortion community) speaking passionately about abortion so much as it did about the inappro priateness, poor taste and juvenile mentality of the whole affair. The “I Agree with Ryan” campaign was less of a debate or discussion than a quasi open forum for a group to preach Christianity. The problem of rape, a rather an cient one, cannot be solved through petty public antics. Awareness can be raised tastefully, however, and contin ued or expanded funding of public safety programs such as Saferide can further reduce incidents on campus. Let us not reduce something as seri ous as rape to the lowest common de nominator in order to grab a shocked reaction from the campus populace. William Moglia German Thumbs To civic responsibility Voter turnout for Lane County was a tremendous 56.2 percent in this year’s primary election, the high est turnout in a primary election since 1992. Also, voters affirmed the importance of the mayor and City Council, choosing to give the group stipends for their long hours. To open public adoption records The Oregon Supreme Court up held a law Tuesday making birth cer tificates available to adopted chil dren seeking the names of their birth parents. To a veteran retiring After a career that spanned six decades, United Press International White House corre spondent Helen Thomas resigned Tuesday after the company was sold to News Wo rid Communications, which was found ed by Unification Church leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. To an election snafu Democratic candi date for the Ore gon Senate Bill Hays lost his pri mary election race with Bill George Duncan after Mor row County ballots were printed with out his name.
