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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2000)
Justice For All continued from page 1 has been in existence since Sep tember 1999. It was not, however, an ASUO-recognized group, which meant it could not get in cidental fee money. The fee system had been in question since the 1995-96 school year when University of Wiscon sin students Scott Southworth, Amy Schoepke and Keith Ban nach objected to their money go ing toward student groups with views opposed to theirs. Wisconsin’s incidental fee sys tem was already more liberal than the University’s before the South worth case. No distinction was made there between educational and political student groups, al lowing College Democrats, Col lege Republicans and WISPIRG— Wisconsin’s version of OSPIRG— to receive funds for political pur poses. At the University, the inciden tal fee could not go to support po litical efforts. But when the court unanimously supported Wiscon sin’s system, it opened up the breadth of groups at the University that could be supported by stu dent incidental fees. Not long after the court declared the system legal, Justice For All applied for and garnered the sta tus of an ASUO-recognized group. And while the group was for the most part an ASUO-recognized or ganization since early this term, it was not officially so until last Wednesday, immediately prior to the Student Senate meeting. Dur ing the meeting, the senate ap proved $150 to the group for an upcoming conference and the ex ecutive donated money to the group from its fund raising ac count. “Before the Southworth case came out, approving student or ganizations was pretty cut and dry,” Chen said. But one member of the ASUO resigned after Justice For Ail was granted money from the Execu tive’s fund raising account, which is money that it raised itself. Jen nifer Eliot, a senior English major, resigned from her position as ASUO safety advocate after the Executive approved giving Justice For All money for its conference in June. The fund raising donation isn’t directly from the fee, and Eliot said she doesn’t disagree that Jus tice For All has a right to be a rec ognized group. But by giving that group its own money, she said, the ASUO was essentially co-sponsor ing the event and thus putting its stamp of approval on it. “I still feel that the ASUO Exec utive made the wrong decision,” Eliot said. “I feel that because groups like this are ultimately working to illegalize abortion that they are threatening the safety of all women, including women on our campus.” ASUO Vice President Mitra Anoushiravani defended the deci sion and said the executive does not discriminate or make political choices when giving fund raising money to ASUO programs. “For example, we support get ting students on the Oregon Health Plan, but we don’t take a stance on doctor assisted suicide,” she said. Groups seeking recognition had to follow a set of guidelines in the Green Tape Notebook, which in clude rules such as having at least three organizational meetings be fore becoming recognized. After the Southworth case, con sidering Justice For All’s applica tion for recognition was not so cut and dry as sticking solely to the guidelines, Chen said. Because the group has restrictions on who can be a member, Chen said he wanted to double-check with the Univer sity’s General Counsel, Melinda Grier, on the validity of Justice For All being recognized. The group’s membership condi tions include opposition to abor tion and euthanasia, support of battered women and single moth ers and commitment to non-vio lence. “No one’s allowed to break the law in our group,” said senior po litical science major and Justice For All’s fund-raising chair Scott Austin. “We’re also required to be civil even when people are being rude to us.” It also requires that members support the use of graphic pictures to demonstrate the group’s beliefs, a stipulation that has caused some controversy within the ASUO ranks. “You’re in support of diversity when it favors you, and you’re not in support when you don’t like it,” Austin said. “It takes a lawsuit... to finally say, ‘Hey, you don’t have a choice. You’re going to have to give us the same treatment you give everybody else.’” At Justice For All’s special re quest hearing last week, one sena tor questioned the group’s meth ods by asking whether graphic pictures were going to be used. “I don’t think it’s good for chil dren to see violent and disgusting images so that Justice For All can try and force its morals on the rest of the students,” Student Senator Spencer Hamlin said. “I don’t care that they’re pro-life. I think that their tactics are despicable. I vot ed for their request, but I felt sick to my stomach when I was doing it.” That graphic photos were brought up at all, Austin said, showed that the ASUO was not acting fairly with regard to Justice For All. Their use should not have been an issue because the request before the Senate dealt strictly with money the group was enti tled to through being a recognized organization. “You know what, that’s none of your business,” Austin said. “You’re position is to treat us like you’d treat anyone else.” Hamlin, however, said that was exactly what he was doing. “All we’re trying to do is to hold them accountable like we do all other groups,” he said. Report raises health concerns about asbestos in crayons SEATTLE — A newspaper re ported Tuesday that two govern. ment-certified labs found as bestos in crayons, sending public-health and art-industry of ficials scrambling to allay con cerns about possible health risks. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that the labs found as bestos in crayons made by Cray ola, Prang and Rose Art. Of 40 crayons that were tested from the three major brands, 32 were con taminated above trace levels, the newspaper said. “We were very surprised to even see any of this in any cray on product at all,” said John Har ris, director of Lab-Cor, one of the two laboratories the newspaper used for the tests. The findings do not shed light on whether there is a public health threat, however. Con trolled experiments would be re quired to determine any possible risk from airborne particles, Har ris said. There are no known reports of anyone getting sick from using or making crayons. And asbestos-re lated illness tends to result from exposure to airborne fibers — usually in an industrial setting. The manufacturers said they did not believe their products posed risks, but they were look ing into it. Government officials also were investigating. “We have never heard of this being a problem with crayons be fore,” said spokesman Russ Rad er of the Consumer Product Safe ty Commission in Washington, D.C. “Our position is that asbestos should not be in any product, and that’s what we’re telling the companies,” Rader said. Virtually all asbestos-related illness affects the lungs. Little is known about illness from inges tion, though a federal task force in 1987 said such exposure “should be eliminated whenever possible.” It can take decades for disease from asbestos exposure to develop. The Associated Press 7 didn't let alcohol or important projects.
