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.