Oregon daily emerald., September 28, 2000, Image 1

Saving the day m
Sarah Peters and Jeanine Norstad have stepped
iven UO a dual threat at goal. PAGE 11A
The search for meaning
40 Jewish students learned about their heritage and
their faith on a 10-day trip to Israel. PAGE 4A
September 28,2000
Volume 102, Issue 22
Weather
today
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(From left to right) Rep. Vicki Walker, Gov. John Kitzhaber, Administrator Dave Hubin, and State Sen. Susan Castillo. The officials took turns
addressing a crowd of about 60 in the EMU amphitheater Wednesday as part of a “get out and vote” aimed at college students.
Politicians urge students to vote
GOV.
Kitzhaber
and several
state officials
visited
campus
Wednesday
to stress the
importance
of students
making their
voices heard
in the
upcoming
election
By Eric Martin
For the Emerald
His speech lasted no more
than five minutes, but the “get
out and vote” message Gov.
John Kitzhaber imparted to a
crowd of about 60 students,
faculty and administrators in
the EMU amphitheater
Wednesday morning could res
onate for years to come.
“Each of you has the oppor
tunity to weigh in on issues
this year that are important to
students,” Kitzhaber said as he
opened his speech. “Don’t give
your political power to some
one else.”
Kitzhaber said it is especial
ly important for students to ex
ercise their electoral voice dur
ing this election year, which is
rife with ballot measures that
will directly affect students —
such as Measures 8, 88, 91 and
93. Issues on the table for this
election year include afford
able student health care and
how higher education will be
funded for years to come.
Though he said “this is not
the forum” to share his vehe
ment personal opinions on
those measures, he encouraged
students to study them careful
ly and make informed deci
sions at the polls.
“Definite power rests with
student voters,” Kitzhaber
said. “Use it.”
State Sen. Susan Castillo (D
Lane County), who spoke after
Kitzhaber, echoed the senti
ment, saying, “Voting is the
heart of our democracy. It be
longs to all of us.”
She said many students feel
the Legislature overlooks their
needs, while accommodating
the public policy wishes of
seniors. This is because a
much higher percentage of sen
iors vote, she said. In fact, in
the 1996 presidential elections,
67 percent of eligible seniors
voted, while only 32.4 percent
of eligible students voted, ac
cording to a US Census Bureau
report.Castillo also spoke of
{ ( Definite power rests
with student voters.
Use it.
John Kitzhaber
Oregon Governor / J
her colleague, state Senate Mi
nority Leader Kate Brown (D
Portland), who was elected to
the Oregon Legislature in 1996
by a mere seven votes.
Turn to Voter rally, page 8A
OCA’s measure
divides Oregon
■ Measure 9, which would
prevent schools from condoning
homosexuality, is generating
debate
By Darren Freeman
Oregon Daily Emerald
ballBt
measure
both supporters and opponents of
state Ballot Measure 9, which would
bar schools from encouraging or sanc
tioning homosexuality, are casting
worst-case scenarios about the out
come of the Nov. 7 general election.
Jose Solano, a Portland high school
teacher who supports Measure 9, wor
ries that if the measure fails, schools
will continue encouraging acceptance
of homosexuality and ignore the possi
bility that gay students could change
and become heterosexual through
counseling or spiritual guidance.
“We have students who are swearing
that they’re born that way, that they
can’t change, that we can’t help them,”
Solano said. “They’ll believe it, they
won’t want to change and they’ll face
the health hazards of the gay lifestyle.”
Opponents of the measure, however,
counter that its passage would brand
non-heterosexual students as targets
and could lead to higher rates of de
pression and teen suicide.
University senior Gabrielle Hendel,
co-director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisex
ual, Transsexual Alliance, declined to
give an opinion of the measure but re
called how it felt to attend a school she
said was unsupportive of non-hetero
sexual students.
“I didn’t come out during high
school because I felt so isolated — 1
went to a strict Catholic high school,”
she said. “There was one outwardly
gay man, and he was completely ostra
cized by the students, teachers, faculty
and the board. I didn’t want to go
through what he went through. Had
there been some support, it would
have been easier.”
OCA BACK IN BUSINESS
Not since 1994, when the Oregon
Citizens Alliance last placed an initia
tive on the ballot, has Oregon’s politi
cal scene been the battleground for gay
rights. After years of lacking funding,
the OCA is back in the fray, and the or
ganization’s supporters are expecting
Turn to Meaure9, page 6A
(i There
was one
outwardly
gay man [at
my high
school], and
he was com
pletely os
tracized by
the stu
dents,
teachers,
faculty, and
the board. I
didn't want
to go \ \ \
through
what he
went
through.
Gabrielle Hen
del
co-director
lgbta yy
Senators will decide fund transfers on case-by-case basis
In their first
official meeting
of the new year,
theASUO
Student Senate
grandfathered
the issues of
group
allocations
By Emily Gust
Oregon Daily Emerald
The ASUO Student Senate kicked off the
new year Wednesday night by resolving an is
sue left over from the summer: Whether to al
low student groups to transfer money from
leadership to work study accounts so that eli
gible employees may benefit from the federal
work study program.
In the end, the Senate decided to “grandfa
ther” the issue, thus taking each request on a
case-by-case basis while determining specific
details and stipulations.
Stemming from a special request made by
the ASUO Women’s Center at last week’s meet
ing, the issue of transferring money from lead
ership to work study remained the focal point
for much of the meeting. Last week, the
Women’s Center’s asked that funds from its
leadership account, which contains payments
for stipend positions, be transferred to its work
study account. Doing this, one of the center’s
student employees would be able to take ad
vantage of the work study program for which
she is eligible.
Transfers generally are not a problem, Sen.
Peter Watts explained. However, he said, “with
this one it’s a little bit different.”
The difference rested upon two main hitch
es.
The first dealt with the amount of money a
student with work study receives as opposed
to the amount received by one paid with a
stipend. Through work study, the federal gov
ernment is able to give qualifying students
more money on top of what they are paid
through the organization, depending on their
need. This, Watts said, could theoretically re
Turn to Senate, page 8A
Senate