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In their hearts
Oregon hockey prepares to play for the first time
since the death of Russ Afteridge PAGE 7A
Thursday
let Ralph Debate’
Supporters held a rally in Eugene for the third-party
candidate as Bush and Gore faced-off PAGE 3A
October 12,2000
Volume 102, Issue 32
Weather
today
PARTLY SUNNY
high 60, low 50
i n c e 1 9 0 0 University of Oregon Eugene
Oregon
Minority hirings are a step in the right direction
By adding
seven new
faculty of
color to the
campus
community
this year, the
University is
making
strides
toward true
diversity
By Kristy Hessman
Oregon Daily Emerald
Increasing the climate of di
versity on the University cam
pus has been an important goal
in the past few years.
But increasing diversity does
not just involve students; facul
ty are also an important compo
nent. This year, the University
welcomed almost 50 new
tenure-related instructional
teaching faculty. Among them,
seven are of color or minority
status.
The issue of diversity gained
momentum when a group of stu
dents concerned with intoler
ance and racism participated in
a sit-in at Johnson Hall in the
spring of 1999.
The sit-in, which was sparked
by a sexist comment in a class e
mail discussion group, resulted
in the creation of a number of di
versity committees and intern
ship positions.
Almost a year and a half later,
the seven new minority faculty
hirings are viewed by some as
among the positive results of
those efforts.
“Seven out of 49 is not a great
number, but it’s not horrible,”
said Mark Tracy, who serves as
assistant dean for diversity pro
grams. “I think Oregon has a va
riety of issues surrounding its re
cruiting of minorities, like
salary, atmosphere and loca
tion.”
Tracy said when applicants
are choosing between different
schools, the University’s loca
tion puts it at a disadvantage.
“Professors will pick Wash
ington with comparable salary
over Oregon, because it’s near
Seattle as opposed to Eugene,
which doesn’t have a visible, vi
brant African-American com
munity that big cities offer,” he
said.
Turn to Diversity, page 4A
No answer, 3%
Asian,
Black, 1%
Hispanic, 3%
Native American, 1%
SOURCE: Shery Stahl Resource Management
Asian
Black
10
Hispanic
38
Native American
12
White
Katie Miller Emerald
Coming Out Day brings support, acceptance to fore
David Sanchez speaks in the EMU Amphitheater Wednesday during a celebration for National
Coming Out Day.
■ Sharing personal histories and
tales of hope, LGBT students help
bring about awa reness as they
create an atmosphere of comfort
By Beata Mostafavi
Oregon Daily Emerald
Booming techno music blasted
through the EMU Amphitheater
Wednesday as students danced during
the celebration for National Coming Out
Day, a day that offers lesbian, gay, bisex
ual, and transgender individuals an op
portunity to share their personal experi
ences with the community.
Six speakers told their stories, de
scribing the negative reactions of em
ployers, family and friends as well as
the challenging process of finally be
coming comfortable with who they are.
Chicora Martin, director of the Les
bian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Edu
cational and Support Services said this
day is a chance for the LGBT communi
ty to be more visible to campus.
“This is a chance for students to see the
queer community come together,” she
said. “It’s a wonderful event because
LGBT students have allies they can come
out to ... It’s such a positive experience
for them to feel valued at the University. ”
Participants and listeners said the event
is another step in spreading positive mes
sages about the LGBT community to soci
ety and helps eliminate generalizations.
“If more people were out, there’d be
less homophobia in the world,” said
Juleah Willson, a special education
graduate student. “I’ve had the experi
Turn to Coming Out, page 3A
(( If more
people were
out, there’d
be less ho
mophobia
in the
world.
Juleah Willson
special educa
tion graduate
student
Area education funding
in midst of ballot battles
Local school
funding is at
the core of
ballot measure
controversy for
2000 election
BALLOT
MEASURE
By Rebecca Newell
Oregon Daily Emerald
Area opponents of Ballot Mea
sures 8 and 91 warn that the meas
ures could threaten the financial
stability of Eugene schools and city
programs, but supporters say the
measures would constitute a mini
mal reduction of funding and boost
the economy by cutting taxes.
Measure 91 would make federal
income taxes fully deductible on
both personal and corporate in
come tax returns in Oregon. If the
measure goes into effect during the
2000 tax year, state revenues would
be reduced by approximately $870
million during the current fiscal
year. After 2001, state revenues
would be reduced by about $1 bil
lion a year, depending upon growth
in personal income and tax liability.
Lane County Commissioner Pe
ter Sorenson said the measure is
regressive, and would actually
raise combined federal and state
income taxes for most Lane Coun
ty residents because the decrease
would eliminate the state surplus,
called a “kicker,” which would
likely be returned to taxpayers.
Only those who make more than
$81,000 a year, and write off federal
taxes on state returns, would gain a
deduction sufficient to offset the
lost kicker refund, according to the
Oregon Legislative Revenue Office.
Furthermore, Sorenson said the
measure would cause a “drastic re
duction” in public school funding.
Kelly Mclver, a spokesman for
the 4J School District, said that the
measure could reduce funding for
the district, which encompasses all
of Eugene, by about $4.3 million
during the 2000-2001 year, or about
four percent of their annual budget.
In future years, that amount would
jump to a $13 million cut, or about
11 percent of the district’s budget.
Like Measure 91, Measure 8
hinders the capabilities of Oregon
schools, Mclver said.
The measure, which limits state
spending to no more than 15 per
Turn to Tax Measure, page 5A
University Senate debates
deal with WRC inspection
■A committee concludes that the
WRCand FLA “are both potentially
viable agencies worthy of our
allegiance”
By Andrew Adams
Oregon Daily Emerald
It was the school year’s first University
Senate meeting, and incoming president
James Earl was somewhat relieved after
ward to call it “quick and easy.”
Following the heated, and sometimes
contentious, debates over the Worker
Rights Consortium last year, the release of
the senate’s three-member WRC review
committee’s report caused little comment
during Wednesday’s meeting in Grayson
Hall.
The recommendations of the report were
the most pressing business of the meeting,
which also involved a provost report on the
Central Oregon branch campus, the elec
tion of the senate vice president and a vote
on minor adjustments to the student con
duct code.
After a brief speech by Greg McLauch
lan of the sociology department about
state measures 91, 93, 8 and 7, and their
possible impacts on state funding for
higher education, the senate’s attention
turned to the report by the WRC review
committee.
David Frank, the review committee chair
and associate profes
sor of the Clark Hon
ors College, said the
committee spent the
summer writing the re
port in a “process as
extensive and inclu
sive as possible.”
He said the commit
tee spoke with stu
_ dents, faculty, Nike
representatives and
read hundreds of
books and articles on the issue. Frank said
the group came to the conclusion that
“both the WRC and the Fair Labor Associ
ation are both potentially viable monitoring
agencies worthy of our allegiance.”
Despite its conclusion, however, mem
bers of the committee also admitted that
they could not give a report as detailed as
Turn to UO Senate, page 5A