Diversity is focus of retreat
■ Students from Oregon universities participate in an Oregon
State University-sponsored trip with plans to strengthen ties
By Beata Mostafavi
Oregon Daily Emerald
The University isn’t the only insti
tution that has made diversity objec
tives a top priority in recent years.
Oregon State University has start
ed sponsoring diversity develop
ment retreats, which offer students
the opportunity to explore different
cultures as well as their own. This
weekend, for the first time, Univer
sity of Oregon students will also
participate in this journey.
About 50 students from both uni
versities will depart at 3 p.m. today
from Corvallis and Eugene to stay at
Camp Lutherwood in Cheshire,
Ore., until Sunday.
Facilitators and group leaders will
conduct small discussions, large dis
cussions and activities that focus on
issues involving class differences,
racism, sexism, power and privilege.
Cessa Heard-Johnson, coordina
tor of the Oregon State University
student involvement office, said the
main idea of the retreat is for people
to explore their own cultural identi
ties and develop ways to appreciate
other cultures.
“The retreat will help all students
to build bridges across their differ
ences and figure out ways to build
allies between groups,” she said.
At the campground, students will
partake in experiential exercises
that aim to broaden their perspec
tives on diversity topics.
Heard-Johnson mentioned one
activity that will demonstrate class
differences. Facilitators will host a
dinner and give 10 percent of the
group a full-course meal, 30 percent
of the group a “middle-class” meal
on paper plates and the rest of the
students rice and water. She said
these exercises are meant to give
students better insight on other
groups’ viewpoints and teach them
how people’s differences influence
relationships.
Linda Liu, advising coordinator
at the Office of Multicultural Affairs
and a retreat facilitator, said she and
some of the retreat leaders have
practiced a few of these activities in
the last week.
“They have made me see how
people perceive me and how differ
ently I perceive myself,” she said.
“You have privileges you don’t
know you have.”
Oregon State’s first retreat was in
January. Heard-Johnson said Ore
gon State plans to have at least two
diversity retreats a year, with plans
to organize another in April. She
emphasized that the retreat is open
to all students regardless of ethnici
ty, class or sexual orientation.
Heard-Johnson added that the
first retreat was successful and
many students came back and con
tinued to be involved in diversity
efforts. She said almost 75 percent
of the participants from the first re
treat are returning as facilitators for
the second one.
Mark Tracy, assistant dean for di
versity programs, said students who
go on the retreat have a high poten
tial to return home and apply what
they learned to the world they live in.
“The retreat will attempt to em
power students to come back and
make changes around issues
around diversity on their respective
campuses,” he said.
History
continued from page 1A
With votes dribbling in from
across the country, Gore’s lead in
the popular vote was shrinking to
about 200,000 votes out of 100 mil
lion. With a few precincts still un
reported (as of 8 p.m. EST):
— Gore had 49,113,600 votes.
— Bush had 48,906,647 votes.
Though it has no bearing on who
is the next president, the total-vote
lead gives Gore added psychologi
cal standing in his fight to overturn
Florida’s results. !
Eight lawsuits have been filed in
state and federal courts to challenge
the Florida results, including six in
Palm Beach County and two in Tal
lahassee. One federal case was
withdrawn by the voter who filed.
Democratic Party-backed lawsuits
won’t be filed until next week, party
officials said.
The Tallahassee cases alleged
race discrimination, and Palm
Beach County voters sought a new
election because they said the bal
lot was too confusing.
Daley said the Bush campaign
was willing to “blithely dismiss the
disenfranchisement of thousands
of Floridians as being the usual
mistakes” that afflict elections.
Both candidates were working si
multaneously to prepare their transi
tions to power and fight the ballot dis
pute. Democrats were trying to raise
$3 million to finance Gore’s chal
lenge, while Republicans geared up
their own fundraising drive.
Bush officials were scrutinizing
close-vote states besides Florida and
pondering whether to press for re
counts. High on the list were Iowa
and Wisconsin, with a combined 18
electoral votes. A re-count was un
derway in New Mexico’s most popu
lous county, and Oregon law requires
a re-count in close races as well.
Nader
continued from page 1A
Green Party have received is a suc
cess in itself.
Robinowitz argued that the close
national race proves neither candi
date had a message strong enough
to energize the electorate.
“What I think is that the real sad
thing is millions of people voted for
someone they did not believe in,”
he said.
Linda Lee Charles, a Springfield
Nader Green Party spokeswoman,
said local Nader supporters are as
dumbfounded by the national elec
tion as the rest of the country.
“All of us are all sitting around
discussing this,” she said. “It’s the
strangest election we’ve ever expe
rienced.”
She said Nader supporters are not
disappointed by the election, but are
instead optimistic about what they
can do in the future. She said the
Lane County headquarters will be
moving to a new location downtown
and will host its first meeting Nov. 18.
“We are hoping to create, from the
bottom up, awareness about what is
happening in this country,” she said.
Charles said that, before the elec
tion, the local Nader campaign head
quarters received several threats from
people fearing a Gore defeat as a re
sult of Democrats and Greens voting
for Nader. While Charles wasn’t cer
tain, she said this may have con
vinced other Nader supporters to
hold onto their ballots until they
could see how Gore fared on the East
Coast. If Gore did poorly, they would
vote for him, not Nader.
She said this could explain why
Nader did better in polling than in
actual results.
“I’m assuming that the percentage
points lost was because people held
their ballots and waited,” she said.
Hope Marston, a member of the
steering committee for Lane County
Nader supporters, said the election
may have helped the Nader organi
zation discover who its true believ
ers are. Now that the group knows
who stuck with Nader, it has a new
corps of supporters it can depend
on in the future.
She said the election has only
given more energy to a Green Party
that is looking to maintain the level
of national recognition it earned in
this campaign.
“We are going to be a force to be
reckoned with for years and years
to come,” she said.
While the election results mean a
complete loss for Nader, Marston
said this doesn’t convey what has
actually happened for the party.
“Ralph has already won, because
he has gotten us to work so hard.” she
said, adding that the Green Party will
continue to promote its interests at
both the state and federal level.
“We’re all really glad about what
we did,” she said. “Even if there is
n’t a win it gets people excited and
interested.”
Responses
continued from page 1A
in the Constitution that support it,
but added that some past presi
dents won elections without actu
ally gaining more than 50 percent
of the popular vote.
Mohr also said the full impact of
the 2000 election won’t be known
until the outcome is declared.
“It’s much too early to tell,” he
said. “It depends a lot on how they
resolve it.”
Southwell said the last time the
people and the electorate differed
was 1888, when Benjamin Harri
son won the electoral vote and the
presidency against Grover Cleve
land, who won the popular vote.
Mohr said the 1876 presidential
election also caused controversy, and
it has parallels to this year’s election.
In 1876 ballots were disputed in
Florida, Louisiana and South Caroli
na. The presidential race was be
tween Republican Rutherford B.
Hayes and Democrat Samuel J.
Tilden, then governor of New York.
“For months the country didn’t
know who would be president,”
Mohr said. “Congress set up a [15
member] electoral commission to
determine who would be declared
the winner.”
University history professor
Daniel Pope said the commission
consisted of five members each
from the House of Representatives,
the Senate and the Supreme Court.
The commission eventually sided
with Hayes, who became the nine
teenth president of the United States.
Southwell said the winner in
2000 will have a difficult time gov
erning the United States because
his victory will be by such a narrow
margin, and because both houses of
Congress are narrowly divided be
tween the two parties.
“I wish this was over. It’s a disas
ter,” Southwell said. “If this kind of
situation had happened in Russia,
Yugoslavia or Chile, I do believe the
U.S. would be rolling its eyes and
saying this isn’t any way to run an
election. I think the whole experi
ence is quite embarrassing all
around."
Southwell said people 100 years
from now will also remember this
election for its premature media re
ports and voting irregularities.
laiLane
Community College
THE Agatha Christie’s
MOUSETRAP
I I IF. CLASSIC MllRDI'.R MYSTF.KY
directed by Lileen Kearnev
Fridays 6c Saturdays
Nov. 3, 4, 11, IQ, 17,18,8 pm
Sun., Nov. 12, 2 om matinee
Main Campus Performance I I all
Lane Ticket Office: 726-2202
One Dozen Roses
*15” Delivered
Call us! 344-9998
One dozen roses with greens, wrapped
Delivered with your personal message
Orders received by 1 :OOpm HHn Sgt
delivered the same day aaSirt 19
Rhytnm
U of O's Outdoor Flower Market -
13th & Kincaid
r
The Department of Landscape Architecture is proud to present
4dr-. rJ/iz/ 'o ^yi qAa/is:
Renowned Japanese Garden Designer
“The Traditional Japanese Garden as a
Device of Contemporary Garden Design”
November 1.1 F 4:.10pm F II5 Lawrence Hall
Sponsored by: Dept 01
Landscape Architecture. Vice
Provost for International
Pioyrams, Oregon Humanities
Center, Dept, of Art History,
Oregon Chapter ASLA, School
ol Architecture and Allied Arts
“The Elements of Classic Japanese Gardens
in Contemporary Practical Applications”
November 15th F 4:30 pm F ! 15 Lawrence Hall
“Restoration of Classic Japanese Gardens
as a Source for Garden Design”
November 17th P 4:30 pm f 177 Lawrence Hall
J
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Featuring: Fresh Squeezed Juice ( Smoothies, Shakes f lie Cream
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Want to Make an
Impact on the World?
(or at least in Eugene?)
^e3ns jusu<^
Interest Meeting
November 13th, 8:00pm
Hillel House, 1059 Hilyard
Questions?
Ring: Jocelyn or Stacey 343-8920
ODE tfcoriet ore archived on-line at www.dQilyemerQld.com