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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2001)
New Expanded Menu Food & Beverage Specials! liiDAyp Live Alternative Music// MONDAYS Rooster’s live blur’s jam/ 683-8101 • 11 th & Charnelton • Eugene Give Another Couple the Joy of Parenthood Consider being an Egg Donor Healthy Women 21-32 years of age Non-Smokers Limited Time Commitment Compensation Provided $2,500 Call: OHSU (503) 418-5333 OflSU is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution Where Healing, Teaching and Discovery Come Together '2S&S& We bur »00,“ at fair prices every< throughout the ye' at both locutions, Text & General Books (one block from campus) 768 E. 13th Ave. 345-1651 General Books (across from the Post Office) 525 Willamette St. 343-4717 anthropology a art history arch ology cliff note computers desi dictionary: cl ran ecology etiu-ca feminist Illstt'lX m . e-ieu i.luo m nature noflj philosoph®^ r< >;■ science ■■■;. ■ He non sell !■ h guide)® textbooks til tray el univerl westerns n ; I 2oolog\’ antin' art skill art h architecture h i.lUf notes coni design diet tors.1 drama eVologvl cation feminist gedlot.p histon holifxcs investi journalism lang math mysteries nature novels o philosophy ph< plat's pSVC.'hoH >; reference re'tgi romance SAT s< science fiction Online Classifieds- use this I.. T'O ,1 . HP 8 then use this Thomas urges thoughtful discussion, defends court HARRISONBURG, Va. — Amer icans should not get into a “major food fight” over issues such as affir mative action, but should be thoughtful as the Constitution’s framers were, Supreme Court Jus tice Clarence Thomas said Thurs day. “Now it’s a war of words, it’s a war of politics, and I don’t see where it does any good,” he said in a speech at James Madison Univer sity. But Thomas said it would be a “huge mistake” to view the nation’s highest court as basing its decisions on politics. During last December’s Bush vs. Gore presidential election case, “I just wish that there was some way that the American people could truly have seen the court function with this thing that had everybody else tom apart,” he said. “I still say after almost 10 terms, I have yet to hear the first unkind word.” The court issued a sharply divid ed 5-4 decision that ended the Florida ballot re-count and the ef fort by Al Gore’s campaign to save his candidacy. Bush won the presidency in the Electoral College even though he lost the nationwide popular vote to Gore by more than a half-million votes, leading some to suggest amending the Constitution to do away with the Electoral College. Asked what he thought of such proposals, Thomas said it was up to the American people but added that they should think carefully be fore making such a change. “They should understand why it’s there as a protection, so regions won’t dominate other regions,” he said. "They should see that before they go and change these things just because they don’t like a result.” Asked whether he believed there would be a new effort to overturn the right to abortion under the Roe vs. Wade decision, Thomas said, “I don’t have a clue. I have one vote.” Regarding affirmative action, Thomas said he had always thought affirmative action was in tended to help disadvantaged chil dren instead of helping more well off children based on race. “We’ve gotten into such a major food fight over policy in our coun try when it comes to issues such as affirmative action that you can’t have the kinds of discussions that Madison and (Thomas) Jefferson ... must have had when they founded this country,” the justice said, “where everybody was prepared and serious and thoughtful and working toward a solution.” Thomas, one of the court’s most conservative justices, noted the court has been criticized for recent rulings that have tipped the feder al-state balance of power toward the states. But he said state power puts a check on the federal govern ment and protects individual liber ty Such emphasis on state authori ty should not be blamed for the evils of slavery and segregation, he added. “The men and women who per petrated both slavery and segrega tion were those who committed the wrongs and who perverted the American system of government for their own ends and their own prej udices,” Thomas said. The Associated Press Need cash? Win a cool $20! If you’re selling books where the alarm clock rings, you’ll automatically win $20 cash! Prizes are provided by the Nebraska Book Co. Bring in books needed for up coming terms and we’ll pay you one-half of the current new student price. Locations: ■ IMU Lobby Mar. 19-22 • 8:30 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Mar. 23 • 8:30 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. I Main Store Mar. 14-24 • Regular Store hours All books
