‘Dead Men Don’t Rape’ sign
hinders cooperation, support
Guest Commentary
Joe
iiiiii
I attended the "Take Back the
Night" rally Thursday night
and was really into it. The
speeches were great and were
honestly inspiring. I was really
happy to see that men's role in pre
venting sexual assault was a big
part of the event. I am a male stu
dent here on campus and am a
• strong supporter of women's
rights. I am strongly against any
sort of violence against women
and am sickened by the thought
that a lot of men in the world don't
feel the same.
I was really into the rally until I
saw a young woman with a sign
that read, "Dead Men Don't Rape." I
tried to relate to her, but the more I
tried to see it from her point of
view, the less I was able to. The
sign really pissed me off! I felt it
was completely inappropriate for
any sort of rally, and especially for
one where people are trying to
work together for a common goal.
What really upsets me is that she
was not ashamed of her sign, even
after two of the speakers really
reached out to the male population
for support.
This sign apparently had only
one goal: to blame all men and
make all men look like rapists. I
am not a rapist. I would never do
that. I know a lot of men who, like
myself, would never even contem
plate bringing any sort of violence
against anyone, especially a
woman. The creator of this sign
was not even attempting to help
anyone. Perhaps she was angry,
but attacks generalizing all men
are not cool.
You can't fight oppression with
oppression. I wouldn’t expect to
find such ignorance at a rally on a
college campus, and I hope that
before anyone brings a sign like
this again, they think twice.
There are a lot of men in this
world who support the rights of
women and will stand up and
fight for them. That sign made me
feel extremely uncomfortable and
angry, and I hope we can all learn
that in order to work together and
make a change, we need to make
everyone feel comfortable and
welcome.
Joe Bosnar is a junior architecture
major.
Full-time University arborist could
be defining ‘hazards’ too harshly
Guest Commentary
Robert
Schofield
—...
Fully one-quarter (eight of
32) of the large trees lining
the stretch of 13th Avenue
between the EMU and the
University Bookstore have been
cut down in the last five years (see
the “University of Oregon Atlas of
Trees,” 1996). The reason for the
alarming increase in cutting is that
the University hired a full-time ar
borist five years ago. The over
whelming majority of these trees
have been removed as hazards.
The arborists and the grounds su
pervisor have argued to me that
the increased hazard removal rate
is due to increased scrutiny and
recognition of hazards made possi
ble by a full-time arborist. I would
argue in addition that the burden
of public safety has, understand
ably, made the arborist overly con
servative.
Whatever the reasons for the
alarming rate of tree removal, I
hope that the University commu
nity becomes vocal in its support
for options to removal. These op
tions often exist, though they may
be costly or, to some, unsightly.
For example, the Italian Stone Pine
in front of the Volcanology build
ing is scheduled for removal this
week. I have been told by the ar
borist that this tree could be made
safe, for the moment, with cables
and topping, but that this would
leave it an unsightly “bush” in de
clining health. I agree that the tree
would look battle-scarred, but con
sidering the removal rate (all
neighboring older trees have been
removed and two other large trees
on 13th Avenue may soon be re
moved), I think we should attempt
to prolong the life of every impor
tant tree. Besides, the Italian Stone
Pine often looks asymmetrical and
struggling in its natural setting. In
addition, this tree was donated un
der the Century Tree program and
is the only remaining Pinus pinea,
according to the 1996 Tree Atlas,
on a campus famous for its diversi
ty of trees.
I encourage others to watch for
removal notification signs on trees
and to express to the groundskeep
ers (they can be reached at timk
ing@oregon.uoregon.edu) their
support for options to removal —
in the case of this tree and in the
many cases to come.
Though we strongly disagree on
the value of prolonging the life of
the Italian Stone Pine, I am pleased
with the efforts of the grounds
crew to modify architectural plans,
which often cause unseen damage,
so that fewer trees will become
hazards in the future.
Robert Schofield is a senior research asso
ciate in the physics department.
Letters
continued from page 2
doesn’t even intend, then what is
his voice saying?
It seems everyone has now
been robbed of at least trust, and
for men — always questioning
every action that they make —
even best intentions. When I stare
into a woman’s eyes (speaking
only from a heterosexual perspec
tive), I hope to get helplessly lost.
In this world, it’s so hard to look
at her body and only admire and
tell her that “she is nothing less
than beautiful” because society
doesn’t. But if I can do this, then
how do I?
Women can and should be em
powered to have their voice
heard, but then is there room for
a male, or a true masculine voice
to raise and protest the garbage he
is also fed at work, school, the
store, etc.? There isn’t a how-to
book for this.
So even in my mind, when I
want to show my affection and
appreciation to anyone in her
femininity and sexuality, how
can I raise a little sign that says,
“I’m not oppressing you right
now”? I still don’t think it
changes what goes through her
mind, either way.
Michael Beach
graduate student
exercise science/women’s studies
Don't make 'coon' simply
mean "a black person"
English is a colorful language.
When we haven’t seen someone in
a long time, we might say it’s been
donkey’s years, or a coon’s age, or
that he’s getting long in the tooth.
All that is meant is the passage of
time.
We might also use “coon” as a
racial epithet or “ass” as a charac
ter epithet, and we might joke
about lawyers simply because the
law they practice has teeth. Here
is not meant the passage of time
per se, though we use similar
terms.
Of course, a coon or a donkey
can be just animals and teeth a part
of anatomy. English is such a con
fusing language.
If our senior citizens have not
been objecting to colorful expres
sions denoting age, that is their
choice, which other minorities
should respect rather than appro
priate such expressions into their
own taboo lists.
A donkey is light gray and a rac
coon marked by a characteristic
black mask. To let the longevity of
the one animal but not the other
denote the passage of time is to
judge an animal by the color of its
fur.
In Martin Luther King’s “Letter
from Birmingham Jail,” he com
plained of “when your first name
becomes ‘nigger’ and your middle
name becomes ‘boy’ (however old
you are) and your last name be
comes ‘John,’ and when your wife
and mother are never given the re
spected title ‘Mrs.’” If we make
every use of “coon” an ipso facto
reference to black people, we’ve
made that their name.
Earl Gosnell
Eugene
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