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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 2001)
Spark it | Tobacco sales at the EMU are becoming I a controversial issue. Page 3 i_ BCS results The Bowl Championship results are in, and the Ducks are out of the top-10. Page 5 Tuesday,October 23,2001 Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 103, Issue 41 Reparations talk tonight ■Tonight’s forum focuses on whether descendants of slaves should be given reparations for historic wrongs By John Liebhardt Oregon Daily Emerald Six months after conservative commentator David Horowitz ig nited the slavery reparations de bate by placing controversial ads in campus newspapers nation wide, the University will revisit the issue with a forum tonight at the law school. The goal of the forum, which begins at 7 p.m. in Room 175 of the law school, is to address the practice and prospects of slavery reparations. Charles Ogletree Jr., a speaker at the forum, belongs to the Repara tions Assessment Group, an associ ation Of high-profile lawyers that has made news in its quest to pro vide compensation to American blacks descended from slaves. “Reparations are the central is sue of race relations in America for the 21st century,” said Ogle tree, a professor at Harvard Law School and a defense attorney who has represented mobster John Gotti and the Rev. Al Sharpton. “Until we address it seriously, we will continue to only make mod est progress with some of the larg er issues.” Last year, the Reparations Assess ment Group announced intentions to file suit against public and pri vate institutions that benefited from slavery, which began in North America in the early 1600s and was made illegal by the 13th Amend ment, ratified in 1865. Thomas Patterson Emerald Charles Ogletree Jr., a Harvard Law School professor, has defended mobster John Gotti and the Rev. Al Sharpton in court. The group also includes such lu minaries as Johnnie Cochran and Randall Robinson, author of “The Debt: What America Owes Blacks,” which articulated the U.S. repara tions argument. Reparations have become more commonplace for groups that have been harmed by historic wrongs, Ogletree said. For example, formal apologies were issued and cash payments were made to each Japanese American held in intern ment camps during World War II. Also, commissions were formed to investigate attacks on black citi zens in Tulsa, Okla., and Rose wood, Fla., which also resulted in reparations. Some leaders feel the slavery reparations issue takes attention away from more substantive race issues. Walter Williams, chairman of the economics department at George Mason University, was re cently interviewed about slavery reparations for a New York Times article. “The resources that are going into TumtoOgletree,page4 What A discussion of philosophy, practice and prospects of theslavery reparations movement, hosted by Charles Ogletree Jc, of Harvard Law School, and Ibrahim Gassama and Robin Morris Collin of the University Law School. Where: University School of Law, Room 175 When: Today, 7 p,m. Cost: Free Panel dismisses allegations for misuse of money ■State audits of University funds reveal questionable spending, urging closer examination of books By Leon Tovey Oregon Daily Emerald A state ethics panel dismissed complaints against seven University employees Friday, voting 6-1 that University Foundation money those employees received was legitimate reim bursement for work-related expenses. The dismissal of the complaints brings an end to an investigation begun in July when a state Audit Division official filed seven com plaints with the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission alleging that $7,372.98 in foundation money had been mis used. The University claimed that the money was used to reimburse employees for legitimate business expenses. Those expenses included plane tickets to the Aloha Bowl, a tuxedo rental, catering for par ties and receptions and a luncheon in honor of Administrative Professionals Day. According to Pat Hearn, director of the Government Stan dards and Practices Commission, the panel’s decision indicates that while the expenses may have been unusual, they were not illegal. “The University administration provided in formation that showed that those uses — as bizarre as some of them were — were legiti mate as far as they knew,” Hearn said. “The is sue for us wasn’t whether the money came from foundation money or from public money, but the way the money was used.” The University has been embroiled in a number of difficulties involving audits in re cent months. A state audit of the softball team’s budget uncovered a $5,700 discrepancy in the team’s travel budget, leading to the resignation of head coach Rick Gamez on Oct. 1. In re sponse to the incident, Athletic Director Bill Moos ordered an audit of all athletic teams’ travel expenses. The audit that Uncovered the reimburse ments was compiled during a six-month peri od earlier this year and concluded that the Uni versity needs to do a better job controlling and keeping track of how its employees spend pub lic funds and public donations. Audit administrator Jim Pitts, who originally filed the complaints, said it was unlikely that any more complaints would come out of this audit. He added that while it was standard pro cedure for the state Audit Division to do fol low-up audits in these situations, no further audit of the University has been planned. Lorraine Davis, vice president for academic affairs, said she was pleased with the ethics panel’s decision to dismiss the cases. “I believe the decisions were appropriate,” she said. She added that the results of the in vestigation would in no way change the Uni versity’s policies regarding the use of funds. “We always examine expenditures very carefully,” she said. “Our policies have not changed. We maintain scrupulous records and will continue to do so.” Leon Tovey is a higher education reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached at leontovey@dailyemerald.com. Anthrax kills two ■Two postal workers die and two more are hospitalized in Washington, D.C. By James Kuhnhenn & Kevin Murphy Knight RidderNewspap WASHING' (.KRT) — Two postal workers are dead, apparently from an thrax, and two more were hospitalized Monday with dangerous pulmonary an thrax infections, escalating bioterrorism's toll on America. At least one of the two dead postal workers handled congressional mail. The newest cases shifted the bioterror ism scare to the nation's capital after a spate of cases had surfaced in Florida and New York media offices and a New Jersey postal facility. One Washington postal worker was diagnosed with a pulmonary anthrax infection Sunday, and a second on Monday. Both remain hospitalized in serious condition. A trail of anthrax spores connects the postal centers to the Capitol. A letter taint ed v ; th anthrax was found in the offices of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle last week, and 28 Capitol workers, including six police officers, have tested positive for exposure to anthrax, which doesn’t guar antee they will contract the disease. Officials were investigating how the workers became infected. The Daschle letter was sealed, raising doubts that it was the only anthrax-tainted letter to pass through the postal center. The latest anthrax infection is the fourth confirmed pulmonary case since anthrax infections began to appear along the East C ‘’vo and a half weeks ago. The FBI Sc. as too soon to link any of the new antludx incidents to the rlier ones. ©2001, Knight Ridder/Trit Information Services. Group talks on diversity ■ Students voice concerns about campus diversity with an adviser to University administration By Anna Seeley Oregon Daily Emerald Students expressed feelings of dis trust and frustration with the Universi ty’s handling of diversity issues in an informal discussion Monday between students and the president of Western Michigan University. Students filled the Multicultural Center to talk with WMU President El son Floyd about problems they have # with matters of diversity on campus. Floyd was invited by University Presi dent Dave Frohnmayer and Provost John Moseley to make recommenda tions to the administration on ways to Turn to MCC, page 3
