Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, April 30,2002
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Editorial
Students can
rock the vote
loday’s the last day for Oregonians to register
to vote, and students should make sure
JL they are registered and take time to become
informed voters.
It’s important for us to remember the 2000 presiden
tial election, when a few hundred votes made all the
difference in the outcome. Students should take the
initiative to make their voices heard at the local and
state government levels.
Now more than ever, it is important for students to
exercise their right to vote. The leaders we elect this
year will be the ones who will have to resolve the edu
cation funding shortfall we are facing.
In the governor’s race, there are three Democratic
candidates and three Republican candidates vying for
the top state office — at this point, it’s anyone’s race.
And it’s important that students have a hand in select
ing the state’s next governor, since that person will
likely be the one to help combat the state’s high unem
ployment and lead Oregon out of this recession.
At the local level, two candidates are campaigning for
the Ward 3 seat, which encompasses the University. Re
cent changes to the district boundaries means this ward
now encompasses even more of the neighborhoods sur
rounding the school. The decisions this councilor will
be required to vote on will directly affect University stu
dents, so it’s important to find out how the candidates
feel about the issues most students care about — such as
public safety, a Eugene housing code and development.
There are also several measures and levies on the
primary ballot that could have an impact on University
students, including Measure 10, which would allow
the University to own stock in research ventures they
conduct, and Measure 20-56, which would allocate
$116 million in tax dollars to the Eugene School Dis
trict to provide better instructional facilities and re
place aging buildings. Voters will also be asked to de
cide whether to pay for a new downtown fire station.
In order to determine which candidates, state ballot
measures and citywide levies you want to support, it’s
important to become an informed voter. Read about the
candidates, state ballot measures and citywide levies
— the Emerald is running a question-and-answer se
ries with the candidates for Oregon governor and the
city council ward that covers the University. And even
better, see the Ward 3 City Council candidates in ac
tion at an ASUO-sponsored debate from 6 p.m. to 8
p.m. Thursday in McKenzie Hall (event organizers
have yet to pin down a room number).
But most importantly, once you’ve registered, re
member to vote. Students make up a large portion of
eligible voters and could have considerable voting
power. But politicians often ignore our concerns and
don’t campaign as vigorously for our votes because
they know we are unlikely to vote. It’s especially diffi
cult to fight voter apathy and drum up interest outside
of a presidential election year.
Let’s prove them wrong and stop being a
silent majority.
Editorial Policy
editorial board. Responses can be sent to
letters@dajlyemerald.com. Letters to die editor and guest
commentaries are encouraged. Letters are limited to 250 !
words and guest commentaries to 550 words. Please
Include contact information.. Ttie Emerald reserves the right
to edit for space, grammar and style.
CLARIFICATION
No Oregon Daily Emerald staff members participated in the tobacco
counter-promotion at Club Tsunami on Friday night {ODE, April 29).
CORRECTION
In ‘And the bands wall play on’ (ODE, /fori! 29), it should have read
that John Henry’s will hold live performances through Friday, May3.
For more information, turn to page 8.
Where
the
Wild
things are
Things are so much easier in
the movies. When one walks
through a cemetery at night
in a horror movie, it’s almost a giv
en that the only creeps you’re go
ing to have to worry about are pop
ping out of their crypts. Here at the
University, however, fears of nonex
istent zombies and vampires has been
supplanted by an all-too-real horror
lurking inside the darkened confines of
the Pioneer Ceme
tery: rapists and
muggers. Last
year, the campus
was up in arms
about the “cam
pus predator,” a
man who attacked
women in the
vicinity of the
cemetery. On
March 12, a man
was mugged at
gunpoint on the
fire lane between
the cemetery and
Gerlinger Hall.
The next day, in almost the same area, a
woman was very nearly raped, al
though she fought off her assailant.
Much of the problem over campus
safety, in my opinion, centers on the Pi
oneer Cemetery. What we have in the
cemetery is a large, unlighted tract,
right on the edge of campus, that the
University doesn’t own. For those who
may have not gone into the cemetery, it
is a large, labyrinthine space, shrouded
in trees with large headstones that give
ample cover during the dark of night.
Payne
Columnist
tends to be a the shortest
path from the Beall Music Hall to
other parts of campus.
A large, unlighted area with students
passing through in the middle of the
night is a magnet for types who hunt
human prey for money or sexual gratifi
cation. According to police reports,
since 1996 there have been at least 45
incidents of suspicious people in and
around the cemetery, including at least
one rape attempt and a man sitting in the
bushes masturbating. Technically, any
one inside the cemetery after 10 p.m. is
breaking an old Oregon state law.
There has been precious little that
the Eugene Pioneer Cemetery Associa
tion, which preserves the plots, has
been willing to do, partly because of
funding problems and—as I see it—
partly an unwillingness to change the
cemetery’s character, even if it would
reduce crime. I can understand their re
luctance to lighting in the cemetery as a
“fix-all” solution: Without police pa
trols or other discouraging features, all
the light provides is the opportunity for
the rapist or robber to see their victim.
However, the University has suggested
being willing to pay for part of the con
struction of a wrought-iron fence, one
that can be locked at 10 p.m. This
would solve a large part of the problem.
However, the EPCA has gone on
record as being opposed to a fence,
even one that they would not have to
pay for. It seems to be that they apparent
ly dislike vandalism more than rape.
Fine. If they hate it so much, they can pa
trol the cemetery for a week and then see
which is worse. Another thing they may
want to consider: With nothing between
the vandals they apparently fear so
much and the cemetery, what’s to pre
vent those so inclined from taking a
sledgehammer, waltzing inside and let
ting loose?*
The sad part is, as private property of
the EPCA, the Department of Public
Safety has no jurisdiction. The best
they can do is to shine floodlights into
the area along the fire road that sepa
rates the cemetery from Gerlinger Hall,
trying to flush out those who can be
seen. But this doesn’t alleviate the
problem like it should. The fire road is
only one side of the cemetery, and
those inclined to hide there can re
treat further back into its stygian fold,
where the lights can’t reach. The Eu
gene Police Department patrols the
area randomly, but even they can’t
be everywhere.
This situation has gone on far enough.
It’stime to close off the cemetery at nigfft.
E-mail columnist Pat Payne ;
at patpayne@daiiyemerald.com. His opinions
do not necessarily reflect those of the Emerald.
Catholic cartoon anything but comic
,eter Utsey: I m directing this com
mentary directly to you and the
JL anti-Catholic comic you drew that
was shown by the ODE on April 12.
What were you thinking? Or, were you
thinking at all? Your editor said you
wanted to spark a debate, but there was
no debate in that comic. There was no
other viewpoint expressed but your
warped sense that attacking and ma
ligning a religious group is OK. I saw no
interview done with any Catholics ask
ing them how they feel about pedophile
priests. There was nothing journalistic
about your comic. It was prejudicial,
one-sided and bigoted.
I know freedom of speech is very im
portant to all American citizens, so I
will not attack your right to print your
opinion for the viewing public. Howev
er, with that freedom, as with any free
dom, comes responsibility to use it
wisely and prudently. We have laws for
this reason including a law, which pro
tects me as a Catholic from religious
persecution. So at what point did your
right to free speech supersede my right
to be free from the fear of religious per
secution? I was so concerned after your
comic was released that I feared for my
Guest Commentary
Jenny
Hansen
personal safety on campus from some
nut that may associate me as being a
sexual predator because I’m Catholic.
The University stresses the beauty of
diversity and the need for cohesiveness
so I must ask: How do you see that com
ic as supporting diversity ideology? I
am not saying that the University is per
fect when it comes to diversity issues,
but I’ve not seen any other campus
work as hard to try to get it right. Why
work so hard to dismantle it?
As a Catholic, I have been called a
cannibal, idol worshiper, statue wor
shiper and a Virgin Mary worshiper. I
have seen my faith repeatedly and
openly mocked and ridiculed in Eu
gene and Springfield. Mr. Utsey, when
you splash such hatred and stereotypes
about Catholics in a “comic” (if you can
call it that), you propagate hatred, fear
and stereotypes about my faith. This
has a ripple effect like a pebble being
thrown into a pond and soon the “us”
vs. “them” dichotomy comes into play:
Christians vs. Muslims, men vs. women,
blacks vs. whites. I could go on ad nause
am. It’s people like you that continue
distrust and hatred between people of all
faiths, cultures, races, genders, sexual
orientations and ethnicities.
Since you didn’t bother to do any
journalistic investigation, let me tell
you how I, as a Catholic, feel about
what’s happening to my faith: I am glad
it’s being dealt with, but so sad for those
poor people and families who have suf
fered. I feel betrayed and outraged. I
want any clergyman involved in the
abuse of innocent children to be de
frocked, excommunicated and sent to
prison for a very long time, if notindefi
nitely. Many people in the Catholic
community feel this way.
Someday, Mr. Utsey, your-ignorance
and prejudice will come back to bite
you in the butt, and when it does you
will have no one to blame but yourself.
You desperately need to heed and un
derstand why comics like yours are a
bane on both the local community and
on a larger scale, the United States.
Jenny Hansen is a senior English major.