mm
Filipino Culture Night will be revived
today at Agate Hall.
Page 8A
Sports
The Oregon track team’s newest pole vaulter
turned Hayward Field into a Holliday test.
Paqe 9A
http://www.dailyemerald.com
Friday, May 10,2002
Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 103, Issue 148
Vigilant against violence
■Student members of Amnesty
International held a candlelight
vigil Thursday night in memory
of victims of violence overseas
By Kara Cogswell
Oregon Daily Emerald
A sil ’Asleh was killed by Israeli
police on October 2, 2000, at a
JL JL peaceful Palestinian demonstra
tion. The 17-year-old died wearing a T
shirt of a group working for Jewish-Arab
friendship.
Mordechai and Tzira Schijveschuur
der and three of their children were
killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber
on August 9, 2001. They were in
Jerusalem for the day on an outing with
five of their eight children.
On Thursday evening, students from
the University chapter of Amnesty In
ternational read their stories at a can
dlelight vigil in the EMU Amphitheater
to mourn the victims of violence in Is
rael and the occupied territories.
“These are just some cases of many
from the last year and a half,” said
Karen Kennedy, an academic adviser
who spent 10 days in Israel in January
investigating human rights violations
for Amnesty International.
The vigil was held in conjunction
with Amnesty International’s world
wide day of mourning April 27.
Senior Jessica Nunley, one of the co
directors of the group, emphasized that
the vigil was held to remember all vic
tims of the violence.
“We want to remember victims on
both sides,” she said. “There’s human
rights abuses being perpetrated by both
Israel and Palestine.”
About 15 students attended the vigil.
They lit candles and gathered in a half
circle around Kennedy as she spoke
about some of Amnesty International’s
human rights concerns in Israel and the
occupied territories.
“A fundamental right is that civilians
must never be the object of violence,”
she said.
Students from Amnesty Internation
al read the stories of a few of the victims
and then asked for a moment of silence
in honor of all of them.
Arlie Adkins (right) and Dana Ponte take a moment to ponder human rights violations in the Middle
East in a candlelight vigil held Thursday evening in the EMU Amphitheater.
After the vigil, discussion among stu
dents who were there turned to a
speech earlier in the day by former BBC
reporter David Zev Harris, who came to
campus as part of the pro-Israeli Cara
van For Democracy program.
Junior Marc Faulkner, who heard
Harris speak, said he came to the vigil
to hear another perspective. The Cara
van For Democracy fliers “made it seem
like if you didn’t support Israel, you
Turn to Vigil, page 3A
Lecturer denounces Middle East conflict
■Tension between Israel and
Palestine motivates former journalist
to give an informative presentation
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Former BBC journalist David Zev
Harris, who spoke at the University
on Thursday, said he thinks there will
never be peace in the Middle East.
Although the past 20 months have been
filled with violence, he said the tension
and conflict between Israelis and Pales
tinians dates back much further.
“There is no way that in the lifetimes
of (Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon
and (Palestinian leader) Yasser Arafat
there will be true peace. It will be a very
cold peace at that,” Harris said. “There
has to be a mix of military and diplo
matic activity.”
Harris gave a free lecture to more than
75 people in the EMU Ballroom, taking a
pro-Israeli stance. He is the current bu
reau chief for Media Line News Ser
vices, an organization with a mission to
“improve coverage of the Middle East.”
The speech was a stop on a tour through
the United States with Caravan For
Democracy, a group that promotes an
understanding of democracy in the Mid
dle East for college students in America.
While Harris touched on historical
issues of the conflict, most of his talk
involved portraying the truths and im
ages of recent violence in the Middle
East that the American public never
saw. Harris highlighted the ongoing
hostage crisis at the Church of the
Nativity in Bethlehem, the traditional
birthplace of Christ. He also touched on
the United Nations’ fact-finding mis
sion, violence in the Jenin refugee camp
and the suicide bombings.
“There are 14- and 15-year-old kids
being sent to carry out terrorist attacks.
They are kids who don’t even under
stand what politics are about,” he said.
Matthew Peltz, a University student
and member of Club Israel, said he sup
ported the event because he was inter
ested in helping “students develop a
deeper comiection to the land of Israel.”
Harris, 35, who has also covered eco
nomics and politics for The Jerusalem
Post and worked for the JPost Radio sta
tion on the Internet, is from Manchester,
England. He said he is nervous about his
Turn to Harris, page 3A
EPD adopts
new policies
for journalists
■ Changes to existing rules are intended to help
differentiate between the media and the public
By Brad Schmidt
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Eugene Police Commission voted unanimously
Thursday night to make changes to the Eugene Police De
partment’s existing media access policy, changes that
could potentially acknowledge members of the media as
a body separate from the public and could give reporters
and photographers greater access to police activities in the
event of public disturbances.
The major policy changes include the possible re
quirement of a media press pass — one that meets po
lice standards but is issued by media organizations —
that would allow access to unruly demonstrations, ri
ots or crime scenes. If needed, EPD could also imple
ment a press pool that would allow a limited number of
media personnel to have access to dangerous or large
scale situations.
Previously, EPD did not have a policy that differentiated
between the media and the general public. The commis
sion decided to review its policy in October 2001, and
Thursday’s changes are a result of that process.
“It’s a living document,” commission Chairman John
Brown said. “I think it’s time to move forward and see
how it works.”
Despite Thursday’s policy revisions, EPD Public Infor
mation Officer Pam Alejandre said the changes won't be
significant.
“In many cases, the changes that have been recently put
into words is what has already been in practice,” she said.
“We’re not going to make everyone happy, but we think
that collectively, positive steps have been made to recog
nize who the media are.”
The implementation of these policies could come into
play in the event of civil disturbances like those in June
2000, when EPD restricted media access to some per
sonnel. Tension arose June 18 and 19 between EPD and
the media when anarchist demonstrations downtown
turned into riots.
1 don t believe there was real clarity about what kind
of priority they should place on media access,” said Jim
Godbold, executive editor of The Register-Guard. “This
policy came up as one classification of issues we were
having problems with. We need to maintain the same spir
it of accommodation to meet the needs of media in the
whole spectrum of media coverage.”
Of specific interest is the press pass requirement. The
new policy will create a two-tier level, giving media out
lets with written credentials access to a scene or event re
stricted to the general public. Media personnel that don’t
have credentials meeting EPD’s requirements will have ac
cess equal to that of the general public.
The policy specifies a “news-gathering organization”
as “any print, broadcast, or online operation that shares
information with the public on a periodic basis.” Media
identification cards must measure at least 3-by-5 inch
es, have a white background and include the media
member’s name, signature, a one-by-one inch front-fac
ing photograph, the name of the issuing or affiliated me
dia organization and the term “media” or “press” in one
inch-high letters.
Nontraditional media haven’t participated in the dis
cussion process because they feel doing so would validate
it, said Tim Lewis, a freelance videographer for Cascadia
Alive!, a local cable-access television show.
Lewis said the new policy won’t affect how he ap
proaches his job and added that he won’t comply with a
need for press credentials. If anything, he said, the policy
will just control mainstream media.
“The kind of message we put out there is quite differ
Turn to EPD Media, page 3A