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Newsroom: (541) 346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 Email: editor@dailyemerald.com Online Edition: www.dailyemercdd.com Tuesday, October 1,2002 -Oregon Daily Emerald Commentary Editor in Chief: Michael J. Kleckner Managing Editor Jessica Richelderfer Editorial Editors: Salena De La Cruz, Pat Payne Editorial Listen to the silence of domestic violence Editor’s note: In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we break with formal style to pres ent this fictionalized personal narrative. He hit her again. I could tell by the way she hid her face from me. My friend, whom I’ve known for years — afraid to look at me, embarrassed as to what I might think. Before I could say a word, she looked at me coura geously and smiled between tears, a bright purple bruise masking her happy brown eyes. In that moment we shared, I did not judge her nor say a word. I merely smiled and held my friend as she cried and tried to explain that her boyfriend, the one who was supposed to love her and take care of her, swore he’d never do it again —just like all the times before. Last year, there were more than 4,000,000 reports of domestic violence assaults on women, according to www.enddomesticviolence.com, a Web site sponsored by Womenspace. My friend was just one of them. Try as I might, she would not leave this man who claimed his love as often as he hit her. The abuse was not just physical but emotional as well. I cried when I heard him say how fat and ugly she was on their wedding day. Yes, she knew of his physical and emotional violence before she married him, but like many, she thought she could change him. And all I could do was be there for her when she needed me, hold her when she cried and pray the next hit didn’t kill her. She didn’t know there were other people out there who could help her. She didn’t know that that’s not how love is supposed to be. It wasn’t until he jeopardized their child did she leave. There are so many more people out there with stories like this, and some people still don’t know how to help a loved one who is being abused. If you suspect someone is a victim of domestic violence, the National Hotline for Domestic Violence recommends these tips: • Provide whatever you can in way of transportation, money or support. • Make a list of people to call and places to go for help. • Never make them leave or seek help. That must be their decision. • Sometimes the best way to help is to just lend an ear or a shoulder to cry on. So, be that ear or shoulder, and show your friend or loved one you care what happens to them — but don’t let them be silenced. There are many places on and off campus that offer as sistance to people who are in domestic violence situations. Gall Womenspace at 485-6513, Domestic and Sexual Vi olence Advocacy at 484-6103, the University Counseling Center at 346-3227, the University Crisis Line at 346 4488 or the Office of Student Life at 346-3216. Editorial policy This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Responses can be sent to letters <§>daifyemerald.com. Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged. Letters are limited to 250 words and guest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month. Submission must include phone number and address for verification. Emerald reserves the right to edit for spacv, 1 ammar and style. Editorial boari members CLARIFICATION A layout error inadvertently left out a few paragraphs from “Partygoers turn violent ne r campus" (ODE, Sept. 30). As a result, a quotation from a person at the scene of Friday night’s riots — “If I knew this was what Eugene was about, I would have been here a long time ago” — appeared to have been attributed to Subway employee Brett Michel. Michel did not make that statement. Michael J. Kleckner Editor in chief Salena De La Cruz Editorial editor Jessica Richelderfer Managing editor Pat Payne Editorial editor Freedom from ‘BiQ BPOthGT’ In the United States, we have a principle that states — and let me know if you have heard of this before — inno cent until proven guilty. It’s an odd concept to be sure, and one that our gov ernment has con veniently forgot ten. On Sept. 24, the Asso c i a t e d Press re ported just think about it that a program has been initiated to photograph and fingerprint foreign men visiting from a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Meghann Farnsworth Since more than half of the Sept. 11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, it is only natu ral for people to become sus picious of those who have Arab characteristics. The fed eral government has taken that “natural” suspicion and elevated it to the next level; they are now guilty until proven innocent. Starting Oct. 1, immigra tion officers will keep track of Arab men, although none have yet to cause harm, and require that those staying over 30 days be interviewed. Details about their stay are also required and examined. To many, these require ments may seem necessary after Sept. 11, 2001. After all, it is only foreigners who are being documented, not citizens. However, during a time of war, and even a time of peace, the small issue of citizenship has not stopped the federal government from infringing on citizens’ rights in the past, and it will not stop it now. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order for the inter ment of all Western Japanese Americans. In all, 120,000 Americans were detained. Does this treatment ring a bell? During the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, hun dreds of Arab Americans were detained without being charged and without counsel. iVTClMOTUSAl PTmRJHOMB Hf Rfe 1BGATE C And for the record, no Japan ese American was ever con victed of treason. More recently, Southern Californian Asian Ameri cans wearing certain “gang attire” were detained and photographed by police offi cers. Their crime: wearing “gang” clothing. It was alleged that the photographs were kept in what was called a “mug book”; these Asian Ameri cans had no prior record, but because of their race and choice of clothing the police department felt it was their duty to track them. The city attorney at the time justified such behavior as “vigorous law enforcement.” Is this how our country wishes to treat its citizens? Are we becoming a “Big Brother” society, where the government tracks our move ments? Furthermore, while Sept. 11 was certainly the most ferocious attack on American soil, have we for gotten about previous acts of terrorism? What about the Oklahoma City bombing? Are we going to fingerprint and photograph every white Caucasian male? Or how about attacks on abortion clinics by religious nuts? Are we going to haul in all Christ ian fundamentalists and track their movements? The answer to all of the above, should you have missed it, is no. If we are so proud of our supposed “free doms” in the United States, then why are we so willing to take them away when we feel threatened? Instead of worrying about what Arab men are doing here, we should be investi gating the real reason we were attacked. And, by the way, on Sept. 11, they were not attacking our way of life. They were enraged by our foreign policy. I am not implying that we should not actively pursue those responsible for Sept. 11, but do we wish to lose our constitutional freedoms along the way? It is unac ceptable and embarrassing to treat all Arabs as security threats. To assume that such policy will not eventually spill over to American citi zens is naive. If we are so proud of our country, then we should prove it by calling for fair treatment for all. Contact the columnist at meghannfarnsworth@ dailyemerald.com. Her opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. Printing fee too high considering costs Guest commentary I recently read the Emerald article con cerning the decision to charge a fee for printing in student labs (“Add a fee, save a tree,” ODE, June 30). I would like to point out that a ease of paper purchased at retail prices at Office Depot costs about 1 cent per page. To charge 5 to 10 cents per page would be an act of extortion, as I am sure the Computing Center buys copy paper by the pallet at wholesale prices. The cost wholesale would have to be, at most, one-half cent per page. It is no secret that with free printing, unnecessary' pages are printed. I agree with the idea of a fee structure. However, I have a friend who works as a corporate sales executive with paper mills nation wide. He informs me that there is a world wide paper glut. With a slower economy, this fact should be evident, as businesses are not using as many paper resources. Prices for paper have been at record lows. We all know by doing simple math that our “technology fee” of $225 per year, mul tiplied by 20, 000 students, equals $4.5 mil lion in revenue for the computer labs. To charge any more than 3 cents per page (paper and toner expense) is obviously an attempt to generate profits above and be yond what we already are forced to pay. If the labs charge 5 cents per page, I can see that the revenues would be more than $116,000 with 2,335,000 pages printed last year. According to the article, last year’s paper and toner expenses were $52,000. At 5 cents, the labs will make an extra $64,000. Does this mean we get a refund of our tech fees? I don’t see that happening, but I do see a heavy student protest in the making. At 10 cents per sheet, we would be bet ter off having Kinkos take over the labs. I would hope that the Computing Center chooses a fair (at cost) price for printing and avoids the temptation to profit from the students who don’t forget that they paid a heavy fee before walking in the door of any lab on campus. Mark Nelsen is a senior journalism major.
