Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
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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.