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Thursday, November 7,2002
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor.
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editors:
Salena De La Cruz, Pat Payne
Editorial
Sex-abusing
priests need
treatment
The Roman Catholic Church has
spent the past year trying to repair
its credibility and public reputation
in the wake of scandals involving
priests and allegations of sexual
abuse of boys. Bishops, such as Car
dinal Bernard Law, had been shuf
fling the offending priests around to
other parishes to “cover up” their
crimes. Now, however, 24 priests in
the Boston Archdiocese itself have
been removed pending resolution of
their cases.
This summer, American cardi
nals and bishops of the Catholic
Church met in Dallas to try to re
solve this issue. After the protests of
concerned Catholics, the Cardinals
had instituted a “zero-tolerance”
policy that would remove priests ac
cused of sexual abuse immediately.
Finally, the Holy See — the of
fice of the Pope — has weighed in.
Worried that the “zero-tolerance”
policy was counter to church law
and that it denied accused priests
due process, the church has decid
ed to set up a special tribunal that
would judge the allegations and de
termine whether or not a priest
should be defrocked.
This step by the Vatican is worri
some. These tribunals sound like a
closed-door judicial body that will
not ameliorate in any way one of the
major failings of the church. We have
fears that if a priest is cleared by a
private church tribunal, it is a con
tinuation of the cover-up and not a
true indication of his innocence.
If any priest is committing such
atrocious acts as sexually abusing
children, it should be a matter for
the criminal, not the ecclesiasti
cal, courts. As soon as a member
of the church has received allega
tions of sexual abuse, he or she
needs to call the police, just as
would any other responsible mem
ber of society. Then the accused
can have his day in court, and if
found guilty, he immediately
should be defrocked and excom
municated, as well as imprisoned.
Sexual offenders can be rehabili
tated, however, and mere punish
ment can’t be the end of society’s ef
forts. Priests, or anyone, found
guilty of sex abuse must also be
treated for their behavior, while be
ing segregated from society until
they are no longer a threat.
In any case, the cover-up by the
Roman Catholic Church of priests
who have engaged in sexual abuse
has gone on for far too long. If they
wish to salvage the reputation of
one of the world’s largest religions,
they are going to have to try some
thing with more accountability
than the tribunals they are sug
gesting now.
Not a (parking) lot of space
It was a Wednesday after
noon. Like any college
student without too
much homework, I
decided to venture
off campus.
Gould I be
blamed, though?
After being con
fined to my 9
by-15-foot resi
dence hall
room all week,
one would
tend to feel a
little cramped.
So, I sought
out a friend
and headed
out for a trip
to the store
to pick up a
few things.
The only
problem was
neither of us
had a car.
After going
though bus
schedules and
maps of the Eu
gene area, what
could have easily
been an hour-long
trip to the store quickly
turned into a three-hour
excursion.
Like many students living in
the residence halls, I don’t have a
parking spot to keep my car on
campus. 1 he
spaces are
just too limit
ed, and I’ve
seen the wait
ing lists for
parking per
mits to prove it.
Sarah
Spellman
Spin cycle
Many would suggest that public
transportation is the answer, and
although public transportation is a
sufficient alternative, it can turn
any trip into a large ordeal, often
tripling the amount of time it takes
to get to just about anywhere.
Granted the Lane Transit District
bus service is one of the best I’ve
seen, with accessible service and
friendly staff to help, but public
transportation is not always for
everyone.
A simple trip to Fred Meyer by
bus can take nearly a half an hour
to an hour from the west side of
campus, depending on which
route is taken, while you can get
there by car within 10 minutes.
Often, students with busy sched
ules are not able to take this
much time out of a given day just
to run a “quick errand.”
In addition, people are no longer
able to keep their own schedules,
but they must follow the schedule
mapped out by the LTD — and
that is assuming the bus is actual
i y
o n
sched
ule.
The so
lution is a
long-dis
puted one
— add more
parking
spots.
Some may
argue,
though,
that provid
ing students
with the
means to park
their vehicles will only encourage
students to remain dependent on
them. This, in turn, could further
problems such as air pollution and
could discourage environmental
awareness.
I agree that this is possible;
however, this awareness must be
a personal decision, not some
thing forced upon the student.
Even so, some may choose to use
their cars on a limited basis; as in
my situation, a car would come in
handy for a trip to the store on a
few occasions or a trip home to
visit my family.
This need for more parking is evi
dent. Currendy, the neighborhoods
along the east and south sides of
campus are congested with parked
cars during the school day. The Uni
versity of Oregon Planning Office is
currently working on a development
policy for the East Campus area.
One goal of this plan is to discourage
parking in these areas by fulfilling
parking needs and encouraging oth
er forms of transportation.
With the growing number of stu
dents at the University, this is only
becoming a bigger problem. It is
time to reconsider if the means
provided really are sufficient.
In a perfect world, a parking
structure — or plainly, more park
ing space — could be provided to
satisfy the needs of students who
chose to drive. And in this perfect
world, students would still be
charged the same amount to park
here, which, after time, could only
bring revenue to the college. Of
course, this isn’t a perfect world,
and this issue will still remain a
problem.
But until then, students can
enjoy saving their scarce money
on gas, oil, and maintenance on
their cars — the only price to be
paid is time.
Contact the columnist
atsarahspellman@dailyemerald.com.
Her opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
Steve Baggs Emerald
Letter to the editor
Polluters should pay to
clean dirty Willamette
I am utterly disgusted and disap
pointed with the treatment of Ore
gon’s Willamette River. Physically,
the river only takes up 12 percent of
Oregon’s land, but many species
make their home in or around it, in
cluding us. The river has great poten
tial. However, because of our lack of
awareness and concern, the river has
progressively become the most pol
luted river west of the Mississippi.
Toxins such as lead, arsenic, ben
zene and dioxin have been found in
fish living there. These are tremen
dously harmful to humans, with ef
fects ranging from kidney and brain
damage to cancer. Fish were also
found to have skeletal deformities.
Because of the millions of pounds
of industrial toxic chemicals being
*»?***>>»«* I * t I « : * t I if I
HMinnin i » * * » » « * » •
released yearly by surrounding fac
tories and companies, a five-and-a
half-mile stretch of the river was
declared a federal Superfund site,
including another 22 miles that are
also eligible for this.
These parts are heavily concen
trated with chemicals, making
them dangerous for fishing or
swimming. The companies have re
fused to stop dumping, and the situ
ation is getting increasingly more
hazardous for the environment.
Even after chemicals stop being
dumped, the current pollutants
need to be removed. It’s not fair for
taxpayers to have to spend their
money. We need to force the people
who have polluted our river to not
only stop adding more toxic waste,
but to clean it up.
It’s time for us to take a stand.
Katie Mart
freshman
undeclared