Civil sit-down / Page 11
Thursday, November 21,2002
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 104, Issue 60
Adding their voices
Hundreds of students rally against
warjoining other campuses
in a nationwide day of action
Jenny Sherman
Freelance Reporter
“Justice, not war,” “Peace is patriotic”
and “One planet, one future, one people”
were a few of the visual messages sprinkled
around the EMU Amphitheater at the Cam
pus Day of Solidarity rally Wednesday.
Similar rallies took place at universities
across the country for the National Stu
dent/Youth Day of Action.
Students for Peace organized the Univer
sity event, aiming to inform students about
the nation’s foreign policy and urging them
to be activists for peace. Speakers, ranging
from students to faculty members and peace
activists to war veterans presented their
ideas about overseas conflict with historical
facts and personal accounts.
“It is time for us,” said University graduate
student Mario Sifuentez, who said he pro
motes multiracial acceptance and student
activism. “Now is the time to face the great
est evil in the world — oppression.”
Rally organizers expected anywhere from
100 to 200 people to attend, but at times
there were close to 300 attendees.
“There are a lot of outraged people,” said
University junior Roger Snell. Snell said he
has always been an activist for peace and be
lieves that if there is war in Iraq, the Univer
sity will see more rallies.
The speakers talked about proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction and interna
tional negotiations involving oil and money,
cheers and hollers from the crowd punctuat
ing their words. Some passed around a peti
tion calling for the University administration
to declare a stance against the war.
Vietnam veteran Ed Reiman spoke about
the recently passed Homeland Security Bill,
and the negative effects he said it will have
on health care and the economy.
Student and Oregon Army National
Guard member Bill Hamman said that not
only would a preemptive attack on Iraq be
unjustified, but that he “refuse(s) to shed
innocent blood. Not for oil, not for Bush,
not for anything.”
Protesters of the rally, although greatly
outnumbered, held “Bush/Cheney” signs
and shouted out their support for the gov
ernment. Vincent Matorano, a University
student and member of the Campus Repub
licans, said he enjoyed the rally.
“I think it’s great. It’s democracy at its
best,” he said. “We are the minority, and
we want to show our support for the
current administration.”
A slew of students gathered in the EMU
Amphitheater Wednesday afternoon to protest
the impending war with Iraq, and others gathered
to voice their support for military action (above).
Rally attendees marched from the Amphitheater
to outside Johnson Hall (right).
Mark McCambridge (above) Emerald
Adam Amato (right) Emerald
Students for Peace, a collaboration of
three peace activist groups, plans to hold
more rallies and teach-ins to educate stu
dents and promote peace activism. Accord
ing to student Melissa Jencks, one of the ral
ly’s organizers, such events are important.
“We have to work from the bottom up,”
Jencks said. “If the national government won’t
listen, we’ll start with our local government.”
Sophomore Alex Gonzalez, a member of
Students for Peace, said the group has
more than 300 members and that they
hope that the rally encouraged students to
use their voices.
“Students are the key,” Gonzalez said.
“They have nothing to lose, yet they have
everything.”
Twenty-eight year old Margarita Smith, a
student and mother of two, said she agrees
Turn to Protest, page 4
Eugene
groups
respond
toKUGN
Local groups offer solutions
in the KUGN debate, and one
of the controversial shows also
raises concerns in Portland
Jennifer Bear
Campus/City Culture Reporter
Several campus and community
groups have been gaining momentum in
response to perceived racist comments
made by nationally-syndicated radio
hosts on KUGN-AM. Although the groups
agree that radio personality Michael Sav
age’s show is offensive, opinion differs on
what to do about it.
The University has a contract with
KUGN, making the station the official lo
cal carrier of University athletic pro
gramming and also permitting the sta
tion to market itself as “the voice of
the Ducks.”
RADIOACTIVists, one of many groups
formed in response to the content of
KUGN’s talk radio programming, is con
cerned with what they feel is a talk radio
monopoly by right-wing hosts.
George Beres, a founding member of
the coalition, said the nation’s airwaves
have been flooded with talk radio pro
gramming that is slanted toward conser
vatives. The group took issue with the
perceived bias, and are now considering
starting their own local radio show.
“What we want to do is get on the air
with a progressive program as an anti
dote to the hate radio we’re drowning
in,” said Beres, a former sports informa
tion director for the University Athletic
Department.
ASUO originally suggested that the ra
dio station air a disclaimer to distance its
talk radio programming from the Univer
sity. Beres said the approach wasn’t ag
gressive enough.
“We have to challenge them and
make it very clear that racist broad
casters cannot be on the same station
that broadcasts Oregon games,” Beres
said. “Oregon sports are such an attrac
tive commodity that it will be no prob
lem to find another station to broadcast
Ducks athletics.”
Turn to KUGN, page 4
Weather
Today: High 55, Low 40,
continued fog turning sunny
Friday: High 55, Low 38,
partly sunny with morning fog
Looking ahead
Friday
Has the police presence
faded in the West University?
Monday
Win (definitely) or lose (not),
Civil War coverage starts here
Smokeout raises tobacco awareness
The Great American Smokeout
aims to honor those who have
died of tobacco-related illnesses
Jillian Daley
Family/Health/Education Reporter
For smokers who long to quit, today is
the day to begin.
The American Cancer Society is hold
ing the annual Great American Smoke
out, a day designated to raise awareness
about tobacco and to honor those who
have died of a tobacco-related illness.
The University community will have a
chance today, during a noon to 2 p.m.
Smokeout event in the EMU, to com
memorate those who died from such ill
nesses by posting pictures and personal
stories on the Wall of Remembrance.
“My picture’s up there because my
grandpa died of a tobacco-related dis
ease,” said general science senior Katie
Collins, a peer health educator. “He had
three heart attacks and never gave up
smoking, so he finally died of it.”
Smoking increases the risks of illness
es such as cancer, emphysema and oth
er respiratory problems and heart dis
ease, according to the American Cancer
Society.
The Peer Health Educators program,
the student group that organized the
campus event, will be giving away hospi
tal bracelets that can be inscribed with
Turn to Smokeout, page 3
Danielle Hickey Emerald
Peer Health Educator Claudia Le helps student Natalie Davis fill out a
remembrance card for the Wall of Remembrance that will be featured
at the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout today.