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Time for Tesh / Page 3
Tuesday, November 26,2002
Since 1900
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 104, Issue 63
Campaigning for equality
Mark McCambridge Emerald
Rodney P. Mock (left), John Cougill (center) and Charles O. Porter (right) share a story in Porter's downtown office. The three collaborated
to draft The National Reconciliation Act, a bill to remove the word "race" from laws.
Race for ethnicity
A former University student is campaigning an act
that would take the word “race” out of legislation
Jan Montry
Campus/Federal Politics Reporter
John Cougill is leading a fight that has spanned 10 years
and cost him more than #100,000.
Cougill is fighting to level the ethnic playing field.
The fight began in 1992 after Cougill, a Eugene resident
and graduate of the University, refused to conduct what
he calls “race research” at the National Opinion Research
Center. Cougill objected to the research because he dis
agreed with using “race” as a classification, and he was
later fired.
But being jobless didn’t change the use of the
word “race.” »
So Cougill founded the Committee to Remove “race”
From Our Laws, and enlisted the aid of Eugene lawyer and
former U.S. Rep. Charles O. Porter to draft The National
Reconciliation Act, a bill that would replace hundreds of
references to “race” in federal laws with words like “ethnic
group” or “ethnicities.” The bill was written by Rodney P.
Mock, an employee at the private practice Porter owns.
The former student’s goal is to push his idea into Con
gress and make things change all across America.
The bill would cut off federal funding to research using
race as a method of putting people into groups. It would also
provide participating states with school grants to teach
about ethnic equality. Cougill submitted the bill to congres
sional leaders Oct. 7.
The act, which is not intended to affect people’s civil
rights, contends the word “race” in laws doesn’t serve any
positive legal, scientific, social or political purpose. Instead,
his bill intends to recognize people as human beings as
equals — not superior or inferior races."
The idea is to get the government to stop classifying peo
ple under something that doesn’t exist,” Cougill said. “Race
is just like communism or Nazism: It hurts people.”
University sociology Professor Michael Dreiling said the
concept of race has a “two-pronged reality.”
“On one hand, (race) was socially constructed from the
European empire to account for and control human differ
ences,” he said. “In that sense, race has no biological
grounding and is a myth.
“However, race is very powerful because people organ
ized their lives and perceptions of differences through that
concept and belief of race.”
Turn to Race page 8
Teach-in aims
to show links
between war,
minorities
Responding to a potential war with Iraq, three student
groups will hold a discussion about war and minorities
Jennifer Bear
Campus/City Culture Reporter
Although the United States’ thrust toward war against
Iraq is a heated topic of debate among University students,
some think one important aspect has been completely ig
nored. Students for Peace, the Multicultural Center and
Concerned Facuity for Peace and Justice will show exactly
how they feel war with Iraq would affect minority students
in a teaeh-in entitled “War and Students of Color” at 5:30
p.m. today in the EMU International Student Lounge.
Alex Gonzalez, teach-in organizer and a co-founder of Stu
dents for Peace, said the event stands apart from other cam
pus activities that have focused on the possibility of war be
cause it approaches the issue from an overlooked perspective.
“I don’t think the mainstream media have addressed how
war will affect student minorities,” Gonzalez said. “It’s key
to educate people, because once you’re informed you can
make better decisions.”
The teach-in will feature presentations by panelists Lin
da Kintz, Hope Marston and Matt Garcia, followed by an
hourlong question-and-answer session. Kintz, a professor in
the English department, will speak about how she thinks
war distorts the federal government’s social agenda;
Marston, a Eugene activist, will speak about the conse
quences of the USA PATRIOT Act for minority students; and
Garcia, an ethnic studies professor, will talk about how war
has historically affected minorities.
Kintz said her lecture will address the connection between
military spending and cutbacks in social programs, as well as
the consequences they could have for minority students.
“As more federal money is diverted into military funding,
states cannot provide the sort of tuition help that minorities
and lower-income students depend on,” Kintz said.
She added that funding for social programs like day care,
diversity-building programs, health care programs, unem
ployment benefits and grant money will be cut down be
cause of federal money being diverted to the military.
Isaac Torres, program director of MEChA, said it’s impor
tant for University students to attend the teach-in because
the information circulating through traditional media chan
nels is one-sided. He added that the war will have a greater
impact on ethnic minorities than on most other groups.
“More often than not it is our people who get recruited
into the military because of a lack of educational and occu
pational opportunities,” Torres said.
Garcia will address this topic in his presentation.
In disadvantaged minority populations, Garcia said the
military is seen as an advantageous career choice and is not
Turn to Teach-in, page 8
Weather
Today: High 5Q,Low 25,
morning fog then sunny
Wednesday: High 50, Low 28,
patches of fog clearing
Looking ahead
Wednesday
Celebrating the holiday doesn't
have to happen with family
Thursday
Forgetting about school
can be easy for a few days
Books offer students chance to help
Local organizations welcome
volunteers during the holiday
season, but they say they also
appreciate help year-round
Ken Raulman
City/State Politics Reporter
For most students, Saturday
morning provides a welcome respite
from books.
This past Saturday, however, Am
ber Ervin, Lynne Putnam and
Christina Skirvin were surrounded
by books — thousands of them. At a
warehouse in West Eugene, the Uni
versity juniors were helping the St.
Vincent de Paul Society sort a por
tion of the 40 tons of discarded
books they receive each month.
The three women are members of
Alpha Kappa Psi, a business fraterni
ty volunteering for St. Vincents. The
fraternity will also help with many
other projects this year — from as
sembling holiday food boxes to as
sisting with marketing strategy.
The holiday season tends to be a
time of year when people look for
ways to give back to their community.
Sheyla Norte, volunteer coordi
nator for Food for Lane County,
said she gets a number of calls
from people interested in helping
out on Thanksgiving and Christ
mas, although they need volun
teers year-round.
“We’re not doing anything during
the holidays that we don’t do all the
time,” she said.
Nevertheless, Norte welcomes the
opportunity to talk to people about
the organization’s needs. Many of
the people who call during the holi
days, she said, wind up becoming
regular volunteers.
“It’s a very busy time for us, but
that’s good,” she said.
Terry McDonald, director of the
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane
County, said that for St. Vincent’s,
there is no such thing as having too
many volunteers.
Turn to Volunteer, page 8
Volunteering
is easy
The United Way of Lane '
County provides links to
volunteer opportunities
with St. Vincent de Paul,
Food for Lane County,
and 66 other local
agencies.
To contact United Way of
Lane County, call 741-6000
or go to
www.unitedwaylane.org/
SOURCE: United Way
of lane County