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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2003)
http://www.dailyernerald.com Thursday, January 16,2003 Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 104, Issue 79 Students walk obliviously beneath Martin Luther King Jr.'s powerful"! have a dream"quote in the EMU. BSU member Tremaine Thompson said that many people don't appreciate that they have a day off to recognize MLKJr. Mark McCambridge Emerald Recognizing civil rights Some people feel that the meaning behind MLK Jr. Day has changed since the 1960s Roman Gokhman Campus/City Culture Reporter Overt racism may have slowed to a trickle since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, according to some blacks and civil rights supporters, but most say it still exists in some form. With the advent of another Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and recent fir ing of Northwest Christian College dean Betsy Clewett, a dismissal that she said was due to her support of mi nority students, many are taking this opportunity to question what has changed in the past four decades of the civil rights movement. “Some things are not out in the open, but they’re still there,” Black Student Union member Latina Lewis said. Assistant history professor Martin Summers, who specializes in African American studies, agreed. “Racism still remains at a deep struc tural level,” he said. BSU member Tremaine Thompson said many people don’t know — or appreciate — why they have the third Monday in January off from school and work. “It seems like it’s not as important anymore — like it’s just a holiday,” he said. Summers agreed that the holiday has a different meaning in 2003 than in the ’60s. “MLK was a symbol of accomplishment,” he said. “That’s still true to a certain extent, but MLK as a symbol has been appropriated by Madison Avenue.” Some, like Lewis and fellow BSU members Kennasha Roberson and Erica Tucker, said the University is lacking in diversity. “Diversity is not just about having a student union,” Roberson said. “It’s not just separate places for everyone — that’s segregation.” Thompson said the majority of white students at the University don’t see racism or prejudice because they don’t personally experience it. “We’re still in the back of the bus, metaphorically speaking,” he said. University Bias Response Team coor dinator Ghicora Martin said four racial ly-related complaints were filed last term, which she said is about average. But she added that acts of racism are more common than the figures show because many incidents go unreported. Lewis said black students face more pressure to act as good examples for all black people. “I feel like I have to be a spokesper son for every black person so people wouldn’t believe all black people are like that,” Lewis said. “I have to make a conscientious choice to sit in the front of the bus, because if I sit in the back, it’s bad.” Roberson agreed, saying black stu dents have to be representatives of their race, “whether you like it or not.” Most BSU members agree that the positive achievements of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement outweigh the negative ones present today. “I wouldn’t be going here if it wasn’t for them,” Thompson said. Contact the reporter at romangokhman@dailyemerald.com. Locals cover city growth, land issues At the ‘Citizens’ State of the City Address,’ Eugene residents and speakers recognize exemplary businesses, discuss social services and growth Jan Montry City/State Politics Reporter Protection of social services, sustainable economic growth and land use were among the talking points Wednesday at the second an nual “Citizens’ State of the City Address,” an opportunity for locals to address issues not covered during the Mayor’s annual speech. The Friends of Eugene and Citizens for Public Accountability sponsored the event, which featured five speakers and attracted about 90 people. Former Oregon Legislator Kitty Piercy recognized the Eugene City Council for several accomplishments, including work on the living wage, but said it should now focus on education and social services that are being threatened by the flailing economy. “It is important for our community leaders, in this time of state budgetary crisis, to take on a larger role,” she said. “While it is cer tainly worthwhile for them to spend time with our children and at tending events in support of nonprofits, it is perhaps more impor tant they be looking for ways to work with the state Legislature to develop a resolution to our state’s long-term funding problems. “Not in every county in the state, as Mayor Torrey has suggested, but here in our backyard.” Lisa Arkin, a former associate professor of performing arts, criti cized what she called “unrestrained industrial and commercial growth” in Eugene. “We need only look at the closure of HMT (Technology), the downsizing and economic woes of Symantec and Hyundai-Hynix for examples of businesses that fail to meet their stated employ ment goals,” she said. Arkin recognized other businesses, such as Living Tree Paper Company, which uses renewable technologies, as examples of com panies that provide profit, living wages and tax revenue for the city without depleting natural resources — all of which Arkin called “sustainable economic practices.” “We would like to see our city officials recognize local businesses that have taken the responsibility to operate and prosper within a sustainability framework,” she said. “For example, why not reward business practices that are environmentally sensitive and tax those that harm human health and the natural resources of our city?” Jan Spencer, a board member with the River Road Communi ty Organization, talked about land use and transportation, call ing for more residential rental and ownership opportunities in Downtown Eugene. “Redeveloping Downtown will Pike pressure off the urban growth boundary and return much of Eugene’s center of gravity to where it belongs,” he said. Spencer said areas in north and west Eugene expanding toward the urban growth boundary are expensive to develop, and added that systems development charges collected by the city do not cover the entire cost of new roads, schools, utilities and city services. To remedy the problems of congestion and costly infrastructure, Spencer called for more compact and “mixed-use design,” which he said would cost less, make transit more convenient and create eco nomic opportunities. “Eugene has much to gain from a thoughtfully redesigned ur ban landscape, and the entire town needs to be involved in the ven ture,” he said. Contact the senior news reporter at janmontry@dailyemerald.com. 1 reatment services may race large cuts Without funding, thousands of adults and children who need treatment and medication will have their services cut Oregon votes 2003 Andrew Black Environment/Science/Technology Already reeling from budgets slashed by the Leg islative Emergency Board in November, state men tal health and addiction services could face < knock-out punch, and be forced to delay treatmen to people in crisis situations, if Measure 28 fails. Without funding from the $313-million taj package this biennium, the Oregon Department o Human Services estimates 10,400 adults anc 3,500 children seeking treatment and medica tion will see their serv ices cut. In addition, there will be a statewide reduction of 164 day treatment slots for minors in time nf nsvt'hiafrip orisis Measure 28 A 10-part series examining the budget implications of the Jan. 28 special election. and a reduction of 237 beds for adults needing mental health and alcohol and drug treatment. Jerry Fuller, financing and policy analysis ad 1 ministrator with the Oregon Department of Hu man Services, said the cuts would save #12.6 million over the next five months, and #49.3 mil lion over the next biennium. Fuller said such reductions will cause patients I confined in the Oregon State Hospital — the pri mary state-run psychiatric facility for both adults and children — to wait longer than nec essary for a bed in transitional facilities. “Guts in treatment programs are not problems faced just by Oregon, but are part of a much larg er issue felt across the country,” Fuller said. Not everyone, however, thinks the cuts will be so severe. Jason D. Williams of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon opposes income tax increases under Measure 28 and said lawmakers are choosing to make cuts in places most visible to the public. “It’s a scare tactic,” Williams said. “They said people would die if Measure 5 passed and no one died, and now they’re saying the same thing about Measure 28.” Locally, many treatment centers are scrambling Turn to Measure 28, page 8