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