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Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editor
Pat Payne
Tuesday, February 25,2003
A firsthand account of violation
Ah... spring is once again approaching Eu
gene. This is apparent by the flowers delicate
ly poking out of the ground, warmer, sun
soaked afternoons, children playing
in the park and last — but definitely not least
— the return of the campus masturbator.
Nothing says spring quite like some guy walk
ing around campus doing himself in public.
This phenomenon is
quite curious, to say the
least. I have been want
ing to write about this
topic for a while but did
n’t want to give this sick
guy the satisfaction of
reading about himself.
But, what the hell.
The “campus mastur
bator,” or whatever you
want to call him, has
been around for a while,
at least four years. I
know this because a friend and I had a run in
with the guy when I was a freshman. I’m not
saying that it is the same guy now as it was
then, but it could be.
When I was a freshman, my roommate
and I used to do laundry at what was once
Club Wash. It was on the corner of 13th Av
enue and Patterson Street, and is called
something else now. There is a back door,
which leads to a parking lot (a poorly lit
parking lot, I might add) and a front door,
which leads to Patterson Street. My room
mate and I were killing time and were going
to take a walk to Little’s Market.
We exited the building using the back door.
We were in the parking lot for less than a
minute when some guy (approximately 20,
Kathryn
Petersen
In other words
medium build, stylish haircut, clean clothes
— the kind of guy you wouldn’t really peg as
the type who likes to do the five-knuckle shuf
fle in public, but I’m no profiler, obviously)
approached us and did his thing.
Of course we were shocked to see some
guy about 15 feet away from us masturbat
ing. We stood there frozen (the deer-in
headlights clichd comes to mind) unable to
move, watching this creep show perform
some “manual labor.”
The funny thing about stress is that
everyone has different ways of dealing with
it. This situation was definitely stressful,
and the way my body chose to deal with it
was by laughing. I laugh in situations that
are the most inappropriate — in church, at
funerals and, apparently, when strangers
masturbate in front of me.
So there we all were standing in the parking
lot: me, my roommate and a sexual predator.
Minds are supposed to be programmed with
“fight or flight.” I’m pretty sure mine is lacking
that function because I just stood there like a
complete idiot, hysterically laughing.
After about a minute, he spoke the words
of a true gentleman, “I’m sorry if this of
fends you girls, but this is the only way I can
get off.” An apology and an explanation all
rolled into one. What a guy.
After his beautifully articulated declara
tion, he simply turned around with his
pants around his ankles and ran off into a
nearby alley, his white ass shining in the
moonlight. In and out of our lives in less
than five minutes.
I tell this story for two reasons: 1. It’s a good
story and applicable to what is once again oc
curring in the campus area. 2. For the next fe
WHA-r ARE
you DoiMy/
Steve Baggs Emerald
male that encounters this guy... mace him\
Don’t stand there like a dumbass, laughing
like I did. Do something. Run, call the police,
spray him in the face with noxious chemicals,
do anything in your power to escape.
I feel that I was lucky when faced with
this situation because I wasn’t alone and the
guy was non-violent. Who is to say that the
next person is going to be so lucky? If a per
son’s bold enough to masturbate on the
fourth floor of the library, chances are he’s
bold enough to do something violent.
Contact the columnist
at kathrynpetersen@dailyemerald.com. Her views
do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald.
Online poll
Each week, the Emerald
publishes the previous week’s
poll results and the coming
week’s poll question. Visit
www.dailyemerald.com to vote.
Last week: Which of these anti*
war slogan’s from Feb. 8’s rally is
the most clever?
Results: 1 07 total votes
One nation under surveillance —
8.4 percent, or 9 votes
How did our oil get under their
sand? —■ 16.8 percent, or 18
votes
I pee on Bushes (seen on a dog) —
14 percent, or 15 votes
Stop mad cowboy disease! — 8.4
percent, or 9 votes
War does not increase penis size
— 14 percent, or 15 votes
None of these are clever—31.8
percent, or 34 votes
What anti-war rally? — 6.5
percent, or 7 votes
This week: How will you pay for
the tuition surcharge?
Choices: Pick up a part-time job;
Wait for financial aid; Drop out
of school; Cut back and eat lots
of ramen; Parents pay the bills;
What tuition surcharge? Leave
me alone!
University already takes political stances
Guest commentary
During my gathering of signatures on the
“Concerned Faculty’s” petition for a University
Assembly meeting, I discovered that almost
everyone on the Voting Faculty at the Univer
sity of Oregon is opposed to America’s impend
ing invasion of Iraq. Some members, however,
declined to sign the petition because they
thought it inappropriate for the University to
take positions on social issues.
I respectfully disagree with them and with
University President Dave Frojmmayer, who
has announced the same view.
Our University has taken, and should con
tinue to take, positions on issues that are cen
tral to its mission and/or its survival. For
instance, under Frohnmayer’s leadership, the
University has maintained it’s outspoken
position on several “hot-button” social or
political issues.
Every time the University advertises its
stand in support of diversity in matters of race,
ethnicity or individual sexuality, it is taking a
political position. The University takes such
positions with conviction despite the fact that
there are many Americans who are opposed to
liberal social views. It has done so because to
do otherwise would compromise its mission as
an educational institution.
Does the impending invasion of Iraq consti
tute a threat to the mission of the University?
Indeed, it poses the gravest threats imaginable.
1. Our University, like all others, can carry
out its mission only in a free, open, democrat
ic society, like the one envisioned by the
framers of our Constitution, which is all that
protects our rights of free speech, assembly,
press and association. We have all seen how
the State of Perpetual War declared by the
present federal administration is resulting in
the erosion of those rights.
2. Our mission to educate Oregonians can
be successful only if there are sufficient funds
to support that mission. The unwarranted in
vestment of Oregon’s treasure to the support
of an overstuffed military establishment is fast
leading us to a poverty that threatens our sur
vival as a society, not to mention our ability to
provide an education, both K-12 and Universi
ty, for our young people.
If the United States were imminently threat
ened by Iraq, the University would, of course,
support the war, either outspokenly or by its
silence. In the absence of that justification,
however, the University must stand opposed to
an unconstitutional war of aggression, which
will destroy its very soul.
If we do not, who will?
Frank Stahl is a professor of molecular biology.
Expressing collective opinion is our business
Guest commentary
If the people who died in the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks could have anticipated
their deaths, I wonder if they would have re
mained silent about their views about what
was going to happen. Imagine that they knew
they were going to die, and they were given
one last chance to express their views —
about their fears, about what they would miss
or regret, but also about what they would
want to have happen in the world if it were up
to them.
I wonder if some of them would have said,
“Oh, we should only express our individual
views. Just because we have something very
important in common — namely, that we will
all soon become victims of a common set of
terrible, violent acts — we don’t have any
right to speak as a group. After all, some of us
might disagree with what the group as a whole
votes on or comes to consensus about, so it
woman t De rair ior tne group to speak in our
name. Only elected government officials have
the right to speak collectively about matters
of war and peace.”
It’s too late for those people to express their
views — but it’s not too late for us. We need to
remember that each person in the United
States has a chance of dying, not just in a car
accident or of a disease, but in the next ter
rorist attack. Sure, it’s unlikely it will be you
or me — but there’s always a chance.
So the question is, should we remain mute
about the events that are unfolding, about our
fears, and about the changes we hope for in the
world? Should we only express ourselves outside
working hours, on our own, whenever there is a
controversial issue about which not everyone
agrees? Should we accept unquestioningly poli
cies passed by others that basically tell us that it’s
none of our business to collectively express our
views about matters of war, deceit and killing peo
ple in the name of peace? If we’d lived in Hitler’s
Germany would we have said, “that has nothing
to do with me, and gone about our business?
There are no leaders we can or should un
questioningly defer to. Deferring to leaders
who have already shown themselves unworthy of
our trust and unable to assure our security is non
sensical. While reason is not always found in a
group, it is much more likely to emerge from re
spectful, orderly group debate and resolution
than from acceptance of being silenced because
some authority figure says an issue is just too big
for us to deal with.
I encourage all the members of the University
Assembly to address the issue of war with Iraq
and to vote on a resolution in opposition. If we’re
too afraid to do that, how in the world will be able
to deal with the events that are likely to follow?
It’s time for all of us to lead — together, for our in
stitution, our nation and our world.
Joy Gall is a research and communications specialist
in the Administrator Licensure Program and an
assistant professor (courtesy) in educational
leadership.
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