Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Suite 300, Erb Memorial Union
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Email: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Monday, May 5,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald-—:—.
C< MOMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor:
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Page Assistant
Salena De La Cruz
Bias Response:
No person has
to endure biased
language, acts
Guest commentary
We applaud the courage it takes for people to address
bias incidents like Julie Lauderbaugh did in her column
(“Attacking assault,” ODE, May 1). We agree that hiding
hate or bias-related incidents will not provide a safe and
welcoming campus for anyone.
We also know that we can’t and won’t pretend our
community members are not subjected to biased lan
guage and acts. Our first thoughts: No student, no person
should have to endure violence and harassment. Our
second: We are here to help.
Community is about being there for each other, when
times are tough; the Bias Response Team is here.
The fundamental role of the University of Oregon Bias
Response Team is to provide targets of bias a safe space
to have their voices heard and to promote civility and re
spect. We want to effect change around these important
issues in a quick and effective manner and to ensure a
comprehensive response to bias incidents.
The BRT can help individuals connect to resources in
each of these areas for appropriate resolution. The BRT
also functions to ensure the evaluation of policies and
procedures at the University. The Bias Response Team
does not handle student conduct code violations, affir
mative action issues, or issues of state or federal law.
However, we can provide support in reporting inci
dents to DPS or EPD. We can support a student if the
event is a conduct code violation. A bias response
process can provide trained advocates to assist with a vi
tal response to critical issues.
We wish bias incidents like these did not exist, but in
order to address them, people need to report them. If we
don't know about specific incidents, we can't respond to
them. We take bias incidents seriously and use a variety
of tools and techniques to work with students, faculty
and staff.
Only together can faculty, staff and students address
these issues and affect campus climate. It is not a problem
for a faculty member or a student or the administration to
solve on their own. Only together can we ensure the Uni
versity is a place we all feel welcomed and supported.
Find out more information at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~brt/.
The Bias Response Team can be reached
at brt@darkwing.uoregon.edu.
Gunning for safety
James Sheets will not be enjoying Gin
co de Mayo this year. He didn t last past
April 24, the day the 14-year-old boy
stood up in the cafeteria of his southeast
ern Pennsylvania junior high school and
opened fire, shooting his principal dead
before turning a gun on himself.
Sadly, Sheets’ case is hardly unique.
Gun violence is an enormous problem in
the United States. In 2001, according to
federal statistics,
guns were used to
commit 8,719 mur
ders, constituting
63 percent of the
murders that year.
That doesn’t count
the numerous gun
related accidents
and suicides.
The powers that
be have pussyfooted
around gun issues
for decades. The Na
tional Rifle Associa
tion bears partial responsibility for this.
The NRA, once little more than a sports
men’s club, has evolved to become the
most powerful lobbying organization in
the United States.
The NRA contributes heavily to political
candidates and has been known to inject
cash into the campaign coffers of candi
dates running against gun control-friendly
politicians. As a result, many politicians
Chuck
Slothower
Clocktower
hush
are suareu oi me vjrun enuiusiasis
bring a level of passion, organization and
money to the table that warps the political
debate, preventing even the discussion of
reasonable gun restrictions.
The NRA’s near-absolutist approach is
maddening because much more can be
done to reduce gun violence while imping
ing minimally on gun owners’ rights. Gun
theft, for instance, is a major problem that
hasn’t been adequately addressed. A sur
prising 70 percent of guns used in crimes
are stolen, according to a study cited in the
Journal of Urban Economics.
While you can’t force gun owners to
store their weapons responsibly, a tax
credit to encourage gun owners to buy
gun safes could reduce gun theft. A bill
currently languishing in the House of
Representatives would do just that.
The bill, HR 325, would provide for a
tax credit of up to g 1,500 for gun own
ers to buy gun storage devices. The
House should pass HR 325 without fur
ther ado.
Besides theft, another fruitful avenue
for criminals seeking to obtain guns is the
loosely regulated secondary market. As
such, all gun sales should go through a
federally licensed dealer. A compelling
proposal by Florida State University pro
fessor Gary Kleck would have federally li
censed dealers act as a third party to bro
ker gun transactions.
When a buyer and seller wanted to
transfer possession of a firearm, both
would approach a dealer. The dealer
would be required to run background
checks as a condition of his or her
firearms license. The checks would make
sure the gun wasn’t stolen and that the
prospective buyer has no felony record.
The transaction would then go through,
with the dealer receiving a commission
on the sale for his or her trouble.
Everybody wins: the buyer and seller
get their business accomplished with
minimum hassle, the dealer gets some in
come and a record remains for police to
track down the gun owner if the weapon
ever turns up in connection with a crime.
Most importantly, guns would be kept out
of the hands of people who shouldn’t
have them.
Unfortunately, even modest, potential
ly lifesaving proposals such as these will
never emerge from the current political
environment. The House of Representa
tives is firmly in Republican control and
President George W. Bush hasn’t exactly
proved eager to push for further gun con
trol legislation.
While no amount of gun control legis
lation would completely eliminate gun vi
olence, that doesn’t mean policymakers
should throw in the towel. However
hopelessly naive this might be, Republi
cans would show a great deal of courage if
they risked alienating the gun rights con
stituency to pass gun control legislation
that might actually work.
Contact the columnist
at chuckslothower@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Peter Utsey Emerald
Letters to the editor
Students must support bill to
restore funding for education
Every year, more students are unable to af
ford to go to college. Next year will be a repeat
of past years, and the number of low-income
students unable to meet expenses and attend
college to follow their dreams will increase, es
pecially if the Oregon Opportunity Grant
keeps getting cut out of the state budget!
When the Oregon Opportunity Grant was
started, it covered full tuition plus some ad
ditional costs; now, because of higher educa
tion budget cuts in Salem, the grant covers
less than 9 percent of annual educational
costs. Because the Opportunity Grant gets
money from the Education Stability Fund,
when Measure 19 passed last September, the
Opportunity Grant lost funding for about
3,300 grants for the next couple of years.
In order to restore access to higher educa
tion for everyone, students need to support
House Bill 5052 as it is being considered.
This bill would put $5.5 million more into
the Opportunity Grant and ease some of the
cuts the grant experienced when Measure 19
passed last September. Everyone should
have equal access to higher education.
On May 5, a group of students is traveling
to Salem for Student Lobby Day. They will
be speaking on behalf of or against several
bills, or just showing student support. It’s im
portant that anyone who wants to and is able
to comes and shows his or her support for
the Oregon University System budget. If you
are interested, contact the ASUO Legislative
team. Please come and show your support!
Kaitlin Kerwin
ASUO legislative intern
Frohnmayer deserves thanks
for shared governance plan
Your University president deserves your
thanks. Recently, the OUS Board approved
a shared governance plan that will ensure
greater opportunities for students to partic
ipate in campus decision-making processes
on all of our campuses. Everything from
setting tuition levels to approving new aca
demic programs, your University president
thinks you ought to be involved.
Through the hard work of the OSA staff
and their board, the university presidents
and the OUS board, this policy came to life.
We are all quite proud of it, and thanks
should be shared all around the table —
but don't forget the presidents.
It is these individuals who saw the value in
the student perspective and made it their ob
jective to formally include the student voice
in campus governance. Kudos!
Tim Young
student member
OUS Board
Bush was right
in freeing Iraqis
I’d like to say that every anti-war protest
er out there needs to apologize to the people
of Iraq. President George W. Bush got it right,
whether or not they want to admit it. I can
understand being a peace-loving people, but
so many of the liberals that jumped on the
anti-war bandwagon just wanted to be retro
(’60s hippies) and part of the liberal acade
mia scene. Let the Iraqi people have free
dom. I hope democracy and freedom spread
to the rest of the world, too. George got it
right, George got it right...
Richard A. Berger
soldier
South Korea
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: Do you think a company’s
press releases are free speech or
commercial speech?
Results: 55 total votes
Free speech — 21.8 percent, or 1 2 votes
Commercial speech — 72.7 percent, or
40 votes
What is this about?— 3,6 percent, or 2
votes
Leave me alone! — 1.8 percent, or 1
votes
This week: Do you agree with the
Bush administration’s Healthy Forest
i! Initiative?
Choices: Yes—Increased logging will
help prevent fires; Yes—The forests are
there to be logged; No—There are
other, more effective alternatives; No —
leave the forests alone; What Healthy
Forest initiative?; Leave me alone!