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Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 105, Issue 53
Tim Bobosky Photographer
Congressman John Lewis, D-Ga., gives a speech to a full EMU Ballroom
Monday evening. He talked about his role in the civil rights movement.
'Great' activist
visits University
U.S. Representative John Lewis visited the
University Monday to discuss his involvement
in the famous 1963 March On Washington
By Chuck Slothower
News Reporter
U.S. Congressman and prominent civil rights leader John Lewis
wowed a packed EMU Ballroom on Monday night with first-hand
tales of the struggle for civil rights.
Rep. Lewis, D-Ga., spoke at a Presidential Lecture to hundreds
of University students, faculty, staff and community members.
Lewis, the youngest speaker at the famous 1963 March On Wash
ington, drew praise for enduring police beatings and more than 40
arrests to play a significant role in the stmggle for civil rights.
"lie is truly one of the great, courageous American heroes," said
School of Architecture and Allied Arts Dean Robert Melnick, who
first saw Lewis speak at the March on Washington.
Besides his numerous arrests, Lewis endured being spat on at
lunch counter sit-ins and beaten during the historic march from
Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala.
"I was hit in the head by a state trooper with a nightstick," Lewis
said. "I thought I was going to die."
Now serving his ninth term in Congress, Lewis remains proud
Turn to ACTIVIST, page 4
A life of service
Tim Bobosky Photographer
Student Dave Musgrove helps Knight Library employee Shiela Gray on Monday with the
2003 Charitable Fund Drive. Musgrove served in the U.S. Army for 20 years.
Dave Musgrove talks about
his military service and the
meaning of Veterans Day
By Jared Paben
News Reporter
For 44-year-old University stu
dent Dave Musgrove, Veterans Day
is more than just a date on a calen
dar. For him, it's a day to take time
and think about veterans — people
who have given their service, and
sometimes their lives, to keep this
country free.
Musgrove was in the U.S. Army for
20 years, but he didn't serve in Viet
nam, Iraq or any other "shooting
war," as he puts it. Instead, he served
in West Germany during the Cold
War, where he occasionally found
himself exchanging gunfire with ter
rorists who were trying to blow up
ammunition dumps, he recalls.
"I don't think I did a big thing,"
Musgrove says. "1 was guarding
(against) another 19-year-old Russ
ian kid ... but, l think those people
who came before us who made us a
country — that kept us a country,
and kept us from falling into having
a different government every five
months — they're the ones to thank
because they do a lot of extraordi
nary things that ordinary people
just don't do."
Today, Musgrove will help put to
gether a small display case full of
veteran memorabilia in front of the
University's Business Affairs Office
to celebrate Veterans Day. Employ
ees will bring in belongings and
Turn to VETERAN, page 4
Public positions increase visibility, affect private behavior
Campus leaders and athletes
say that scrutiny increases
when holding a public office
By Ayisha Yahya
News Editor
While there are normally dear dis
tinctions between one's private and
public life, for leaders the lines are often
blurred. Everything they do — in and
out of the office — can come under
scrutiny. Leaders at all levels, from the
nation's president to a dub chairper
son, find themselves in the spotlight.
Recent allegations of assault and
criminal mischief against ASUO Vice
President Eduardo Morales, and last
year's case against former ASUO Vice
President Ben Buzbee for furnishing
alcohol to minors, show leaders at the
University level are no exception.
What expectations does the cam
pus have of its student leaders? Do
leaders' personal actions reflea on
their official life? And is evaluating
any of this even fair?
ASUO spokeswoman Taraneh Foster
said this year's student government has
outlined specific guidelines for its staff.
She said leaders' acts reflea on the or
ganization no matter what the instance,
and part of the responsibility of being
eleaed is understanding that one's ac
tions will be under more scrutiny.
"There's a stress that, although
you're a student and you're apt to
have a life, you are a representative of
student government," Foster said.
Office of Student Affairs Director
Anne Leavitt said all members of the
University community are held up to
the same code of conduct. Student
leaders do not have higher standards
of conduct, but they are under higher
public observation because of their
positions. This is especially true of
elected leaders, she said.
"The public will pay a lot more at
tention to their behavior," she said. "I
don't think the standard for conduct
is greater, it's the visibility."
Leavitt said according to the concept
of "referent power," people believe they
know public figures and have expecta
tions of how they should behave.
"People ascribe to you and give you
an elevated standing because you're a
leader," she said, adding that leaders be
come exemplars. The leaders them
selves may even feel the need to tailor
their behavior in a certain way, she said.
"We place enormous value on our
student leaders because they repre
sent what it's like to be a model citi
zen," she said.
ASUO Senate President Ben Strawn
is one such leader who said he occa
sionally feels the pressures of his po
sition, even in his personal life.
"1 think when I'm in a capacity
when people know what my job is, I
try to watch my behavior and hold
myself to higher standards," he said.
But the extra scrutiny on student
leaders is not always fair, Strawn said.
"I think people should try and put
themselves in your position more of
ten, " he said. "Certainly I think all stu
dents should be held to the same
standards."
In fact, many students who may not
even think of themselves as leaders
sometimes are held to high bench
marks. Non-elected leaders like resident
hall assistants may find their actions up
for analysis. As Director of Residence
life Sandy Schoonover said, RAs have
to act as role models at all times.
"It's very difficult to say, I'm going to
be an RA now, and I'm not going to be
an RA later on," she said. For instance,
she said even if RAs are older than 21, it
still would be inappropriate for them to
behave badly due to drunkenness, even
in their personal time.
"If they don't do their jobs, it will be
the residents who tell us, or if they've
done something they shouldn't have
done," she said. "Our residents do have
high expectations of our RAs."
Other students in the limelight also
have to conform to certain standards.
Perhaps the largest, most visible
Turn to LEADERS, page 3
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Will student interest
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