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The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub
lished daily Monday through Fri
day during the school year try the
Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing
Co. Inc., at the University of Ore
gon, Eugene, Ore. The Emerald
operates independently of the
University with offices in Suite
The Emerald is private property.
Unlawful removal or use of
"UNIVERSITY BOMB
THREW"..ALL RIGHT
YOUNG MAN, ARE YOU
AN ANARCHIC A JIHAW
EXTREMIST; OR WAS THIS
JUST A NATIVE WAY
OF GETTING OUT OF
AN EXAM?
BRET FURTWANCLER I GRAPHICS EDITOR
FURTVAN6LE*
■ In my opinion
TUpperware fiesta
vs. Dildo fiasco
Almost one year ago, a legal storm
arose in Texas over a terrible, rather
novel danger. It’s got nothing to do with
the war in Iraq, the 14th Amendment
still exists, it’s not even the fact that the
students of the University will now be
subjected to my commentary once a
week. This particular issue concerns a
much more peculiar menace: Women
who deal in sex toys.
In November 2003, Joanne Webb of
Burleson, Texas, was arrested with the
threat of a $4,000 fine and up to one
year in jail for hosting “passion parties”
in her home. Like a classic Tlipperware
party, primarily female clients learn
about and purchase dildos, vibrators,
lubricants and other such items that
present extreme hazards to society, on
par with disgruntled bounty hunters.
Webb, a 43-year-old mother, wife
and former fifth-grade teacher, was is
sued the warrant for her arrest after ex
plaining the use of and selling a vibra
tor to two undercover narcotics agents.
I can only assume that masturbation,
rather than illegal drugs, is now consid
ered the leading cause of frequent vio
lent rampages among urine-soaked
methamphetamine users.
Webb was accused of violating Texas
State Penal Code 43.23 cl: C. “A person
commits an offense if, ‘knowing its con
tent and character, he promotes ... or
possesses with intent to promote any
obscene material or obscene device.’”
According to a July Reuters article,
Webb’s sale to these undercover offi
cers, along with her parties, was
deemed obscene because she was
marketing these products in a direct
manner and showing how to use them
for sex. The sale of most porn shop
paraphernalia is legal under these
guidelines, because those products are
billed as novelties. Now, 1 don’t know
about most of the general public, but I
certainly consider the household vibra
tors of my roommates and mine to be
OF
AILEE SLATER
FURTHER FROM PERFECTION
items with high novelty value. We al
ways display these sex toys up on the
mantle, right beside our 14th century
Ming Vase.
Seriously, the distinction between
novelty item and actual sex toy is a
vaguely drawn line that seems to pun
ish people, especially women, for mas
turbation. Would a piece of lingerie de
signed to attract sexual advances be an
obscene item? Kama Sutra books? Or
are sexual products only obscene if they
involve the sexuality of a woman alone?
Intriguing questions indeed, espe
cially when one considers the fact that
purveyors of male masturbatory de
vices, such as Penthouse vendors,
have not been threatened with time in
prison.
Unless I’ve been overlooking strate
gically placed legal warnings [“Please
note: These adult magazines are meant
for novelty use only, and are not to be
handled during personal touching.”), I
find it difficult to swallow the equality
in restricting a primarily female-based
source of finding sexual pleasure. Un
fortunately, as with too many aspects of
“moderp” society, women and their de
sires are once more being pushed to
ward the margins.
Yet another Texas code makes the
possession of more than six items de
signed or marketed as useful primari
ly for the stimulation of human geni
tal organs illegal, whereas the
possession of more than six firearms
designed to stimulate the death of hu
man vital organs is OK.
tEGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLK
raid reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style. Guest ;
■Willi 'IniUfi!tHUWii 1¥T IBil—l ml iIII
Both of these Texas obscenity laws
seem, at their core, unreasonable. The
primary purpose of TVojan’s new
“warming” condom is to stimulate gen
ital organs; will I be charged with the
crime of obscenity next time I’m in
Texas and purchase a pack containing
seven of those? Do one’s odds of creat
ing obscenity suddenly reach a critical
point once there are six chances of a cli
max occurring?
There are much greater harms occur
ring here that support the basic assump
tions behind this whole situation. By
penetrating society with the message
that women should not or do not have
sexuality, problems such as sexual as
sault are given the chance to rise. The
assumption that women lack the desire
and ability to choose sex is a key factor
in the creation of a rape culture. After
all, if it becomes common belief that
only men have sexual drives, all gen
ders could easily subscribe to the belief
that rape is therefore acceptable, as no
person would ever have sex if men were
not forcing women into it.
Furthermore, women who are con
stantly subjected to the idea that their
sexuality is obscene or non-existent will
easily be convinced that sex is less for
their enjoyment than for the purpose of
pleasing someone else.
This case serves to demonstrate that
we remain a society in which the sexu
ality of men is encouraged in magazine
racks and on TV, whereas the sexuality
of women is met with legal action.
Thankfully, the charges against
Webb were recently dismissed on the
grounds that the case was a waste of
county money. However, only positive
growth in the rights of women, along
with respect, acceptance and enjoyment
regarding the idea of female desire, will
help to resolve the real problem demon
strated by this ridiculous situation.
aileeslater@ daily emerald, com
; are pub!
darmonttv Subrnissi^sha
at the discretion of tie Emeralc
EMHHHK
■ Editorial
Emerald
is top dog
in world of
newshounds
Hello, and welcome to the first edition of the
Oregon Daily Emerald for the 2004-05 academic
year. This issue marks the beginning of a spe
cial year for the Emerald.
We are in our 106th year as a campus news
paper and have served for 33 years as an inde
pendent student-run publication working
to report for the University and Eugene com
munities.
This issue begins a new look for the Emerald:
Color on the front page five days per week, a re
designed nameplate and a more vertical, clean
layout.
The new design incorporates both traditional
and modem styles evoking both the cutting edge
of a college publication as well as the long and
prestigious history of the Emerald.
The goal of the redesign is to make the paper
more useful and easy to navigate. Our map and
text breakout boxes will provide at-a-glance facts,
quotes, diagrams and contact information. On
line boxes will point to links on featured Web
sites and to www.dailyemerald.com, the paper’s
Web site, for breaking news and online-only pho
tos and stories.
The front page no longer features the day’s
weather. A three-day forecast now finds its home
regularly on Page 3, but it will occasionally move
to Page 4. By removing the bottom banner from
the front page, the Emerald can provide more
space for local, city, state and regional news.
The commentary page, always Page 2, has
a more fluid design, permitting the publica
tion of daily columns and editorials four days
per week while creating greater flexibility for
the number of guest commentaries, letters
and illustrations.
During the summer, the paper transitioned
from using Knight Ridder wire-service content to
stories by The Associated Press. It is a change that
will allow us to cover national and international
issues better than ever on our daily Global Up
date page, usually on Page 3.
We have also expanded our freelance base to
allow the reporting staff time for more in-depth
pieces on issues that affect students and the com
munity the most.
It is an exciting year for news with a variety
of issues to tackle at the University, in the na
tion and internationally. Most of all, we want
the paper to be relevant, accurate and inter
esting in its features, hard news, sports, enter
tainment and commentary work. We wel
come your feedback and hope the time you
spend reading the Emerald is as rewarding as
it is for us to produce it.
ONLINE POLL
What do you think of Ralph Nader's exclusion from the
November ballot? Visit www.dailyemerald.com to vote.
A. It's good; it will increase votes for democratic
nominee John Kerry.
B. It's good; Nader’s campaign was removed for
legitimate reasons.
C. It's bad; it gives Oregon voters fewer choices in the
election.
D. It's bad; more votes for Kerry worsens Bush's
chances.
E. Who is Ralph Nader?
EDITORIAL BOARD
jennifer Sudick Steven R. Neuman
Editor in chief Managing editor
David Jagernauth Gabe Bradley
Editorial editor Freelance editor
Jared Paben
News Editor
msaamms