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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 28, 2004)
Jon Stewart’s new book reviewed in Pulse I 12 An independent newspaper www.dailyemerald.com Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 45 | Thursday, October 28, 200a * AMERICA VOTES 2004 * Amending marriage: A constitution controversy Measure 36 would ban same-sex marriage in Oregon; some deem the amendment necessary, while others say it is discriminatory BY PARKER HOWELL SENIOR NEWS REPORTER day shy of eight months after Portland area officials first issued marriage licens JL JL es to gay couples, garnering statewide and national attention, Oregon voters will de termine the legal future of marriage in the state. One of the most hotly contested issues on the ballot, Measure 36 would amend the state con stitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman, effectively banning same-sex marriage in Oregon. Advocates assert that the measure is neces sary to preserve traditional family values, while opponents claim the measure would write discrimination into the state constitu tion. Oregon statutes currently dictate that mar riage is a civil contract between a man and a woman at least 17 years of age who solemnize the marriage by declaring “they take each other to be husband and wife.” Oregon is one of 11 states offering voters a chance to enact measures defining marriage as between one man and one woman this November — but same-sex marriage ad vocates predict Oregon is the state in which they have the greatest chance of succeeding. Oregon voters rejected three anti gay rights measures between 1992 and 2000. Measure 36 reflects an ongoing national de bate about gay marriage, with both major presi dential candidates taking stances on the issue. President Bush deviated from the Republican Party’s stance on Tliesday, saying he supports states’ rights to allow civil unions for same-sex couples, but he has said he favors a constitution al amendment banning gay marriage. Sen. John Kerry has campaigned for states to determine whether they permit same-sex marriages. Following a court • _ n 9 case challenging the issuance of marriage licens es to roughly 3,000 same-sex couples, Multnom ah County Circuit Court Judge Frank Bearden ruled April 19 that same-sex marriages already issued by Multnomah County are valid, but or dered the county to cease issuing licenses. Bear den also said in his ruling that the legislature should create laws that provide all couples with the protections afforded by marriage within 90 days after the start of its next session. Otherwise, Multnomah County would regain authorization to resume issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The case has since been appealed to the Ore gon Supreme Court, which will hear oral argu ments starting Nov. 17. Legal experts differ on how the measure will affect the issue of _ A • 9 Photo illustration same-sex marriage and the ongoing court case. University law professor Dominick Vetri said the amendment should be defeated because it may preclude civil unions for same-sex couples in the future. “Proponents of Measure 36 are trying to re move the possibility of the courts finding it’s a denial of the privileges and immunities clause,” he said. "The proponents of (Measure) 36 will go back to court and argue that the court case is now moot because the public has amended the constitution to bar marriage.” Vetri added that the measure may also affect whether the legislature decides to allow mar riage or civil unions for same-sex couples if mandated to provide legal rights for gay couples by the Court. “At a minimum, (the measure) takes the heat off the legislature for providing civil unions and that’s what’s important,” Vetri said. Kelly Clark, a Portland attorney advising the Defense of Marriage Coalition, disagreed, say ing allegations that the measure would preclude civil unions for gay couples are “just wrong." Clark said the option to create civil unions for gay couples under the current law should still apply if the measure succeeds. “1 personally support some notion ... of a civil union or some sort of benefits for gay jb and lesbian couples to be decided by the ecu y| pies and 1 wouldn’t be working for a balict MEASURE 36, page 4 LUNAR ECLIPSE Astronomy buffs and ama teur stargazers turned out to watch a total lunar eclipse Wednesday night - the last one Earth will get for nearly two and a half years. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Ad ministration, ash from vol canic eruptions can make an eclipsed moon look much darker. The recent eruptions of Mount St. Helens in Washington were not | ex pected to affect the eclipse because they consisted of far more steam than ash. The next total eclipse of the moon will not be until March 2007. — The Associated Press Controversial workshop sparks new policy recommendations Following illegal events at a workshop last spring, the school of journalism outlines new guidelines BY MORIAH BALINGIT NEWS REPORTER The University’s School of Journal ism and Communication is currently reviewing recommendations for new policies that more thoroughly define the responsibilities of faculty members in workshops. The recommendations follow the controversy surrounding an advertising workshop last spring. Famed advertising executive and University alumnus Dan Wieden of in ternational advertising agency Wieden and Kennedy conducted a workshop for advertising students on confronting their fears. Wieden, who is known for his unconventional teaching methods, gave the students a variety of interest ing, and in at least one case illegal, as signments. One student’s assignment was to run naked across a golf course — a person can be charged with disor derly conduct if three or more people file complaints with police. The workshop garnered national at tention when participant and former Emerald columnist Marissa Jones criti cized Wieden for his teaching methods and the journalism school for being un responsive to her concerns in her weekly column “Cry Me a River. ” “1 know I should never have been asked to do something ethically wrong for a class assignment,” she said in the column. “I should never have been ex posed to a learning environment where the instructor seemingly took advan tage of his authority for his own amuse ment at the expense of the students.” School of Journalism and Communi cation Dean Timothy Gleason respond ed to the column and the flurry of me dia attention with a memo in which he accepted full responsibility for the workshop and vowed to take action to protect the welfare of the students. “The faculty will begin work imme diately to examine existing policies and, where necessary, outline new guide lines intended to safeguard students against any assignments that might lead them to actions inconsistent with the ethics and vision of the school,” Gleason said in the memo. As of now, Gleason has assembled a three-person committee of faculty from the journalism school to draft the new policies. “There’s a committee that’s re viewed (current) policies and has come up with a draft... that is under review,” he said. The recommended new set of guide lines outlines the responsibilities of fac ulty members in coordinating work shops with visiting instructors. The guidelines state that a coordinating fac ulty member must formulate a syl labus in conjunction with the visitor and observe every workshop session. The purpose of the guidelines is “to insure that the workshop contributes to the overall curricular goals of the se quence and the school,” according to a draft of the policies. Gleason maintained that the policies being drafted aren’t necessarily being created because of the Wieden work shop, but that they are “certainly in some degree prompted by the events last spring.” “This is not a committee looking at the Wieden workshop,” he said. “It’s looking at policy as to how we are run ning these workshops.” University Vice Provost of Academic Affairs Lorraine Davis said she spoke with Gleason about the new policies in her monthly meeting with him. “We haven’t come to closure on it,” she said. Davis added that there are no plans to draft new policies for the entire Uni versity because of the workshop and that there is still no policy specifically barring professors or instructors from giving out assignments that require stu dents to violate the law. “We expect courses to be offered with the highest integrity to meet the objective of the course,” she said. Gleason emphasized that he “was not in any way suggesting that anyone was acting unethically at all,” but at tributed the conflict in the workshop to “miscommunication. ” “Whenever you get an assignment that’s out of the norm... there’s a possi bility that things might be misunder stood,” he said. Gleason said he hopes the new poli cies will lead to improved communica tion and greater involvement of faculty members in workshops. He added that the policies might have prevented last spring’s incidents. “If there had been a policy in place, and if the faculty member was more in volved, we might have had better com munication and we wouldn’t have end ed up in the situation,” he said. As of now, Gleason said a workshop with Wieden has not been scheduled for the spring. moriahbalingit@ daily emerald, com Registration fraud under investigation in Eugene Secretary of State investigates Sproul and Associates; fraud suspected on several campuses BYCANELAWOOD NEWS REPORTER While walking through the ASUO Street Faire on Oct. 7, junior environmental studies major and ASUO finance senator representa tive Stephanie Erickson was approached by two men with petitions, one of who asked her if she wanted to sign a petition regarding child abuse, Erickson said. "After 1 signed it, he said he was a part of a republican organization and they were spon soring the petitions, and in order for my sig nature to count 1 had to register as a Republi can,” Erickson said. Erickson said she wasn’t sure if she want ed to do it, but she thought it would be OK to register as a Republican for a week in order to support the petition’s cause. “He asked my birthday and started filling (the registration card) out for me,” Erickson said. “1 started filling out my name and ad dress and he started filling out the other parts like the party affiliation. I felt really kind of schemed,” Erickson said. After consulting a friend about the situation she decided to go back and ask for her regis tration card back, she said. “He said he didn’t have it— even though it was 20 minutes later he wouldn’t give it to me or look through his pile,” Erickson said. Cases like this have been reported FRAUD, page 16
