Jon Stewart’s new book reviewed in Pulse I 12
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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