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Oregon Daily Emerald Thursday, May 5, 2005 NEWS STAFF (541)346-5511 |EN SUDICK EDITOR IN CHIEF STEVEN R. NEUMAN MANAGING EDITOR JARED PABEN AY1SHA YAHYA NEWS EDITORS MEGHANN CUNIFF PARKER HOVVEU. SENIOR NEWS REPORTERS MORIAH BALINGIT ADAM CHERRY BRITTMI McCLENAHAN EMILY SMITH EVA SYLWESTER SHELDON TRAVER NEWS REPORTERS CLAYTON JONES SPORTS EDITOR JON ROETMAN SENIOR SPORTS REPORTER STEPHEN MILLER BRIAN SMTHl SPORTS REPORTERS RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR AMY LICHTY SENIOR PULSE REPORTER JOSHUA UNTEREUR PULSE REPORTER CAT BALDWIN JOHN PALMER PULSE CARTOONISTS A1LEE SLATER COMMENTARY EDITOR ( ABE BRADLEY ANNEMARIE KNEPPER CHUCK SLOTHOWER JENNIFER MCBRIDE COLUMNISTS ASHLEY GRIFFIN SUPPLEMENT FREELANCE EDf^R DANIELLE HICKEY PHOTO EDITOR IAUREN WIMER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER NICOLE BARKER TIM BOBOSKY PHOTOGRAPHERS KATE HORTON ZANERHT PART-TIME PHOTOGRAPHERS BRET FLIRT WANG LER GRAPHIC ARTIST DUSTIN REESE SENIOR DESIGNER ELLIOTT ASBURY WENDY KIEI'FER AMANDA LEE JONAH SCHROGIN DESIGNERS SHADRA BEESLEY JEANNIE EVERS COPY CHIEFS KIMBERLY BIACKF1F.LD JOSH NORRIS SPORTS COPY EDITORS GREG BILSLAND AMBER LINDROS NEWS COPY EDITORS JENNY GERWICK PULSE COPY EDITOR ADRIENNE NELSON ONLINE EDITOR WEBMASTER (541) 346-5511 JUDY RIEDL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY CARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER LAUNA DEGIUSTI RECEPTIONIST JERED NAGEL PATRICK SCHMERBER HOLLY STEIN JANA SWANSON ROB WEGNER CAROLYN ZIMMERMAN DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING (541)346-3712 MELISSA GUST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR TYLER MACK SALES MANAGER MATT BETZ HERON CALISCH-DOLEN MEGAN HAMLIN KATE HIRONAKA MAEGAN KASER-LEE KELLEE KAUFTHEIL MIA LE1DELMEYER SHANNON ROGERS SALES REPRESENTATIVES CLASSIFIED (541)3464343 TRINA SHANAMAN CLASSIFIED MANAGER KORALYNN BASHAM AN DO KAIY GAGNON KERI SPANGLER KATIE STRINGER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION (541)3464381 MICHELE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER TARA HAN PRODUCTION COORDINATOR JEN CRAM LET KRISTEN D1CHARRY CAMERON GAUT SABRINA COWETTE JONAH SCHROGIN DESIGNERS The Oregon Daily Emerald is pu6 lished daily Monday through Fri day during the school year by the Oregon Dally Emerald Publishing Co. Inc,, at the University of Ore gon, Eugene, Ore The Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property Unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. ■ In my opinion Florida wins the right fight Florida is a haven for strangeness, especially in terms of criminal behav ior. Florida thieves once stole the re mains of a relative because they be lieved the powdery substance found in a tackle box was cocaine. In 1994, at a hotel near Miami Airport, the dead body of a 24-year-old woman was found underneath a bed, after the room’s guests complained of a foul smell. Later that year in Fort Laud erdale, a hotel staff member discovered another dead body, this time of 47-year-old man under a bed. Weird. A Florida woman making meth ac cidentally dialed 911 instead of area code 921, hung up, and inadvertently led police directly to her well-stocked drug lab. Then there is the whole voting in a democracy thing Floridians can’t seem to get a handle on. Maybe it is the heat, or as I’m told, the humidity, that makes people crazy. Maybe it’s the close prox imity to other countries in case one needs to flee. Either way, wide-ranging media figures, from Adam Corolla of Loveline to the CBS News: 60 Minutes anchors, have taken note: If something is so criminally strange or politically far-fetched it seems unbelievable, it probably happened in Florida. Now this land of gator farms, Epcot Center and hanging chads has gone and done something — right? Earlier this week Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed the Jessica Lunsford Act into law. Jessi ca was 9 years old when she was ab ducted, sexually assaulted, then mur dered by a convicted sex offender in March. John Evander Couey confessed to the crime and showed police where he buried her alive. The Jessica Lunsford bill was swift ly drafted and moved to law unani mously after much emotional cam paigning by the girl’s father, Mark Lunsford, and many Florida politi cians. A registered sexual predator confessed and was charged with the ANNEMARIE KNEPPER WORKS ON PAPER death of another Florida girl, 13-year old Sarah Lunde, only weeks after Jessica’s murder. The events enraged the citizens and politicians of Florida and sped the legislative process for what is now known as Jessica’s Law. The new law is the toughest in the nation, imposing a mandatory sen tence of 25 years to life in prison for people convicted of sex crimes against children under 12 and requiring con victed sex offenders to wear global tracking devices on their ankles for the rest of their lives. The tracking device, which uses the satellite Global Positioning System, will alert authorities if a convicted sex of fender is violating parole by being near a school or any other prohibited area. It took Florida authorities nearly a month to find Couey; if he had been wearing the tracking device, he would have been found instantly. Local police can monitor the glob al tracking devices any time of day; makers of the device hope it will aid in the creation of a national database for sex offenders. Offenders who molest older chil dren, 12 and older, will be required to wear the tracking device only during probation. It will be removed upon completion of their disciplinary pro gram. This means Jessica’s law only affects pedophiles (adults who are sexually attracted to children), not, for example, a 19-year-old convicted of statutory rape for having sex with a 16-year-old. Jessica’s law also strengthens and adds to offender registration require ments and makes it a felony to harbor a sexual offender. It is rumored that the people living with Couey in the trailer, where he says he held Jessica captive for days before killing her, were aware they were living with a sex offender who was unregistered in the area. Critics argue the law is too expansive and doesn’t allow for possible rehabili tation of sex offenders. Others say the global tracking device violates the of fender’s right to privacy — that track ing sex offenders like animals violates their humanity. I say when you rape a young child, you have given up all rights to be treated as anything more than the ani mal you are. And rehabilitation? It doesn’t work, not for the sex offend ers this law targets. People who en gage in sexual contact with 11-year old children and younger have something fundamentally wrong with their brains. They have an incurable illness that can only be contained with constant work and attention through therapy, criminal analysis and an absence of vulnerable children in their presence. This is a near-im possible task to accomplish for the of fenders as well as the judicial system. With Jessica’s Law, Florida hopes to stop child molestation before it starts. Lawmakers there claim the stiff penalties, which will go into effect Sept. 1, will deter potential molesters from acting in the first place. Politi cians are confident it will lower the numbers of repeat offenders. Jessica’s Law will eliminate the issue of of fenders “disappearing” when they change residence. This is the first and likely only time I am going to say it, but it looks as though all states could take a lesson from Florida law. Gator country is really on to something with this one. annemarieknepper@dailyemerald. com INBOX UO's College of Education creates unsafe environment As an organization that cares about discrimination in our community, Lane Gender Task Force is very concerned about what is happening at the College of Education at the University. We are further concerned that very few people are aware of what has occurred. For the last 20 years there has been large-scale discrimination at the COE. In the last two years alone there have been over 40 documented incidents of discrimination. Many more cases go unreported because of fear of retalia tion. This includes discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, gen der, nationality and ability. The COE fails to provide a safe learn ing environment. There is retaliation against students who bring up diversi ty issues as well as students being shouted down in class and followed to the bathroom. In addition, this is a problem that affects our communities as a large number of COE students be come educators in our schools and communities. Not only are students leaving the COE incompetent to deal with the diverse populations that they will be serving, but they are being taught in a discriminatory environment that makes the silencing of diverse voices normal and acceptable. This is a community issue. A large coalition of student and com munity organizations working on this issue have put forth an eight-step plan of specific changes to address these problems. Join us, and many other community groups in working to end discrimination at the COE. Alethia Hostetter Lane Gender Task Force, Eugene Bush's new budget leaves college students behind Financing the pursuit of a college degree is hard enough as it is, but thanks to the 2006 budget proposals from President Bush it is going to get even tougher. Tliition has skyrocketed a whopping 35 percent since Bush took office, yet his 2006 budget proposes to cut De partment of Education funding by $530 million, while also falling $1,000 short of his promised $5,100 maximum Pell scholarship and cutting other impor tant financial aid programs. And what about all those students that take out loans? Well, typical stu dents will now pay $5,500 more for their college loans, thanks to the pro posed elimination of the current low fixed consolidation rate benefit. But it doesn’t stop there. Despite soaring loan debt, the President wants to abolish the Perkins Loan cancellation program that offers loan forgiveness for teach ers, law enforcement officers and mili tary service members. Our education is what prepares us for the future. Our most important in vestments are in what is yet to come, and our future is in the hands of hard working students. Unfortunately, the majority of these students simply can not pay for college without scholar ships, grants or loans that are now even harder to attain (and keep) through the Bush administration. By denying students the help they need and deserve, we cannot move forward in this country. Linda Thompson University College Democrats Sophomore OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, and should be sent to Iette1s@da1lyemer3ld.c0n1 or submitted at the Oregon Daily Emerald office, EMU Suite 300. Electronic submissions are preferred Letters are limited to 250 words, and guest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month Submissions should include phone number and address tor verification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit tor space, grammar and style. Guest submissions are published at toe discretion of toe Emerald ■ Editorial Citizens are not tools for government nationalism Recently, China has been boiling over with anti-Japanese sentiment. During large-scale demonstrations in April, Chi nese citizens proclaimed their anger to ward the Japanese nation. One such protest targeted the Japanese embassy in China, damaging it and the residence of the Japanese ambassador. The source of the anger was not a current event but rather a history lesson. Chinese citizens, including vocal mem bers of the Chinese government, have harshly criticized the Japanese for what they say is widespread ignorance and attitudes of distortion regarding the Japanese war crimes committed against China during World War II. A recently published Japanese textbook calls the slaying of 300,000 Chi nese citizens an “incident.” Chinese officials have expressed frustration because of this glossing-over, but the main complaint con cerns Japan’s alleged refusal to apologize. The causes of the situation are fraught with the complexities of geo-politics, such as the fact that despite past crimes, Tokyo may soon receive a place in the U.N. Securi ty Council. And while the Japanese are no innocents in mis situation, me uninese nave clearly manipulated their populous nation through tyrannical control of the media. Although the Chinese government has said it does not condone demonstrations, few steps have been taken to establish peace. The mob’s rally cry was that Japan had never apologized to China, somewhat of a half-truth. Japan has made some previ ous, albeit weak, past apologies. Yet during the riots, Chinese police looked on rather than preventing the mobs from de stroying the Japanese embassy. Japan retaliated both in speech and ac tion. Officials simultaneously apologized for past war crimes, claiming that the Chinese interpretation of WWII crimes is “extreme,” while Japanese citizens engaged in their own anti-Chinese protests. China and Japan’s past relationship has fueled bitterness, but it is inappropriate for any government to use citizens as a means to wield nationalism like a weapon. Instead of engaging in a productive discussion that could yield real results, each nation is refus ing to compromise. When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi gave a public apology for Japan’s actions during WWII, Chinese state media did not immediately address the story. Japan has still offered no consolation for its dismissal of crimes against the Chinese in the newly issued Japanese textbooks. Instead of establishing a dialogue, offi cials from China and Japan are stroking their egos and allowing citizens to battle it out on the streets. Ugly history is not an easy force to reconcile, but it’s time for both Chi nese and Japanese officials to start acting like grown-ups. The task of stitching up past pains with present action should be tackled in a diplomatic fashion: Both governments must take a stand against nationalistic vio lence and make a real effort to see another side of the story. EDITORIAL BOARD Jennifer Sudick Steven R. Neuman Editor in Chief Managing Editor Ailee Slater Commentary Editor Shadra Beesley Copy Chief Adrienne Nelson Online Editor
