Unisex bathrooms in 13th
Street businesses debated
After a small protest, students and business owners
weigh the pros and cons of having unisex facilities
NICHOLAS WILBUR
NEWS REPORTER
Following the City of Eugene Hu
man Rights Commission hearing to
add transgender identity to the
city’s anti-discrimination code, a
small protest took place on 13th Av
enue to pressure the surrounding
businesses to convert their male
and female bathroom facilities to
unisex.
Shanti Indian Restaurant co-own
er Yakir Tharlev said that he did not
have a problem with changing the
bathroom signs to unisex, but he
thought some people might feel un
comfortable.
“The only thing that might be an
noying is men keeping the seat up,”
he said.
Under the current city discrimina
tion code, anyone has the right to
confront a transgender person who
looks to be walking into a bathroom
of the opposite sex.
Shanti employee Rebecca Palak
thinks it is “totally discriminatory”
to be able to stop someone who
does not look like they belong in a
particular bathroom. For single
stalled bathrooms, she said, it is a
good idea to change them into uni
sex facilities, “but if they’re multi
stalled I can see pros and cons.”
An employee of the University
bookstore, Jim Riley, voiced similar
concerns.
“I wouldn’t mind but I think peo
ple would be uncomfortable.
There’s always people who get up
tight about things like that,” Riley
said.
Of five males polled on 13th Av
enue, all said that they had no prob
lem sharing a bathroom with a fe
male or a transgender person, but
women might feel uncomfortable
sharing facilities with men.
Swjin Ha, a senior in the Ameri
can English Institute, said she did
not care about sharing facilities,
“because at home we use them with
our father or brother.”
Nessi McNar, a junior in pre-med
at the University who visits Espres
so Roma Cafe several times weekly,
said “It’s recockulous ... and it’s
more effort than store owners
should have to put out for cus
tomers.”
Current Oregon law does not pro
hibit men or women from using
bathrooms designated for the oppo
site sex, according to the HRC
Transgender Issues Packet.
“If it’s several stalls with men and
women involved, I could see it be
ing a problem,” said Sarah O’Berry,
a sophomore studying linguistics
and computer science.
At a public hearing last Tuesday
the HRC heard from several people,
both in support and in opposition to
the discrimination code amend
ment. Some people expressed con
cerns about increased violence
against transgender people, discon
tent for women and children, non
transgender people having to share
facilities, and increases in bathroom
rape cases.
In general, those polled on 13th
Avenue voiced concern for multi
stalled facilities being converted to
unisex, but thought that making al
ready single-stalled bathrooms uni
sex would be a fair action.
nwilbur@dailyemerald. com
SHOULD BUSINESSES CONVERT BATHROOMS TO UNISEX?
Swjin Ha | Senior
“I don’t care about sharing toilets because at home we
use them with our father or brother.”
Jim Riley | Graduate
“I wouldn't mind, but I think people would be
uncomfortable. There’s always people who get uptight
about these things."
Jakir Tharlev | Restaraunt co-owner
“I don’t have a problem with it; it’s the same system for
everybody. I think some people would feel uncomfortable,
but the only thing that can be annoying is men keeping the
seat up."
Deb Cole | Ithaca, NY
"I don’t feel uncomfortable sharing, if the women’s
bathroom is full I’ll go into the men's, even with large
bathrooms; it really doesn't matter to me.”
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Self-proclaimed
unlikely marine
recounts war tales
Lance Cpl. John Fischer tells a story about being in
Iraq that contradicts many of the media images
NICHOLAS WILBUR
NEWS REPORTER
Lance Cpl. John Fischer re
turned home from his 16 month
deployment in Iraq to face what
came to be a most dreaded ques
tion: “What was it like?”
Fischer, a 23-year-old Eugene
resident, enlisted in the U.S. Ma
rine Corps expecting war to be as
intense as it is portrayed in media,
but instead he found working as a
soldier in Iraq to be a monotonous
undertaking. On average, Fischer
said, there is about five to 10 min
utes of intense combat or fire two
or three times a month.
“I thought it would be like
on television,” Fischer said,
but the majority of his time was
spent guarding the base or pa
trolling al-Qaim, a city 380 kilome
ters northwest of Baghdad on the
Syrian border.
When Fischer returned home
after completing one-third of his
four-year contract, he found it dif
ficult to match the glorified war
stories disseminated by the media
with his own experiences. Fischer
said he found himself glorifying
his own stories, “(because) I
wanted my friends to respect what
I did.”
“I had thought that war meant
killing people,” he said.
This was the way his friends
and family seemed to think as
well. But Fischer saw that there
was a difference between the
stereotype of killing presented in
the media and his personal experi
ences in Iraq.
“War is not the face-to-face,
fight-to-the-death battle that peo
ple think it is,” he said.
Fischer’s friends and family at
home were so used to hearing me
dia report death and seeing news
of insurgent attacks that not to
have killed someone was like not
having really experienced war, Fis
cher said.
But the majority of deaths in
Iraq were not a result of the type
of battle that most people seemed
to imagine during a war.
While he admitted that he
has seen his share of carnage,
Fischer also said that the war in
Iraq is less confrontational than it
is portrayed.
“Most fire was taken and re
turned from five football fields
away,” Fischer said. “It’s not like
Vietnam.”
For Fischer, explaining the Iraq
war boiled down to a series of
generic responses. In his experi
ence, there was no constant face
to-face battles, sleeping in trench
es or sacking villages. For
Fischer, the most difficult part of
being a soldier was not battle, but
rather the patience it took to do a
job well while in constant fear for
his life.
The first three months were ex
citing and surreal for Fischer.
Asked if he often thought about
death during that time, Fischer
said, “I didn’t know why, but I
wasn’t afraid.”
His attitude changed one night
when Fischer heard the
high-pitched whistling of a finned
rocket — a sound that was not
uncommon by then — but this
time louder than he had ever
heard before.
“I was filled with this helpless
fear for my life,” Fischer said,
FISHER, page 6
Events: Cottage Grove
hosts a destruction derby
Continued from page 1
at 8 p.m. For more information, vis
it www.buttetobutte.org.
Springfield Utility Board will host
a Fourth of July concert and fire
works display at 5 p.m. in Island
Park. Cost is $5 at the gate with free
admission for children under 5.
At the Cottage Grove speedway,
there will be a destruction derby and
fireworks starting at 4 p.m. Tickets
range from $7-$15. For more informa
tion, see cottagegrovespeedway.org.
There will be several events in
r
Florence, including fireworks over
Siuslaw Bay. For more information
on celebrations in Florence, contact
the Chamber of Commerce at (541)
997-3128.
In Creswell, there will be events
from 7:30 a.m. until 11 p.m. There
will be a parade at 11 a.m. and fire
works in the evening. These events
are free with donations accepted.
For more information on celebra
tions in Creswell, call 895-5161.
gabebradley@ daily emerald, com
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