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Comm eirtary Oregon Daily Emerald Monday, November 14, 2005 NEWS STAFF (541)346-5511 PARKER HOWELL EDITOR IN CHIEF SHADRA BEESLEY MANAGING EDITOR MEGHANN M. CUNIFF 1ARED PABEN NEWS EDITORS EVA SYLWESTER SENIOR NEWS REPORTER KELLY BROWN KAIY GAGNON CHRISTOPHER HAGAN BRITTNIMCCLENAHAN NICHOLAS WILBUR NEWS REPORTERS JOE BAILEY EMILY SMITH PART-TIME NEWS REPORTERS SHAWN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR SCOTT J. ADAMS LUKE ANDREWS JEFFREY DRANSFELDT SPORTS REPORTERS AMY LICHIY PULSE EDITOR TREVOR DAVIS KRISTEN GERHARD ANDREW MCCOLLUM PULSE REPORTERS AILEE SLATER COMMENTARY EDITOR GABEBRADLEY JESSICA DERLETH ARMY FETH COLUMNISTS TIM BO BOSKY PHOTO EDITOR NICOLE BARKER SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER KATE HORTON ZANE RITE PHOTOGRAPHERS JONAH SCHROGIN DESIGN EDITOR JOHN AYRES MOLLY BEDFORD OSSRE BLADINE KER! SPANGLER DESIGNERS CHRIS TODD GRAPHIC ARTIST AARON DUCHATEAU ILLUSTRATOR DAWN HELZER REBECCA TAYLOR COPY CHIEFS JENNY DORNER BRYN JANSSON JOSH NORRIS JENNA ROHRBACHER MATT TIFFANY COPYEDITORS STEVEN NEUMAN ONLINE/SUPPLEMENTS EDITOR TIMOTHY ROBINSON WEBMASTER BUSINESS (541)346-5511 JUDY RIEDL GENERAL MANAGER KATHY CARBONE BUSINESS MANAGER LAUNA DEGIUSTI RECEPTIONIST JILL ATKINSON LUKEBELLOITI RYAN JOHNSON SEBASTIAN STORLORZ NICKVICINO DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISING (541) 346-3712 MEUSSAGUST ADVERTISING DIRECTOR MIA LE1DELMEYER SALES MANAGER KELLEE KAUFTHEIL |OHN KELLY UNDSEY FERGUSON WINTER GIBBS KATE HIRONAKA DESI MCCORMICK STEPHEN MILLER KATHRYN O'SHEA-EVANS CODY WILSON SALES REPRESENTATIVES BONA LEE AD ASSISTANT CLASSIFIED (541) 3464343 YRINA SHANAMAN CLASSIFIED MANAGER USA CLARK ANDO AMANDA KANTOR KERI SPANGLER KATIE STRINGER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES PRODUCTION (541) 3464381 MICHELE ROSS PRODUCTION MANAGER KIRA PARK PRODUCTION COORDINATOR IAMIE ACKERMAN CAITUN MCCURDY ERIN MCKENZIE JONAH SCHROGIN TERRY STRONG DESIGNERS The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub lished daily Monday through Fri day during the school year by 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 300 of the Erb Memorial Union The Emerald is private property Unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law It sure feels good to be at the top of the Pac-10... Yea it does... but Nike just gave us a new toy that should really help us get the edge! The machine was originally used on incredibly poor families overseas...but Nike researchers found that if they reverse the machines flow.... ...The other team won't even know what hit 'em! Hello Fiesta Bowl! Aaron DuChateau | illustrator ■ In my opinion Banning head scarves is religious discrimination Dress codes at educational institutions aren’t just about appropriate skirt lengths anymore. A medical student at Istanbul University wasn’t allowed to take a final exam in 1998 because of her Islamic head covering. Leyla Sahin, a Tlirkish woman from a Muslim family, considers her head scarf a religious duty and fought the university’s dress code af ter being denied access to myriad classes and examinations. When a Tlirkish court refused to re peal the head scarf ban, Sahin appealed the decision to the European Court of Justice. Thursday, that court upheld Turkey’s prohibition of head scarves on university campuses. As an oiganization that “deals with disputes and upholds the treaties of the European Union,” the Court of Justice has set an inexplicably terrible precedent for issues of religious freedom and individual expression. The court’s decision to side with the Tlirkish dress code is nothing short of approving religious discrimination. Because the Tlirkish constitution is based on strictly secularist principles, the state is not supposed to show a pref erence for any particular religion. How ever, if an Islamic form of religious ex pression is banned, non-Islamic religions are certainly receiving preferential treat ment by the Tlirkish government. Are necklaces with crucifixes explicitly banned from university campuses? How about Jewish stars? Are atheists required to keep their disbelief in a higher power to themselves? It is unfair that the head scarf should be banned simply because it is a very obvious, visual display of religious affili ation. Unless university officials are pre pared to prevent anyone with a religious affiliation from attending their campus, students should be allowed to indulge in personal, nonobtrusive, nonharmful expressions of their religion. When crafting their decision to retain the ban on head scarves, the European AILEE SLATER FURTHER FROM PERFECTION Court of Justice claims to have paid spe cial heed to the issue of women’s rights. Indeed, head scarves are often made out to symbolize the oppression of Islamic women. However, the women who choose to wear the scarves often have a different interpretation of their head gear. Modem feminists from an Islamic background consistently theorize that demonizing women’s head coverings shows a lack of knowledge or apprecia tion for non-Western religious back grounds. These feminists always make the point that a woman who wears a head scarf or a burka should not be des ignated oppressed, as long as the choice to cover or not to cover belongs to her. In the case of Leyla Sahin, it is the Eu ropean court rather than a religious head covering that is truly oppressing women. The court is deluded in their thinking that a ban on head scarves is a step for ward for women’s rights. The only effect most women will feel from the scarf ban is frustration, when they are forced to choose between their religion and their education. Already, hundreds of Turkish women have come out in protest to the head scarf ban. Also objecting to the ban is Human Rights Watch, an organization that ex poses and comments on international human rights issues ranging from homo phobic legislation to the military recruit ment of children. Human Rights Watch has taken a firm stand against the deci sion of the European court, making the valid point that secularism was founded from a point of view wherein all beliefs and religions, including atheism, are treated with respect. Obviously, the judges on the Euro pean Court of Justice believed that their decision was just and respectful to all. The court even claimed that its ruling was in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights. Howev er, looking at the convention document, it is difficult to understand how the court could possibly consider itself in compli ance with human rights regulations. According to the convention, “every one has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion ... ei ther alone or in community with oth ers and in public.” The convention goes on to say that the only time a per son is not allowed to manifest their re ligious beliefs is when such manifesta tions are a threat to public safety, public order or are illegal. Unless head scarves can be shown to damage the general safety and order of society, the Convention on Human Rights would seem to dictate that scarves not be banned from university campuses. The recent head scarf ruling follows in the footsteps of a 2004 French bill that banned girls from wearing head scarves in all state schools. And there is no need to explain how Muslim communities in France feel about their country’s reli gious atmosphere; flaming cars and sub urban riots pretty much sum it up. It is uncommon to say in our current global atmosphere, but Europe should take a page from U.S. policy decisions. When a Muslim girl in Oklahoma was sent home for wearing a hijab, the U.S. justice department ruled that a dress code that banned the head scarf should be considered religious discrimination. The United States got it right: Secular ism is pointless if people are still oppressed for their religious expressions. aslater@dailyemerald. com OREGON DAILY EMERALD LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, and should be sent to letters@dailyemerald.com 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 for verification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style. Guest submissions are published at the discretion of the Emerald ■ Editorial Skateboard ban on 13 th is ludicrous This year, the Eugene Police Depart ment will enforce a city ordinance that bans skateboarding on East 13th Avenue from Kincaid Street to Pearl Street. In re sponse to business owners complaining about an upsurge in skateboarders, riders will be ticketed $50 and potentially have their skateboards confiscated. Pedestrian safety is an important concern, and often one sees skateboarders weaving between pedestrians on streets and side walks. Yet it seems outlandish that the police would spend time and energy hanging around East 13th Avenue and waiting to catch skateboarders. This action is just one of a string of law enforcement policies that at tempt to create public safety, but only seem to hinder students of the University campus. Last year, the Department of Public Safety de cided to start citing campus bicyclists a $25 fine for riding on sidewalks or for failing to yield to pedestrians. Skateboarders became subject to the fines as well. As usual, bicyclists and skateboarders get the short end of the transportation stick. These policies give both cars and pedestrians the right of way over bikes and skateboard ers. Bikers and boarders have limited access to the sidewalk, and limited access to the street; on portions of East 13th Avenue, skate boarders have access to neither. Bike lanes around campus are often one way, forcing people traveling in the opposite direction to either ride next to automobiles or on the side walk. Bicyclists and skaters are usually soak ing wet, cold and exhausted by the time they reach campus. Fining these riders is unfair to the people who have chosen alternative modes of transportation. Assigning Eugene Police Department and Department of Public Safety officers to catch skateboarders and bicyclists who skirt mles of the road is an ineffective use of University and city resources. If the DPS wishes to actu ally increase the safety of the public on cam pus, they ought to consider creating more clearly marked bike lanes and crosswalks at the East 13th Avenue and University intersec tion, as well as attempting to inform pedes trians how to stay out of the way of bike and skateboard traffic. The current traffic solution — forcing a few boarders or bikers a day to pay fines — is not making the University area any safer. As any one walking across campus can see, bicyclists and skaters still appear on sidewalks and pedestrians still lollygag across East 13th Av enue, especially when police aren’t there. And everyone still needs to look both ways before crossing an intersection. The issue of bicycle, skateboard and pedestrian traffic should be one of respect rather than citations and fines. As long as bicyclists and skateboarders use caution and verbal alerts, and pedestrians are alert to their surroundings, we can all make our way around the campus area with ease. Recent citation policies by the Department of Public Safety and the Eugene Police de partment are unnecessary additions to this transportation equation. CORRECTION Thursday's “Jay & Silent Bob strike OUT... again” stated there is no coarse language on the DVD. In fact, there is coarse language on the DVD's com mentary track. The Emerald regrets the error.
