Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 2001)
4 uary 2.2001 H m i o u t RE/MAX S ignature Campus counterpoint P r o per ties ! To the E ditor : A Looking for a house? Let me, as an Accredited Buyer s Agent (ABR), help you find your dream house at the best price without the pitfalls of oil tank, repair, lending and title issues. Tina Schafer, g r i , a b r Multi-Million DolLir Producer RE/MAX Signature Properties (503) 2 8 2 - 4 0 0 0 x 122 AOmlf CJSS a j e-mail: tina@ rm ls.com s a fairly recent graduate from University of Portland, 1 would like to add some infor mation to Jonathan Kipp’s recent article “C am pus C onflict" [Jan. 19). I com m end Kari Kruse for working to en act ch an ge at the*university. S h e obviously is co m m itte d an d p assio n ate ab o u t this im portant cause. U nfortunately, Kruse fails to give credit to those at the university who do support and advocate for gay and lesbian students. T he article states no direct services are pro vided for gay and lesbian students. T his is not actually correct. Sim ilar to N otre Dame, the cam pus does have a gay and lesbian support group run by the O ffice o f Student A ctivities. It has been running since at least 1994, when I arrived as a freshman. Fliers are posted around campus and in all of the university dorms advertising this group. Dur ing my association with the group, they did not try to reprogram me or tell me I was wrong; it was just a place to connect with other G L B T students. 1 have not been a part of that group for a number o f years, but I do know it still actively is advertised and available for anyone who wants or needs it. It also might come as a surprise to people that Just Out has a distribution stand on campus, located near the Student Activities office. University students don’t even have to leave campus to get a copy of the most up-to- date Portland G L B T news. Kipp also reported on the editorial written by Jeff Lee in O ctober 1998 titled “Killing Is Wrong, hut S o Is Homosexuality.” I agree it was a disturbing article that made my skin crawl as I read it. W h at w asn’t reported was the university com m unity’s response. T h e next two issues o f The Beacon were filled with letters to the editor from faculty, staff and students oppos ing L ee’s statem en ts and voicing their support for G L B T students. T h ere are always going to he people who agree with his com m ents, hut the university com m unity’s response to his article m ade it clear he was in a m inority at the university. N o one is completely evil or completely good. T his is definitely true for University of Portland. But while criticizing what is wrong, we also must recognize what is right. There is work to be done, but there is support on campus for G L B T students. T h ere are numerous faculty m embers, including priests and nuns, as well as students who are supportive and accepting o f G L B T stu dents. T his is confirmed by the fact that many o f FUEL’s members are heterosexual. I support Kruse in her efforts to advance the acceptance of G L B T people everywhere, but I hope she is able and willing to recognize the efforts o f those around her. They might not be doing exactly what she would want, but they are helping in their own way, and for that I am thankful. J ean M ulcahy & S . u n a e r ie m en for w om en Jo t, o f J O V £ oi L , L ion S , SPARTA0JS 224-2604 300 S W 12th Avenue & potion. UAPWIDWiCOUZhS DOO! given the environment he was speaking in. B ut I was raised fu n d am e n talist, an d maybe th at’s why I heard it that way. (H o w ever, my children will be relieved to learn I am not buying boat oars.) I think there are som e serious issues relat ed to the interface o f the queer com m unity and the Portland Police Bureau. Bringing in the FBI to “h elp” the police do group surveil lance is one o f those. I find talking about K roeker’s religious beliefs to be tired and ineffective. Furthermore, the more some Christians feel “persecuted,” the more they think they are doing right. A sk Joh n Ashcroft. 1 am trying to do the Bible text o f “ By their fruits will you know th em .” W hich m eans I am paying atten tion to what K roeker is doing now. I was positively impressed with his Jan. 21 appearance at M etropolitan C om m unity Church o f Portland. I will watch how he responds to concerns that queer cops have about slow or no response for backup cover. Considering he’s for cops and says he doesn’t like discrimination against queers, I expect he will work to eliminate that problem quickly. I’m scrutinizing the present, not the past. B etty H ale orously if necessary. P ortland Police C h ie f M ark K roeker just h as h ad an experience an alogou s to the com in g-out process: H is core integrity was held up to scrutiny through the lens o f stereotyping, w hich h as a tendency to dehum anize. H av in g h ad this h appen to me from ch ild h o od to the present day— I am now 65— I can appreciate h is situation. O n the night o f Jan . 9, I attended a public m eeting in hopes o f opening the lines o f com m unication between Kroeker and the gay and other m inority com m unities. He was consistent in not apologizing for his values. Som ew hat grudgingly, I must adm it I applaud his honesty. M ayor Vera Katz exercised her professional best judgm ent in hiring Kroeker, and the brouhaha notw ithstanding, I think she did an excellent job. O f course, 1 will be rightfully outraged if it becom es apparent he is homo- phobic in his actions, and 1 will take steps accordingly. But I am willing to practice what I call the three C ’s— com m on sense, courtesy and compas sion— toward Kroeker or anyone else. I never would prostitute my values by apologizing to anyone for them and hope these meetings with the communities that make up our city will open the lines o f com m unication and fellowship. T h at would be dem ocracy at its best. S o I’ll defer judgment. Portland L aurie C hilcote Defer Judgment Portland To the E ditor : One Portland am a gay man. It is a title I wear proudly, like human being, Am erican or Christian. U n der no circum stances would I apologize for my core values, w hich I would defend vig- 1 To the E ditor : T he m ost satisfying m om ents o f my first term on the Portland C ity C oun cil have n o t a b le s Tom Blush, 1 9 5 4 -2 0 0 0 T homas Richard Blush died o f A ID S-related lymphoma Dec. 28. He was 46. He was bom Dec. 18, 1954, in W hitefish, Mont. He moved to Tumwater, W ash., as a teen-ager. Blush graduated from University o f W ash ington with a music degree in 1977 and moved to Portland in 1980. He worked as a service rep resentative for A T & T /U S West in Seattle and Portland for about 13 years until he was forced to retire because of declining health. In retirement, he spent much o f his time work ing on his home and garden and playing piano. He lived his last few weeks in hospice care at Hopewell House surrounded by family and friends. Blush is survived by his partner of 17 years, Rick Hawes; mother, Helen Eglsaer; sisters, Leslie Kan- zler and Claire; and brothers, Robert and Alan. A funeral Mass was held Jan. 27 at A ll Saints Catholic Church. Disposition was by cremation. Omega Funeral & Crem ation Service handled the arrangements. Remembrances may be made to C atholic Charities CH A T, Hopewell House or C ascade A ID S Project. Portland Michael Davis, 191 2-2000 Present tense ichael L. “Miss D” Davis died in an auto mobile accident Jan. 14. He was 38. He was bom Feb. 10, 1962, in West Palm Beach, Ha. He moved to Vancouver, W ash., 32 years ago. Davis worked as a waiter at the Last Fron tier in La Center. He also was a member o f the Vancouver M en’s C h oir and volunteered on holidays, cooking and serving meals for the homeless. To the E ditor : hen I first heard concerns about Portland Police C h ief Mark Kroeker’s religious beliefs, I wondered if he were pagan and danced naked in the woods on full-moon nights, would there be as much anxiety? My take on his decade-old lectures was that it sounded like a caring individual espousing progressive thoughts, W M •t He is survived by his mother, G eraldine H. of Vancouver; father, Ray L. o f O cala, Ha.; sister, Debra Fusco o f Vancouver; brother, Mark; and grandmother, Louise Russell o f Sandford, Fla. A memorial service was held Jan. 20 at H am ilton-M ylan Funeral Hom e. Disposition was by cremation. Rem em brances may be made to the Council for the Homeless, 2500 M ain St., Vancouver, WA 98660.
