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About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2000)
4_________ Opinion Where would life be without Controversy in a new light differences of opinions? WedNEsdAy, J anuary 26, 2000 ast week, The Print covered student or the campus as a whole, a controversial story regard they are excellent tools for learning— ing a complaint filed by a stu both for students of Darris as well dent against Dr. Donald Epstein as for members of this staff. When cer comments he made about homo tain stories broke, some members of sexuality in his Judaic Studies class. this staff cried foul against Darris While I openly disagree with for inspiring whatever topic was at hand. Over the past few months, I’ve had the op JohnThorbum portunity to Editor-m-Chief work with and speak with a small Epstein’s religious and moral views number of Darris’ students. It is my on the subject of homosexuality, I opinion that some of these students certainly don’t condemn him of any are not ready to handle the topics wrongdoing in the classroom. This brought forth in his classroom. year we have seen much contro Darris is a very intelligent, perhaps versy on this campus. Lately it even a brilliant man. Some of his stu comes from Dr. Epstein’s classroom, dents, however, fall short of that stat but largely has grown from a core of ure. political science students. While at times I strongly disagree Topics brought up in Dr. Dean with some of Darris’ views, I do ap Darris’ political science classes have plaud what he tries to do as an in seen coverage in this newspaper. structor. I have never taken a class While at times it reflects badly on a of his, but have a number of friends L From the Editor’s desk*.* TI j E ClACkAMAS P rìnt that have. Dr. Darris makes students think—he raises questions. Some of those questions aren’t handled in the best fashion by some of his stu dents, but that does not mean that we condemn the teacher. In light of recent public debate regarding academic freedom, I pose a few questions; what is wrong with challenging students’ minds? What is wrong with stating an opinion re gardless of your position as an in structor or a student? The times we live in are thought to be times of open debate, times of change and times for people to question. If people say that the rights of homo sexuals are being won because of these times—because there is so much acceptance in society—then how does someone have the right to question the opinion of any man in a classroom and say that it is in appropriate for students to hear? This is a learning institution. With being a student come certain obligations of willing to be open to all ideas. When did we receive the right to not be offended by some one? ’Epstein in same company with Hitler' tudents should know that S Dr. Donald Epstein's views against homosexuals do not represent those of all Jewish people. As with every religion, there are a spectrum of people who are more tolerant of those differ ent than themselves, and those, like Dr. Epstein, who are intoler ant. When I discussed the instructor's classroom comment with a Jewish friend of mine (who attends a synagogue uncon cerned about the sexual orienta tion of its members), she was ap palled by the instructor's behav ior. She said, Jews, of all people, have suffered persecution. We, of all people, should know to prac tice tolerance. She added that Dr. Epstein is an embarrassment to my culture and to my religion. Although I cannot argue Bibli cal matters with Dr. Epstein, I rec ognize the passage he cites to sup port his bias as Leviticus 20:13. I suspect he does not place as much importance on nearby verses. Leviticus 25:44, for example, says that people may buy slaves, as long as they come from neighbor ing nations. Leviticus 19:19 states, ". . .nor shall there come upon you a garment of cloth made of two kinds of stuff." Perhaps Dr. Epstein also spends classtime condemning polyester clothing, but I doubt it. It is ironic that this instructor would use a class focused on the Holocaust to spread prejudice against homosexuals. As he is well aware, the Nazis targeted not only Jews but other segments of soci ety as well—including homosexu als. Gays were killed simply be cause of who they were—just as surely as were Jews. Dr. Epstein placed himself in horrific company when he said that gays are better Epstein abuses power 'Better off retired - than to be Epstein' Dear Editors: I would like to thank Don Epstein for exercising his academic freedom in such a disrespectful way. Having leaders in the faculty and commu nity show their bigotry with such arrogance and openness helps stu dents understand power and its abuses. Much like the O.C.A., Epstein helps homosexuals prepare and implement an agenda that we probably had not considered before, and heterosexuals show their com passion and civility by speaking out loudly against a small-minded pro fessor. Josh Alexander and The Print staff rose from the ashes of this inci Two years ago I brought one of my classes to hear Diana Golden, a Holocaust survivor in vited to campus by Donald Epstein. During the course of her speech she mentioned that the Nazis impisoned homosexuals as well as Jews in Auschwitz. Isn’t it ironic that Don Epstein would be willing to treat homo sexuals the same way the Nazis did: that is “better off dead.” In my opinion—which, of course, I have the academic free dom to express—it would be bet ter to be retired than to be Don Epstein. dent and model a type of leadership that fosters respect and compassion. Sincerely, Sincerely, Kate Gray English Instructor Rainbow Coalition, Advisor Diane Averill English Instructor off dead. It’s strange and unset tling to realize that this Jewish man and Adolph Hitler would have shared a belief in common. I commend Joshua Alexander, the student who walked out of Dr. Epstein's class. Alexander has made it clear that he will not listen to people in authority who sug gest those who are different from himself would be better off dead. If more people in Nazi Germany had had this student’s moral integrity, the Holocaust would never have happened. If other students on this cam pus refused to listen to a man in authority who says those differ ent from themselves would be better off dead, Dr. Epstein's classes would no longer happen either. Patricia K. Lichen Student I’ve been extremely introspec tive this past week as I’ve pon dered the happenings surround ing the “Epstein Debate.” There are still a few questions that I haven’t answered, and perhaps they never will be answered. It is an issue, as a friend of mine said View from the soapbox recently, where both sides are right. Nobody wins. However, there is a piece to this story that hasn’t been fully addressed. And the entire foun dation of the controversy lies on this one, small piece. The ques tion to be asked is, what was Epstein’s intentl I do not think that that the comment was made maliciously or with any trace of hatred. Epstein said that he was using the Bible as a reference (an ex cellent source of information for a Judaic studies course, if you ask me) and, during his inter view he said, and I quote, “The Bible says.../didn’t say that.” Now, let’s say (for the sake of argument) that Epstein does be lieve that homosexuals are bet ter off dead. While I don’t con done or agree with Epstein’s al leged comment regarding homo sexuality, I do feel, however, that he had every right to voice that opinion. I am a proud defender of our first amendment rights, which includes our right to free dom of speech. Does a teacher need to keep his/her personal opinions out of the classroom? No, just like we, as students, aren’t forced to keep our personal opinions out of the classroom either. If we dis agree with an instructor, it is our responsibility to raise our hand (or our voice) and say we dis-- agree. It is my own personal opinion that Josh Alexander did not do something worthy of praise. As a matter of fact, I think he did the most cow- dly thing a student can do when they disagree with an in structor. Something offended him and in stead of taking a stand for what he be lieved in, he ran away (by drop ping the class and filing a com plaint). What are we supposed to learn from this? Are we to as sume that if someone bothers you, you should go and tattle on him/her? Are we first-graders, or are we grown-ups? Where would life be without differences of opinion and an oc casional heated debate? “Don’t conform,” we preach to others. “Be yourself!” And then we say, in the same breath, “Be politically correct. Share in society’s ac cepted viewpoints.” We live in a world where people are taught to be freethinkers, so why does society condemn someone for thinking outside the norm? Isn’t that what we encour age people to do? Seems to me we should be applauding a per son who comes forward with a different view, shouldn’t we? Those who have built up all this anger and hatred toward Dr. Donald Epstein, those who want to see him fired or burned at the stake, I have news for you. Your hate is based on a comment that he may or may not have meant in spite. And what makes you think that your hatred is justified and Epstein’s (assuming that he even does hate) is not? It’s just something to think about. ’History doomed to repeat itself* I find it very disconcerting that sev eral teachers at Clackamas Community College think that expressing homophobic remarks in class is chal lenging and instructive. These so called professionals, even a psychology pro fessor, fail to realize that by having a person with a leadership role in the classroom making hateful comments doesn’t promote discussion or debate. It only goes a long way in quieting any dissent from members of a minor ity group. Several students were quoted say ing that the college is not necessarily a safe place to be ‘out’ Students are afraid ofbeing harassed or hurt if they are identified as gay. That fear is only perpetuated by inflammatory speech from a self-described conservative Re publican and defended by people who should know better. This speech which is being so vehemently pro tected can in turn give credence to someone with warped views and can justify their dangerous actions. Homophobia is not an acceptable position to state by a teaching pro fessional, no matter how conservative or passionate one is. I don’t believe that other racist or sexually degrading remarks should be tolerated at a col lege campus and I hope that Clacka mas Community College will recognize the seriousness of this situation and publicly rebuke Mr. Epstein. I am sure that this highly schooled educator can’t forget that unless remembered, history is doomed to repeat itself. Tony Loeffler West Coast Plant Company Portland, Or —---------------- ------- Opinion policy notice -------------------------- The views in this opinion section do not reflect those of the The Clackamas Print or its advisor. All signed letters to the editor should be 300 words or less and will be considered for publication if submitted by 1 pm the Friday prior to publication. All signed letters submitted for A Student's Voice/Another Voice should be 500 words or less and will be considered for publication if submitted by 1 pm the Friday prior to publication. Both Letters to the Editor and A Student's Voice/Another Voice are subject to editing. If the letters do not meet these requirements they may not be published. We've made an exception with this section due to the high volume of response.
