committment to racial and
cultural diversity in a cover
story in the fall Willamette
Lawyer, published by the
Willamette
University
College of Law in Salem.
Morris Collins, a civil
rights activist and environmentalist, was a
visiting law professor at Willamette last year,
on leave from her tenured position at the UO.
She and her husband, adjunct professor
Robert Collins, decided recently to
make Salem their home, rather than
Eugene.
According to the article “Morris Collins
believes that both Willamette University
President M. Lee Pelton and Dean
Symeonides have demonstrated a strong
commitment to diversity and to excellence.
She feels UO has lost sight of that kind of
commitment. She notes that out of a faculty
of more than 1,200 people at the Eugene
campus, she was the only African American
woman.”
She is quoted as saying she feels “at home
in the culture, with the whole atmosphere,
from the students to the faculty to the admin-
istration and staff. Willamette has a strong
commitment to achievement that really res-
onates with me.”
Her husband has accepted a position as
senior research scholar with Willamette’s
Public Policy Research Center. Her father
was a law professor and founder of the first
integrated law firm in Chicago. Her grandfa-
ther was a minister and civil rights activist.
— TJT
TIME TO TAKE
BACK YOUR RIGHT
“I will do everything in my power to re-
strict abortions,” George W. Bush told The
Dallas Morning News on Oct. 22, 1994. A
politician who sticks to his word, President
Bush has since done everything in his consid-
erable power to restrict a woman’s right to re-
productive freedom. Here are only a few of
his actions:
• Dec. 22, 2000: He gave the nod to John
Ashcroft for U.S. attorney general. Ashcroft
had defended anti-choice legislation all the
way to the U.S. Supreme Court (Planned
Parenthood of Kansas City, Missouri v.
Ashcroft, 1983); signed a bill declaring that
life begins at conception, and declared the an-
niversary of Roe v. Wade a “day in memo-
riam” for aborted fetuses.
• Dec. 29, 2000: Bush selected anti-choice
Gov. Tommy Thompson as secretary of the
Department of Health and Human Services,
which oversees the National Institutes of
Health, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, the Food and Drug
Administration and the Office of Population
Affairs.
• Jan. 22, 2001: On his first day in office,
also the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade,
Bush restores the Reagan-era global gag rule
on international family planning assistance.
There’s more, including stripping contra-
ceptive coverage from federal employees,
closing the White House Office for Women’s
Initiatives and Outreach and supporting
House members who pass the “Unborn
Victims of Violence Act.” And more. (See
EW 6/12/03 “Gag Ed” for what’s happening
in Oregon, as well.)
Despite the efforts to undermine the law, a
celebration to mark the 31st anniversary of
what’s left of Roe v. Wade and to educate the
community on what’s happening to women’s
health throughout the world will be held at 6
pm, Jan. 22 at the Wild Duck (re-opened for
this event).
“Take Back the Right” will include UO
Multicultural Director Carla Gary as emcee
and speakers Dr. Gary LeClair, the Rev. Ann
Bowersox, Sen. Floyd Prozanski and student
leaders Alexandra Bullock and Amanda
Mabry. Music will be performed by The
Ovulators. — AS
WRITER BEARS WITNESS
Melissa Fay Greene, author of Last Man
Out: The Story of the Springhill Mine
Disaster, will deliver the 2004 Johnston
Lecture at 4 pm, Thursday, Jan. 15 in the UO
Knight Library Browsing Room.
An award-winning journalist and author
of The Temple Bombing and Praying for
Sheetrock, Green has also written for The
New Yorker, Life, The New York Times and
The Washington Post. Her work has ad-
dressed a wide range of topics including civil
rights and Southern history, the HIV/AIDS
global pandemic and African orphans, inter-
national adoption and family life.
Green will present her lecture on “A
Writer Bearing Witness: AIDS Orphans in
Africa.” The event, funded through an en-
dowment from the Richard W. Johnston
Memorial Project, is free and open to the
public.
CORRECTIONS/
CLARIFICATIONS
• In our Dec. 24 feature story on Pro-
Bone-O, the free veterinary clinic for pet
owners who are homeless, contact informa-
tion was inadvertently edited out of the story.
The group can be contacted at 607-8089 or
visit www.proboneo.org
• A Calendar listing last week for The
Flying Karamazov Brothers benefit perfor-
mance at UO Jan. 11 incorrectly stated that
entry was by donation. The ticket price was
actually $15 for adults, which was stated in
the advertising, but not in the Calendar.
We regret any resulting confusion at the
door.
Winter Sale
75
%
Save up to
on a wide selection of living,
dining and bedroom furniture
Drop-leaf table ,
beech melamine,
was $89, Sale $59 rta
High chair , teak*, natural*,
or cherry*, 20" x 19" x 38"h,
was $269, Sale $169* rta
* Check store for wood choices and availability
"rta" items sold ready to assemble.
Solid teak wall unit, crafted in
the finest Scandinavian workmanship.
57" x 13.5" x 74"h,
was $2499, Sale $1299*
Very comfortable contemporary
sofa, mushroom or terracotta color,
was $1299, Sale $799*
Complementing occasional chair,
Was $799, Sale $499*
(Mushroom color only)
EUGENE • 856 Willamette Street • 541-342-5000
Open Mon. - Sat. 10-6, Sun. 12-6 • www.scan-design.com
MEDFORD • BEAVERTON • PORTLAND
541-779-7878 503-644-4040
503-255-3200
We validate parking at Overpark, Parcade, and U.S. Bank
JANUARY 15, 2004 9