University should recognize ASL
I was pleasantly surprised by the editorial demanding American Sign Language be accepted as a second language at the University (“Needing a decision on ASL now!” ODE, 11/05). This means two years of ASL would satisfy the language requirement for a Bachelor of Arts degree.
ASL is a three-part sequence taught by Johanna Larson-Muhr. Each year, she has seven beginning courses with 35 to 40 students each. Communication Disorders and Sciences offers one section each of intermediate and advanced ASL. Larson-Muhr has waiting lists for all classes.
The greatest obstacle to adding more classes and making ASL official is the University administration’s ignorance. The administration doesn’t feel this language has a culture.
I make a distinction between the words deaf and Deaf. The former word denotes the physiology of an absence of hearing. The latter represents the community, etiquette, history, politics and language that constitute a distinct cultural identity. Physiology is one component of Deaf culture. The other three are linguistic, political and social. Being deaf doesn’t automatically make one part of the Deaf culture.
According to the University’s mission statement, it is dedicated to “an acceptance of true diversity as an affirmation of individual identity within a welcoming community.” Our academic community isn’t very welcoming when its leadership refuses to acknowledge the existence of a Deaf culture. Making ASL an official language of the University would be the first step toward affirming the true diversity among deaf, hard of hearing and hearing individuals in this community.

Kent Neal

senior

sociology
 

Ashcroft’s actions show cowardice
I am appalled at Attorney General John Ashcroft and Sen. Gordon Smith for effectively stating that the wishes of Oregonians aren’t worth a bucket of spit.
Ashcroft made an injunction that makes prescribing lethal doses of federally controlled drugs illegal, nullifying the assisted suicide law that voters in Oregon passed twice. Sen. Smith was also quoted in the Oregonian saying that he supports Ashcroft’s actions and is willing to risk his political career to stand by them.
Ashcroft shows cowardice by using these actions at a time when the nation is preoccupied, and Smith is showing that he cares more about himself and his party than his constituents. Oregon has vowed to challenge Ashcroft’s injunction to the Supreme Court, and I hope the Court will realize that it’s not the federal government’s job to curtail the power of a state, even if it doesn’t like the state’s policies.
Smith says he is willing to risk his political career for his belief, and I will hold him to that by not voting for him in the next election.

David Piper

freshman

political science

Get behind our ASUO president
It’s ironic that our campus’s main source of news warned Nilda Brooklyn and Joy Nair that they better shape up or they’ll suffer on the public relations front. It’s also ironic that the Emerald’s main criticism, that the two fail to conduct visible campaigns, fell on a day when an ASUO election voter’s guide was nestled in its pages.
Perhaps few readers recall ASUO members as the most vocal students in opposition to the Emerald’s sexist, insensitive advertising for Yahoo! last year.
I guess some media outlets choose not to “get behind our president,” even if the president is elected democratically.
Maybe the Emerald could report on the ASUO’s quest for a fair housing code in Eugene, or how our student government is fighting the “energy” fee, or take a stab at the real number of people who attended “Weaving New Beginnings.”
Who’s fighting for campus democracy at the University? Seems like it’s our student government, our president and vice president.
The giant election box was for the national presidential election voter registration drive, not an ASUO election. Get your facts right, please.

Jeff Klein

graduate

planning, public policy and management