Money went for something good
On the news, I heard a student who favors the college banding with the Worker Rights Consortium ask one who did not: “Don’t you care where the money comes from?” The student wasn’t given time to answer. I’ll tell him I care where the money comes from; the money Nike earns comes from mothers like me who pay good money to have our kids in good shoes. I, for one, was very happy that some of that money was being returned to the college.
Now, no one benefits. Sad. Exceedingly sad.
Melody Gillard-Juarez
Bandon, Ore.
Ruling proves patriarchy
The recent United States Supreme Court ruling that decided a victim of rape and violence cannot sue her attacker shows that ignorance reigns regarding the seriousness of rape and violence against women in this culture.
This is a gender issue. If domestic violence and rape of men occurred at the same rate as it does for women, we would not stop until something massive and drastic was done to stop such an atrocity. We would do everything in our power to make sure that the abuse stops. Rather, by disregarding the ability to sue under the U.S. Violence Against Women Act of 1994, this ruling shows that this is still a society that strongly advocates for men and tends to look at women as the lesser.
I would like to propose a visualization to the so-called advocates of justice at the Supreme Court who voted against assisting Christy Brjonkala in her strive for justice along with anyone who agrees with their position. Take a second, just a second, and imagine what it would feel like if someone held you down, beat you up and rammed something hard into one of your orifices.
Wouldn’t you demand a full range of legal freedom to be sure that justice is served on your behalf?
Brian Ellis
University student
Rape attention deserves more
In regards to the Emerald editorial (ODE, May 12) about rape awareness, if people can agree on anything, it is that rape is a crime. If this is understood, a major part of the apathy people tend to show toward such shocking rape statistics can perhaps be attributed to the “I’m not a rapist; what can one do but condemn rape?” attitude.
However, a crime, unlike a political stance, religion or pair of sports shoes cannot be solved or sold through stylish 30-second television commercials. Nor would a student group camping on Johnson Hall’s front lawn make a potential rapist stop and reconsider. Justice For All, for what it accomplished, did not get people (outside the anti/pro abortion community) speaking passionately about abortion so much as it did about the inappropriateness, poor taste and juvenile mentality of the whole affair. The “I Agree with Ryan” campaign was less of a debate or discussion than a quasi-open forum for a group to preach Christianity.
The problem of rape, a rather ancient one, cannot be solved through petty public antics. Awareness can be raised tastefully, however, and continued or expanded funding of public-safety programs such as Saferide can further reduce incidents on campus. Let us not reduce something as serious as rape to the lowest common denominator in order to grab a shocked reaction from the campus populace.
William Moglia
German
