Your rights aren’t on hold during confrontations
Thank you for publishing Jonathan Irwin’s account of last month’s Critical Mass bike ride (“Police hostility toward bicyclists hinders progressive movement,” ODE Nov. 8). Being that I was one of the cyclists who got detained and cited, I’m glad the Emerald is helping spread awareness of the regularly occurring harassment that Critical Mass participants suffer by the Eugene Police. I would like to take this opportunity to remind readers of their rights, quoted from lawcollective.org:
“If an officer tries to start a conversation with you, find out whether you’re free to go. If you are, then you should leave immediately, without saying anything else.
“If you’re not free to go, the police may merely be “detaining” you while they decide if they have enough evidence for an arrest. During this period, say nothing except: I’m going to remain silent. I would like to see a lawyer.
“If you are arrested, you’ll have to give your name and show ID to be considered for release. Except when an officer’s asking for your name or ID, say: I’m going to remain silent. I would like to see a lawyer. Don’t answer any other questions or make any remarks.
“(When others are being detained) you have the right to observe and film the police. You can stay as close as is necessary to see and hear clearly, as long as you don’t interfere with the officer’s ‘work.’”
The more people know their rights, the less easy it is for police to put false statements in the report. Keep this information in mind even if you think you’ll never have to use it.
Ashley Wright
University Alumna
 
Do research before saying unfounded judgments
I would like to respond to Alex Deley’s guest commentary regarding the Nov. 1 visit by Dr. Mitchell Bard that was sponsored by Oregon Hillel and the Jewish Student Union (“Narrow minds inhibit peace,” ODE Nov. 10).
Mr. Deley should get his facts straight. Dr. Bard is not presently affiliated with AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee). Second, Mr. Deley’s criticism that Dr. Bard refused to answer a particular question posed to him “immediately after the lecture” is also incorrect; we allowed Dr. Bard approximately 45 minutes after the lecture for questions, and no question similar to the one that Mr. Deley described was posed by anyone in the audience. If there were a private exchange with Dr. Bard as he was leaving, then the criticism is nonetheless unfounded and misleading.
As to the content of Dr. Bard’s talk, Oregon Hillel invites speakers with a wide variety of viewpoints in order to foster dialogue and discussion; I am happy that we were successful in provoking discussion.
Together with that, I might add that it is ironic that Mr. Deley’s anguish and disagreement of Dr. Bard’s description of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization comes in the same week that the Argentinean government connected Hezbollah directly to the 1994 bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 and injured 200 civilians – the worst terrorist attack in Argentina’s history: www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/11/09/argentina.bombing.ap/. 
Thank you for the opportunity to set the record straight.
Hal M. Applebaum
Executive Director Oregon Hillel
 
Professor’s letter implies racism at football game
Emeritus Professor E.L. Coleman’s letter (“Out-of-control football fan behavior is intolerable,” ODE Nov. 9) takes an admirable stand against recent behavior at Duck football games, and correctly calls for the censure of those fans who display unbecoming conduct.
Where Coleman goes wrong, however, is in the insinuation that a chorus of boos following an African-American drum major’s fumble were racially motivated. While in no way discounting the centuries of very real enormities endured by blacks, frankly, it is absurd to presume that race played any factor in the case at hand. Indeed, someone of Coleman’s impressive accomplishments in the field of African-American studies (he is listed in “Who’s Who in Black America”) should know better than to resort to a wholesale characterization of all the fans who laughed at the drum major’s mistake as having done so on the basis of racial prejudice.
And while it’s worth noting that I harbor no misconceptions of racism as solely a thing of the past, it is disingenuous for Coleman to impulsively assume that racism was at play here. In doing so, Coleman does us all a disservice, and does nothing to further advance a productive dialogue on the state of race relations today.
Miles Church Kane
University student