Southern Oregon

Please click on the full text of this blog for events this week in Medford (9/14), Eugene (9/15) and Bend (9/16).

If you live nearby, please join us at any of these events! Following the event details, you can find the latest legislative update. At these three press conferences, Oregon United to Protect Social Security will be releasing a new report produced by one of our national coalition partners, the Institute for America's Future, that shows just how costly the Republican Social Security privatization plan will be to Oregon tax payers while bloating the bureaucracy. This is in light of the continued effort by the Republican leadership to try to privatize Social Security, now even using the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina as yet another excuse to do so! (---White House Deputy Press Secretary Trent Duffy - 9/6/05)

Ashland, OR. Southern Oregon University's Student Government (ASSOU) passed a resolution last night banning military recruiters from the Student Union. The US Military's discrimination against homosexuality, the so-called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, is in direct conflict with SOU's anti-dicrimination policy. The resolution was carried 8 votes to 2.

Steve Ryan, student senator and sponsor of the resolution said of its passage, ?SOU?s Student Government is taking a proactive role in protecting students from discrimination. Clearly the military?s 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy conflicts with the Universities anti-discrimination policy. We saw the contradiction and wanted to find a solution.?

The resolution titled, ?Barring discriminatory practices in the Stevenson Union,? will prevent Military Recruiters from having access to the building. They will no longer be allowed to table in the foyer or at job fairs in the Student Union. Nor will recruiters be allowed to hang flyers or display brochures in the Student Union and Access center.