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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1974)
r editorial N Mixed feelings on the recall Over the csss* 22 *ears Eugene voter? have -eoeatec*. oe'ea*ec everts to start a c.noerga'ter ^x's" m Eugene s sc-oots. The -as* tr-e the kindergarten issue was submitted as a seoa-ate baity? heasas was in *373 Earier ~e vea'. acting <ega£v ,hder eg*satve authority the E ugene Sdxo 5-oaro incorporated a undergarter program r the overa- budget wthout puTtsng it up to a separate vote, ’*e ert-r® xogr s>at defeated -woe, out .ust 'ecertty oassec bv a very narrow —a'g^ The *es-ts of that elector a*e now being contested in court A 'eca effort -as oee- —-ou~?ec aga-nst ‘Se of the seven members of the ooarc for initiating the o'og'a— without putting t up ‘or a sees'ate vote "He Emer&d supoorts the kindergarten prog's— a-d opposes the recai. However, we do ^ee- that ooper-e^ts of »ndergartens are fuly within the*' ngnts to nstitute and vote for the reca-H * -as Dee- argued by the boards oe'enoers that recal srou«C onry be -sec for -na^easance wrong 3o->g or vwiahor. of the pubic trust'and nof for a osagreer-er* oxer poftcy. The troucae with this argument s that starcng a under garter prograrr was '-ore than a s»rnp*e poficy oecssKjr Because the dec*s»on csearfy wem aga*nst the w® o4 the voters in ou -nerous votes on the ssue. it was - essence a- jndemocrabc decsMyv And rt was a violation of me pubic trust in that sense This s not to suggest that a school board should --ever take a prog-essi «e posrbor that counters the 4ee "os of a —ajorny of people Without such eadershsp c-a-ge wou« never occur. But w-a: t does "near is that onderga-ter op ponents are justified in arte^pong to rec-a the poa'd The# trust in the board was betrayed The board members up for recall are: -Jonathan West, who works on affirmative action and equal opportunity programs at LCC -Sam Frear, public information officer for the Willamette National Forest who is the board's chairman. — Barbara West, co-owner of K2EL-FM radio in Eugene — Larry Hughes, an orthodontist. -Gail Nicholson, a former teacher and child welfare worker The two other members of the board are not subject to the recall because they have served less than si* months. The Emerald strongly supports the kindergarten program and hopes that voters will oppose the recall on election day. Board members put in long hard hours and only get aggravation in return. They have exhibited courage in their kindergarten stand. J Letters For Frohnmaver Endorsement of Norm Pott over David Frohnmayer represents an unfortunate error in judgement try the Emerald. Frohnmayer is not merely a "lawyer"; he is an expert in legislative processes and procedures. He has worked closely with the Oregon Legislature, and nas, in fact, been Instrumental in the creation of some of the procedures by which it operates. Frohnmayer does not only nave creditable intentions, but also the tools with which to transform those intentions into reality. Pott is comparatively lacking in this ability, and his well meaning but ineffectual representation would be little better than no representation at all. The Emerald displays short sightedness in its consideration of differences between Frohnmayer and Pott Too much emphasis is placed upon isolated policy decisions made by the candidates, rather than on the deliberative processes used to reach those decisions. Pott s views are at tractive, but I am suspicious of candidates who support popular positions in absolute terms. Dave Frohnmayer, on the other hand, displays a more responsible approach to complex problems by refusing to dogmatically support a position, no matter how popular or attractive, without first thoroughly investigating its potential impact upon the general welfare of Oregonians. Far more important than a candidate's stand on isolated ssues is (-ns ability to carefuiy consider a problem and His ac ty to implement effective change Frohnmayer, through his thoughtfu1 consideration of a problem, and his expertise in legislative processes, represents the /riser choice in the November elections. Robert Krambs. law AJeta Doerr, art history For Pott Norm Pott, candidate for state representative in District 40, offers the voters a rare blend of ex perience and talent. During the past ten years he has beer ac tively engaged with many of the critical problems in the Eugene community. As member, then chairman, of Eugene s Human Rights Commission over a six year period, he helped to make Eugene a leader in the work of removing oarners to equal opportunity for all. Norm has also been involved in the Juvenile Justice Program; he stepped out earty and courageously as a leader in the opposition to the Vietnam War. More recently he has worked to mobilize support for the farm workers in their struggle for economic justice. Norm Pott raises the intellectual and moral level of any group he works with. He has the knack of bringing individuals from very diverse backgrounds together; he finds the ground on which they can work for larger goals. His skill as a mediator is exceptional. Seym Pott has ta*en forthright and progressive stands on such ssues as and jse pofiution, tax 'eform, transportation, and consumer protection. He un derstands the needs of the University community; he will be abie to express those needs in a disinterested fashion within the Legislature it is imperative that Democrats control the House of Representatives in the next egtsiative session; Norm Pott's election wiii heip to insure that control. Stan Pierson history Misstatement* We appreciate the fine coverage of the Lane County Women’s Political Caucus forum where candidates had a chance to speak on issues of concern to women. We do wish, however, to correct two misstatements about Rep. Mary Burrows attributed to John Stewart, both candidates for House District 41. Mr. Stewart said he had received an "A" from the Women's Political Caucus while Ms. Burrows had gotten a "B". No Women's Political Caucus in Oregon has an alphabetical rating of candidates — nor does national. It was also reported that Rep. Burrows did not support legislation banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. She did, in fact, support such legislation in two votes on the floor. Rep. Burrows has a 100 per cent rating on feminist legislation in the 1973 session. The Oregon Women's Political Caucus -as compiled the voting record of all legislators on issues of concern to women A copy of this booklet "Quick Look" may be obtained by contacting any member of the OWPC or the LCWPC. It ts also in the Law School library. Margaret Patome Oregon Representative NWPC Correction My letter in the Oct. 15. issue of the Emerald should correctly have indicated that it was written as a personal opinion of a voter and in no way should reflect or be in terpreted as a statement of a University employee I regret my error and hope that you will in clude this clarification in the next issue of the Emerald. Bob Bowlin Forgot punch line Professor Houser (Letters, Oct. 17) must have missed the punch line of William Boyd's three "nevers," to wit: "Never say never.'" (Pause. Laughter.) Principle? Every statement at tributed to him in Dennis Pfaffs capable reporting of the press conference (ODE, Oct. 14) shows Boyd to be a man whose readiness to stand on principle is a quality about which we can be fully confident. For example: "I would be willing to trade the one (ill manners) for the other (their passion and tremendous sense of social injustice)." Boyd's ability to get his deft sense of humor across to some members of the public may be something else. Charles T. Duncan Professor of Journalism Incompetent? Two items caught my attention in the Oct. 14 paper — one concerning a certain Clara, who was unimpressed by VIP Boyd, and the other concerning a certain comment made by the infamous Boyd When is the Emerald going to realize that people in power are just that — people! The coverage of Boyd reeks of heads bowing, and murmurs of "yes sir, yes sir!" I'm just as unimpressed as Clara is — why should she be so awed that the upcoming college president graced her with his presence? After all, the same Boyd was quoted by the Emerald m a column entitled "Boyd eyes University problems" as stating: "Never disturb a thing at rest, never raise any issue to the level of principle and never say never'” Those three rules, says William Boyd, are the only things he has learned in his life as an ad ministrator. The only things he has learned in all of his ex periences as an administrator are those three things7 I'm in credulous! Either we have an incompetent as well as powerful man on our hands (similarly to Clark in my opinion), or the Emerald is misquoting again and sounding absurd, as well as making the anti-student Boyd sound ridiculous. Elaine Johnson sociology Editor's note: The quotation was accurate Ford lied It is refreshing to have President Ford appearing before the Judiciary Committee explaining in a great show of candor the events and thinking leading up to his pardon of President Nixon. Two things however disturbed me. First, almost at the outset President Ford explained how, for three days after learning to his great surprise and shock that Nixon had indeed committed an impeachable offense, he con tinued to deliberately lie to the public in his speeches and hold to his old position that no such offense had been committed, so as not to appear to be trying to influence Nixon's decision with respect to resignation No one batted an eye Thus we see again the nature of executive thinking Truth and integrity are merely matters of convenience, to be indulged in alternatively with lying according to whichever seems to fit the exigencies of the moment best. This reduces my confidence in the rest of his testimony. The second matter, when Elizabeth Holtzman of N Y., the only committee member to try to create a meaningful dialogue, asked her questions, the other members of the committee fell all over themselves to belittle her, and the points she raised were quickly bypassed with no attempt whatsoevai to answer them. This was a gross insult both to the only committee member doing a good |ob, and to the American public. Bayard H McConnaughay biology dafia/tmant
