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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