Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 1978)
Straub visits Straub By JANE LEHMAN and DAN POSTREL Straub admitted Tuesday his biggest concern in the gubernatorial elections would be the “Oregon myth,” Tom McCall, if the Republican decides to enter the upcoming race. “I don’t kid myself,” said Straub, “I’m just going to have to work nights if he’s in the race.” Straub visited a political science class in Straub Hall and a law class at the law school, answering questions on a vari ety of issues. Frequent questions con cerned the Democrats’ re-election bid. Straub is confident he can win the race, however. He believes the mystique sur rounding McCall will vanish once McCall returns to the political arena. “When McCall gets into the mucky muck of the campaign he’ll just be another candidate. The luster will disap pear — I hope.” To date the Straub campaign has raised $80,000. However, Straub pre dicts it will take a total of $250,000 to finance both the primary and general election bids. The governor said he wouldn’t mind sharing half that financial burden with the public treasury for state races during the general election. But, he said, primary campaigns should not be publicly financed. ■ Looking back on his term as governor, Straub called the formation of the state Department of Energy his most signifi cant accomplishment. ‘‘We’re the only state in the nation that does have a unified, independent energy department,” he said. He told the political science class that James Schlesinger, head of the U.S. energy department, personally congratulated him on Oregon’s conservation mea sures. Looking ahead to the 1980’s, the gov ernor said economic diversification is one of Oregon’s most important chal lenges. The state is in a “precarious fiscal position” he said because of its dependence on the forest products in dustry. In order to decrease the state’s de pendence on the wood industries, Straub said he is trying to bring clean, high technology industry to Oregon. He said he has already conferred with Hewlett-Packard and other high tech nology firms which are considering locat ing plants in the state. Responding to questions on population growth, Straub said, “People are pour ing into Oregon.” Last year, he told the group at the law school, Oregon grew at a rate 25 percent faster than California. The Land Conservation and Develop ment Commission is the “surest, most effective way to manage that growth,” he said. Actual zoning and planning should be done on the local level, Straub asserted, but the state should “be the ultimate au thority and the enforcing authority” in laying out general land-use guidelines. On field burning, the governor said the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rejected the Oregon Legislature’s most recent field burning law, which would allow 180,000 acres to be burned next summer. The EPA, how ever, let stand an earlier state law per mitting burning of 50,000 acres. Straub said he thinks seed growers should be allowed to burn “something in the neighborhood of 140,000 acres” per year. In response to a question about proposals to divert Columbia River water to southern California, Straub said an Army Corps of Engineers study con cluded that the Columbia basin has no water surplus. “We don’t have any (water) to ship down to California," he said. “I am unalterably and flatly opposed to Photo by Dennis Hickok evert the thought of any diversion of water out of the (Columbia River) watershed,” Straub declared. His re mark drew a round of applause from the audience at the law school. Answering a question about the recent disposal of some highly toxic Canadian wastes at an Oregon disposal site, Straub said he didn't see anything wrong with privately owned firms disposing out-of-state wastes of “low-level” toxi city. Oregon, he added, sends radioactive wastes from hospitals and other sources to disposal sites in Washington and Idaho. Straub began his political career here in Lane County when he successfully ran for county commissioner in 1954. He then spent four years in the Oregon Senate beginning in 1960, followed by eight years as state treasurer. Straub fell to defeat at the hands of McCall in both the 1966 and 1970 gubernatorial elections. But in 1974, Straub captured the governorship by a wide margin against Republican oppo nent Victor Atiyeh. Assembly takes action today The University Assembly will take action on a Senate recom mendation concerning faculty elections at 3:30 p.m. in Room 150 Science today. The recommendation, submit ted by an ad hoc committee on elections, would take effect as of this spring's election. It would in crease the membership on the Faculty Advisory Council and the Faculty Personnel Committee to eight faculty members each. Both bodies work closely with the administration in an advisory capacity. The Faculty Personnel Committee makes final recom mendations in promotion and te nure cases. The motion also provides that four faculty members serve two year terms instead of the one-year terms presently stipulated. This change was suggested so there would be more continuity among the committee and council mem bers. ffiJSmn 19M FRANKUM 01VD EtIOfNi. ORISON OREM PAMTR DEUUTISSEN f YOU'LL ENJOY THE VARIETY AND A QUALITY YOU'LL FIND AT THE OPEN PANTRY INSIDE YOUR FRIENDLY McKAY'S MARKET 1960 FRANKLIN BLVD. ONE STOP SHOPPING FOR TASTE BUD DELIGHTS. Win a 10 lb. Box of See’s Candy. Come in and sign up. . .no purchase necessary. Contest ends February 13th at 4:00 p.m. Register on the main floor.
