opinion
ken sands
even editors get the blues
"They'd just love to see us lower everyone's
salary by 5 percent. They've always thought we
could go on with less. ” — Paul Olum, talking about
the state Legislature and faculty salaries.
Education is becoming a privilege, not a right.
The Legislature is likely to continue cutting higher
education’s budget, and the bottom line is that
only the privileged will be able to attend in the
future.
It’s not that people think college is useless —
it’s just that money is tight.
The Republicans are blaming the ’’spendthrift’’
Democrats for the poor economy. The Democrats
are blaming the Republicans for axing necessary
social programs.
But it’s always the “little guys” who get
screwed in the end. And around here, a lot of
students are feeling the thrust of this financial
sodomy.
As tuition rose about 10 percent this year,
Basic Educational Opportunity Grants were cut
$50 and fewer National Direct Student Loans were
given. The governor is predicting 15 percent
tuition increases in each of the next two years,
coupled with a “dramatic” rise in out-of-state and
graduate tuition.
Reagan economists believe philosophically
students should foot 100 percent of their educa
tion bill. Government hardliners already have
made cuts in the federal food stamp program — a
source of income for many University students.
The fact that enrollment has risen this year to
near an all-time high (about 17,000) is misleading.
Frankly, many students are on the verge of finan
cial exigency.
One typical Emerald editor makes about $200 a
month, and has about $200 a quarter in BEOG
funds. Obviously not enough to pay rent AND eat,
let alone pay for school. “If I can get through the
month on 17 cents and then get a GSL, I’ll be fine.”
Similar tales of woe abound throughout this
office and across the campus. It seems as though
those students who are not independently wealthy
are being squeezed out of the institution.
As tuition increases and financial aid
decreases, enrollment will decrease. And as state
funding for the University continues to decrease,
the quality of education will decrease.
Unless this regressive spiral is reversed, higher
education as we know it is in trouble in this state.
You can’t blame unemployed mill workers for
not caring about higher education, and you can’t
blame the legislators for wanting to put the
precious tax money where it is best spent.
And higher education’s benefits to society are
harder to define than their benefits to the in
dividual.
But the benefits do exist.
The University is Eugene’s biggest employer,
and students pump millions of dollars into the
local economy. College graduates generally earn
more, and pay more taxes. Also, they tend to be
employed in ’’clean” industries.
California thought enough of these benefits that
it instituted a network of free-tuition community
colleges, and relatively inexpensive state univer
sities.
Unfortunately this session of the Oregon Legis
lature isn’t likely to come up with any progressive
funding for higher education.
The future of higher education will become
bleaker the longer this regressive spiral is allowed
to continue.
vours
Land control
My husband and I farmed on 80 acres
near Vale for 30 years, dairying and row
cropping.
Five years ago, my husband became ill
and not being able to work any longer,.
we sold the farmground and kept the
farm home with one and a half acres of
land and continued to live there. A
neighbor bought the farmground, but did
not need the farmhouse.
About one and a half years ago, we
decided to move into town to be closer to
medical facilities etc We then sold our
home for $57,000 but the Planning Com
mission would not allow the sale to be
consumated. They insisted that the
farmer that owned the farmground buy
the house, but he didn't want it. The
house was empty for one and a half
years.
After my husband died 10 months ago,
I appealed to the County Court and with
the citizens of Malheur County put en
ough pressure on local Planning officials
to allow me to sell the home. However,
after having an original offer of $57,000
(one and a half years ago) my home
devaluted to $48,000 due to recession
and high interest rates.
There is no law in the United States
that denies an American the right to sell
their home, so I consulted with an attor
ney to sue the state of Oregon to recover
my losses. My attorney advised me that
it would cost me more money to sue than
I could recover.
Mr. Wright of Noti, Ore., initiated a
lawsuit in the District Court at Eugene,
Ore., and I joined with hundreds of other
people with the hope of keeping our
expenses at a minimum, and also looked
forward to having the whole concept of
Rural Land Planning brought out into the
open where all the pros and cons would
be available to the good people in
Eugene, Salem and Portland, so that
they might better understand and
hopefully help the farmer remove this
oppressive entrapment that farmers are
facing
The District Judge imformed me that I
would have to file a separate complaint in
his court to pursue the case and that our
common cause lawsuit had been dis
missed.
The case was dismissed and I, along
with the other individuals cannot afford
to go it alone.
Won't you please study the issue thor
oughly before agreeing to having land
control?
L. S. Kinsey
Vale, Oregon
Many gods
Long, long ago people were so
religious that they had many gods —
which was reasonable because no one
god could be expected to manage
everything
The Romans had a very old god named
Saturn, who was in charge of agriculture
His festival, a thanksgiving for the har
vest, was celebrated under the Caesars
Dec. 17-23. Because in mythology he
had reigned over a prehistoric Golden
Age of peace, freedom and equality,
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warfare was suspended, people ex
changed gifts, and masters served slaves
as they feasted and drank together (of
fice party). We derive the “peace on
earth, good will to men” spirit and gift
giving from the Saturnalian “season to
be jolly.”
Then came the winter solstice, cele
brated throughout Europe on the Roman
Dec. 25, when our divine Sun was reborn
after his long decline in strength. The
rebirth of our Father, the Sun, was cele
brated with lights on evergreen trees, as
here and now
Of many sun gods the greatest was the
Persian Mithra, “the Invincible Sun,”
worshipped throughout the Roman Em
pire for centuries. Like Christianity,
Mithraism was, in a disintegrating
civilization, morally severe and promised
happiness after death in another world.
Mithra was a savior, born as a human
baby in a cave, 'worshipped by
shepherds.
By the fourth century C.E. (Christian
Era) the Roman Catholic Church had
become powerful enough to suppress
Mithraism and to award Mithra’s birthday
to Jesus — whose birthday was not
recorded in the Bible and was first as
signed to May 20 (in Egypt about C.E.
200).
How do I know all this? Because it once
occured to me to look up “Christmas" in
the Catholic Encyclopedia.
L.F. Hawkins
Eugene
Cars vs. bikes
Another letter concerning cars vs.
bicycles and pedestrians:
Bicyclists and pedestrians have a
great advantage over car drivers at dusk
and dawn in that they can see moving
objects as well as in daylight, and they
can see into the distance. On the other
hand, the vision of a car driver, during
those same periods, is greatly (danger
ously) hampered by the glare of oncom
ing lights, lights reflected in the rear view
mirror and side mirrors. Therefore, as far
as a car driver is concerned vision-wise,
it is the middle of the night. Those of you
out in the open please have pity on those
of us surrounded by a profusion of light,
who cannot see as well as you.
Les Rouzaut
Clerk
College of Business Administration
Friday, January 9,1981