opinion
Plan land use
It is very distressing to read comments
like those expressed by Mr. Toedler in his
letter of April 1 regarding his perceived
constraints created by LCDC. This is a
classic example of a myopic and nar
row-minded overreaction to a struggling
set of state-wide policies and guidelines
(not public laws) attempting to develop
local land use planning by local citizen
groups. If he wants an environment of
land development Laissez-Faire, per
haps Mr. Toedler should live in environ
ments where land use planning has been
(and in most cases still is) essentially
non-existent (e g. Dallas, Houston, Los
Angeles, Pittsburgh, etc.) and
development-expansion-profit dom
inates the bottom line, at the expense
of Future Environmental Impact.
My family and I own several pieces of
real estate in Oregon, and would stand to
realize considerable capital gain from
their sale, were it not for land use
planning. But to me, giving up these
potential wind-fall gains in favor of a
largely non-commercialized, livable and
well-planned environment, is more than
worth the price.
Because LCDC is truly undertaking a
task of Leviathan Proportion and (as a
result), is having its fair share of difficul
ties, perhaps the Mr. Toedlers of Oregon
should re-direct their efforts toward as
sisting this handful of overworked and
underpaid planning board members in
reaching equitable and reasonable land
use planning objectives that will certainly
benefit us all in the long haul. Otherwise,
it would probably be in everyone’s best
interest if the Mr Toedlers would move
and relocate in other growth-expansion
development areas of the country, where
their efforts would be better appreciated
Bruce Miller
Graduate,
health services administration
Preventive policy
In light of the recent fire in the dorms
(no pun intended), I have come to the
conclusion that U of O policy is
generated in the future and not in the
present. It seems that University officials
are not interested in preventative action,
but in forming new policies after an
incident proves that present policy is
inefficient. After an incident occurs,
committees form to make amendments
to present policy. An example is the most
recent dorm rape. After this incident
occurred, keys were distributed and
locks were changed. These types of
policies don’t prevent rape, but instead
lead to gainful employment for an
obviously overworked Locksmith.
Fraternity hazing is just another exam
ple. After tragedy occurs, committees
form and make investigations and even
tually cut privileges to the guilty Frater
nity. It seems as though the Kappa Sigma
Fraternity has gained the spotlight. Any
Fraternity member knows that the Kappa
Sigs are not in a class by themselves
Why doesn’t the University investigate all
the fraternities if they want to actually
prevent these hazing rituals?
It seems that U of O policy can be best
put in the words of Jim Haney, U of O
basketball coach: "Let’s look to the
Future." This implies that we have to look
to the future because we obviously aren’t
prepared well enough to deal with the
present.
Drew O’Rouke
Sophomore, pre-journalism
Take action!
I’m not sure of exactly what it takes to
get to college students, but I sure wish I
did
It's not finances; sure you will all bitch
and moan next year when your tuition
vours
jumps to over $400 per term for Oregon
residents, but you won’t complain about
it until you pay your fees next fall. By that
time it will be too late to do anything
about it.
Then there are those of you who don't
care how high tuition goes because your
parents are paying for your education.
But you will not be immune. Your
realization might not come until your
senior year when you can’t get in to a
class you need to graduate Mommy and
Daddy’s money can't buy a space in an
overcrowded classroom.
Then there are those of you who will
not be back next year. Those with the
money to do so will surely go elsewhere
to where there is at least one desk per
student and a library with books printed
in the last decade. Far more of you simply
won’t be able to go anywhere — your
tuition will be higher, your financial aid
package will be less and you probably
won’t be able to find a job this summer.
That makes it tough to go to college.
What I am trying to say is: regardless of
who you are, you are — and will continue
to be — effected by the bugetary crisis
the University is experiencing. While the
situation is depressing, it is not too late to
do something about it.
There are four things we all can do to
help: 1) Write a letter to your State
Representative and let him or her know
that you want to see higher education be
a bigger priority in the state’s budget. 2)
Attend the on-campus rally Friday, April
10 in the EMU from 11:30 to 1:30. The
Oregon Senate President, the Speaker of
the House and Congressman Jim
Weaver will be there to speak and to
listen to our concerns about the cost of
education If you have a class, convince
your instructor that this will be time well
spent. Hopefully, faculty members will
realize the importance of this matter as it
effects them. Afterall, it may be their
department that gets the axe next year
3) Take a whole day off and ride an
ASUO-sponsored bus to Salem to U of O
Day at the Capitol. Show the governor
that we care about the future of our
education Sign up in the ASUO office for
a 50-cent ride on the bus. 4) Take time to
share your concerns with others It’s one
thing to pay more for better services, but
the state is asking more from us while
cutting services. It doesn’t take a busi
ness major to know that paying more for
less is a bad deal
The last decade has been an apathetic
one on this campus. People have been
too concerned with personal matters.
Now we have a personal matter that
effects us all. Let’s do something about
it!
Greg Karris
Senior, CSPA
Squirrel planet?
At last someone has dared to publicly
speak out against the squirrels! Gordon
Brown, surely you know what position
you have placed yourself in now that all
the squirrels know of your beliefs. For we
too have experienced this “squirrel ar
rogance” and recognize their incredible
capabilities. We, too, have been mocked
from above as we innocently walk under
trees. We know the fear that at any
second one of those “cute” animals
could dart out of the bushes and
viciously gnaw on our heels. It has even
been reported to us that these unruly
squirrels may have gone as far as to
kidnap the Easter Bunny as one was
sighted hoarding a chocolate Easter egg
outside the Walton Complex.
We appeal to you, the readers of the
ODE, to support Gordon and the other
members of the Coalition to Stamp Out
Squirrel Arrogance and their fight
against this atrocious act against socie
ty. Remember Planet of the Apes? Do you
want a Planet of the Squirrels?
Dave Lund
Freshman, Computer Science
Stacey Brown
Freshman, Psychology
American ideals
In response to James D. Miller’s letter
of 4-8, I, for one, would not automatically
fight at the call of the U S. government In
fact, I might even resist. I am an Amer
ican citizen, but don't identify as readily
as Mr. Miller with the monolithic fiction of
“America right or wrong” or against
faceless “commies”.
As a citizen of the U S. I believe in the
ideals of freedom and self-determination
this country was founded upon. As an
individual on this planet among billions
of other individuals, I recognize their —
our — common struggle for survival and
for freedom from oppression and exploi
tation. I oppose the actions of any
government, including the UbbH or ine
United States, that infringe upon those
rights and oppress millions for the poli
tical and economic advantages of a few
elite. In countless underdeveloped
countries the United States betrays its
own ideals for such gains, occasionally
with reinforcement from its own military.
These are policies no coinscientious cit
izen of this planet can endorse.
Mr. Miller, I think you have your
definitions of cowardice and courage
reversed. Courage is examining all the
facts of a given situation and action on
your individual moral and ethical beliefs.
Closing your eyes and relying on mind
less name-calling and jingoisms is true
cowardice.
Geov Leal Parrish
Senior, Political Science
American Way
As an American I would like to com
ment on James D. Miller’s letter in the
April 8 issue of the Emerald. Military
service is not the way to prove one is an
American. The American Way is one of
individualism, not conforming to the lives
and wishes of others. Think, if you will,
James Miller, that it was the individualis
tic spirit of each and every immigrant to
this country that brought the United
States its residents They came for dif
ferent reasons — to escape persecution,
to live a free life — but it was this in
dividualistic spirit that gave them the
impetus to leave their home countries.
We are not here today because our
fathers and grandfathers fought in the
armed forces. If anything, there would be
more of us here today if they hadn’t
fought ‘‘so valiantly" in the armed forces,
"so valiantly” to defend the honor of this
country in Korea and in Vietnam and
look what that got us — thousands of
corpses.
The next time you feel inclined to at
tack the individualistic rights and
choices of others, James Miller, at least
give those who have different views from
your own the chance to do as they wish.
David Isenberg and many others refuse
to undertake military service because
they feel what the military is doing is
wrong perhaps if you examined the
military’s actions you would come to the
same conclusion
Jay Leisner
Junior, marketing