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Reagan’s housing policy will aid Oregon
Pres. Ronald Reagan has finally offered a
glimmer of hope for Oregon’s depressed timber
industry. In an address to the National Association
of Realtors on Monday, Reagan declared that
"housing is one of our highest social priorities."
To help the ailing housing industry Reagan said
his administration will ease guidelines for FHA
mortages along with other measures
This news should be encouraging to Gov. Vic
Atiyeh and timber interests in Oregon. This may be
the economic upturn Atiyeh has been repeatedly
predicting for this year.
Oregon’s sagging timber industry is inexorably
tied to the economics of the nation's housing
industry. When housing starts are off due to
unattainable mortgage monies and high interest
rates the timber industry suffers The Reagan
administration’s commitment to new housing will
contribute to a turnaround in Oregon’s economy.
Reagan told the realtors that the Labor
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Department will remove barriers to "free a flow of
critically needed funds for housing from pension
funds.” According to Reagan, $500 billion is
invested by pension funds, but only a tenth is
currently invested in mortages.
The action of easing guidelines to expand the
number of potential homebuyers qualifying for
FHA mortage loans should benefit first-home
purchasers.
Reagan wants to change the mortgage
revenue bond program "to broaden our
definitions of distressed areas," which Reagan
believes "will make it possible for state agencies
to provide mortgage funds for 50,000 more home
buyers at lower cost "
The one flaw in Reagan's Dlan is his insis
tence on not bailing out the troubled housing
industry or altering his economic policies. Those
economic policies lurk behind the high interest
rates which have crippled the housing industry.
Reagan reiterated his stand that the culprit is high
interest rates and not his economic policies in his
Wednesday press conference Although, he did
acknowledge the housing industry "was in transi
tion and crisis. Consumers can't buy. Sellers can't
sell and builders can't build.”
The trickle-down result of the Reagan admin
istration's commitment to housing starts and
loosening up of mortgage monies will mean an
acceleration in the stagnating building industry
nationwide As with supply and demand, more
building starts means Oregon’s economy, which
has been too restricted to the ups and downs of
timber, will improve slightly The revenues gener
ated by a more healthy timber industry may finally
curtail the rash of budget cuts plaguing Oregon
It may take months before there is measurea
ble improvement in the state's economy, but
Reagan's commitment to improving the housing
industry is a step in the right direction
letters
Pass the shovel
Life is getting funnier back in
our national comedy shop;
Washington D.C.
As an example look at T.K.
Jones, the deputy undersecre
tary of defense for strategic and
nuclear forces. Jones recently
counseled the citizenry to quit
worrying about nuclear war.
"Everybody’s going to make it,” '
he explained, "if there are e
nough shovels to go around."
I hasten to add that Jones was
talking about building im
promptu bomb shelters, not
digging graves, in the event of a
nuclear attack. "Dig a hole,
cover it with a couple of doors,
and then throw three feet of dirt
on top," Jones says. “It’s the
dirt that does it."
So remember your instruc
tions. When you hear the alert,
leave your home, being careful
to avoid panicking runners, and
go thirty miles or so in the
country to avoid the more ad
verse immediate effects of blast
and heat. Before you leave be
sure to cover all power plants
and lumber mills with dirt so we
can preserve a hopefully
productive industrial base Dig a
hole. Crawl into it You have up
to twenty minutes to accomplish
all this. Then sit tight for two or
three weeks while the fallout
settles Don’t forget to bring
your own doors
Exhilarating, isn't it, to know
you can survive an atomic at
tack equipped with nothing
more than a shovel? It must be
true After all, would the Reagan
administration lie to us?
David Isenberg
Senior, International studies
Not the not the
not
That was the tamest, lamest
immorald (?) that has ever been
produced. I guess you've all
grown up since the scolding you
received last year Paul Olum
and Pat Horton will be very
proud that this years' Emerald
staff has "matured" since last
years’ filth. And you didn't even
curse. I guess that means that
it's time to start writing in the
real world
Especially encouraging were
editor Sally's insightful self-ef
facement and reviewer Meyer's
sophisticated sarcasm Gosh,
Matt, writing the opposite of
what you really think about a
movie is a stroke of sarcastic
genius. That, along with your
"The Perfect Date," "Raters of
the Last Pizza and the cliche
ridden reviews ought to leave
you amply qualified for a lifetime
internship with Seventeen
magazine Keep up the good
work
Cathy Anderson
Senior, history
Uncertainty
We, the staff of Campus In
terfaith Ministry, want to let the
administration, faculty and staff
at the University know of our
real concern and support for
you in these very difficult, tense
and uncertain times in the life of
our school. In the face of hard
cuts of positions and possibly
even departments and schools;
in the face of an increasing gap
between cost of living and
salary increments; in the face of
real uncertainty as to job secur
ity and job futures — we know
and can appreciate that you are
under unwelcome but increas
ing pressure as you seek to
continue to function in your
positions, work together as an
institution of higher learning,
and even dream dreams for the
future for your areas and for the
University The competition for
sparse resources cannot help
but sow seeds of suspicion,
threat, and discontent, pitting
faculty against administration,
school against school, staff
against employer, even person
against person
We want you to know we are
with you in these struggles, and
desire to do whatever we can to
make these times bearable and
meaningful for you, through it
all. We are strongly supporting
better funding for higher
education in our state, and will
continue to work for this in any
way we can. We hope you will let
us know if there are any other
ways we can be of service to you
during this trying period In any
event, please know that we
stand and hurt with you, but also
seek to keep the faith with you in
looking toward the future with
hope and not despair
Norman Matzlar
Campus Interfaith Ministry
letters policy
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The Emerald reserves the
right to edit any letter for
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Publication is dependent
upon space available.
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