It's not
politics
as usual
See Primary '84
inside
Oregon daily
emerald
Monday, May 14, 1984
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 85, Number 154
Hart woos Eugene crowd
Offers a choice 'between the future and the past'
By Paul Ertelt
Of the Emerald
The presidential primary race stepped off the
front pages and came to life on the Eugene mall
Saturday as more than 3,000 people gathered to
greet Sen. Cary Hart.
Photo by Michael Clapp
Hart is the only Democratic presidential can
didate to campaign in Oregon. ",Delegates from
Oregon are just as good as delegates from
anywhere else," he said.
Hart stopped in Eugene on his four-day tour
of Oregon to seek support in Tuesday's primary.
He told the crowd he is the only candidate who
can beat Pres. Ronald Reagan in November and
“send him back to his ranch for good."
Except for a few remarks specifically aimed at
the Eugene audience, Hart's speech was familiar,
but the crowd still cheered after each one-liner at
tacking Reagan's policies and espousing the
"politics of a new generation."
"The people of Oregon will choose between
the future and the past," he said. "We are tired of
the politics of the past, and we want real change
in 1984 and 1985."
"We cannot afford four more years of
Reaganomics for the rich," Hart said. "We must
not give this president control of issues of war
and peace of this country and the world."
Hart said funding for the MX missile and B-1
bomber must be canceled to reduce the federal
deficit. Hart also blasted Reagan for his stands on
foreign policy, education and the environment.
"We must not send our sons to die without
cause in Lebanon or to serve as body guards for
dictators in Central America," he said.
"The enemy in the Third World is not com
munism, it is poverty," Hart said.
Hart accused Reagan of "selling off the na
tion's environment to the highest bidder," and
said the United States must end acid rain and
clean up the nation's 17,000 toxic waste dumps.
Hart also commented on local environmental
issues, saying the Northwest must protect the
Columbia Gorge, set aside wilderness areas and
restore salmon fishing streams in the Northwest.
America's number one domestic priority
should be education and job training, Hart said.
He promised to restore all funds cut from the
education budget, including Guaranteed Student
Loans and school lunches.
"If Ronald Reagan thinks education is too ex
pensive, wait until he finds out how much ig
norance costs," Hart said.
At a press conference following the address
Hart was asked why he thought the Oregon
primary was important to him. Neither former
Vice President Walter Mondale or Rev. jesse
Jackson have campaigned in Oregon where only
50 delegates are at stake.
Hart said all primaries are important and "all
delegates are equal."
"Delegates from Oregon are just as good as
delegates from New York or anywhere else," Hart
said. (
"Where is Mr. Mondale?" he asked. "I don't
see him in Oregon."
A recent poll conducted by The Oregonian
showed Hart leading in Oregon with 50 percent,
Mondale with 28 percent and Jackson with 8
percent.
Hart's Oregon supporters contend that a vic
tory in Oregon will boost Hart's momentum going
into the June 5 California primary. California has
345 delegates.
Takin' it to the street
Volunteers from Clergy and Laity Concerned and Stu
dent Campaign for Disarmament repaired damage Sunday
to their graphic demonstration of the Reagan administra
tion's 1985 proposed budget. The rainbow lines depicting
fiscal outlays were splattered by black and white paint
sometime after 2 a.m. Sunday. Joern Wettern of SCD said
the groups don't know who vandalized their work, but that
the destruction "stands for their viewpoint's horizon —
just black and white."
The colored lines compare amounts budgeted for
various departments in 1985. The yellow line representing
military expenditures is 898 ft long — "twice the rest com
bined," Wettern said.
Dave Zauner said the painted lines "very blatantly
show how the backbone of the administration's spending
is in the military."
Photo by Michael Clapp
Two University students considered for board
By Doug Nash
Of the Emerald
Few realize it, but they are probably the two most
powerful students in the state's higher education
system.
“They" are the two student members of the State
Board of Higher Education. In the next few weeks Gov.
Vic Atiyeh will select someone to fill one of those posi
tions, and two University students are in the'running.
International studies major Scott Seibert and first
year law student Paul Konka are both vying for the posi
tion held by member Randall Gill, whose two-year term
expires next month. Nominated by ASUO Pres. Mary
Hotchkiss, the two are competing against students
similarly chosen from each of the eight colleges and
universities throughout the state.
Both point to their own unique backgrounds as
evidence that they will be able to represent and ar
ticulate their concerns on the board. Konka, who has an
M.B.A. in finance and investments and has worked as a
naval officer, management consultant and analyst for
the Navy, says his experience in financial matters will
help him in the upcoming budget battle in the
Legislature.
Seibert, meanwhile, is already well-versed on the
ins and outs of board and legislative politics. Among
other things, he has served on the State Board of Educa
tion, was student body president at Umqua Community
College, and is a certified lobbyist in Salem. His ex
perience, he says, enables him to "walk in and feel com
fortable with my ability on boards." It is an ability, he
says, the current student members lack.
"Totally inadequate," he says of Gill and Walling.
"Not responsive to student needs. Definitely not full
participants on the board. Afraid to participate. In
timidated by the board. I don't feel they really show
what the student experience is like."
As an example of the student members' impotence,
Seibert recalls the recent board meeting when Hot
chkiss and law student Don Corson requested the
board to ask the Legislative Emergency Board for more
funding. As students, Gill and Wailing should have ac
tively participated in the discussion, Seibert says.
"They didn't ask the leading questions," Seibert
says. "They sat there like they'd been told not to do
anything."
It is vitally important for student members to work
behind the meetings, doing their homework and deal
ing with the other members informally, Seibert says.
"It's not what is on the agenda that's important," he
says. "It's what doesn't get on. By working the system,
getting to know the members as people, and getting to
know their vested interests, you can be effective."
Konka, however, is reluctant to criticize Gill and
Walling and does not wish to align himself solely with
student needs.
"I'm not sure I see myself as strictly a student
member," he says. "I see myself as someone who can
bridge the gap that exists between the student board
members and the non-student board members."
The 32-year-old Konka says his experience in
business will enable him to "talk the language" in the
coming attempts to achieve a better funding base for
higher education in the state. Unless it is totally
necessary, though, he says he does not favor cutting out
programs or smaller institutions to solve the system's
financial woes.
"To cut out duplicate programs is ignoring the feel
ings of the people in the outlying areas," says Konka,
who has attended Southern Oregon State College. "The
burden it puts on the people in Eastern Oregon or
Southern Oregon is one that I don't think should be
ignored."
But Seibert disagrees. Duplicating programs could
have the exact opposite effect on smaller institutions,
he says.
' As soon as they're able to institute similar courses
in all the schools, then they'll close a school with low
enrollment because it's no longer significant," he says.
So far, neither Konka or Seibert have been inter
viewed for the post. Two other board positions have
already been filled by new members Gene Chao of
Portland and Janet Nelson of Coos Bay.