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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 6, 1987)
■ Editorial Vehicular traffic unfit for downtown mall The portion of Willamette Street between Eighth and Kith avenues has become the focus of vigorous public debate during the last few months. Controversy has been sparked by a proposal to reopen to vehicular traffic the central plaza of the downtown shopping mall where Willamette Street in tersects Broadway Street. Two distinct proposals have been presented to the Eugene City Council by urlwn design consultant Don Miles. The first proposal would create a narrow, two-lane street with parking bays that would run down Willamette Street and through the portion of the mall where the concrete foun tain presently stands. Another proposal would renovate and redevelop the portion of Willamette Street that runs through the mall without reintroducing motorized traffic to the two-block sec tion of downtown. Renovation, rather than motorization, should iw* im plemened by the city council to preserve a part of Eugene where pedestrians can shop without the interference from vehicular traffic. Reintroducing traffic to the two-block section of the mall will create more problems than it would solve, and lit tle evidence supports the hypothesis that reopening the street will improve the economic conditions of downtown After Sunday's fatal accident on Franklin Boulevard, the underlying danger of the automobile has been brought to the forefront of public ccnsciousness. Reopening Willamette Street to traffic, even though it may be slow and controlled by traffic lights, will endanger shoppers to the potential brutality of the automobile. With the presence of cars and trucks, noise pollution in the mall will increase, thereby diminishing the pleasantness of the shopping environment. Traffic would bo repugnant to many shoppers, and the public has made this clear to the ci ty council in both written and oral responses. In addition, air pollution in the pedestrian mall also will increase as a result of reopening Willamette Street to traffic. Although this increase in air pollution may be small and unnoticable, it w ill still detract from the mall's objective of providing an attrative place to shop. Reopening Willamette Street to vehicular traffic may improve the smooth flow of traffic in the downtown area, hut doing so may have consequences that presently an? unperceived. The teenagers who cruise the "gut”, for example, may migrate to the new Willamette Street, especially because residents near the gut are attemping to eradicate cruisers from the neighborhood. An increase in cruisers along Willamette Street would, in effect, lead to an increased amount of crime, noise, and litter in the downtown mall area. The aesthetic consequences of reintroducing traffic to the mall not oidy outweigh the possible economic benefits of such a plan, but also may negate any such benefits. The negative externalities that would accompany the presence of the automobile in the mall could conceivably decrease the amount of business stores and restaurants received because people would be more inclined to shop elsewhere, such as Valley River Center. Several downtown business owners have expressed op position to the initiative. Furthermore, an initial public hearing on the proposal to allow traffic down Willamette in dicated many Kugene residents oppose the plan. The continuity of the walking mall should lx? preserved at the small expense of excluding the automobile. But if the city council, which recently split in a vote, decides to reopen the mall to vehicular traffic, then the issue should lx? presented to the public on the next available ballot. nsKMKHER Of PRINCIPLE. NO ONE WS THE WGWTOINTEKEPE ^ WTR SWWNG k Kv TUftf oil moNGi TO T\JEV\'30W. "ESS V.TU Tftost SWP6 WME GOT To WSVSEV TO[(£M!OVWIT' •> r Letters Strong defense With Aug •> come* the me mo r ia I i/.a t ion of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bomb ings. And now my thoughts go liack through the years to those mothers, fathers, wives and children who lost their loved ones in fierce battles of the southwest pacific. Oh yes. the lapanese had lives lost, but 1 also remember that "day of infamy" when they (the lapanese) without provocation destroyed l*earl Harbor and in discriminately slaughtered both civilians and military personnel. I still recall our youth in military uniform fighting in far off jungles, wounded, suffering and dying to protect the world from the savage imperialist whose aim was world domination. And then President Truman, commander in chief, made a most painful decision — Hiroshima and Nagasaki were made targets. This ended the war. For me to memorialize these two cities and their losses would be for me to turn my back on those who died to defend the world against a dictatorship with all its evils. lot's all remember, only through a strong defense is peace possible. Kdward A. Kelly Commander lane County Veterans Council Oregon Daily Emerald The Oiegon Daily Emerald is published Tuesday and Thursday during the rummer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co, at the University ol Oregon, Eugene. Oregon. 97403 Daily publication will resume with the tail term The Emerald operates independently ot the University with offices on the third floor ol the Erb Memorial Union and is a member ot the Associated Press The Emerald is private property The unlawful removal or use of papers Is prosecutable by law Oerteral Staff Advertising Director Susan Thelen Production Manager Michele Ross Kelli Mason Jean Ownbey Editor Managing Editor/Studant Govt News Editor Editorial Page Editors Sports Editor Photo Editor Night Editor Associate Editors Higher Ed/Administration Community Advertising: Janelle Hettmann Stanley Nelson Carolyn Lamberson Eden God bey Angela Muni; Aaron Knos Shu stung Chen Stanley Nelson Mike Drummond Stephen Maher Production: Sandra Daller/Ad Coordinator Kelly Alexandre. Eliot Knight. Diane Moy. Angela Muni;, Ted Shepler, Ingrid White, Kelly Williams. Serena Williams News and Editorial Display Advertising Classified Advertising Letter Perfect Graphics Production Circulation and Business MS SSI1 686J712 SIMM] 6S6SS11 6M-4U1 606 5511 Trojan horse The proposed new constitu tion called the “New State of America" is dangerous to our freedom To me it's like a Tro jan horse. lien; we am fighting com munism and paying out a huge amount for defense and this document could take away much of what we hold dear without them even Iwing an ar my marching on us. I refer to the proposed changes that would come about — such as the bearing of arms allowed only to the military, the police and those licensed under law. I refer to the part in Article I Section 8 whem it says religion shall l»e privileged. That means no right to practice your religion. You know what hap pens to privileges when some bureaucrat decides to take them away. They are gone. That's what happens. I also refer to Section It. Education shall be provided at public expense to those who meet appropriate tests of eligilibility. That would have probably left Einstein out. I hear he was quite the dunce. And Linus I'auling — the on ly living two-time Nobel Prize winner. He said a very en couraging small class and its professors made the difference for him at Oregon State before he went to Harvard. All of our states would be divided up into new stales. As you might expect this was put together by non-elec ted. non-appointed people from a group calling themselves the "Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions." This was paid for with money that indirectly came from our taxes. Rose Marie Wymore Veneta Stereotyping In response to the |uly 21 oditorial cartoon. I feel it was quite effective — effective in in creasing the fear of pit bulls and continuing a stereotype image of pit bulls. Increasing awareness should be a goal for the Emerald, in stead of making th« pit hull a very fearsome and always dangerous animal. Any animal can be trained to be as vicious as many pit bulls. No one knows what makes so may pit bulls attack, whether it’s breeding or the environment and training. Stereotyping all pit bulls is just the same as stereotyping all women or all blacks. While it is true these animals don't have the same rights or respect that women and blacks now have. I don't believe it's right to make the pit bulls seem so feared. A possible alternative to (be cartoon would be writing an ar ticle presenting the pros and cons of pit bulls. Presenting a neutral opinion. I think, would make the Kmerald seem more open than a one-minded paper that stereotypes. Heidi Schuman TAG student Dog solutions In response to the |uly 21 editorial cartoon, 1 believe the pit bull race should not be total ly outlawed, but perhaps there should bo an insurance policy for a group of high-risk dogs. The greater the risk, the more you pay. Also, an analysis of the home and owners would also be prudent. The outlawing of owning more than one pit bull would stop the private party from breeding them. This in turn would be left to a couple of very specialized breeders. I think there isn't just one cause but two. Their instinctive viciousness makes them easy prey for organized criminals of all sorts. On the other hand, in some cases the dogs are overly vicious, causing the family's "cute” pit bull to suddenly, and without warning, attack the innocent. If the suggestions in the above paragraphs are used. I think the problem would be dramatically reduced and laws can once again return to the number one position. Brian Turner TAG student
