—Editorial_
Miller message a sum
of community's needs
What was a close mayoral race in the May primary elec
tion should prove equally close Nov. 8. Two Eugene City
Council members are pitted against each other for the office,
and Jeff Miller seems to us to be a step ahead of Emily Schue
in terms of leadership potential.
Miller, who bills himself as a “fiscal conservative” and
“moderate-to-liberal on social issues,” has the support of
police and firefighters’ unions, local business, former may
ors and the Emerald.
An item on Miller’s agenda worthy of particular merit is
the implementation of recommendations made by the Crime
Action Task Force including the use of existing social ser
vice agencies to handle the administrative aspects of crimi
nal justice instead of relying exclusively on the city’s police
force.
Speaking specifically about drug-related crimes, Miller
has suggested that professional drug counselors intervene
after an arrest has been made, thus freeing police officers to
return to their patrols and allowing specialized counselors
to get to the heart of the problem.
This would benefit the police, but it would be equally
good for the individual receiving care, since he or she
would be directed to an institution of care and rehabilitation
rather than the sometimes dehumanizing criminal justice
apparatus. The appropriate agency could also deal with the
matter with more efficiency than the city, and Miller thinks
they can be contracted for about $150,000 annually.
Economically speaking, Miller says “No” to new taxes.
He claims none are needed for the city’s general operating
fund in Eugene, which has the highest tax rate of any city in
Oregon. We agree.
And Miller, an insurance planner and small business
man himself, realizes the importance of helping existing
businesses grow and expand and treating them with the
same respect given to those businesses that are looking to
relocate to the area. Shue would make outside recruitment
of businesses a low priority, yet she supports the Riverfront
Research Park. That project is being developed by an out-of
state concern — The Carley Corp. — and will require heavy
solicitation of outside businesses to occupy its proposed 71
acres.
Miller also recognizes the importance of the University
within the community — the University being Eugene’s
largest employer and a major source of consumer revenue.
He believes the University and the city need each other, and
it’s time for them to tackle problems (such as housing and
parking) together. Again, we agree.
Miller appears to be a man of action — he has specific
goals, and the plans to carry them out. His sensitivity to the
public’s aversion to new taxes is not only refreshing, it is re
alistic.
Miller also respects and recognizes diversity (an admira
ble trait in Eugene) and he doesn’t demand people share all
his views. Nor will his decisions be guided by them. As he
has proved with his recent stance on the nuclear-free zone
ordinance, Miller is willing to let the public decide particu
larly divisive issues. So, while we recognize that Schue cer
tainly has the experience and qualifications to be mayor, we
give Miller our vote. Schue has done an excellent job as a
city councilor, and we feel she will continue to serve very
well in that capacity. Her contributions to the city should
not be minimized or undervalued, for they have been signif
icant.
But for the mayor’s seat, it’s Miller's time.
We erred on Dix's stand,
but not his endorsement
In the Emerald’s Oct. 31 editorial endorsement of Rep.
David Dix for re-election to the state’s 41st District, an error
was reported regarding Dix’s proposal for faculty pay in
creases during the 1990-91 biennium.
The editorial stated Dix supports the ‘‘two plus two”
plan that was adopted by the House Ways and Means com
mittee last spring and would grant a 2 percent increase each
of the next two years.
Dix said he supported the 2 percent rate as a stopgap
until the legislature convenes in January, but is pushing for
an additional increase of at least $40 million.
When computed against the 1988-89 base faculty salary
budget of $298.9 million, the total package favored by Dix
represents an increase of 8.4 percent over two years, includ
ing the $16.1 million generated by the 2 percent plan.
The Emerald would like to reaffirm its support of Dix in
the 41st District, and apologize for any confusion that may
have resulted from the error. .....
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-Letters.
Human rights
A couple of weeks ago a
group of human rights advo
cates set out on a march to the
Eugene Federal Building in
protest of the treatment of the
Salvadoran people by their mil
itary-controlled government.
These demonstrators represent
a number of people who share a
deep sense of grief over the
conditions placed upon the
helpless poor by the powerful
rich.
For some, it is beyond under
standing how such injustice
could be allowed to continue
within the human community.
But the simple answer is that
most of us choose to ignore that
which we cannot see. Most of
us have not seen the thousands
of men, women and children
that have been and continue to
be tortured and slaughtered by
those who are greedy for pow
er. Just as we do not see the
baby being torn to pieces and
sucked out of the refuge of his
or her mother’s womb in an
abortion.
Anyone who believes that it
is wrong for the stronger to dis
regard the life of the weaker, I
challenge you to consider the
most vulnerable of all human
lives, the unborn child.
Carol Hoague
Student
Enforcement
Today, while riding my bicy
cle down to the racks under the
EMU, 1 was cornered by a
brown-shirted man sporting the
bright badge of campus securi
ty, and promptly asked to pres
ent my I.D.. I swallowed the
natural urge to refuse and de
mand an explanation why. and
remained courteous while 1 was
subsequently written out a ten
dollar citation for riding my
bicycle on the sidewalk.
While I freely admit that I
have noticed the bright yellow
"Dismount — Walk" signs
painted on sidewalks on cam
pus. I was not the least bit
aware of the (new?) policy of
writing citations to violators,
without fair warning, and i sus
pect neither is 951 percent of the
University community. While
the citation was being filled
out, people on bicycles rode
past me in both directions, as
oblivious as 1 had been but a
moment before.
Carried out in this manner,
this is nothing but a policy of
selective enforcement, which
in addition to being unjust, is a
poorly effective way of rectify
ing the current situation. Con
sidering the incredible number
of bicyclists this term, the Of
fice of Public Safety should
have had the foresight to at
least solicit a newspaper article
explaining the policy before at
tempting to randomly enforce
it. As a student, 10 dollars is an
exorbitant sum that I simply
cannot afford to pay; I immedi
ately rode over to the campus
security office and filled out a
petition in protest. I encourage
others who find themselves in
this situation to do the same.
fames McCreary
Sophomore, fine arts
Christians
In response to Harvey War
ren’s letter of Oct. 21. I take
great delight in dividing truth
and lies, in the first sentence he
uses the term "Christian Fas
cists.” Reading Webster's, we
find that, in a spiritual sense,
Christians aw Fascist!! We fol
low one leader (Cod) above our
selfish desires, we do all things
for his kingdom, and we are ex
clusively going to inherit it
(This is not racism, because
EVERYONE IS INVITED!!) I
don't think that was how Har
vey meant it, for he then said
"... holier than thou sick atti
tudes.” Tile Bible teaches "he
who exalts himself shall be
humbled.” So much for holier
than thou attitudes. Think
about it.
Since Christ was expected to
come because of things record
ed in OT literature, and he
himself said "before Abraham
was. I AM,” (after which many
rocks were hurled) we have at
least two testimonies, which
will be very tough to dispute at
this point, that Christianity is
the oldest “religion.”
Anyone who has read
Christ’s teaching knows better
than to call a bigot "Chris
tian." If anyone reads the writ
ings of Hitler, they will find
that his concept of “god" was
extremely new age. Real Chris
tians defended the Jews whom
he persecuted in his hatred for
Yahweh. 1 write to encourage
each person to stop letting liars
who call themselves after the
name of Christ blind them to
the reality of what the real
Yeshua did, and why he did it.
In Matthew 7:21 -28 Jesus tells
of those people.
Robert Weigel
l.ab Technician
P.O. Bo* 3159, Eugene, Oregon 97403
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