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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 22, 1989)
Editorial Don't be tough guy on minimum wage It's a measure of just how long overdue a raise in the nation's minimum wage is when only a week after his "tough-guy” veto of such a bill. President Bush s party loads the next attempt to bring wages in line with the present. The present $.f .35 an hour minimum wage has been in effect since 1981, and eight years without a raise is a long time The proposal that was shot down last week would have raised the wage to $4.55 an hour by 1992. but Bush said he would veto any bill pushing the wage above $4.25 Not coincidentally, the Republi can proposal currently circulating the Mouse would in crease the wage to $4.25. The other difference between the old minimum wage proposal and tin; new model is the so-called training wage. Both models include a lower wage for new workers; the Democrat version permitted (lie wage for 60 days, the Republican version designates four months Hither way, the training wage sounds suspi cious to us. We fear that many unscrupulous employ ers will use it to hire and then dump cheap labor for jobs that hardly require "training We re also miffed at Bush's veto of the original proposal Congressional lenders know a minimum wage increase is necessary, but Bush, who's still trying to grow a backbone, has decided that this will be the issue lie'll take a stand on. That shows poor political timing on Ins part; this shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Should Bush keep up the- chest-pounding routine, we do hope he'll keep his word and approve the* new pro posal. Labor Secretary Klizabeth Dole has testified that in creasing the- minimum wage to $4.55 would lead to a loss ol 650,000 jobs, and that the inclusion of a lowei training wage would save 170,000 of those jobs. These; figures tell us two things One. by the mi rollers it would save, the training wage is actually a tool for em ployers to abuse nolrody hires workers to train if they aren't truly needed Set.ond. Dole's numbers also say something about economics as self-fulfilling prophecy. Certainly, any increase in the minimum wage will lead to an increase in prices, and a downturn in employment But how large a downturn is hard to judge: much depends on how businesses /x'rcfivt• the upcoming economic cy cle. If Bush keeps up the "tough-guy" act and keeps fighting a raise that is long overdue and just, he might create enough of a panic to make Dole's numbers come true. \ [ i *rs * <A +* , r\ i rV. v ^ * 4 rtt i .4 * erl »i • >W-Lv |dt»^ * ^Coro^M ik'-nr. ^Er> i( * America's stable economic base: 1000 points of plight! Round two may be the last one |usl whi'ii vou thought it was safe to continue your education, here conies "Jaws II" the anxinuslv awaited second round of budget i uts from the I hiiversity And surprise of surprises, this time around it seems as if we're seeing a "kin dler. gentler" form of budget trimming, if licit is possible The Universit\ had been asked by (>ov. Neil (ioldschmidt to make .1 $.! n million cut over the biennium to cover facults salarv increases and keep in line with a modest higher education allotment from the Legislature This round of cuts would total a Si! 2 million red 11 c tion: to meet the S i ii mil lion level it has been decided that the l ’ 1 li vers 11 \ will spend part of the increased in come the institution expects from increased enrollments to cover debts caused bv over enrollment. That m.ikes sense Hut this round of cuts has something the first round, announced June 1, didn't have Three academic programs initially targeted for elimination have been granted reprieves And that's good news tor students in those programs The counseling psv« hologv master's do gree program, gerontology and mathematic statistics will he allowed to continue on with some trims of course, hut not the fatal kind. ()f course, hy allowing these programs to survive, cuts have had to be made else where, anil the} an; brutal. About (it) to 70 i lass set tions will he eliminated, meaning there will he fewer courses to i boose from in some programs Enrollment restrictions are being enat ted in 1 1 departments. And as in the tirst round of cuts, student counseling and advising services will be lessened, .is will support for KYVAX. Plans to build a new computer lab are still being eliminated In his Tuesday statement announcing the second round. President Paul (Mum ex pressed his regret for these deep, deep ini i sinns And as (Mum steps out of office )ul\ 1. it does seem extremely sad that a man who has devoted as much care and love into this institution as he has must leave seeing the l nivei sit v in this shape Fortunately. in Salem there are rumors that the Legislature will he kind and not re quire further i uts in the budget For (Mum's sake, and for ours, we hope that occurs. Letters False claims I'hc 01)1' is in tin- unlnrlu n,itc position ot having publi ii/oii, m I’KTAs (People for tin- Kthical Treatment ol Am mals) display advertisements lalsc .mil misleading i laims di rev ted against llio I 'invt»rsit\. tile biology department and even individual members ol our (ommunitv Contrary to the implications ol the advertisement, the I'm versity does not spend stale mone\ on biologic al resean h Kesean li binding is money brought into our state from granting agencies, and defrays (osts of resean h im hiding tar ulty salaries, graduate student support and operating ( osts The labs are obviously not "oft limits" to students and tai ulty. and no experiments are mutilations Although the labs are working tai ilities not dem onstration fai ilities. tours are often provided for genuinely interested ((immunity memliers ot all ages While some rescan hers have rereived defense department funding, none is direr led or ad vised by the military and all work is public and available to anyone from any nation finally several outstanding members of our facullv have suffered personal altar ks by this .out similar organizations Harli.ua Cordon-1.ii key's yymk like ill,it of other investigators, is basic researt It. anil basil re searc li is the foundation of up plied si ienr e This is true of hioniediial si.ienc.es as well as other fields The I'niversitv ran and should he proud of its i ontrihu lions to the State of Oregon scientific results contributed, students educated, and even funding generated! Lee Zwan/igcr Kugene Predatory I never thought of the Depart ment of Public Safety as a pred atory animal until last Memori al Day night. In order to |iii k up two of my friends to take them to the Kugene Greyhound Inis terminal I parked my car in a space on Columbia Street between Hamilton and He,m complexes, left my hazard lights going and quit klv ran to their dorm to fell h them and their luggage Upon im speedy return I was met by an of the Depart men! lit Public Safety (who wax nut wearing any tvpe <>f badge or (iiisign.itmg uniform), who was in the the proi css of tii ki-t mg my auto. Tilt' facts that it was too dark for ini' to si'(( th.it I was parked in an area reserved for si outers, that I had left tny hazard lights going and that I returned alter only a few minutes made no difference to him For a Public Safety officer to lurk unden over and tii ket the autos ot parents and other visi tors seems contrary to the de partment’s express purpose ot promoting law and order in a fair and reasonable manner If Public Safety is so hard up for dollars that it must resort to "night in fog" tactics to obtain its funding, why doesn’t it con dui t bake sales in front of the Bookstore like other groups on campus do to help fund their activities? Mark Curnell Political science No way We can’t believe it' The Uni versity Administration is mak mg the smaller departments on campus pay for the s.ilari in i reases of the business and journalism departments. Thest two depart incuts arc getting away free and easy Is there no tat in their budget? No way! Why do other departments have to die or shrivel up into nothing in order to fund these two schools' raises7 Let's he fair Let’s he smart Why in i rease the animosity on campus toward these two schools In making them "special" and giving them favored treatment7 We are greatly disappointed in the University Adnnnistra lion and m the Stale ol Oregon We won't lx- recommendinf| Hie University to any of our younger peers because of the tailing quality and lai k of sup port offered by the University tor departments the University does not view as valuable. All we ( an sav is Hoy. we re glad to be graduating! Terri Bassett Valerie Cfuade Leisure studies Oregon Daily _ - Emerald P O Box 31 V». * Ugt n< I>rrgt*o •T’SII» The Oregon Daily Emerald is published Tuesday and Thursday during the sum rner by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co at the University of Oregon Eu gene Oregon Daily publication begins with the tall The Emerald is operated independently of the University with offices on the third floor of the Erb Memorial Union and is a member of the Associated Press The Emerald is private property The unlawful removal or use of papers is pros ecutabie by law Editor Thomas Prowell Managing Editor Alice Wheeler News Editor Christopher Bia>' Graphics Editor Mark Yten Night Editor Kelvin Wee Associate Editors Community/Higher Education Gary Menly Entertainment/Student Activities Kelvin Wee Advertising Sales Scott McAvoy Production Jim Finch Ted Shepler Ingrtd White General Staff Advertising Director: Susan Theien Assistant to the Publisher: Jean Ownbey Production Manager Michele Ros Advertising Coordinator Sandra Daiietr Classified Sales Colynn Me Math Accounts Receivable Circulation. 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