Federal timber plan
might work for best
Listening Oregon Rep. Hob Smith, you’d think
Northwest environmentalists have scored a knockout
in the ongoing timber-spotted owl bout. Smith’s call is
early; this is a decision that will have to go to the
judges.
On Saturday, the Senate approved legislation that
would allow for more logging of Northwest old-growth
forests while also protecting the spotted owl. The bill,
part of an $11.2 billion Interior Department appropria
tions, had already cleared the Mouse (where Smith ac
cused his peers of caving in to "radical ’ environmen
talists) and is now headed to Pres. George Hush for
signing.
The timber plan is a one-year setback for environ
mentalists. Over the next fiscal year, the plan will pro
vide for the sale of 9.B billion board feet of federal for
est timber and also requires that half of the environ
mentalists' legal injunctions be dropped.
The rate of timber cutting and selling approved by
Congress cannot be maintained very long; the state's
old-growth forests simply won't be able to sustain this.
Hut when this plan ends on Sept ;t0. 1990, envi
ronmentalists can look to a more level playing field. At
that time, the OS Forest Service is required to have
completed 10-year management plans that will set a
more reasonable logging pace.
The legislation also requires (hat federal agencies
strive to preserve adjacent plots of old-growth forest,
rather than allowing logging in fragmented patches. A
seven-member advisory board has been established to
review timber-sale programs in national forests in
Washington and Oregon
These changes might lead to me protection at criti
cal spotted owl habitats in the future. Of course, we
will only know after a year's wait, and that year may
he crucial for the endangered bird.
The wait is not the only downside to the congres
sional plan For better or worse, what was once a re
gional issue has now moved up to the national level.
When future entanglements come up. the Senate will
have the precedent to move in and set policy.
Moving the dispute to the federal level was a gam
ble that paid off for the environmentalists, because, at
present, there is a strong environmental lobby. On
going discoveries of greenhouse effects and ruined
coastlines have finally gotten people to move. But
whether that environmental lobby can retain its muscle
in the face of big business is debatable, especially dur
ing a span of governmental conservatism.
For the answer to that question, like the answer to
future harvest levels, we will have to wait a year.
Open minds
Sc hool IS hill k ill session
And nr studiMils. thi* futurr of
Amerii .1 have returned In the
i hissroom In k.iiii knowledge In
improve our lives iind our
world
l )r have ive'
No support
The other night. I attended .1
demonstration of I’rojei t Safe
Kun I was amazed. impressed
and believe wholeheartedly in
what that program is Irving to
ai 1 omplish When I asked one
ol the chapter house leaders if
any student organization sup
ported them, or if any universi
ty monies were donated to
them she said no
In the lust week ul ( lass, ev
er\ professor and graduate
teac lung fellow was bombarded
not bv questions ol what the
course would tr\ to anmn
plish. but "what will we be
tested ini'"
The whole attitude ol just
wanting to know what will win
a person good grades is vers
dangerous When a person
signs up for .1 ( lass, the\
should be there to learn some
thing, not to manipulate tile
material into a neat pac kage ol
lac ts roach to be regurgitated
tor good grades
lad s open our minds to more
than the import.mi e ol a good
grade point a\ erage
kirk Kinaldi
Student
i risked wny not. ana sue
guessed th.it tnavlie no one had
thought to do it I hope that's
the only reason. be< ause Safe
Knn is a program yyhii.h pro
\ ides diri'i t serviie to a needy
population, and. more impor
lanth to those who have a sa\
over shared funds, it works
Safe Kun has provided ca
nine esi orts tor women runners
and walkers lor several years
In the University area, probably
thousands of women are in
need of pist sut h a program,
and yet no student organization
lias moved to support them
and to my knoyvledge, no mem
ber of the student government
has i h,unpinned sin fi an effort
Is it merely bei ause no one
Dix should continue to aid investigation
With the national politi( al scene focus
ing on ( Congressional ethics reform and il
legal campaign spending, it shouldn't come
as am surprise that Oregon Democrats are
i timing under fire lor the same things
The controversy (.enters on the House
Demur rats' I0H8 campaign tin,mi mg report.
Apparently, the document, filed with the
Sei rotary of St.ite Harhara Roberts' office in
November, is rile with errors, omissions and
mistakes
The report is under heavy scrutiny from
,i House committee, and three auditors from
Roberts' office have joined the hunt It will
he no easy t.isk to silt through the records, as
apparently numerous hank statements and
i hecks are missing
In the last week of September, the con
troversy took on .1 new twist when (lari Wie
deraenders. .1 chief aide for House Majority
Leader David l)i\ (D-Kugene), resigned be
cause he "at i identally " tore out a page from
.1 campaign finance document. The page
Wiederaenders took failed to list a $10,000
contribution to the (.aliens from Rep Hedy
Rijkin 11)-Newport).
Since then. I)i\ has come under intense
tire from Democrats. Republicans and state
officials alike. I )ix contends he had no
knowledge U'iederaenders had taken the
page The story goes that l)i\ was told a
page was missing, confronted VYiedei
.lenders and returned the page.
I'd prove his innocence. I)ix reportedK
underwent a two-hour polygraph test. I)ix
said the test proved he he did not know
about the missing page until later in the da\
We're inclined to believe him Dix has
gone out of his wav to cooperate in the in
vestigation. and no concrete evidence of his
guilt has turned up vet.
IJniversity-area residents have a special
interest in the investigation. Dix is the Uni
versity's representative in tin House, and is
one of the staunchest supporters of higher
education Anybody who has ever seen him
at work on the House floor knows he is a
major player in the legislature.
Kven if Di.x isn't involved in the W'ie
deraenders scandal, he and his fellow Demo
crats have a lot to answer for. They cleark
need to clean up their campaign spending
ways, and deal with all the nagging ques
tions brought up in the investigation.
-Letters.
thought ol it. or no out* cares
for tt program that actually
works, no matter liovv desper
ate its need for funds''
I < hallenge the student txidv
and student government to ill
roi't collet live effort in moving
to support this program Stu
dents join with your elected
representatives and make the
svsteni work for you; make it
accomplish some good Don't
settle for ext uses from the s\s
tern or yourselves You .ire all
too resourceful and creative to
fail
l.ogan Dhonuu
Student
sitV students might he interest
ed in import nut theater produi -
lions and or Native American
matters?
I Ion you were able to ignore
the Wednesday night perfor
mance of "hires on the Water."
a dramatization of Tlingit raven
stories, is beyond me While
the ballroom was packed
even standing room was hard
to find the Emerald appar
ently didn't even know (or
didn't can*) what was going on
I'he Register-Cuard and What's
Happening had pictures and ar
tit ins. while the Ol)F. — the
"campus paper" — had abso
lutely nothing
Students who depend on the
ODE for their information
missed an incredible evening
The audience was hushed and
intent on every work and move
incut from the five Alaskan per
formers At the end. the hall
erupted in a standing ovation
Onlv two other stops are si hed
tiled on this "tour" Portland
and Washington 13.(1
Add these questions how
relevant, how alert, how impor
tant. how helpful is the /me;
aid?
|efl Harrison
Knglish department
Fans in groves
The fans "are coming to Aut
zen in groves? [ODE. ()<t t»l"
Shades of Hirnam Wood, what
does this portend?
Sue Hamilton
Psychology department
Ridiculous
These questions might seem
ridiculous, hut one must ask
Do vou know where the KMII
H.illroom is/ Have vou heard of
the Cultural I'orum? Did vou
know there's an active Native
American Student Union on
campus, anil a thriving Native
American community in Ku
gene Springfield
Can you imagine that Univer
-Letters Policy-—
The Kmerald will attempt to print all letters con
taining comments on topics of interest to the Univer
sity community. Comments must be factually accu
rate and refrain from personal attacks on the character
of others.