-Editorial
Bridge plan costly
but needed expense
lorget the* oiil adage about bridges over troubled
water now. troubled bridges are getting us in hot
water Hut I'.ugenians are taking steps to lix the prob
lem
l.ast week, the l.ane County Hoard of Commission
ers unauiuinush approved a $0 million program to re
place 'i t hritiges in the r ount\ over the next eight
years. The plan, once completed liv 1l)'l(i. will mean
that none of the county's -127 bridges will be rated in
poor condition.
The S1) million program was chosen over an alter
nate proposal, u hu h would have cost Sti 7 million and
replai ed only <(> bridges While some may argue that
the less costly proposal would have allowed more
money for other concerns in the county, in this i.ase
the more costly plan is needed
Lor one reason, the money to fund the plan is coin
ing from federal timber receipts, which is in .1 surplus
at the moment Since we have the money now. the
board reasoned that we should use it now before the
money runs out. which is likely
Another reason for the more expensive plan is that
we need these repairs Some 15 percent of the system's
bridges now fall beneath the rating of OK or better
That means this 15 percent .ire potentially unsafe to lie
driving at mss, but people do it every day, unaware of
the nsks they're taking
That's a terrible thought Any one of us may be
driving to and fro every day on a bridge that's func
tionally obsolete It s almost enough to make you para
noid about crossing am bridge.
As the board has decided to spend the money for
repairs, it should ensure the work done is of top quali
t\ Some of the bridges that have to Im: fixed now are
only 15 years old They should have lasted at least 30
to -4(1 years before needing repairs, according to nation
al bridge experts The reasons for the fast decay of
these bridges include the use of old, salvaged materials
from older bridges
II these structures had been built with quality in
mind they would have lasted twice as long We could
have used this SO million for other crucial problems in
the county, such as the homeless situation.
We should be careful not to make the same costly
error this time by building the bridges with quality ma
terials and paving close attention to detail. Hv doing a
sloppy job tin- first time around, we’ve basically
burned our bridges behind us.
HOW
CONVeNieNT,
coM(?ac>ef
JUST WH6N We
NeftDeP iT,
it pecane
^ oivaii_aPL&.
A
T
(y&l f> v -^*u i
Commission will bring better recognition
This past week, wi1 km fixed <1 welcome
hit id news trnm ,n rnss the highvvav Spring
(iidil will u<‘• its iiu 11 hum,in rights i ommis
siun
We're glad fm Spring!icId t )ui twin ( itv
has .ilvvavs gnltfii a had rap. oltcn placing
thf sistfi tu Fugene I’artlv hei ause of
thf I'niversitv. laigene has thf hfttfr pro
grams hfttfi sen ii fs and hfttfr public nda
t ions
Hut mam l'ni\ersit\ studimts live in
SpringfifId and thf formation ol thf ione
mission v\ ill go a long wav toward estahlish
ing fquahtv hftvvffii tin* two i itifs
laigene already has a human lights com
mission. i omposfd ot liv e dittfrimt sfi lions
SpringlifId's commission will he composed
ot a single hodv hut will perform similar
l.isks lo Huge lie s
The commission is designed to promote
education,d and multi-cultural activities,
and le,id the light against discrimination
()ne ol its roles will he to ait as a mediator
in discrimination problems
In realih. even i itv needs a human
rights commission, and Springlield is no
different The need lor such a commission in
Springfield has been there for a long time,
hut i it\ government has not supported one
Mm ti of the congratulations tor the for
mation ot the committee should go to
Springfield Mayor Hill Morrisette lie
formed the initial task lone, hue k in Man h.
that investigated the need for the commis
sion lie also served on the task ton e
Morrisette and 1 i itv residents studied
the human rights problems in Springfield
and determined the need for .1 ( ommission
Si\ months later, they produced a final re
port detailing the strut lure ot the new com
mittee
Applications for the commission are
now being accepted We urge am people
who feel they are qualified to respond before
the Dec B deadline The growing-up period
will be the hardest for the commission it
w ill need the best people lor the job.
Letters
Zealous
I mil Kibe's lellel |( )l )l \uy
17) illustrates .1 st■ i unis contra
tilt lion Kilif utlyntales private
.ilitirliun |ysith puhlit funds no
11*ss) ,tl llir mother's free op
I loll
1 lc proi rods yy illi t out ei n tin
Hu- i‘nviri)nmt'iil peat r tlis
tMsf reseun h issiit-s anti olh
t'is as wtdl .mi ifiil loresls .mi
ni.il rights unrt'Slrit tfd Iroe
tItini ol protest anil t out ern lor
I lit- homt'lt'ss
Sut li zealous t om fin for so
mam animals and people and
plants should tin lude unhorn
i hihlrt'ii Instead. tin- t hil«i is
an ini onvi’ninnc i\ so it is ri*
tint ft I to .i ’ 'tftus.' or " I is
sue ' Hie y .i I lit* ol thf t liild is
rnpl.it fd In a tlinual descrip
turn ol Its stale ol development
Somflhing should t h.mge
I 11hfr yve should include the
unhorn t hildren in our zeal ol
preservation or dispense with
tin- /f.d ultogfthfi and find
something fist- to worry oviri
()r perhaps w f t ould 11m 1
good reason for what we value
and hfllfve I'lie arguments
over social and political issues
lat h siillu lent philosophil al
groundwork, factual observa
lion, thoroughly supported as
sumptions and t awfully devel
oped riMMiiiing This ion is
consistent, however It's much
easier tu use empty llieturu
ze.ilous presumption, .mil one
siileil i aril .limes nl mn oppo
nenls
\ M Sauerwem
Musii
Misquoted
I .1111 pleased In the i u\ erage
vou nave the lorum about
homeless women .mil i Inlilreii
at the I In It ('enter (()l >i \uv
I d However I was misquoted
as s.ivinit the ills and i utility
should not deal with the ohvi
mis problems ot providing
housing and should address the
other tai tins involved in home
lessness
I am appalled at this error I
began tin presentation with a
live minute explanation ot win
we must provide shelter for the
homeless, and then explained
that it was not the only service
which was needed to success
fully address the problem I
emphasized that other needs
mi luded putting an end to do
mestic violence
Marsha Kit/durt
Vssoi cite professor. I’I’I’M
Like news
An inventory '>1 tin- \o\ _’<i
issue of the / nirr.il</
lun news stories three
sports sublet Is. luo etlilori.lls
on s|lorts related topics, three
letleis one meeting jinnouiHe
inenl i oluinti. one politic al i ar
toon three comic strips seven
photographs one contact strip
with photos on it one mast
lie,id 1_! displ.u ads and 'll
( lassltled ads
I don't pH k up the EiiutjUI
to read advertising. I pu k it up
to read c ampus related news
that I don't get in the Register
(iiuml The two news stories
had little to do with ( ampus is
sues and one ot the editorials
I.k ked some important infor
mation that would have made
the entire piec e different I'hc
sports stories were old news
that I didn't want to read again
Many of us like to read news
instead of advertising: isn't that
win veni re called a nevvspa
per>
Patric k Perkins
fouriialism
Observant
W ith one hand I applaud the
long overdue inc reuse in park
mg meler rates (in t diversity
between lath .111(1 ltttll Willi
the ntliei hand I must |iinnt
out the IIH empt\ parking
sp.ii es I i minted at ‘l .1 m on a
normal Thursday morning
I or years the five hour me
leis near Mac (ourt have lieen
live (cuts per hour Kverv space
was tilled belore 8 .1 in During
the da\ cars like mine often
( in led like buzzards. waiting
lor the next a\ailahle spai e
Now. since I don't want to
spend S-l every day I take the
tune to walk smell the roses
.mil (omit the empty parking
spates
1 presume that in light of
(shadow of'’) the l'diversity's
planned parking structure and
its required funding, someone
interpreted these underpriced
meters as a souri e ot additional
revenue Hravu' Hut who dec id
ed 011 a rate so high that lew
U ill |).l\ '
\n observant porker might
have until cd that under tile old
s\ stems tickets were timed .it
just after t p in and rarely is
sued alter that The l adversity
should liar e i oiler ted lal mure
than it did
The new system i ertainh
brings in more money hut the
immediate parking problem is
lar more severe Surely our able
tai uIt\ in marketing, et onoiii
k s. tin.iiu e and tier ision sr 1
cures could determine the de
maud tor parking meters and
maximize profits over the op
propriate time period subjer t to
the constraint of using every
possible spar e
Hut then, maybe they don't
have the time because they 're
still hunting for parking spaces
of their oyy n.
Brut e (ioolev
Management
_Letters Policy_
Letters to the editor must be limited to no more than
250 words, legible, signed and the identification of
the writer must be verified when the letter is submit
ted.
The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for
length or style.