Editorial_
Governor should
call special session
With frustration mounting, it w,is only a m.«lt<M «>f
timil bellin' it happened Last week. .1 coalition uf 51
Oregon school districts di‘(.i(li:d to sue the sl.ile, 1 l.um
inn the school finance system is "grossly inequitable
Defendants in the suit are House Speakei Vei.i
Katz, Senate I’residenl John Kilzhabei stale superm
temien! of public instruction and the state Hoard of fid
m at urn
Tin' suit comes in wake of the HIM!) Legislature s
inability to remedy the crumbling slate system Kvny
time a possible solution came up. paitisan politics 01
voter rejection shot it down
I'ut bluntly, educators are tired ol listening to law
makers' excuses The} hear plans, but see no action
come from them They watch legislators debate school
fin.on e reform, only to see ideas evaporate.
That Oregon's school finance system is in sham
bles should come as no shock. because the system is
heavily dependent on local property lax levies, it cre
ates a great disparity between districts Rich dislric Is
have more money, while the poorer districts struggle
to keep their doors open. Schools are also at the mercy
of whether voters wish to approve budget requests
The coalition who brought the suit are smart
enough to realize probably nothing concrete will 1 mm
ol it It anything, the state will contest it in the Oregon
Supreme (lour!. ty mg it up lot years in legal rod tape
Hut what the suit does do is awaken people to the
problem. It is a desperate grab for attention, which
stems from a desperate situation.
We noticed something curious in the coalition s
suit (',ov. Goldschmidt was not named as a defendant
If you're suing the state, why not go alter the state s
number one official
Hut then again. Goldschmidt has been highly sup
portive of school finance reform Last year, he forum
luted a three step plan, only to see it gutted in the Leg
islature. and later turned down by voters
We have a suggestion. Goldschmidt should call a
special session of the Legislature with the sole purpose
of reforming the state's edut ation sy stem.
It may seem like a radical idea, or a bit drastic Hut
the next legislative session won't convene until Janu
ary. 1901. The system is deteriorating so rapidly, by
the time lawmakers meet again, the problem could
have reai lied catastrophic proportions
If Goldschmidt and the Legislature are truly <0111
milted to fixing the school finance system, they will
convene a special session Now is the time for both Re
publicans and Democrats to forget their differences,
and fix the educational system before it all comes tum
bling down.
office is
a mess.
And the^
pebeis reven \z
even touched
[the place..
y
No summer break would be harsh for kids
School kids who l.ikr .1 (adviii-aml
Hohbesian approach lo lift- would prohahlv
c-ijiiali' year round sc hooling with a lain
worse* than death Hut then* is a growing
segment of the* population that favors sue h .1
c one epl
Ihumas Wogaman superintendent of
the (orvallis School District, is one propo
nent of a vear round sc hool system lie re
c elltly proposed to the ( it\ s sc I100I hoard a
plan th.cl would divide the* sc I100I vear into
trimesters with .1 month oil in August and
two-week In e.lks in Dec emhei and April
WogamaiTs concept would make stu
dents time in class six weeks lunge] than
the 1 uncut sc hool yeai Proponents of sue h
a plan believe students need this extra time
in class because they aren't learning
enough to stay caught with today's techno
logic al soc icly They also point to 11*1 ent
studies that show American students lag
ging behind other countries in education,
partly due to less time spent in sc hool.
Proponents of the radical plan also feel
the nine month sc hool year is essentially ob
solete The system yyas designed yvhen the
country yyas an agrarian nation and t hildren
were* needed to help in the fields during the
summers
While these* reasons for changing our
school system arc* valid and logical, the
dm what ks outnumber the benefits
Tor one reason, this new plan seems to
hr designed solelv with ( itv dwellers m
mind As far-teh lied .is it may seem to some
nl us. llmrc are kids out there who slill live
on farms and rural communities. Indeed
Corvallis is considered an agrarian cominu
nit\. and there are certainly kids in that dis
tin t who have to help on the (arm during
the summers.
Also, the vear-round school plan would
hv all accounts ( ost more to exei ute than
our current svstem. Because we are strug
gling to fund our schools the way they are
now the more expensive svstem is essential
lv inconceivable at the moment.
There is another reason for not going
with the vear-round school svstem. some
thing the proponents seem to he overlooking
or just ignoring. That reason has to do with
w hat kids learn awa\ Irom the classroom
Kids don’t become brain-dead vegetables
once summer vai ation hits Instead, they get
an opportunitv to learn about themselves,
their friends and the way the real world
works through this pleasurable diversion
Irom si hoot tedium.
It is likely that all of us ( an remember at
least one special summer Irom our child
hood. one that taught us life lessons and
gave us some invaluable memories To do
away with summer break ma\ not be a late
worse than death, but it would cheat future
students out of a big t hunk of their i hild
hood
Letters
Aiding, abetting
I'lic i'\n iition ol m\ |rsuil
priests m i i Sahadnr should
linin' as no surprise to anynni'
exon vaguely l.imili.n with
i him Ii si.tin ri'l.iti<ms in lli.il
i mintr\ 1 or vi'iirs the Catholii
i Imri Ii lias lirrli |ii’rsci lilt'll by
a military anil ruling oligarchy
lliri'alrni'il 11\ its wink aiming
I lie i i >n nt ■ \ s pour and ilispns
SI’SSI'll
Imprisonment. torture, ex
pulsion. and disappearances
liavn lung In■ n the norm Im
those Christians brave enough
In speak out against (lie na
lion's sot i.d ills and injustices
Id Salvador is the most
densely populated, must under
nourished country in Central
Amerii a "The dogs of the
rich.' wrote a former nexvspa
per publisher "eat better than
the poor
I'he word CospeI means
good news and in the atmos
phere of fatalism and tear the
i hurt h tried to provide hope
and i omfort to the poor
I'liev were lieginning to ill)
derstand Ih.it their situation ot
hunger .mil sn kurss the prr
uiaturr death ot tlioii >. hildren
thru unemployment. lli.il .ill
these disasters ,irr not the will
ol (aid. hut to the lust loi prolit
ot <t lew Salvadorans, and to
(tlirir own) passivity." wrote
cine priest
Dec ause ol theii work
i huri hliien have hern labeled
i ciininiilusts and sutiversives
labels that in Kl Salvador are
tantamount to a death w ish
In an American court ol |us
tic e. a person is guilty ot aiding
and abetting a murderer il he
know inglv prov ides the bullets
and the murder weapon to the
murderer \\ here does that
place President Hush in rela
lion to the six murdered
priests7 It leav es him guiltv
(Christian (iunther
Kugene
Honest living
Cindv Huibregtse states
(()l)H. \m It]." 11 \ mi are
iusulti'il by tile lai t that people
ask vmi Id spare some change
maybe it's about time Id tin
something about tills prtil)
lem. ’'
I hr people vvliu liiirassi-ii mi'
tur iiidi n'\ dii 1 till Avenue
were in their late teens ur eailv
twenties anil in good physical
i ond it ion ()ne nl them that
was running around with a hu\
shouted at me "Hey hahe. va
got any beer iiinnei ■’!"
I know this was an e\i ep
lional i ase but I i ertainly don't
11 in I it hard to understand win
main nl these people don't
have money; most people earn
money b\ working, and how
i an one work w tide they are so
i iali/ing on l .tth St tor most of
the day •'
And don't tell me there
aren't any jobs to be had by
these people |ust i ati h the
Sunday Kegisfer (iu.iril help
wanted ads True, mauv jobs
pav minimum wage or onl\ a
little better, hut isn't warning a
honest living better than asking
span,1
( ollege students tor
i hange7
Cr.ii o Wilson |r states \ODE.
N'ov !<>)• " most students
(spend about) six to ten thou
sand dollars a \uar (to attend
the 1 mversitv). One should he
ashamed of themselves it the\
are above pit\ mg a person less
fortunate "
financial aid. student loans
and two part-time jobs not
ni\ parents have gotten me
tins tar So I am supposed to
•eel sympathy tor these people
"ho spend the inajoritv of the
da\ soi lali/mg. while I attend
si hool and work ' I don’t think
Sarah lean Snyder
Knglish
Be good
I want to i all out to all mv
fellow students and urge every
one to remember to be good cit
izens So often these days we
forget our duty to be good citi
zens.
As 1 go about nis studies
eai h da\ 1 often < ome ae ross
fellow students who are (.iris
ing America forward vsitli
pride These students attend to
their appearaiu e. and .iri' i are
ful who tiles assoc late with
I know tiles study hard and
avoid kite hours and rec reation
al sex 1 feel welling pride
svhen I sec1 our sc hool s Irate i
nits ,ind sororits members foi
tiles make Aineric a great and
competitive
('.ome Sunday it's church
time and I press ms slue hs and
go. Last Sunday, at a down
toss n c ale. I overheard a c ouple
discussing plans to take
psychedelics in the forest We
lust enjov Gheetos at our fun
picnics
So let’s cross'd the burlier
shops, go to sellosv ssveater so
c nils .uid ball games, and re
spect our President After all
who wants to live in a countrs
whose youngsters have forgot
ten proper citizenship
Tom Ribc
Graduate Student
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