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 ... i ■ L _ o 11IUO