Sign field burning
ban ballot measure
Hcfor<* they look on the grass seed industry, propo
nents of .1 field burninfii ban should have hired a hn
guist. not a lawyer
bust week. Oregonians Against f ield Burning suf
fered <i major sethaek when the state Supreme dourt al
tered tlie title of the group’s proposed November ballot
measure The reason' The Oregon Seed Council, the
major lobbying group for the gr.iss seed industry, had
asked that some of the language in the title be
(hanged
The original ballot title was "Phases down use of
field burning " Now. it reads "Permits phased reduc
tion of grass seed field binning with exceptions
Semanlii s; and vers costly to field burning oppo
nents The court decision invalidated more than
t i (loo signature petitions OAI B had already sent out
and cost the group an estimate $10,000.
The wasted money and petitions aside, OAI B lost
another valuable commodity: time. To get the measure
on the Novembei ballot, the organization will need
ii i.57K signatures by July •> If the group can manage to
( in ulate new petitions by the end of this month (no
easv task), it will mean an average 4.000 signatures a
week
The setback is just one more in a long list of delay
ing tactics used by the OSC, and is another example of
what strong lobbying groups and a money-generating
industries can do if they set their minds and dollars on
it. During the last legislative session, state Sen. Grattan
kerans (D-Kugone) authored a bill to phase out field
burning, but met strong opposition from the grass seed
industry. Despite support in the legislative and vigor
ous tongue-lashings from Kerans. the bill didn’t pass.
The ballot measure is a virtual rewrite of Kerens’
bill. It would gradually reduce the current level of
250.000 acres burned annually, to 50.000 by 1995, and
also includes other restrictions.
The chief sponsors of the measure are kerans. Gov.
Noil Goldschmidt and Rep. Ron (’.ease (D-Portland),
and it has received support from other lawmakers. The
amount of pollution the practice generates, and the po
tential for accidents (remember the Interstate 5 tragedy
two summers ago?) is just to great.
Field burning must go. Not immediately, as some
people would like, but a gradual phase-down, as the
ballot measure recommends. The five years it will take
to scale down the practice will give grass seed farmers
plenty of time to develop new ways to clear excess
brush from their fields.
If you signed the petition before, be on guard for
the new one and sign it again. And those who didn't
know about the measure, now you know about it. Sign
the petition.
(iot-b/s Headache
Let voters have input on smoking policy
Sometimes the best ot intentions i an ig
nite ,i eontroversy
!nisi week. l.;me County Administrator
|im Johnson announced a restriction that
will completely lian smoking in all (.minty
buildings and vehicles starting I eh f> His
intent is applauded; his tactics are not
folinson acted after he received a peti
tion from countv employees who wanted
tougher smoking restric tions in their work
pi.ice He acted to promote good health, and
cleaner air will indeed be- one result of his
decision.
The transition toward a utopian vision of
a smokeless society continues gradually
While many smokers are making modifica
tions in their behavior to keep their own
const ienc.es i tear, the process is speeded up
someu hat w ith an upsu mg in the* number of
rules and ordinances here and there.
Smoking-designated /ones everywhere
shrink and disappear, and more smokers
( boose to quit or at least take their habit out
doors The changes occur to the delight of
health-conscious individuals.
However, many others, non-smokers and
smokers alike, view the imposed restrictions
with more than a hit of alarm. Johnson’s ban
is buoyed with justified health consider.!
turns, but more than that is at stake.
The fact th.it the ban was announced
without a vote of local < itizens. or even the
counts employees affected, is reason for
concern. As recently .is November 19H8. Or
6(4011 voters jettisoned a similarly strut
measure that was intended to ban smoking
in commercial areas statewide.
The public message was clear: restre
lions on smoking may be well-intended hut
some are too far-reaching for their own
good.
The defeat of the 1988 ballot measure in
dicated that though Oregonians' sentiments
toward smoking may be shifting, personal
rights and health issues must he weighed
carefully, yet separately.
It state voters decided that keeping ( iga
rette smoke out of commercial areas was too
restrictive, certainly they would agree that
the same is true with county buildings and
vehii les Kven it they didn't, these areas are
owned by the public, and decisions such as
smoking bans should be up to a public vote
We say bravo to Johnson for moving to
keep smoke out of county buildings and ve
hii les. but we give him a raspberry for doing
so while keeping voters out of the process
Letters
Salvation
I Ills morning I li.nl .in ,mr
sunn' vision In it. .1 multi 1 ol
Hinl unicorn in <1 fiberglass
cowlxiy I1.1l rev isili'il something
to nit; which I must sham with
every |H'rson alive (.min'd
pineapples 1 an save tin- world
riii* iinii orn told mi- tli.it it
i'\rrvoni' on berth cats a 1 an ol
pineapples at exactly tin- same
linie. all ol tile world's proli
lems w ill just dr\ up and disap
pear’ I have spent the enliretv
ol today in deep meditation,
seeking the true meaning ol my
vision
l have hecn enlightened that
on Monday. May 211 at H a 111
Kastern Standard Time, every
single person on this Karth
must eat a tan ol pineapple
M\ meditation also helped me
reali/e what an enormous Inir
ilen is on me now . and how dif
til ult It w ill he for me to edu
1 ate all the world on the wis
dnm of the multi colored 11111
corn
I have dec ided that the liest
wav for me to spread the news
l*age 2
is lii unit- In tin- editors of .ill
the world's newspapers .mil
ask tinmm lo .till ini' in .111■(1111vi
tile |)(i|)ul.ii i' nl tin1 severity nl
111\ i .nisi' I’li',isi' hi'lp ini' I hr
salvation nl llic world is .it
slake
|nilii Slu-non
Student
Truly skilled
I’lisisc Id me i ompliment
\inir oped .irlu lc on textbooks
(ODE, ).tn '!) Hie ethics nl a
professor requiring his her ow n
textbook h.is been .in issue tor
main dei aites. and has con
cerned me since 1 was an un
dergraduate more than -(> years
ago Sine e vou have raised the
topic lii like to offer my opin
ion.
I think it is not ethii al for a
professor to require any text lor
which s lie stands to earn any
profits l or years, it has dis
turhed me that this is a com
mon prat lice in most American
universities In some way. it is
svmptomatu of the wav the
teat her stmli'iit rt‘l,ilionshi|)
h.is been redui i‘d tu <i 11 ilistru
mental one
However, it the professor's
work is made available as a
photocopied reading. or of it
the small profits are somehow
returned to the students then I
think the prat tue is more at
i eptable. the onl\ fault being
that of vnmt\
It impressed me that nn very
best professors never engaged
in the prai In e ol requiring
their own texts If one is truly
skilled at tear lung, it seems to
me that one ( an teach one's
own material well without re
(fuiring one's own tiooks
Kenneth l.iherman
Associate professor, sociology
Much more
Since being a University stu
dent. 1 have seen Tim Hughes
in the media day in and day
out This flambovunt individu
al has managed to stuk Ins
opinion where it does and does
not belong
I don’t believe it's .) mutter ol
guy lesbian rights It’s some
thing much more
I have a cousin and good
triend w ho is in la< t. guy I’ve
spent a lot ot time with im
cousin, and not once has he
ever tried to push his homosex
ual beliefs my way I don’t feel
lor Hughes it's a • matter of
guv lesbian rights I feel
Hughes won’t rest until every
one on this i umpus turns gay
or lesbian
I'm sick .ind tired of hearing
Hughes' invalid quibbles that
are so lar stretc lied from the
truth II- one really believes
that everytime we say "you
suck." we are actually saving
"you suc k, and are therefore a
disgusting faggot." well then I
take bar k all the time I jokingly
said it !o mv father, friends and
tellou ( olleagues
I guess I should have known
better and looked it up in the
.Vert Abridged Hughe> I)i< lion
an For Mowing Things Out ot
Contest
Hughes, it's not .1 matter ot
your sexual preference that
makes you receive verbal
thrashings by others, it's your
unprecedented complaints and
whining Please do the I 'niver
sitv a favor: the next time you
want to make a statement
have a point to it.
Kent Jackson
Architecture
-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 Enirrald reserves the right to edit any letter for
length or style.