Editorial
Work to avert strike
of Bethel teachers
There seems to Im* no solution to tIn* debate be
tween thr bethel St (moI District administrators.I its
tc.it lifts
Lis! Thursday, the bethel teachers union voted to
strike Unless some miracle cure is found hv hob r>.
1.800 students in northwest Kugene will t ome to i lass
onl\ to find their instructors pit keting outside the
gates instead of teaching inside the school
It is a typical dispute over a typical issue The
tear hers' union wants a ft percent salarv ini lease, the
distrii t has offered l 5 pen out I he tear hers want paid
benefits the distrii t says it can't afford them The
union wants bonus tor longevity the administrators
sav llo
These, and other problems have caused the split
between the tun sides And no one is prepared to bni k
down. The teachers are prepared to do "whatever s
necessary to get a favorable settlement i hey re pre
pared to walk off the job
Both sides sav there is still the possibility ot avert
mg a stnke but no one is betting on it In all likeli
hood the Itethel teai hers will sii ike on Teh i
I bis strike of lor that matter, any other strike has
direi t implications for the lest of the i ommunity l n
douhtedlv l.ugene will be affei ted in some way I’ar
outs ol Itethel students will need to find alternative
means ot davi are Some ot them won't be able to afford
them
At the University, it is highly likelv some students
live in the bethel School Ihstiiil It is also probable
that some have < hildren who attend si bool m the dis
Im t
While it would be tough for am union to stiike it
must be especially painful for teachers In order to
light for decent wages, tliev have to leave schoolchil
dren without teachers The very reason they became
teai hers is taken away from them because of bureau
r lain monevu rum lung
II the union does strike, (.800 students will be
lo< ked out ot i lassrooins There is no wav district offi
cials i .in round up enough substitute teachers to re
plat e the 2.10 person teai lier's union, at least not in the
near future So i hildren will miss st bool, and with the
present state ol the Oregon public education system
am time away from t lasses is a crime
both sides need to sit b.u k down at the negotiating
table All equitable solution must be found It possible,
the strike must be avoided there are J.800 students
in bethel who need teachers
im ytcr Tv- ,
■/— e
"Why worry we can't make computer chips in this country anymore?
We still have the technology to produce these!”
Don't risk school funds on stock market
In November l'lHfb Orctgnii's voters
i.isseii ,i measure to allnxx llir stale to invest
'part ol the common si liiinl fund hi the sloe k
market Ihe idea was to enahle the state to
manage the hind like "a prudent person
would Sim e itic hallo! measure was
passed legal experts have been looking lor a
legal wax lo emit I the law bet ause the ( be
gun ( (institution does not allow the stale to
own am slot ks
Well, alter a year the experts have come
up w ith a plan but il does not appear lo be a
xeix good one Their idea is lo give the moil
e\ to a pi ivale broker have the brokci invest
and manage the monex and pretend as il Ihe
broker owns the sloi k
Allei finding a wax to ell.nl the llleas
lire the Stale Land Hoard voted lo invest as
mm li as S.’X million ol the i omnion si bool
bind into slot ks I lie i omnion si liool hind
inlleils monex from a xarielv of sources
I'w ii e a xeai a poitum of the fund is (livid
ed up between all the school distrii ts in the
slate where the monex hinds approximate lx
I percent of each student's edm atnmal
i.osts
Tin? ( nmmnn si lioul fund is one of the
mure dependable forms of educ.itioii.il fund
ing vve have in the slate right now (airrent
l\ . the si lino I fund's $H)‘l million are invest
ed in low-risk fronds and money-market at
t ounts
It (lie slot k measure is emit led and the
State Treasury invests S2Ti million ol si hool
fund revenue in stocks, it is predicted that
the stocks would probably lose money this
year and lor the ne\t lew years before the
slot ks would begin to make a prolil
I bis is no time to plav with monev for
school funding, especially not in the stock
market.
New York stoi k market analv sts are pro
let ling a verv volatile pit lure lor the market
m the l'l'Mls I'lie weakness of the I S. dol
lar. the price ol savings and loans bailouts,
and ever increasing interest rates have made
the slot k market a riskv investment 1 lie
market has turned bearish lately and litis
been losing points on the average trading
dav With two trashes in the ’80s and no
predii lions ot a better picture, slot ks seem
to be a rather loolisli investment
—Letters
P<iy raise
I ,a s I \ IMI W Ill'll I 111' sl.llc III
Oregon Inn'll .1 now c li.tin islloi
and tin' I'niversitv selected .1
ni'u president I was surprised
.mil siimi'wli.ii perturlied in
find mil Ili.it imi li was ret tiiv
ing .1 sizable pav i'iiisi‘ relative
In u I1.1I llieir predet essiirs li.ul
earned
( I1.1111 ellor Tlimnas Bartlett's
1 mnliiiii'd salary and expense
.111 mini ' w.is 1.used trom
Si 1 s um in Si r.mm and
1’ii'sidi'iil Mvies Brand s total
on nine went Irnni Sill 1 I'N) to
\ 1 1 t,0211 lliese represent in
1.leases of 1H a pen fill and ‘I 1
pen fill respei tivclv
I'odav. I am totally iin ensed
to read that eat li has been
handed an additional ". peiienl
r.iise Why did the (.11 I have
to I H*y> bargain and demon
strate before finally getting a 1
pert ent raise7 I he official ex
t use for this administrative
overindulgem e has to do with
keeping i|ualit\ administra
tors in stale
file message here appears to
he that the admmistr.it ion
themselves doll t (are milch
■llxillt (hr 1)11,lilts ot (hr (imi h
111 ^ assistants lilt's i • ii 11111 »s
much less ihi' quality ol their
lives
In mil tonus. President
Ur.iiul's |i.is raise means $">.000
Ini tlir sr.ii (This is mi iili'ii
(.ills .i figure equal In ins annu
al sal.us give nr lake Si” till I
t aking min at t mini a first time
emplosei contribution lossanl
health i.ne tm (lie (.III ins
uu tease ill ini lime tor the s eal
s\ ill lie ahmil S too
In defense nt our adininislra
tins I guess that $100,000 nisi
doesn't go as tar as it used to
Hut just ss here the hell does il
go rspec i.ills tor a mail ss ho
doesn't esen have to pas rent:’
Hans-Mic liael Vermeersi h
<;n
Loud music
The Vets >0/1 77mes reports
that i Oies a/ ross the countrs
are In keitng drivers sslio boom
loud rnusit from their c ars l.u
gene stiould do the same:
paitic 111.ills around the tain
pus and also In ket persons
sslio hnnni loud iiiusic. Irom
campus dorms and houses
around thr I ni\ rrsitv
Helene |<ihnstnn
I’ulitii .11 si inn r
Choice
llii' plati' where urn slumlii
In* tree to i house .1 hook is .1
Ixioksliin' oi .i library Ilir
pi.II i' will'll' Mill shinllll III' free
to i lioosi' tin' miisii that vim
listi'ii to is a record storii or a
Iivi* inusii i lull I 'iifiirtiinati'h
main ol llii'si' plait's will pul
popularity ol opinion anti prof
it before tri'i* spt't't It
In thr samr u.n till- Avatol
lall pressured thr II Dalton and
Waldrnbooks i hams into not
carrying Thr S.itunit: \ rises for
its controversial content. or thr
turthrr examples ol thr Maplr
tliorpr art exhibit. thr film The
l.nst irniptution iit Christ. The
Dr.nl Kennedy's Trmikrm hrist
allium, thr comedy ot l.rnin
Hrui.r and thr iiiinit strip
l)ouneshur\ thr i ritit s of tile
I hrm I’oppin' Daddies would
do thr same bused on thru in
triplet.itinn ol out name and
I Olllfnl
I lies base silt teedetl in Iml
lying l'« cil i luhs min not , 11 loss
mg us In plus limit*!' our oiii
ii.il name, Iml hast' thus far
been unsuccessful ssilh lot a I
ret uni siorus selling our l.iprs
\I1 this under the lliin g11ist*
• •I lighting ssiiiils. Ii.ilc i mni's
misdgs us i 111111 ■ 111tisi1 kuct'
jerk arguments that don't si,mil
up •,l ''II " lirn i ritii .ills evalu
■iting thf message of our iiiusii
or llid sometimes ironic espies
sum ol out art ist it intents
This zero-tolerance mentality
sets a dangerous pret cdenl anti
allotss tor shortsighted, irre
sponsible judgments that I
hope educators are not encour
aging, and free thinking i iti
tens should not act ept
Steve t’t*rrs
Cherrs I’oppin' Daddies
Discouraged
1st* been reading the /■./tie/
.)/</ just aiiout cvers das litis
seal, and I t an I help being dis
i ijuraged In all the negatise
letters lb.it are sviitten
Wouldn't we .ill rathei get a
11,11 nil liir li.H k in' rr.nl some
tiling encouraging .ibtnit a
i lassmale in community mem
liri rathei th,in seeing who can
slam” \s Ih> tin- host'
As I vv ,is grow 111>4 tip I ".is
always taught to take ail\ pi'ol)
lems I hail to tin- siumr. and
deal with them rationally and
reasonably l or the sake ol Ini
niaiul\ and I hi* betterment id
ourselvis. let's question out
own motives Ini arguing ol dis
agreeing with one another, and
il there really a prohleni than
deal w ith it in a manner that
might ai lualh solve the prol)
lent.
I low that is to lie done will
lest in the hands ol us as indi
vidunls. realizing we are re
sponsible tor our a< t ions
Let's not Use the Ijurt.ilti as a
vehii le to complain and gripe
about every little thing that we
have a problem with I wonder
what would happen il we were
to consider one another before
ourselves lliink about it
Darrin Herb
Student