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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1990)
Kditorial Secret decision warranted input A public utility not only should serve the public it should he run by the puhlii However, this is not the i use in light of List week's secretive proc ess of tiring Jean Keeder. the Kugene Water and Klectric Hoard gen eral manager IAVKH hoard niembeis Dennis Solin, Kand\ Timing and Hob Willis fired Keeder at last Mondav s meeting without allowing c omment from the stall the puhlii or Keeclei fierself I heir order was that she ( leal out her office In eight the next morning, and at the meeting tliev gave no reason for firing her Render's expertise at her joh is indisputahle I lei career as the hoard's top manager spanned five years and KW lilt's elec ti n rates are among the lowest in the nation Svstem reliahilitv |a national reputation) and customer satisfai turn (BO peri cut) are high KW’KH has been a leader in areas sm h as new ener g\ resonrc.es. conservation and child < are programs Keeder call he credited for I.H I it s status She also is the nation's first woman chief executive* officer of a full-service public, utility However, some problems overshadowed I'.W hit s innovations The three hoard members sa\ Reeder's management style caused conflic ts and the\ had lost confidence in her abilit\ to handle responsibilities of the job It swills perhaps that the three hoard members dis agreed with Reeder's long-term planning )ost before sire was fired. Reeder railed for an additional rate in i rease of 17 percent, in addition to the 7 7 pen ent al ready proposed, to keep the utility s finances afloat Why was Reeder fired7 Reasons ranging from fi nancial worries to sexism to anti-environmentalism have been suggested. Whatever their reasons. Solin. Timing and Willis are elected supervisors of a public agent v. and as such they have the authority to dismiss a manage) For pretty unit h am reason they want However, it would be expected that such an ex treme action as a firing would follow an open and pub lit process before any decisions were carried out Oregon's public meetings law requires that most business conducted by local government boards to be done at meetings that are open to the public: In this case, it didn't. Reeder's dismissal followed .i gradually simmering conflict between her and the two of the board members. She was in a position of be ing disliked by people who had power over her job Private phone calls and secret deals made up the bulk of this decision-making process. The public was never involved with or informed of the slow buildup leading to the firing. The public was not allowed to comment after the unexpected announcement And the public appears to have been denied representation in what should have been a process involving all What the public: can do from here, though, is en sure that a similar fiasco never happens again The terms of Solin, Tim ing and Willis expire at the end of this vear. but petitions are being circulated to rec all the three from office. The three FWKB board members have demonstrat ed that thev have no interest in public involvement and response to their mandates The* public can now respond on the* petition sheet and .it the ballot box. to let the three men know that we have no interest m their unfair and secretiv e business practices _Letters Policy riu* luiii'r.ihf will attempt to ('nut all letters contain mu comments on topics of interest to the I’niversiH i nmmunitv ( omments must be factualh accurate and refrain from personal attac ks on the character of others betters to the editor must be limited to no more than at words, legible signed and tin* identification of the wntei must be verified when the letter is submit ted rhe I'mrr.iltl reserves the right to edit any letter foi length or style IT MUST BE SFHNG. \ in. X?, nBsnwK? N0--W FTBST QOCN QIAHUPCBEW rp»ixwu3*n Letters. Dorms 111 .1 meeting held at ( .irsnn II.ill List week Audi ( laik mi (iln'il ih.it Ins iippnnents in Lisi s|ii 111u; s elei linns vviti' up posed to putting voting lioollis ill I lie ill n ins ins .nisi' 1111■ \ thought th.it dorm residents w <• 11• 11 t .is edm rttcil on thr is sill's I In truth is, tliosi' who spoke .ig.unst Inn ing dn turn liooths m tin- dm ms did so out ol fun ness Uh\ should .im spin ml mti'ii'st group on i .uiipiis gut piutuiunti.il treatment' As things si.uni now luting booths .im uipnilli distnlmtud iiround ■ .impus so th.it ,im sttiduut i mild u.isiK vote nu.it .1 1 lass n 10111 It thu dorms gut tliuir own voting booths win doesn't thu 1 Ireek si stum gut theirs ■’ ()t how dbout putting them 111 front ol qu,ids' In f.u t I d like one outside itn .1 p.irl 11 ient And where will the iniinei 1 oinu Irolll to p.iv lot the ion strut lion ol these new booths ■uni the people to monitor them 1 As it is student tees p.n cilmost SH.utiti tor thu sis or sui un booths wu h.ive Adding booths will null ini ruilsu tint expense I tot.dl\ siippot t (.lark's hopes to turn out more voters this spring but voting booths in the dorms is not the answei I he kei to gutting out thu vote is personal 1 out.it t w ith peo ple and it l lai k w ants the stu dents to mobilize and vote lie should use .utile strategies like tabling and phone banks to till II 1 ml the 1 ote D.ilrnt- I in ir Studl'lll Rciil conflict I l.iv tnu 11«'\ i'i fullv muii'i stand tin i.ilnin.ili- bithiud tin' "S.n I’ .1 loggi't i'iit mi im l slogan. 1 vi• 1 iturt'il nut In thf 'i.’tnl .\111>11a11 Logging I imfi'i mu i- List s.iiurdav Hi.' I,mgrounds vvi'ti- }>.ii kml with histv \ lugging niiii hiticrv lit ,lll IV |ll'S Mlltll'. 1 list* till' tll'I'S linn rut, ri'aihing lunnlri'ils ul li-i't tu tin- sk\ \s I uati In'll .1 \ ulfii ili'iinuisl i at mg a mai him' ihililii'd thr ' 11>tat x rla tup i lit di' limb and iii.nl at tin- rati' ul Hitt tii-i's [n't hinit I vvniiiliTi'd vvliat i ham i' Oifgnn s luri'sts luivr ,iv*ainsl such oftii lent He strm 1 mu \\ hell I ham n lines 11unia11iI\ 11.1 \ I' \\ hell M e hav e to ileslti i\ I lie till ngs wo love to live’ lliere was something sadlv hi t.ilistk .mil sell ilestrin live m watching these loggers liypno ti/e<i iimier timber industrv thelorii \t th.it point 1 hail wished niv i.ided thoughts i on Id have been 111 Hied over the loudspeaker, pist to confirm tli.il 1 w .isn't missing ,mv lud den ti nth \lv i oik eiitr.il ion vv,is inter rupted bv .in angrv logger sav mg (ioild.iinn enviioiitnent.il Ists .ue ion mg us .ill out of wolk .is he stood in the shad ovv ol the machine that w ill ill Inn.itelv i .iiise the evtinr lion ol Oregon's logging communities as w ell as its am unit forest ei o sv stern \lv questions had been an swered and as 1 left the con vention, I pasted an l.artli first sin ker on the bumper ol a logging trm k I .el there he no mist oni options I lie real coil tint throughout Oregon has nev er been jobs v s the env iron merit hut tubs vs greed and automation Darin Stringer I’olitn al studies Opportunities I poll nearing the end of my long ami perhaps less lli,ui in ilustrious college i .iron. I have li.ul tlio i mirage lo onroll m\ soil m ,i Woman's Studios t lass tills loi III rills I lass Is toil! lorrei division credits ami an opportunity not to lio missed In my past, I yy.is tioithor out tvardly not actively improssod In 1 .n t as a woman. 1 roi og ni/ed my soil as olio ot tin* op pressed Yet. 1 d isi oy oi ti\ ho ing ,1 passive and silont uiiin an I was doing little to holp i It,mgo altitudes about my rare In as Ion and sin rim I words as |lossiI)In I would liko to dis pol a low ol tin* many myths that exist about the Women's studies classes I list it is not a (lass lot lesbians ouK sot ond it is mil a ( lass for friends ol lesbians only, and thud it is not a men basiling opportunity It is a I lass solely dedu atod to breaking down myths per petuated by a palrian.hu! sot to tv. It is a class dedicated to opening youi mind and learn ini> In .11 i ept ilitlrri’iit .it!i lodes Must importanllv it is ili’dn alfil In ri’i ogni/.ing that woman an1 oppressed. that ivr ni’i’il lu i hange six ial strui lures and that we i an empovv el eat h other This i lass will make yon an grv especiallv at societv I his rage i an turn into energv oner g\ used to push societv toward a heller understanding ot i hailge dillereni e and equal i H Please i onsider taking a Woman's Studies i lass It is an opportunitv to improve voiu sell and those around v ou Stephanie Nelson Art historv Minty fresh This letter is regarding the Oregon Torre dispersing tree condoms in its I ebruarv issue Kedlizing that the appeal ot the staid and boring latex condom had diminished due to its how shall I sav it unsavorv appearani e someone i .line up with the world shattering idea to add rihs for pleasure a tip lor semen storage and bright colors for those lights on” ex periences Phis time around the uIti mate addendum has been ai hieved I hanks to modern si ience. this new i haritv birth AIDS control has been I don't want to sav flavored but delinilelv si ented vv ith mint' Hetlei living through i hemistrv Mv hat goes oil to everyone involved ill this hold stroke lorw aid P S \\ ill these i olldoins sat isix the detinition lor vegetable m our si hool Inin h programs'' (.aix Mali film Student Power i it>\ i111k•> 1**1 s take some personal responsibility lor the lliilit*s that happen in utir lives \\e aie the only ones who ran make the changes Let's stop blaming all ot our problems on olliers So. let’s i|tiil whining and sniveling Let's gel up oil out butts on our own power Let's do something positive tor a i liange Stuart Pennington Student
