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.
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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