Editorial
Striking bus drivers
need rider support
Fugeno's Creyhound bus station at ltttli Avenue
and I’earl Struct is usually jammed full of students
looking to ^el home lor weekends. On Friday, those
same students found themselves either crossing a pi< k
et line or finding alternate means of transportation
Drivers for Creyhound, the nation's largest bus
line, went on strike Friday over wage and job sei urit\
disputes The strike has quickly turned uglv , \s ith out
breaks of v iolence being reported all over the nation
A sniper fired shots at a bus in Chicago Russes
were vandalized in Spokane. Wash In Jacksonville.
I la Olv mpia. Wash and Minneapolis, pic keting driv
ers were struck by busses; in Redding. (la I if . one sirik
er was killed when lie was pinned against a wall by a
bus
In Fugene, drivers have been wearing black arm
bands in remembrance ol the Redding man. Robert Wa
terhouse Waterhouse was well known and well-liked
hv mam of this e itv s drivers Waterhouse has alreadv
be< nine a martyr and symbol lor union members deter
mined to stu k to their demands
That means the strike is likely to be a long one, be
i ause the organization representing the drivers. Amal
gamated t ransit Cnion. has a long and confusing list
of demands reflecting the different concerns of the
union membership
For instant e, drivers in Fugene are most < one erned
with bus driving's long hours and low benefits; main
drivers report 12-hour days and 70-hour weeks. Drivers
in Spokane appear to be concerned with job security;
they’re afraid Crevhound is planning to drop the less
traveled routes in Fastern Washington and leave those
for smaller bus lines Other drivers want wage in
creases It’s going to take a long, frustrating time tor
union leaders to achieve a consensus on am contract
approval
The management the drivers are lighting is a new
one Crevhound was taken over b\ new ownership
about three years ago At the time, the company was
floundering The union gave up several i one essions to
management, and the company has since turned
around The union thinks it’s now time for manage
ment to start giving bac k. and we agree We suggest
that, for the duration of the strike, students form
c arpools or take the train to get where they want to go
At the same time, we implore the striking drivers
to put a stop to thc> violence. Violence will only serve
to lengthen the strike- and drive people away from
Crev hound for good There .ire other companies, sue h
as Amtrak and smaller bus lines, that are ready to prof
it from am long or ugly strike A threat to ridorship
would hurt both management and employees
REMEMBER
WOW,
AS A KID,
YOU COULD
MISBEHAVE
ONLY SO
MUCH...
BEFORE
VOUGOT
A REAL
GOOD
SHAKING...
LTD free ride program deserves praise
Though lingerie i ,in urns lien- near be
considered ,i major metropolis, it does have
its share of urban ills
Anyone who has p.utii ipatml in the dm
1\ l ens Street Bridge gridlock. or tried in
vain to find a parking spate near the Down
town Mall knows that driving in Kugene. at
times i ,m he a pain W hen voil eouple too
mam i ars in the < 11\ u ith a i (infusing maze
ol one wav streets, you get a driv mg experi
eiu e that is less than pleasant
1 11) alreadv has a t niversitv program in
whii li students ride the bus system foi tree,
lust In Hashing .i t’niversitv 1 1) card I he
program lias worked well, with ridership
hav mg ini reaseif In tat) pen ent in less than
two years Main students have left their< ars
at home in favor ol riding tile bus Traflir
congestion around the campus is less and
there are more parking spar os open
\ou I. I I) wants to expand its free rider
program b\ extending it to ( itx workers
( 11v employees would ride tor bee. therein
inducing the amount ol iais in the down
town area The < itx has tried in the past to
help traltii woes in laigene hv expanding
the number of parking spots The 1,11) plan
u ill take tills out' stop further
The idea is a good ono. The program is
scheduled to begin in late April, and will
provide service for 1,150 cit\ emplovees
I he city's parking reserve fund will pa\ for
tlie free passes
Traffic i out erns aside, the l,TI) proposal
also has other positive ramifications Kugene
residents, foi the most part, trv to he envi
ronnienlalh conscious lhiiversit\ groups
are < nnstantlv trving to get people to rei og
ni/.e the environmental impact of driving a
c ar Kugene does not have the smog of a I os
Angeles or a Denver, hut a reduction in air
pollution is welcomed
The one concern ol both iilv and LTD
officials is the amount of cit\ workers who
will actualK use the free system If ridership
doesn't inc rease substantiallv. the program
mai not survive past its one wear trial peri
oc I
t ■ it\ employees should support the LTD
plan. It just makes sense I he benefits of the
program are wide-ranging and appealing
1 icmi an environmental standpoint, from a
traffic-congestion point of view, the LTD
plan holds nine h promise
Letters_
Never forgive
The results ill the rei ent e|ei
hulls in \u aragua have i aused
me tn reflect mi the ten dues I
I M lit ill tll.it I I lUlitl \ III I ‘JH I
I 'iilortunatelv 1 1.u k the tune
tu eiiumei ate tlie v\ av s the \ i
i .ti.imi,ms whom 1 met anil who
represented a broad t loss set
tion ol sor.ielv demonstrated
the integritv of the Sandiiiisia
revolution as it worked to
hailstorm \u araguan soi ieiv
I'hev had just held an elei
lion, alter whit h seven politic a!
pailles stalled powel ill the \.t
lional Assemhlv Mthough m
lerii.ition.il observers .illumed
the fairness of the 10B4 elec
lions the Reagan ndministra
t it in mui ked them hei arise ()i
tev;a vvnu) and t|llic klv imposed
an ec oiiomii embargo w lule the
Ileinoi ratii Congress appruved
sunt million in militarv aid tin
the ( initras
In true ()r' we Ilian I ash inn. the
l s media has tew i itteii Nil a
raguan Instorv b\ ilepu ling
\ iolel.i I'haiimrrii's vii lorv as
\u uragua s lust real elei
t mu | Itei ause < Irtega lost 1
I tin nut qui-stum thr jutli;
ment nl tin' \ it arai;uans v\ In >
[I't'liuy: trnin wars nt .t
t S ti.it ki•<I oivi'i t u ar anil
impovcrishri) aftfi Ini' wars ut
.it s imposed i'i ununiH mi
hai^u haii' t onli'ssi'tl that m
ortlri to In i• in peai r it u as
easier tu replai.e Itanii'l ( )111• .i
than to persuade the I S pn
eminent tu respei t their stiver
cimitv
Hilt I ilnulit th.it I u ill i'i i-i
f«iinivi' mi government tm ini'
n'pii'M'iitini; ami suln i-rti11ii Un
popular revolutiunan proi.ess
in \ii .il.igua \nii I i an nri i i
torget tin' indelible impression
li'lt In ihf palm Inal si Inn11
Ir.n lint ill Masai a u hi 1 tolil 11 n■
U Inal you lirlp snmi'onr li'.irn
to rr.nl anil think in a ni'iv u ai
lhat is a mi olutionai \ ai t
KiiIi Kiippi'lin.iu
I ni>lish (. I t
Dialogue
It has i time to tin’ AM l) Stu
limit Small' s attmtion that In
stitutional Animal (Ian- and
1 sr ( ominiltee student nifin
hi'i las.i ( al.nI'tta inlonni'ii
Students tor the Kthiial lre.it
ment lit Animals representative
till I reidberg l>\ phone that ''lie
would tin longei he able to dis
i uss l.\( I (' matters with
1 leidbnrg
In tile phone i onversation
l aluvetla said the del ision not
In disi uss I At I ( matters with
(reidberg Was made during a
dist ussinn (lalavetta bad with
both |ohn \loselev and ( hades
h i mmel
Act online to 1 reidberg the
matters ( alavetta said she
i ould no longei disi uss ini bill
ed information on when the
1 At I t wiadd meet. and on the
status ot lit Kn hard
Marnu i o s protoi ol \i i ording
to our understanding, this is
pubiii mtormation
It is also our understanding
that aftei rev lew mg the I’uhlu
I le.dth Set v a e I At I ( guide
lines, w e I ould not tind a spe
i ifiu mentioning ol a need lot
i onfidentialitv on matters the
1 \( l ( handles
Ihe Student Senate had
worked verv hard during the
last two years to insure a slu
dent seat on the 1 At I < It was
our understanding that this stu
<lcnl would begin to represent
the iOfii i‘ins ot tin- l 'niv ersits
student hods Am interested
st iidi-ntiS I should ho ,diln to talk
to this representative about
I At l ( matters. ini hiding
n-.oinhors Iroin SI 1 A Adminis
trative m.ittors should not be
hidden Inun the students
We hope th.it. III the future
members ot the I At I ( ' u ill en
i outage rather than disi mu
age, open dialogue between the
student t ommunitv and the
IA( I (
ldtam Weed
( hair. Student Senate
Anti-business
\ our art it le on hospital es
paiision {01)1. Mar. 1| is sillv
Interviewing an irate Audre
heller who hersell. is at hi.one
tor nut applying tin a sp.H r in
tlir structuri' is t\ pit al ot llir
.inti business mentality "I I'u
gene and Oregon 'i on sin mill
lit' worried about ixinkos I iifv
fi kiifv\ vuui plat f existed
The lmspil.il is net essai v
Surnii.il equipment mi six ilit
Ififiit doors, Iifils in thf hall
wa\ I'xpaiision is neiessarv
S,li n'd Hi-art is tlif 1.nip's! tins
pital liftwri'ii Piirtlaml ami San
I nun isi ii Siiiiif ul us i an t
l ull- in an ambulant f fur I -
Iu>urs wliilf uui nuts are drip
ping out.
Hf reasonable (lompi-titiori
is a ni'i fssarv m il. It keeps
liusiiii'ss tit and hopehlllv lion
fst Slav informi'il, Keller
Tilings in Kugi'iif aren't ( tit
and dr\
Sti'vi' Kpstein
l inani i' I’I’I’M
-Letters Policy_—
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ing comments on topics of interest to the University
community. Comments must be factually accurate
and refrain from personal attacks on the character of
others.