_Letters_
A 4 percent sales tax
may be best option
As thtr May primaries get ‘ loser .mil c loser, one e
again everybody is talking about sales tax. proposals
The subjec t of a sales lax is not a new one to (tie
gun voters bight lime's, there lias been some sort of a
sales tax proposal on the ballot bight times, voters
have? shot it down; usually In overwhelming numbers
In the past, it has been difficult for sales tax propo
nent.x to get bipartisan support If one siile liked the
proposal, the other side usually was against it Sm h is
the* nature of politics Hut tones change and so do
opinions
Both front-running gubernatorial candidate's. Dem
oc.rat Barbara Roberts and Republican Dave broil ninny
er support a 4 percent sales tax proposal vvliic h will be
on the Ma\ ballot Voters will comment on five diffei
ent sales tax options All the measures are advisory
Whv the sudden support tor a historic allv tinpupu
lar tax? Because the (Jregon public educ ation sv'stem is
a dinosaur The stale government c ontrihutes less than
It) pert ent of education costs. Ion ing loc al lawmaker'
to relv on property laves to finance the rest ol tin
budget The system is tailing apart, as s< bools are in
c.reasingly sinking into debt because loc al voters keep
turning dow n property tax lev ies
t )t all the options, the- 4 percent sales tax seems to
be the best one Onlv goods, not services, would lie
taxed An estimated $‘100 million would be mixed
slashing proper)\ taxes on homes and businesses in
hall.
There are many draw bac ks to a sales tax \s lar as
progressive taxers go. a sales tax isn't one ot them But
the- sad. simple, blunt and honest truth is that Oregon
needs another sonic «• ot revenue
Oregon voters avoid any sort ol new tax as il it
were' the black plague. However, the education svstem
cannot keep running as is Schools will go bankrupt
soon unless the- whole system is changed from the bot
tom up. (ioutinucHl short-term measures and ipnc k mi
lotions won't work anymore.
Support for a sales tax from this side- is qualified
The idea to make it part of the state constitution makes
sense. In addition, there should he some sort ol a
freeze on increasing the perc entage Both gubernatorial
candidates are right in wanting to keep future law
makers from tampering with the tax.
II past form holds true, this tax proposal will not
he a popular one with voters. But before anyone rejects
it out of hand, they should think about the itnplic a
lions Unless some sort ot a new tax form is passed, the
state education system will not function for very long
DURING THE
STRIKE, WE OFFER
A DISCOUNTED FARE
IF ^OU AGREE TO
RIDE SHOTGUN...
_K
BUSES >
—■-v/
Greyhound «j
Self-serve ban leaves room for card locks
1 ui now ( begun is rnnimittod to c ontin
uum its loneh but i ommendablc i riisade .is
ime nt tbi- tew st,itfs remaining in the nation
lb.it prohibits tin- publii bum pumping its
cm n gasoline
Stale Attornev t a-nerul Dave 1 mhnmavei
issued all opinion last week that elarilied
some limits to the state's sell serve ban In
doing so. l iolinmayet reatlinned the origi
nal intent ot the law while wiseh leaving
room loi legislative input
The impetus loi I minima vet's ruling
was a ret out flap ovei w liethei so-c.ailed
c ardloc k stations are legal I ndei a i ardloc k
svstem, the c ustomei must insert a magnetic
c ard to operate a pump I he c ustomer
pumps Ills cir hei (iwn gas
I rohumayei s opinion was based on a
1‘IMi atlornev general ruling that found the
legislature's aim in c reating the sell-serve
ban was to prohibit the general public from
pumping its cm n gasoline
following this reasoning, I rohnmaver
ruled that c ardloc k stations serving only a
limited i lientele sue h as commeit ial. indus
trial oi government acc ounts are legal. Flit*
cardlnck station mav not serve the general
pi11>Ii< : it must limit itself to onl\ these .n
i omits In effec t, the station must become
non-retail.
That ruling closes loopholes lor stations
hoping to go around the sell-serve ban by
forming cooperatives or selling cardlock
memberships to the regular public custom
ers I’he frohnmayer ruling did not establish
a minimum quantilv of gas required lor con
sideration as a non-retail customer and left
that c l,ti i f i< ation to the legislature
Sell-serve gas is an issue that pops up
from time to time, especialh in election
years ITohnmaver was wise to leave the is
sue largely before the voters and state repre
sentatives.
for the most part. I'rolinmayer's opinion
continues the state’s commitment to a sell
serve ban This is a prohibition we’d like to
see continued: bringing self-serve to Oregon
would eliminate 20.(100 jobs and would no/,
contrary to conventional wisdom, do am
thing to lower the price of gas (sonic’ recent
studies have’ found that self-serve price’s are
about the same as full-serve prices).
Letters
Peel the wax
I! miu hultus u that the l uiiti.il
Inlolliguni u \gunt s h.ls I lit*
right In rui mil on i <iiiipus.
Mill .IH’ .1 1.11 1st M’vist
III M in >} I 111 >1 nt lllgllt lll.lt SOUUIS
to In tlir logu usuil li\ tin'
mam | ii*i ipln who liavr ri*
S|IOIlt|l*ii to 111 \ Il'ttlTS 101)1
I (ill JH| rills "logit ' IS pa
11*iit I\ .ilisuni
I lui\ i* llusut illsi nssuii (.oil
iiioi.ilits. oi usult s.iul lh.it pun
pli* shoulil not sunk to i Innigu
tin* CIA's Im mg i ulus All I
ll.lM* suni is ill,it stllilullts on
this i .impus shoulil not In* ilu
niml tin* opportunity to intur
\ 1USS SS Itll till- l I \ I Ills Is ss h.it
tin* r.it I it .tl lull ss mg is trs mg to
ill i. iluns sou tlnil right
It ssoillil hu nil i* it thuiu ssnru
.i sm.ill niimbi'i ot iu.il lihurals
on this i aniplis; hnssusut. th.it
is not tin* i .isu rhu Marxists
sons thus pmfut Sm nil Hum
oi ruts'' on this i .iinptis 11ki
lt > I look lliunisulsus ssith thu
libul'.il l.ihul so ns to iippn.it
iii.iinstru.ini Marxism is iluail'
1 asturn I tirupu knovs s this
ss hull ss ill you '
Ansonu th.it Inis buuu tolloss
I'.igu
mg tins serifs i .111 see th.it tin*
ii|>punrnts ut l IA ret niitiug ,n r
despeititf I iiiiu I aurel Sharp s
IlfflllfSS tlisi UNsioll III III • I Mix
11.lilt v |( )/ >i Man It I to Stev 1
t lose s pointless referent e to
the K11 Kins hi.m if >1 >1 Mini It
*H. these people have not ,nl
dressed one substantive issue
When people t .111 peel the wax
oil their eves m.ivhe .1 real dis
1 llssion t.iin take pl.11 e
I 1 it In ktn.in
Student
Pen pills
I tom time to time we re
I elv e requests from people III
foreign countries who would
like .1 pen p.ll from the shite ut
Oregon It is out hope lit.it you
might help us loi .lie students
from votii institution who
might like to partll ip.ite in
sir h <1 program
Students who would like to
establish .1 pen pal relationship
with ,1 person from .1 foreign
1 ountrv should sent then
name address age sex and
1 ountries of inleiest to l)t ! ton
I’etknis (begun Department ol
Kd tit at inn Salem OK n tin
t airrentlv miriest exists lot
pen pals lot ated in |.ip,in iimi
I 111 ke\
Thanks lor your help It is
gctiuinelv .tpprei luted
Dun IVrkins
Student set v ii i s spci ialist
On Shiva
I was pleased In see vulll < ov
erage id an event from the
Mart Ii i ein inmmental law
i oiiterriu e (()l)l Mart Ii i|
However, it was ipnte distress
mg to mite that id the two
speakeis you covered. }a\ ll.iir,
president id the Natinii.il Wild
life I tnmdatimi. was ipioted ex
tensivelv and pit lured on the
hunt page, while Vantlana
Shiv a t oordmalm id the Ke
sean h Inundation Ini Si lent e
and I i nlngv India was re I
egated to a few short para
graphs at the end of the artii.le
on the inside page
W hile I did not attend that
particular event I heard Shiva
speak it tdhi't times during the
tOllfelt'lu e and felt lllletpiivo
eallv that she was one of the
twsl speakers I have ever heard
\\ males have garnered
lie ( over stories ot newspapers
• md magazines long enough.
Ynndaiut Shiva's words of wis
d"in. and hei photograph, were
at least as worthy of front page
i nveiage as were |av Hair s
\ndrea Davis
Student
Peace studies
I he I ni\ersit\ peat e studies
program certainly apprei lates
the front page ( overage given
to the Peace Studies Associa
tion Conference |ODE. Marc h
H| It seems particularly rele
v.mt that the article focuses on
l lise Houhling as March H was
International Women's l)a\.
and Houlding is one of only
seven women in the history ol
thi* \obel IVat c Prize to be
nominated tin tliat award.
I do u ant to i Ini 11\ one 1:0111
llleilt tli.il le.dh epitomizes 1
1 entral ( onlereni e theme 11"'
peace studies program is not
saving that sou ailed minorities
are "disengaged." or that
peace studies thinks it 1 an 01
should go into these i omnium
lies w ith our agenda and re
1 ruit people to engage in it
Peace studies is about build
ing relationships w hit h am
based on trust and rot iproi it\
He at tuallv changed the name
ol the workshop addressing the
issue to "Peace Studies tor
Whom." It was held at 10 10
am. March 10. and was open
to everyone.
Leslie St ott
Peace studies
- ——Letters Policy_-—
I In* i.nwruld will attempt to print all letters contain
11114 comments on topics of interest to the University
comimmity t.omments must be factually accurate
an.l refrain from personal attacks on the character o»
others.