_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 } 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.