Daily Emerald
Editorial
New people key
to local elections
\11v bane (>0ntpolitic a! junkie < an list the prob
lems lac ing loc al government these days log morato
riums, nuclear tree zones, higher education financing.
These all give i il\ and counts' officials sleepless
nights
The problems are not new They hav e been around
and been ignored fora long time However, the
issues are now critical, and it is time to get tilings
solved New blood and a different perspective are
needed
That reasoning, more than anything else, has col
ored the Oregon !)nil\ hmuruld endorsements for city
and counts' candidates, whic h are as follows
County Commissioner
• Position I Kllie Dumdi
• Position 2 Put Kiggs
• Position 4 Cynthia Wooten
(lily Council
• Ward 1 Kandy Mar.Donald
• Ward 4 Paul Nicholson
• Ward 5 Ken Tollenaar
• Ward ti Hobby Green
While it is important to bring in new people to
county government, it is also imperative to retain some
officials with experience. Of all the county commis
sioner inc umbents running for re-election, Dumdi is the
one deserving to remain in her post.
Dumdi s background in loc al educ ation is flawless
and a much-needed commodity on the- commission.
Government needs experts, and Dumdi‘s knowledge of
the community is valuable. She is worthy of reelection.
We c hoose Kiggs over Steve Cornacxhia because of
our dissatisfaction with Comae cilia's voting record. He
seems to be part of a growing conservatism on the
county commission that is leaving constituents more
and more isolated. It's time to put the commission
hac k on an even keel.
Kiggs is a logical choice. She has much experience
in government, serv ing on the bane Community Col
leger Board of Education and the- Public Employees Re
tirement Board, She has been a e ommitted public, ser
vant and w ill provide: new insight into countv politic s.
When lack Roberts was appointed to the Position 4
seat on the countv commission, we had high hopes.
Aftei all. he was an experienced lawyer who had run
for state government twice helore. He seemed knowl
edgeable-, and we expected him to become an integrat
ed member on the commission.
W e have since liccomc disillusioned
Roberts has aligned himself on several issues with
outgoing commission chairman Hill Rodgers His most
recent move defending the county office ban on the
environmentalist magazine h'urest Voice only fur
thers our disappointment
Wooten was a Kugene cite councilor for eight
years. She promises to fight for individual rights and
against special interests We believe her
In the Ward 1 i ity council rat e. Mat Donald is most
qualified. His experience, gained at the feet of state
Sen l.arrv Hill, will allow him to become an impor
tant. vital part of the board
\u holson is the only choice for Wait! 4. which in
clutles tin; I'niversitv. His concern lor community,
rather than for business interests, are unique ideas for a
ritv count il candidate Nicholson represents a grass
roots mentality long absent from i itv politic s.
The Ward a race was tough to call, but we finally
d<“( ided to go with Follenaar ovei Kaye Robinette
Tollenaar's bat kground in education. spei ializing in
state and local government, gives him the edge
Green was appointed to his post in Ward 0 last
year, and has been one of the most visible of all ritv
councilors He deserves a second term
_Letters Policy—__
letters to the editor must be limited to no more than
-all words legible, signed and the identification of
the w riter must be verified when the letter is submit
ted
1 he i.menihl reserves the light to edit am letter lot
length or sty le.
r
WA ..DONT JUST
STNtt)
qwxfeed
IT'.!!
v
Flapping gums
I \itv time I open the Oregon
Daily I'nirr.ild there's a new
letter eithei for or against ho
lliosexualitv We ran dehate
this topie until we’re blue in
the late lint we have to realize
the homosexual community ex
ists no matter what is said or
done ot thought
Homosexuality lias been re
corded farther hath than even
ancient (’.reece, when1 it was
ai i epled hv sot ietv as a soi i,il
norm It's not ,t new issue It's
not even a debatable issue You
can give miui opinions on am
subject as often as vuu wish
but I hope you don't exper t to
make people change by flap
ping vour gums in the wind,
bei ause thev won t
Homosexuals are not Irving
to convert anyone's sexual he
havior. don’t try to i hange
theirs They just want to he at
i epted To accept homosexuali
tv is not to sav you are a homo
sexual. v\ h n h seems to he a
tear of people who are uncom
fortable with tire idea " There
is nothing good or had
Shakespeare said, “hut think
mg makes it so
l ac e it' I he battle against ho
mosexuality r annul be w on
Uhv not torus our energy on
something more constructive
like . 111 i 111 a I rights human
lights and the preservation ot
our planet'
l‘aul \ era no
I healre arts
Leaders?
Ri< hard Nixon got a wax with
.1 number ol i rimes No did h.il!
the Reagan administration.
< leorge Hush ignored interna
tiona! laxx and common sense
when he sold guns to the ('.on*
tras and inv aded I’anama to get
one lousv dope dealer
Kan Noeskv ripped oft thou
sands of people to the tune of
hundreds ot millions of dollars
and then ends up doing a few
months in a federal i ountrx
cluh complete with manicured
lawns, tennis courts and cable
telex ision
These are out leaders the
men we he.tr of every tlav. the
tespet l.tllle sort of people who
supposedly emhotlv everything
that is great and wonderful
about this t ountrv. and whom
we were all taught from day
one to emulate Perhaps Diane
Wong and Gerard Moseley
should t onsidei these examples
before blaming the ' question
authority mentality of the 'Mis
generation' for their t hildren’s
self a enteredness (’/Vie Register
('.II.ml. Mas 1)
()ne should also keep in
mind that kids often reject their
parents values rather than em
ulate them t he members of the
nils generation that are being
berated did so m large part be
cause the authorities deserved
questioning Remember Viet
nam:’ Is the '40s generation ul
timately to blame then?
Hut perhaps the folks that are
Irving to disc red it the 'tats feel
a need to do so After all isn’t
it that very same anti authori
tarian generation that keeps in
sisting on su< h things as mu le
ar tree /ones, old growth pres
ervation and direct democrat v
prat tit es that make it so dit
ficuli for our leaders to do
tilings as they . ill then infinite
vv isdom see fit
Bill Smi'c
Stall
Insensitivity
I vc seen I'hr Simpsons
Sometimes I shake inside .is m\
bitter. terrifying childhood
memories are roused Some
times i laugh, as when "ordi
nary dumb kid” is said instead
of the doublespeak used in real
life An example of the latter
o< i urs when a < ftiId is told he
or she is smart enough to do
well in si hool, hut not smart
enough to have valid criticisms
about si hool
1 know about satire, and I'm
sure (lary Darin [OUR April
If?) does I think the real issue
involves looking at what
amuses people Some people
worm when thin see people
laughing at situations that in
i hide physical and or emotion
al pain I know I worm when
people laugh as they watch on
TV the umpteenth woman do
Letters
( hildbirth. I'd feel loss troubled
d I i ould be sure that insensi
tiv11\ to Ik tional suffering does
not indicate insensitivity to
real-life situations
Mv worries were not allayed
In Prank Phillips' Ma\ 4 letter
in whir h he referred to Hart .is
"an extension ot am bratty lit
lie kid you've had to deal
with
Please read "Interview" in
the March 10H7 Omni, pages
7,t H.t instead ot parroting the
conventional belief that i Ini
dren are to blame for the "prob
lems" they cause, the article
lays out the roots of these prob
lems, t lear to see for those who
are not parrots.
I don't believe Phillips when
hr1 say s he "created problems
for his family, but I believe that
type ot thinking r auses prob
lems for the i hildren's move
men!
Alice Berry
Kugene
Incubators
It is amazing to ini' th.it our
.soi mu is treating women as in
cubalors and storage devices
for procreation We are strip
ping them of their fundamental
rights to their own bodies and
making them into appliaru es
In the t inted States, we have
already witnessed the forced
and ( ourt-ordered (Caesarean
section ol a mother dving of
cancer in an attempt to "pro
ted" a fetus, and incarcerated
another woman, denied treat
ment for drug abuse when her
newborn babv tested positive
ior drugs
We are < urrentlv threatening
more women with jail sen
fences it they fail to prodm e
perfect babies Keen with all
the best prenatal i are available,
who can guarantee a perfect
babv? So what's next jailim
all the mothers involved in the
March of Dimes because their
kids are disabled '
Dean H alton
Eugene