Editorial
Daily Emerald
School finance
still unresolved
Oregon voters have spoken again, and the message
they have sent to the legislature is one of unwilling
ness to fund primary education.
While some will dispute this claim, the numbers
tell all. Oregonians voted overwhelmingly to change
the way kindergarten through high school education is
financed (Ballot Measure 5A). but wouldn’t approve a
way to do it (measures 5B-E).
Measure 5. all five parts of it, was not designed to
become instantaneous law. Rather, it was an indicator
of the current mentality of the average Oregon citizen
toward education funding. It did that, even if the re
sults are discouraging
Put simply, Oregonians w'ant a quality education
system, but aren’t willing to put up the bucks to pay
for it.
While this is a criticism of the state in general.
Lane County also deserves its share of the blame.
County voters passed Measure 5A by a huge margin,
but shot down both income tax reform and the institu
tion of a sales tax.
Maybe an increase in the income tax. nr a sur
(lunge on goods is not the best, most progressive way
to fund education. But so far. there has m>l brim one
other alternative advanced that makes the slightest bit
of sense Oregon needs a new source o! revenue; needs
to take school finance off of lot al property tax levies;
needs to reform the entire system These are not perks
or itu reused government controls These are critical to
the state’s health.
We all want social programs Alter all. a govern
ment bv definition, is supposed to help make our lives
better, it it doesn’t, we change the government But the
price of government social programs is financial sup
port from the population. And Oregonians don’t seem
to want to make that sacrifice.
It's not just an anti-tax mentality; it is almost an
anti-government mentality. Measure 3, which would
have instituted annual legislative sessions, failed, al
beit by about fi.OOO votes. Opponents of the measure
said it would turn lawmakers into “professional politi
cians,’’ when in fact, they already are.
This is not a call to submit totally to whatever the
people in Salem tell us to do. We have the right to get
rid of any politician, if the majority feels he or she is
unworthy of office. But don’t be hypocritical and say
lawmakers aren’t doing anything to salvage the educa
tion system. They came up with ideas — four of them
in fact. Oregonians didn’t want any of them.
It is very easy and seductive to pass judgments on
legislation while not coming up with viable alterna
tives. That is exactly what voters did on Tuesday.
•,,' u U
Racism, antisemitism reappearing
french President francnis Mitterand
mart hi'il alongside 200.000 |it*i>pli‘ Monday
In protest vit inns demonstrations of anti
Semitism that have occurred in fiance din
ing the past u eek
A Jewish cemetery neai Marseille was
ransacked and the body of an Ml-year-old
man was dug up and impaleii on a parasol
while holding a Star of I )av id In a suburb of
Paris .(.! Jewish gravestones were defaced
with red swastikas the day of the rails
No one has been formally at t used of any
of these at ts. but members of the ultra-right
wing National front party. led hy JeanMarie
l.e Pen. are under suspit ion.
Mitteranii's presence in the demonstra
tion marked the first time a french president
has joined a public rally since World War II
lie should he commended for his actions,
few I rent It politic ians have been willing to
t ritii ize l.e Pen or take a slant! against Ins
National f ront for tear of alienating voters
even in light of its blatant rat ist anil anti-Se
mitu foundations
The desecration of these Jew ish graves is
a revolting reminder that anti-Semitism is
still a reality of modern times, and one that
seems to he on the rise in the face of drastic
sot ioeconomit t hanges in global politics
And however repulsive and unforgivable
th»* events in France are. the Freni h by no
means hold a monopoly on rat ism.
Here at home. American universities are
seeing a spread til white supremat ist student
unions, including one at Ihadlev t'niversilv
which sponsors its own l \ talk show enti
tled "Race and Reason
A white student union lias existed at
Temple University since 1988, and the uni
versities of Florida, Nebraska-Fine oin ami
Southwestern Louisiana have launched si
milar groups this term
Must we wait for something as gruesome
as the defiling of a corpse to stir people to
act out against the attitudes and institutions
th.it allow people to cam out such a vulgar
task
Persecuting a group of people does little
to restore order, economii health or stability
to traditional institutions Hut for some rea
son, it seems to he human nature to attempt
just that to lash out against Jews, hl.u ks
or gays and lesbians rather than to work for
productive solutions to social problems
More than a publii demonstration
even with the presence of a president is
needed to prevent people from seeking a
si apegoat to blame for instability in society
Hut those 200.000 people who marched
in France are headed in the right direction.
letters
Ever brilliant
Km Ki km.m [01)1'. May 11).
you mav believe what vou will,
lull wht'ii Ili'ii I.iiuli'r w.is mur
ili'ri'il In a group of Contras
April 28. 1MH7. ni'ar a rural lis
droolet Irii plant which In* was
engineering m Nicaragua it
wasn’t llii' oppression ol the
people that he hail in inintl
Kinder, if vou had known
him. was an amazingly gener
oils person He nave his life to
help the poor in a country that
lai ked so many things. spei iti
( ill I v skilled and eilui ated
workers Kinder, who had a
government salary equivalent
to $1 1 a month, had a i ivil on
gineering degree from the I Hi
\ ersitv ol U ashington
Is km.m lander knew the
risk ol going to and working lor
a war torn country lie yy.isnt
naive The nsk he took y\as
i ourageous. hut it does not give
the (lontrus or any one else the
right lu murder Aci ording to
vour letter, it seems apparent
vou felt lander deserved to die
lie was lull of love Why do
vou want to take that away
from him so badly?
lander had a dream, that one
da\ the people ot Nil aragua
will enjoy the standards of liv
mg we do. and be tree of the
tortuous path of war lander
i ared He ai led He died. Hut
his dream remains ever hril
limit
(ireg hngiish
Student
Politics of greed
Let s i elehrate spring in Lu
gene with a good i itizenship
fair' And there is milt h to cele
brate Take lor example our
do nothing President Heorge
Bush and his teen aged Vide
President Dan Qunvlf* Thus.
the "read nn lips, no new tax
ex " Conservatism. the polities
of greed
And so the deficit will keep
ballooning, hut we here in Ku
gene are happy enough Some
sorority women were out in
their yard dam ing the other
night, and the fraternity "men"
were ( ruising by in their little
imported hot rods In my three
years at the University. I've al
ways wondered where these
people are when important
speakers or issues are presented
on i iimpus The greek i rowd is
never there, never involved
Why'
The Kepuhhi anx won't talk
about taxes be< ause the issue
has worked so yyell lor them
and Ronald Reagan l isten to
Marlin I it/vvater pit kle their
power with Orwellian double
speak And the Demoi rats,
with all their petty concerns
like the homelessness, and
i,l-rotiH (M>vuFtVr -and- military
pork barrel boondoggles, and
the S and 1. crisis ($50U bil
lion). the rape of the national
forests, and a public hopelessly
disillusioned and boycotting
the polls in this model democ
racy.
No new taxes' Read mv lips,
which close around silver
spoons It's worked so well for
us. and with the fall of commu
nism. we won't have anv issue
to wrap party around. Flag
burning? The abortion issue
went the other way. actually
What's the HOI1 to do in 1990?
The politic s ol greed might be
naked without no new taxes,
the dipper and anti-commu
nism.
Tom Kibe
(Graduate student
Message
"It a man lies with a man as
one lies with a woman, both of
them must he put to death;
their blood will be on their own
heads " (Leviticus 20: Id)
Jason Corso
Kugene
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