EDITORIAL
Don’t complain if you
don’t bother to vote
We’ve all looked at our elected representatives at
one time and thought. "What fools."
We seldom realize who put them there.
Elected officials determine local, county, state, and
federal policies for education, law enforcement,
roads and infrastructures, and taxes, to name a few
On a local level, elec ted officials have the power
to:
• open the downtown mall to traffic,
• declare nuclear free zones invalid
• set the amount ol traffic, filters
• regulate landlord tenant polic ies.
People seldom care about such issue's until lhe\ are
personally affected by them By then it s loo late
No one can keep up on every issue. Our elected
representatives have support personnel in their offices
to assist them on policies and issue's.
Hut pic k out an issuer or two th.it concerns you and
find out how the c andidates fool. It s a start Especially
if vou have never voted
Oregon has one ol the easiest voter registration
procedures in the country. One merely has to fill out a
card staling name, address, and party affiliation, if
any.
Voter registration cards anr available* almost every
where The lame Countv elections is loc ated at Ida E
Mil Avo forms can lie pic ked up at the ASf 'O office
Everyone with the light to vote elec ts our represen
tatives Especially the people who do not vote at all.
In a time of voter apathy, when voter turnouts are
sometimes less than all percent. .1 minority of 1 itizons
.lie controlling our governments When you don't vole
urn are supporting the eventual winners
In the 1 inning Nlnvnmtier elec lions (tregonians w ill
vole on uhnitinu rights prnpcrlv lav relief, rec voting,
and the shutdown ol the Trojan \uc lent I’ovvei Plant
'something for pisl about everyone'
People ln't\vi*en the age's ol 1M and 24 vole' tin
least, .Vppmvimatelv 2a pc ivenl ol that age group vole
in elec lions. This is 111 < entrust to the 7.o percent of sr
nmi c itizuns who vole, l hiiversilv students lake heed
Absentee ImIIoIs arc' available for voters who will
lie out of (own on elec lion d.iv Absentee voters elected
< Congressman Denny Smith over Mike kopetski in I‘IHM
I tv 7011 vole's The mile ome was not decided until tin*
absentee v oles were 1 minted
II vou don't vote, and don't like the election re
sults villi deserve till' fool that's elected Mill look into
(lie mirroi lor the real tool
List Pacific Yew trees
Tlir i urn-til pnlilii.il li.itllr over listing I hr Pat if i«
N c« Inr .is .in end.tngered spot ins is complex
I.iiv iruiniinnliilist s < l.mii th.il (li<> Yew needs in be
protected In ensure <i large supply nl lire cant er fight
ing agent Taxol Inr Ihe future.
Met ill I se (lie tree is .1 "weed" tree tnnnil in old
gtmvlh Inrests the issue is .dsn inlluenci .1 l \ the fluid
In save the spoiled owl.
In 1 lear-i tilling oper.iliuns the Yew is otlen g.tlh
ered into slat; piles and hunted instead ut lining sel
aside so Ihe laxol could he e\triu led trnni the hark
Invirnnmentalists claim Ihe endangered sprites peti
linn would end this pint ess
Timber groups i (aim the petition is an indirect el
fort to end more old-grow th harvesting
The timber groups have said listing llte Yew as an
endangered species would tie up the harvest nl the Irel
and the subsequent Taxol in government red tape
Hut it is also a way to ensure that the tree is not
wasted in clear-cutting operations. The petition to list
the Yew contains wording that specifically emphasizes
that the listing would not prevent utilization of the
species for the development of Taxol
lasting the the Pacific Yew as an endangered spe
cies would protect and guarantee a supply of Taxol for
the future The claim that the listing would cut off the
supply of Taxol is just another political move by a
scared timber industry.
Hopefully the preservation of the Pacific Yew will
not get buried ami lost underneath the old-growth con
troversy.
Pace 2
CZal
Supreme Court decision makes sense
Oregon’s ever changing November ballot
bus been rearranged again thanks to some
insightful (and quick) decision making by
the Oregon Supreme Court.
The Court wisely ruled that a clerical er
ror should not take away the citizen's right
to decide important issues.
This is especially encouraging in the
face of the current trend toward issues being
decided by the judicial branch of govern
ment rather than the representative, legisla
tive branch.
The Supreme Court was correct in mak
ing its ruling in favor of the spirit of the law
rather than by the letter of the law.
The court decided the fundamental right
of letting the voters make important deci
sions outweighed the legality of whether
written certifications were needed rather
than oral ones.
In today’s no-holds-barred political are
na it is easy to imagine what kind of prece
dent a decision to remove the measures
would have set. Opponents to certain meas
ures would simply spend their time looking
for ways to have those measures removed
rather than trying to persuade voters to re
ject them in the democratic process.
Although the so-called measure crisis
seems to have found a satisfactory end there
is certain to be, and should be. some fallout
yet to come.
Most obvious is the effect this will have
on the gubernatorial campaign of Secretary
of State Barbara Roberts. It is her office that
is responsible for compiling the November
ballot.
It’s too bad her campaign has been nega
tively affected by the judgment error of an
employee. But the bottom line is, she was
the boss and ultimately the responsibility for
her office’s work is hers.
Robert’s should pinpoint where the
problem began and correct that problem.
Voters will be watching the situation to find
out how she deals with the crisis.
Hopefully the political wrangling of spe
cial interest groups will not kill the chance
for an election decided on the candidates'
platforms.
LETTERS
Skeptical
In the Sept. 25 issue of the
Emerald there was an article on
the University study determin
inn how many jobs in Oregon
an; timber related.
1 feel that the reporter
(thniugh miscommunication)
and the editor (through an edit
ing decision) misrepresented
my opinion on the subject.
First. I'm skeptical about the
study considering it was fund
ed by Weyerhauser, a multi-na
tional forest products company.
I also said that if thniugh this
study Weyerhauser was hoping
to imply that if jobs were lost,
all of these jobs would be af
fected. I thought that was a
slimy tactic.
And concerning job losses,
I'd like to start hearing what
these giant companies and our
elected officials are going to do
about the inevitable job losses,
instead of denying reality.
I might add that currently
these companies are exporting
3.7 billion board feet of timber
overseas. The Jack Ward Thom
as (this is the one all the hoop
la's been about) only sets aside
1.2 billion board feet for protec
tion It follows that if these
multi-nationals cared about
their workers they wouldn’t be
exporting their jobs overseas.
Rebekah I.edwith
Southern Willamette
Earth First!
Beware
Does the truth make you
mad' Are you losing respect for
priests and ministers when
hearing the shocking number of
sex cases many are involved in,
especially child molestation?
There has been little aware
ness of the problem because it
is no concern of the state as to
why a church expels or trans
fers its clergy. They are free to
hide the facts.
Children are taught to look
up to their clergyman as a trust
worthy man of God. One who
feels it in his heart to teach that
the Bible offers the highest mo
rality and ideals everyone must
live up to.
I he clerical collar some wear
helps build up an emotional
feeling for guidance from a
caring father." We now know
it serves as a blinder in some
instances of sexual misbehav
ior.
Studies show two of every
three victims are boys. Some
former altar boys said they
were told to accept molestation
as a special religious rite.
The startling number of these
crime cases appearing in the
news show that the molesters
are not solely "dirty old men'
but "men of God" who have
access to children and women.
The cost to cover-up this be
trayal runs into the thousands
of dollars for some churches
and its reputation. Church
camps, day-care centers and
schools of some denominations
are under the spotlight.
Check your library for re
sources and refer to the Child
Abuse Hotline. It is your job to
judge. Child molestation must
be treated as a public threat.
Thankfully, there are many
clergy who do their proper job
and who are worthy of confi
dence. "Wherefore by their
fruits ye shall know them
Matthew 7:16-20.
Catherine Desmond
Springfield
sa_I_ -— s tOOfl