EDITORIAL
Time to just say yes
to a state sales tax
The budget crunch of Measure 5 has caused pro
gram reductions and closures at the University. De
spite administrators' attempts to convince the public
that only the size of the University will be affected and
not the quality, education is bound to suffer.
Along with University program cuts, many human
service agencies are going to be reduced and eliminat
ed as well. While assistance for the disadvantaged de
teriorates, large businesses, mostly property manage
ment companies, will be stuffing their wallets. Consid
ering that about 60 percent of all property taxes were
paid by businesses and landlords who made up a small
percentage of the par-capita tax base, the average prop
erty owner now receives few benefits compared to the
windfall profits big business takes in. • ,
State government will not be able to operate nor
mally and budget cuts will continue to grow unless
some form of alternative revenue is found. That alter
native revenue should come in the form of a sales tax.
Oregonians have traditionally bucked the call to
implement a sales tax. But now that voters have backed
themselves into a corner, they may see the light the
next time a sales-tax initiative is placed on the ballot.
That's why it is important for students and others af
fected by budget cuts to be as vocal as possible in the
coming months. Letting citizens know about the hard
ships caused by Measure 5 may convince them to look
serioualy at adopting the long-avoided sales tax.
The Legislature should quickly present a well-writ
ten sales tax to voters. So far. the politicians in Salem
have adopted a wait-and-see attitude for solving the
budget mess. But people on the losing end of Measure
5 don't want to find out what the budget ax is going to
cut next. They want a solution before more cuts have
to be made.
A sales tax on non-essential items — everything
but food and utilities — would be an equitable tax sys
tem. People who buy luxury items, or expensive ba
sics, would be taxed according to what they can afford.
It is time for Oregon to adopt a tax system resem
bling that of other states. Education and human ser
vices should not be paid for by one system, whether
that Is a property tax, an income tax or a sales tax. A
combination of different revenue sources should fund
these important agencies.
Satisfy the ABA by June
or forget the law school
The University's last-minute proposed law schotol
cutbacks are unfortunate, but reasonable under the cir
cumstances.
University President Myles Brand received a letter
last Thursday from the American Bar Association
threatening to remove law school accreditation unless
specific requirements are met. Two important improve
ments include student-to-teacher ratio and funding
sources.
The law school will reduce freshman enrollment
next year by up to one-half. Between 90 and 125 stu
dents will be admitted to the law school next year,
down from the normal 180. This will enable the law
school to have an ABA standard ratio of 25 students for
every instructor.
The law school has been under the accreditation
cloud for some time. According to the letter Brand re
ceived. the law school has until June to make progress.
Since the University has the only public law
school in the state, it would be foolish to cut it com
pletely. However, it is hard to see the logic in cutting
well-respected athletic and teaching programs while
hanging on to a law school that is barely surviving.
The University must make an absolute commit
ment to the law school for it to remain open. With the
Measure 5 cuts and the accreditation problems, the
University has until June to satisfy the ABA.
We hope the law school can be saved. But if the
University can't meet the ABA's June deadline, then it
should get rid of the law school and put money into
programs that are more respected and will remain ac
credited.
_
OPINION
Thanks for the reminder, George
One of tin1 saddest ironies of war is that 1“
people who fight the battles don't get to
make decisions concerning their own wel
fare Those moves am left to bureaucrats
who wear expensive suits and silk ties.
When Se< rotary of Defense Dick Cheney
and Gen Colin Powell, chairman of the H
Joint Chiefs of Staff, traveled to the Persian I
Gulf "theater" this week, they already had
"use ground forces" stamped on their ticket
stubs The ground-forces rhetoric was voiced the
loudest by the non-military man, Cheney The
two politicians went to the Middle Hast to assess
the situation and get advice from commanders in
the field
The Fine Print
by
PAT MALACH
Children draw lines in the sand and refuse to
speak with each other; mature leaders always fa
vor dialogue over bullets Hush and Hussein nev
er once spoke to each other. They didn’t even dis
cuss the possibility of communicating through
emissaries until a month before the proclaimed
writ'll tney re
turned. it was obvious
that talking to the men
who everyday see the
faces of the kids doing
the fighting had
changed their minds
President Hush
emerged from his brief
ing with Powell and
Cheney saying the air
attacks would continue
and the use of ground
forces would wait.
It is no surprise
that Army commanders
in the desert mostly
combat veterans
•r'M
THE
/MOST
(POVJHKFUL
"" [WORLD
A<
I
(leadline tor war.
Imagine, the lives
of tens of thousands of
people are at stake, and
the two leaders in
volved won't allow
talks to take place be
cause they are in a
power struggle over
who will set the date
for the meeting. One
way to appear tough is
to argue with your ad
versary about it and re
fuse discussions in or
der to show him that he
can't dictate to you.
Another wav to
wen* nol so anxious to use American soldiers as
bait to lure the Iraqis out of their foxholes The
bureaucrats wanted to shell out a few lives to get
the war rolling; the soldiers talked them out of it.
Of course, all of this assumes we can take
what the "highest authority in the country" says
at face value — a giant leap of faith during a war
Hush did use the opportunity to remind us
all of the position he holds and its importance.
He said when the time comes to employ ground
forces, he "will make that decision because that
is a decision for the president of the United
States." He picked an odd time to flaunt his pow
er. but what can you expect from a man who
wanted to be president so he wouldn't have to eat
broccoli.
War. and especially committing the lives of
people who choose the military because it is the
i>est of limited options, should always be a last
resort There is a lot to be said for compromise. If
giving Saddam Hussein one small concession so
he could retain his dignity could prevent so
much destruction, why not give it a chance? At
least talk to the man before you begin to destroy
his country and its people.
handle the situation is to rise above that adver
sary's pettiness and tell him you will talk to him
anywhere at anytime about resolving the issue
peacefully It doesn't matter if the person thinks
it is a Sinn of weakness as long as you are secure
about your own strength.
Now that our president has decided that
throwing a war tantrum is the only prudent alter
native for getting his way, let's hope the advice
from commanders who truly understand the na
ture of war can keep his ego in check.
A Y'ietnam vet once told me if middle-aged
men were sent to fight, wars would never take
place He reasoned that older men develop more
compassion and would ask themselves why they
were in a foreign land killing people they had
never met. •
True. Bush is a veteran of World War II. But
as a pilot did he ever see the faces of the people
he may have killed? Did he ever sit in a foxhole
and watch a friend's head get torn off by an en
emy bullet? Did he ever have to hunker in a
trench for months at a time while bombs are
dropped by some ominous force from above, his
only crime being born in a country with a leader
who does not value life? Did George Bush ever
witness, up close and personal, the faces of chil
dren in a war-torn country?
His actions say he has not