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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 1991)
EDITORIAL Transportation bill ignores big picture George Bush proposes to spend $105.4 billion over the next five years to prepare sod repair the nation's highways and mass transit systems. One thing is for certain, the country's dependence on oil will do noth ing but increase. * The bill allocates $87 billion for federal highways while earmarking only $18.3 billion for mass transit improvement. The administration should be concentrating more on mass transit systems instead of conceding the na tion's reliance on oil. A switch to alternative transit systems is not an overnight project, but it needs much more than the lip service it is now receiving. ■ Mass transit, along with developing more alterna tive energy sources, should be the cornerstones of the administration's energy goals. Both this new bill and the president's energy plan ignore conservation and pollution problems caused by fossil fuels. Instead Bush's policies continue to pander to oil and automo bile lobbyists. The government should work to have mil systems in every major city and its suburbs instead of making automobile iravel more appealing. Single-occupant ve hicles in big cilies are a prime example of petroleum abuse. Light rail systems will hr? more energy efficient and give people an alternative means of commuting in the big cities The United States has known since the H»7;t oil embargo that it cannot continue its current energy poli cies which emphasize the use of petroleum. Hnvirunmentaiisls are concerned, anti rightly so. about the continued emphasis on highway travel, which adds up lo more automobiles, higher oil con sumption and more ozone-depleting poisons in the air. Governmental anti independent studies prove the earth's atmosphere is changing rapidly and that global warming is a very real concern. Bush's new policy, by ignoring mass transit alternatives, ignores this prob lem. This country places too much emphasis on car Halos as an economic indicator. Auto sales are down for the year, but analysis predict an upturn as soon as the Persian Gulf War is over. Cheap, accessible oil means more cam sold which translates into more driving. Americans are so hung up on their cars and the conve nience of individual transportation that they won’t drive less unless forced to. The nation's roads need repair, but the country also needs a definite change in its transportation poli cy. It must face the future with the idea of using less oil, not more. Automakers and oil companies have too much in fluence in the government, and so much of the nation's economy depends on the use of gas that any attempt to switch .the focus of energy to soiar. geothermal, wind or others merely brings cries of foul from the rich com panies. Ail they see is the profit margin. They fail to see the benefits in healthier living, cleaner air and less for eign dependence on energy. What's good for the coun try is not always good for bottom line. When the guif war is over, every American should be protesting the nation’s energy and transportation policy. if not, they can look forward to facing a similar cri sis down the road because of the country's neglect to implement a safe, cleau and beneficial energy policy. What do you know? "We don’t know how this war is going to end; we don't know what Saddam is going to do; we don't know the exact course of it. ... We don't intend to go beyond the U.N.'s resolutions at this time." — White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater speaking about the allied goals in the Persian Gulf War. LBr'S 60 F06 ;'^r./ ^ '-'A L J LETTERS Neither nor It is ironic, to sm1, in tin* U*tt«*r by |<mat)ian Bernstein and Jim Bridge (ODE. Feb 14). tin* claim that "ignorance often prevails even the best intended nl protests In addition to the minor point that "prevail" is never a transitive verb. I also note that, in explaining the non econotn u reasons for fighting the I’er sian Gulf War. they themselves demonstrate an appalling igno ranee of the inconsistencies in Hush's position Neither Reagan nor Hush ever noticed vsliat a "mad. ruthless tyrant " Saddam Hus sein was w hile he was our ally against Iran No one in the ail ministration felt moved to de fend the Kurds from chemical weapons as long as Hussein stood w ith America against the Av atollah Khomeini Neither Reagan nor Hush seemed to feel that "we cannot allow one country to invade an other and expect to get away with it” when those presidents invaded, respectively. Grenada and Panama Bush did not regard a I ’nited Nations Security (lounc.il reso lution as a categorical impera tive w hen it condemned his in vasion of Panama Neither Bush nor Reagan ob jected to arming the man Bern stein and Bridge define a " bar barian who has been twisted with years of hate and aggres sion.” I have not forgotten that America bundled an insane asy lum in Grenada by mistake Now we have bombed civilians in a shelter which an AP corre spondent who saw it ilesi rilieil as not apparently a military structure I. and other war protesters, can be in favor of "freedom for other people"' without wanting In equal Hussein in aggression Regina Psaki Romance l.anguages Nukes no option Amid the din arising from the clash of the pro and anti war voices that fill the air. when’ is the credible, reason able and convincing voice we need to hear, a voice that can explain why the mixture of pa triotism. logic, morality and historical accuracy is proving to he* so inadequate to move Americans toward each other instead of leaving the two c amps polarized, ace using eac h other, unable to be moved by the irrefutable commonality of their humanity? Bertrand Russel, the* famous British philosopher. once wrote*. I appeal as a human being to human beings above all else remember your Illimani tv and forget the* rest It you c an do so, the* way lies open to a new paradise*; if you cannot, nothing lies before you but uni versal death At this point in human histo ry must we not he starkly aware of the validity of this ad monition? Yet. like the prover bial lemmings who periodic ally marc li blindly to their death as they tollow their leader into the sea. we too. mindlessly and willingly feed our loved ones into the slaughterhouse of war at the behest of our leaders Bloody militarv engagements arc* not a solution They are the problem. And when Vice President Dan Quayle publicly an nounces that the use of nuclear weapons to defeat Saddam Hussein is a considered option, lit should not for a moment be forgotten that he is only a heartbeat away from the presi denc y), it gives one sober pause as we note the frayed thread from which "the sword of Damoc les" hangs so threaten ingly over our heads |oe Austin Instructor Peace, (ilasnost, and Perestroika Indiscreet valor A colleague of ours. |im. has notified me of late that he is go ing to join the fight against Saddatn Hussein's evil tyranny I find it comforting to know that Jim will 1m* out there, put ting himself in harm's way to win one for his "dipper " It is just his sort of indiscreet valor that makes for the kind of men we need in the gulf. That madman Hussein will rue the day he decides to incur the wrath of men like |im who knows what needs to be done and is not afraid to tell us how to do it. My only reservation to Jim’s decision to enlist is that his ca reer in primary education will leave to be sacrificed for the moment. Hut alas. Croat men are not satisfied to be merely "kindergarten cops." Kevin Miller Student Lacking logic In her letter [ODE. Feb 19). koalini Roberts' logic, is "ques tionable at most In designating the business school as "less important" than other departments at the University. Roberts employs the same biased, normative judgments she accuses the Uni versity of making in its choice of programs to Ih; cut It doesn't follow that because students are business majors, they will be consumed by a re lentless drive to "seek profit at any cost." will "protect the business interests of oil compa nies and weapons manufactur ers." or will make only margin al. if any. contributions to soci ety Do all students in other majors then follow the opposite path in life? Clearly we must appreciate the value of all programs at the University, or at the very least, recognize the diversity of edu cationa! experience a widely varied i hoic e of programs al lows for. It is important that students are united in opposing cuts in any and all departments. Only this kind of unification will be strong enough to send the mes sage to the University adminis tration that what we want first and foremost is choice in our education not choices made for us by the administration or those with one-sided views such as Roberts expounds. Melissa l.undstedt International Studies/Russian