EDITORIAL
Issuing of library
cards may help
If all else fails, issue a library card
Tile Eugene Public Library will soon begin issuing
library cards to area homeless people on a trial basis
OK. It's tempting to poke fun "Muybe they can use
the card to keep the rain off their heads." or. "Where
do we put the couch, honey — on the left or right side
of the card?"
"Great answer to the homelessness problem." peo
ple chuckle, "a library card."
Or maybe it's not so funny. The card issuance is
also the perfect chance to reprimand local and national
government for their policy on the homeless, which is
darn near nada.
These folks seem to hope that if they ignore the
problem long enough, it'll sort of just disappear. The
frightening reality, however, is the problem is getting
worse compounded by the fact that families with
children moke up the fastest growing part of America's
homeless
The number of homeless pimple rose during the
1960s to the highest level since the Depression, and it's
not about to stop. The U S Conference of Mayors' an
moil study stated that figures are rising by 20 percent
per year: about one third of the nation's homeless are
families with children.
Had enough adults are living out of their i ars or on
the streets in growing proportions, hut children? (am
sidering homelessness is only a symptom of the larger
problem of poverty, one must ask what other necessi
ties these kids are foregoing.
It is indeed tempting to get up in arms over giving
a library ami to the homeless when they instead need
more serious assistance like affordable housing and job
training Hut wait. The card is a start
As they say. it s the thought that counts Small
move as it may be, the issuing of library cards says
something. If breaks a chink in the stereotypical armor
often surrounding the homeless by rei ogni/ing them as
individuals as citizens deserving of something the
rest of society has a< i ess to
The card issuance draws this usually excluded
group in with the rest of society something that needs
to he done on a larger scale if the problem of homeless
ness is ever to be resolved.
The library card is a good start, what’s next'
NOTE
Hi ( juw ol .in error .it tin- Springtn-hl Veis ■. where the ini
fruit! is printeii. the p.iges in vesteri!.i\ s issue is ere nrr.ingeii
meorreetlv Thu littu-rjlii regrets the error
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THE
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I___
CIVIL
RIGHTS
QUOTAS
IV
DAVID
DUKE
7
\
, *
■\l nv*
OPINION
Frog hunting in the city courts
THE FINE
PRINT
8V PAT UALACH
Some people sure know how
to ruin a perfectly good time
I. lil lil .,'K\ l >. !• MMIUU'i '• '.N M !i j j)'- i ; » i j ' '
the infamously soggy Oregon iountryside. frog
hunting had for 'll-,ns taken on decidedly Min
pit- and straightforward t harm liiistii s
it required patience am) .1 keen eve Those
set king to bring down tin- U’autllul vet i-histve.
t till less ainphlhliins Simply headed -11 to a lavor
It. out of the wav pom! Hopeful hunters /.eroeii
in on i booming < ro.ik from a grtuiddaddv frog
Vs tilted for the hug-lived mutant to poke its eves
ills vi- tin water then blew the little bastard to
hell
It vv a - a,l so simple, lull and Uadll.onal 1 logs
. ! eouisi would veheinenllv disagree with this
assessment
Flut modern In hnology and progress don’t
stand still for anvthmg and true to tone, even
nance and ruled that Frog could sell Ins books on
the sidewalks just like the rest ol the vendors in
the area Hut on the advice of its attorneys, the
well-established law firm of ilarrang Long
\\ dkinson Arnold f. Laird, the c tty appealed the
ruling to Lane (aiunty District (.emit
District judge Ann Aiken overturned Hoc < i s
ruling in August and sent it hue k to the Mimic ipa 1
t ijurt where itidgi Wayne Allen upheld the fine
arid prohibited Miller Iroin walking on i ity side
walks with his licKik bag
A couple of tears’ and thousands of dollars’
worth of donated attorney time Inter, Frog is
poised to take his case to the ()regon ( ourt ol Ap
peals
Ml limited synapses ]iis! weren’t aide to ton
something as simple as frog
■: ill! ilig hits i h-Ulged With tin*
times
In I hi* ills nt hugi'ftt* • r g
hunting no longer involves a
pond patience. sharp senses
or a ‘-mall-t aiibt r w rapon live
once nnijestn man agamst-na
lure battle has been reduced to
a slipper v bog of citv ordi
names, municipal lines, altor
ii\-f i . . i i r f cs
•lint possibly .1 visit In I hr state Supreme (ourl
Thrsr sophisticated changes in the hunt ire
somewhat justified tx*< .ium- the frog tiring hunted
in Fugeru weighs iiboul J JO pounds, is f> foots,
bearded unit uses .1 crackling. higti pitched voii n
lu sell the world's funniest |uke tsxik on lltth
Avenue
Frog. nlso known to very few people us David
Henry Miller, h.is riiised the ire of some of the
most determined frog hunters this side of .1 Murk
Ids am tale
How (fid one 40-tsh frog u( compllsh ttus leal?
Did he roh a bank'
No
Dni lie assault someone on our streets '
No
Did he offend anvbodv with rude comments'
No
Did he hurt someone's feelings'
No
But he did have the audacity to sell his joke
hooks on a city sidewalk when it Is strictly verho
ten Frog has liven ticketed five times, beginning
early last year, lor peddling bis S.t joke books in
direct violation of ,1 city ordinance prohibiting
sidewalk vendors from selling anything other
than flowers, food. Iieveruges or balloons
Fven worse than his refusal to play by the
rules, this frog wasn't happy to unquestioningly
pay his fines like the rest of us slaves to authority
no doubt would have tie questioned the rules
and appealed his case In April loot). Municipal
The once majestic
man-against-nature
battle has been
reduced to a
slippery bog of city
ordinances.
n>-<! vvhv selling >oke Units on
'hr sides*alts is so ex il it rt'
quires sui li attention from our
lint11 i!\
A sen patient Kevin Bur
gess, iho uttornex handling the
< a si* lor lilt- ills, U nul to in
lighten mu Burgess explained
thal I'rog. arul other vendors
selling anything other than
loorj, flowers, beverages or bn I
i .him' bugenes suit-walks need to !*■ kept (n't' ol
congestion
Hut I've never seen Frog cause any more con
gestion than any of the legal' vendors in tin;
area.' I replied, letting my naivete surface
Considering Frog isn't causing any of the prob
lems the ordinance was meant to prevent, I asked
Kevin it he couldn't have just dropped tills at the
menu ipal t ourt level
Kevin kindly pointed out to me that my tjues
lion was out of line w ith the lug picture " This is
not against Mr Miller personally," lie said "This
is about the city's ability to regulate business on
its sidewalks
Hut wait, couldn't Kevin just advise the city to
revise their ordinance to exclude vendors on the
basis of how much space they take up. rather than
what they are M-lling7
That's not Kevin's job, was the answer His job
is to defend an ordinance he thinks is constitu
tional The city's ability to regulate business was
challenged, and Kevin is fighting off that chal
lenge
"That's as far as we go We don't get into poli
i v." Kevin said "It's up to the city to decide if
they want to change the ordinance Regardless of
how much I like Mr Miller and what he repre
sents in the entrepreneurial spirit, there are much
wider circumstances "
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