COMMENTARY Extend voter registration deadline through Election Day By Paul Prensky A ■ we My nowadays, there's something I'd like to share with you all: the experience that capped and summed up my Involvement with the ASUO voter registration drive, which culminated Tuesday, Oct. 13. That rally was superbly organized and succeeded on two levels. First, more than 1,000 students chose to reg ister. And second, the stars, especially Charles Dutton, exhorted them to bacorno Involved — both before and after the olecllon — in the polls and in the larger com munity. He also challenged students to recreate the spirit (not the excesses) of tho late 1960s and early 1970s today when we need It most. Tho enthusiastic response to Dutton's heartfelt plea was the most hopeful moment In all of my nxtensivo in volvement in 1992 politics. Students are the ones who can bring what's lacking to the democratic political pro cess. More power to you. The experience I referred to does huvo long-term im plications, which arise out of the limits the ASUO drive faced My friend Mac, who also worked extensively with tho registration effort, came up with an idea the previous Sunday: to hold a funeral for the unregistered voter (which could also be understood to he a wake for tho premature closing of the voter rolls 20 full days be fore Election Day). He built a pint-sizod coffin, painted it black and put pallbearer handles on it. He brought it to the vice presi dential debate-watching party on Tuesday. Oct 13. We invited those attending to come to the funerul/wake for the unregistered voter and the untimely end to registra tion. Six people, plus Mac and I. showed up at tho Election 77m vast tadaral bureaucracy could ba mobUsad to sataguard against potential voting fraud. Bureau at 5:30 p.m. We each deposited an un(ful)fllled voter registration card Into a slot on the coffin and (hen Mac delivered a eulogy evoking "the good old days” be fore 1906 when folks could register right up to Election Day Itself. Then a car drove up. Two women got out ond knocked on the locked door of the Election Bureau They wore hospital workers and had been let out of work lute (circumstances beyond their control) A wom an came out to the door and opened It but refused to take their cards (it was 5:45 pm) This angered the spurned potential voters, and one of them ripped the two cards into little pieces We started a conversation with them They said they felt victimized cheated out of their right to vote We commiserated and told them how the law used to lie Before they left, they'd decided to (all their state repre sentative and state senator and urge them to help change the law, and to call the Koglslrr-Cuurtl and the TV stations to complain publicly about this suppression of their desire to participate In the political procars* That wus and is my point. The dismal state of our |«> litical processes can be positively changed only by the participation of more and more "we-the-people" atti tudes. Tho lust should facilitate that participation, not impede it. Oregon does have a motor/voter system that allows a person to register to vote while getting a driver's license or slate ID George Bush vetoed federal legislation that would havo mandatod this nationally on the spurious basis that fraud could occur. The same argument Is used by those In our state legislature who have thwart ed attempts to restore the up-to-and Includtng-Eloctlon Day registration low we used to have Beyond that, there's the concept of universal registra tion; wo could automatically Issue a voter registration card op your IHlh birthday based on your Social Securi ty number. The logistics of name arid address changes could easily be worked out, as could legal safeguards against potential voting fraud The vast federal bureauc racy could bo mobilized to do this. Now is a good time lo focus on all this We havo can dldates running for state representative, state senator, secretary of state, congressional representative and U S senulor who cure attoul these issues of our participa tion Vour involvement in their campaigns may make a difference in whether political reform is on the agenda of the next Legislature and the next Congress So think about it about the issues you can help de cide and the candidates you can support or oppose. Think about vour participation rights in general We can change ihrse political laws via the Legislature or the initiative process if necessary I II remember those two women who walked away hurt and angry, and I'll remember the hundreds of people I did register, who I hojte will join me in taking hack the political pris esses and institutions that Influence the quality of our lives. I’uul I'rcnsky is rtiltor of tha Luno County Oregon for Brown Grassroots Newsletter LETTERS Nightmare As a nurse, I am Interested In what I can do to improve the quality of people's lives. After reviewing the argu ments to ktiop Trojan open, 1 was struck with the fact that a very important point was not discussed: the existing 400 tons of high-level radioactive waste sitting near the hunks of the Co lumbia Rlvor, plus 220 tons more If it remains open until 1996. Approximately 5,000 pounds of that waste is plutoni um. It is so toxic that one ounce can cause lung cancer in 100.000 people. That kind of disaster is beyond the capabil ity of our medical world. We havo a lot of problems in the world and here at home: poverty, hunger, job*, crime, and discrimination, to name a few. None of thorn will mutter if wo no longer have a place to live and breathe, a place to call home — our only homo — planet earth Wo aro the only creatures that foul their own nc>st. In the Native American tradition, their actions were guided by a philosophy of how their deci sions would effect the seventh generation. The ozone is being destroyed, the oceans ure dy ing, and our air. water and soil are polluted 1 wonder if we will have a seventh generation If theru is un earthquake or nuclear accident at Trojan, the medical world cannot deal with such a nightmare Trojan’s safe ty record is the worst in ihe his lory of nuclear power plants Earthquakes. Three Mile lv land. Chernobyl Could it never happen hero? Ruth H«y«s Eugen* Passion tree I must say, I've never consid ered a homosexual lifestyle tie fore, but after Scott Lively's comments aiiout sex and trees during Tuesday night's debate, I was beginning to find his wood podium very attractive indeed I'm even considering luking out an ad in ihe person als: "SWM. non-smoker, seeks cedar, preferably old growth, for an intimate relationship I'm into chainsaws, spiking and very rough ti.irk I have no kids, bul I'm very interested in rais ing some squirrels and perhaps a few swallows " Mr Lively tain then waste Ills time and the taxpayers' money on a i ampulgn to discriminate against "abnormul trees " Me better lie careful though, lest an unfriendly chair leave a splin ter in bis bull Mark Radar mac bar English Measure 9B I propose Ballot Measure MB You see. I'm not a Christian, and though the great majority of Christians are decant, tom passionate citizens, there is a small minority who art) push ing their militant agenda on the rest of us. So to prevent this terrible ut tai k nn mv values. I suy we brand every single Christian perverse and abhorrent, and in sist the slate actively discour age Christianity as a lifestyle choice And of course the Korun brands Christians infidels. That certainly must take precedence over any civil laws we may have, inane things that prevent us from dii tatlng our unsullied morality on unyone who hus the unmitigated gall to txilievo something different Sound familiar'' No on