Walters’ re-election
little more than fluke
An overpowering sense of self-importance is re
sponsible for the Oregon Citizens Alliance and its bi
zarre politics. It’s also the reason Springfield City
Councilman Half Walters was re elected Tuesday.
The odd thing is. it wasn't Walters' sense of self
importance that got him re-elected, but that of his op
ponents.
Walters had two challengers for his council seat,
Chris Matson and Rick Croog. Walters received only 38
percent of the; vote.
Matson and Gregg com
bined for 62 percent. The
majority voted Walters out
of office, yet he's still
there.
Had either Matson or
Gregg had the courage or
wisdom to step aside, the
people of Springfield
would have been success
ful in removing one of the
most entrenched special
interest representatives on
the council.
Springfield voters re
Many Springfield
residents would
like the outside
world to view the
council elections
as proof the dty
Is not a Jerk
water bastion of
self-righteous
fundamentalism.
jcctcd conservative coun
cilwuman Melody Carlson, replacing her with Stu
Burge, and re-elected Mayor Bill Morrisette over ultra
r.onservative write-in candidate George Wojcik.
The rojoction of OCA wannabes would have been
complete if not for Matson’s and Gregg's foolish no
tions of egoism. Had either of them been truly intent on
seeing Walters defeated, one would have stepped aside
and offered support to the other candidate.
Many Springfield residents would like the outside
world to view the council elections as proof the city is
not a jerk-water bastion of self-righteous fundumental
ism. More than 1B.5(X) ballots were cast Tuesday as
compared to about 11,000 in the May primaries.
It was in May that Springfield adopted Measure
20-08. the city's anti-homosexual ordinance. If voter
turnout had been greater, perhaps 20-08 would not
have passed.
Perhaps this new council will bring some common
sense to Springfield. Walters is outnumbered, the OCA
has lost its stranglehold on the council. an4 the future
holds promise for all residents. Most importantly, the
council and mayor can get back to the business of man
aging the city rather than dodging OCA pitchforks.
LETTERS POLICY
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Daily
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2A Oregon Daily Emarak) Friday November 6, 1982
OPINION
Election is over but process isn’t
\
era]
license
StepfW**® ‘f.
Whew!
Go ahead, relax. ( ji 11
up that friend you ha
ven't spoken to since you saw
that "Yes on 9" sign in his front
yard Take that Voter's Pam
phlet ofT your coffee table and
throw it away In fact, lose all
those political stickers, buttons,
signs, bumper stickers and T
shlrts.
The elections are over! And
now life can go Iwi.k to normal
Right?
You know us well as I do that
the elections wore only the lo
ginning While it's true we've
finally decided how we feel
about Perot, triple trailers, the
(X;A, etc . what we do with the
people we've elected and tho
measures we've passed is the
next and most important step
in the whole process.
"Your Vote Counts'” says the
billboard On buttons and post
ers: "Rock tho Vole." Tho new
zeal for voting has made a dif
ference this year Voter registra
tion levels astounded election
officials Everyone - especially
the 18- to 24-year-olds wanted
to bo involved In this election.
Rock the Vote, a movement
to increase young votor regis
tration, has been largely re
sponsible for the dramatic turn
out at the polls However, Jody
IJttal, co-founder of the move
ment. has broader goals for
Rock the Vote.
"The idea." she says, "is to
raise the political conscious
ness of kids "
It's the responsibility of every
American to vote. Young Amer
jeans are notorious for low vot
er turnout. In ItJHH, only 33.2
percent of U S. IB- to 21-year
olds voted in the presidential
election. You know that you’ve
been beaten over the head with
that fact until finally you gave
in "OK! I’ll register! I'll even
vote! I ll change the statistic!”
That’s great — hut wait! Your
responsibility does not end
there. Making yourself in
formed about political issues,
even ones that you won’t vote
on right away, is just us impor
tant as voting.
There are at least two good
reasons to keep up with current
political issues. One Is that,
sooner or later, you will come
up against someone who be
lieves differently than you do
about an issue and who is ei
ther more informed about the
issue or is a better in-your-face
debater The later this happens,
the bolter
This happened to me recent
ly One week before the elec
tion, 1 became embroiled in a
heated Measure 7 discussion
with a friend. I discovered that
although 1 knew how I was go
ing to vote on the measure, 1
really didn't know vory much
about It. 1 wasn't sure why I be
lieved the way I did. In fact, I
was totally unaware of the posi
tion of the other side.
After doing some research on
the measure. I decided to stick
with my original decision to
vote against the property tax in
crease This timo my decision
was based on solid reasons.
The second, more practical
reason is thut as a voter, you
have the right to protoct your
own interests. Voting is impor
tant. but reading up on the is
sues and candidates in the elec
tion and forming your own
opinion before you vote is just
as important How many of us
let our family and friends de
ride how wo will vote? Milking
decisions for yourself is Iho
only way to mukn sure you’re
roullv representing your inter
ests in the voting booth.
.So how does one become in
volved in American politics?
The first step, of course, is
voter registration The next step
in getting involved is voting.
And now that we're past that
stage, we have to take responsi
bility for our decisions.
Part of this responsibility in
cludes reading the newspaper
or watching the news. The av
erage American citizen spends
two minutes a day reading the
paper For college students, this
rate is even lower.
Recognize that the University
campus is very smali. it’s easy
to accept the myth that the col
lege experience is real life. For
many, the college community
is a fantasyland of idealism
Not evoryonn in the Unitod
States cares If the University
Bookstore sells Hustler.
Instead of skipping over the
international section of the pa
per in favor of human interest
stories, read up on Somalia.
Iraq, Syria and other countries
in the news.
"It's as though someone has
done a very successful 'Just Say
No to Politics' campaign,*’ said
Sanford L). Horwitt. People for
the American Way project di
rector. on tho apathy in young
voters. Hopefully. Horwitt
spoke too soon. With the re
newed interest in voting this
election year, we 18- to 24
year-olds are changing our im
age to that of young people
who ‘Just Say Yes’ to political
involvement Even though the
election's over, lot's keep that
image alive. Stay Involved.
Stephanie Sisson is a month
ly columnist for the Emerald.
Pro-murder
I must say 1 was astounded to
sue the full-page ud on the back
of the Nov. 2 Emerald. I knew
that people who are "pro
choice” often an> because they
wunt the right to follow their
sexual desires and to legally
commit an act which will cause
a life which would otherwise
existed to not exist (l.e. the
right to commit murder) should
a pregnancy result.
Wo now have proof. Is any
body listening?
Please note my choice of
words above. I said "often.” 1
believe some are really pro
choice because they don't real
ize it means "pro-choice to
murder." To those people. 1 say
please reconsider. This is not a
difficult problem to solve if you
think clearly.
An action which prevents a
person who would otherwise
walk among us from doing so is
always murder! A mother al
ways has a choice — to love
her child, or hate it without
cause and kill it. Perhaps that
child would be the one to find
the cure for a major disease.
Just an added thought.
Bob Weigel
Eugene
No government
1 have a strung sense of moral
values developed over the
years through prayer and faith.
I don't want and don’t noed
the government deciding what
my moral values should be. I
draw a distinction between a
personal belief in what is right
and wrong and having tho gov
ernment impose its heavy hand
over people’s lives.
As a conservative, I oppose
state-sponsored restrictions on
free decision- making.
William Siagal
CISIUIathamatics