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 The Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing comments on topics of interest to the University community. Letters to the editor must be limited to no more than 250 words, legible, signed and the identification of the writer must be verified when the letter is submitted. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length or style. _ Daily PO HO* 3’VJ IUCINI OMIGON3MQ] Tha Oagon Oarty EmtiM Malawi anti t dac. Cana* Amaraor MgM E tutor Dararyn Trapp* Aaaociat* Edam* Tammy llatay STudOnt Gorarrvnanf Ad news Daratyn Trapp* Cornmu nay. Coftaan Poh«g Mghar l ducaton Admtnoirafton Mm SUM: CM* Aton. Mendy Boucum. Mm IWid* Juaun Brown. Sarah Can. Amy Oavanpon Amanda Famw.AwiaFanwt.laa Haggerty. Taraaa Hunamgar. Mary KM. taa KnaaM. Daman Mdaan. Slew M*nt, Trtim Moaner. Km Nguyen. Tnaia Horn. t##n Snaa. Mchaal Shmdiar. fnek StudamcKa. Manon Suitor Uchal* thompaon Aguiar. Amy Van Tuyl. Todd WAamt. Jacquenn* Wag* Heath* /i«*u*r Ganaral Managar Judy Riedt Advarttalng Otractor Bryan R Coppadga Production Manager Mcnaw Roaa Advartlalng SNam Barvan Scott Dana Janmlar Hucama. Jan* I'oia. Cnna Kano*' Tom l **cn Jaramy Macon. Grfian On. Duatn Siada Sharon Var Anga Wmdnaun ctaaadlad: Peggy McGinn Manager Barry lagan Sharon Sautro Sedan Updagrart OiatrttaAlon RaOacca Brooaa. Anthony Wynn Buameea Kathy CarOona Suparvaor Xdy Cormouy Production Ingnd VVtvt# production Coordinator Knaino Granger. Ooa McCootj. Stacy Mtcnoh. Janmtar Roland. Jonmlar Smith Anna Stapnanaon. Oaralyr Trappa Nmroom Mt-IHI Diaplay Advamaing M4-17I2 Buamaaa Ottic* .......MA-S512 ClaaaJtiad A d* art n mg- MMT41 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