EDITORIAL
Mandate for change
looking the same
President-elect Hill Clinton ran his campaign
around a mandate for change, claiming he would shake
up Washington's business-as-usual policies.
But if Clinton follows through with his plan to ap
point Sen. Lloyd Bentsen as treasury secretary, the
only change we'll see is Bentsen's signature, not Nicho
las Brady's, on the bottom of U N. currency.
Bentsen isn't necessarily a bad choice. He has a
solid reputation as the chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, lie is a veteran lawmaker and is believed
to relate well with the various factions of Congress.
Conventional wisdom says you want someone familiar
with federal taxes and the budget deficit, which Bent
sen does.
And Bentsen. a conservative Democrat, will also
ease the fears of businessmen across the country —
many of whom worried Clinton would appoint an anti
business maverick. Rest assured. Bentsen wall not leave
businesses out to dry.
At issue here is the will of the voters. Sixty percent
of the nation voted for "change" — as the popular
nuar/worn wem. wnemcr
il be Perot or Clinton, vot
ers wanted a break from
traditional government
and from the constant
bickering between Repub
licans and Democrats.
Even Hush claimed he
would shake things up in
his second term as presi
dent.
But Lloyd Hentsen is a
Clinton was
elected for his
promise of
change. But
Bentsen is
anything but
different
traditional Wushmglon in
sider He has served in the Senate for 20 years and has
worked under every president since Richard Nixon. As
chairman of the finance committee, he was subject to
special interest lobbying and backdoor dealing.
Clinton said lie was going to shake things up. hut it
looks more like he's slowing things down, lie has to
prove his commitment to change is genuine by ap
pointing an expert from outside the traditional Wash
ington sphere.
Another factor to consider is the effect ot Bontsen’s
leaving the Senate. He could actually do more harm
than good for Clinton. As finance committee?chairman,
he has jurisdiction over such issues as Social Security
policy, health care, trade and welfare — all crucial
Clinton interests.
And if Bentsen were to give up his Senate seat, it
would likely be captured by a Republican, thereby up
setting Clinton's Senate balance. Given Clinton's insis
tence on increasing the number of Democrats in Con
gress. losing Bentsen, one of the more influential Dem
ocratic senators, would be painful.
Again, making Bentsen treasury secretary is not a
disastrous move. He probably will work well with both
parties and will ensure a strong presence within the
Clinton administration. But Clinton was elected for his
promise of change, and Bentsen is anything but differ
ent.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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_ /
OPINION
Rude cyclists make all look bad
Dave
Sez
David S&othei
I 'm .1 bicyclist I used to say
that with no shame Along
with the pleasure of cycling
itself. I’ve felt pride as a mem
ber of the earth friendly com
munity of cycle r omrouters
Hut when some members of
any community behave inap
propriately. all members suffer
the consequences And today
in Kugene. several times a day.
every dav of the week. I find
m\ head hanging low in embar
rassment and humiliation,
shamed and disgusted by the
discourteous and |ust plain
rude ac tions of my peers
You know who you are
You routinely race through
red lights or slop signs or both,
flying across in front of traffic
You don't use a headlight at
night, you ride with your hands
in your pockets, or you carry
someone on your handlebars
Sometimes you ride the wrong
way down a one-way street, or
you fly down a grassy slope,
jump a curb and run a fast diag
onal across the intersection
You're fast, you're iool, you’re
in control, and you use pedes
trians for slalom poles, zipping
and twisting down crowded
sidewalks
In a world of perfect justice,
sooner or later you'd crack up,
break a lew ribs or a few loath,
learn vour lesson and start cy
rling more responsibly. Hut
ours isn't a perfec t world, and
you get to keep cm being rude,
stupid and dangerous. And the
rest of the- cycling community
absorbs the costs of your self
indulgence. because all cyclists
end up getting tarred with the
same brush and we lose credi
bility among motorists and pe
destrians alike.
Yc*s, there is a serious courte
sy problem in the hugene bicy
cling community. And because
this is America, where law en
forcement so deeply permeates
our political and popular cul
hire that it is fast becoming our
national religion, it's not sur
prising we've chosen to deal
with the eye ling courtesv prob
lem by treating it as a law en
forcement problem,
I don't profess to know how
to m ike rudr people into nice
people, hut the luw-onforcu
menl approach is not tin* solu
tion Law enforcement i ertainiv
has an important role, hut as
it s currently lining applied to
this problem, it is arbitrary, in
effective and counterproduc
tive
Take the c ase of the Universi
ty Office ol Public: Safety and
its bally booed ban on bicycling
on campus sidewalks Whoever
came up with this one appar
ently lives in a simple, tidv fan
tusv world where' all the bad
c yc lists use sidewalks and all
the good cyclists use streets,
and if you move the had i s
i lists to the strevts then they'll
become good cyclists
Get real' In the first place,
rude and selfish e ye.lists aren't
likely to abide by silly little
rules Hut more to the point,
the problem here is reckless c v
cling It has nothing to do with
sidewalks Those inconsiderate
and dangerous cyclists who
menace the sidewalks are still
dangerous and inconsiderate af
ter they've been moved to the1
street
III fac t, if "public safety"
really is the concern, then this
policy truly is counterproduc
tive; to the extent that enforce
ment has been effective, the
dispersed body of University
cyclists has been forcibly re
concentrated onto the few c am
pus streets So, the pedestrian’s
most frightening and dangerous
gauntlet. 13th Avenue, has ex
perienced a sharp increase in
the density of cyc lists, both
good and bad. swooping,
zinging and gawking Now Kfth
Avenue really is dangerous.
Way to go. public safety
For rub's to Ui effective they
have to fit reality, which is sub
tle and complex Reckless cy
clists on crowded sidewalks
should be ticketed, not for rid
ing on the sidewalk per m\ but
for riding recklessly on a
crowded sidewalk Effee live en
forcement would differentiate
between the /any e ye list who
zooms along the narrow, busy
paths around Ueady Hall, and
the' friend of mine, a long-time
cautious cyclist, tic keted for
slowly coasting 15 yards from
the- knight Library to Kincaid
Street down a deserted laic* af
ternoon sidewalk
Then there is the Eugene po
lice department’s laughable
For each truly
reckless cyclist
officers land, they
pull in about five
others for the most
petty and asinine
of Violations.’
“crackdown" on bicycle viola
tions. If you ever find yourself
doubling justice is arbitrary, go
spend a morning in traffic court
wait iling the hundreds of poor
souls hauled in bv EPD's wide
ly i asl violation net.
fins is largely a case of prey
ing on the easy target. The most
flagrant and dangerous viola
tors are zippy, speedv and hard
to catch, so the officers content
themselves with bagging the
slow-moving cyclists, who
ironically tend to also be the
most cautious and courteous
For each truly reckless cyclist
officers land, they pull in about
five others for the most petty
and asinine of "violations "
This predatorial style of law
enforcement again turns out to
be counterproductive, uroding
respect fur the law and incur
ring the contempt of cyclists by
teaching us that bicycle laws,
meaningful in theory, have in
practice been reduced to stupid
annovences and (jetty police
power trips Way to go, EPD
Tile sail and ironic tiling is
that there is nothing in these
institutions or processes that
seeks to make the discourteous
cyclist aware of his or her dis
courtesy We sail right past the
mostly educational essence of
the problem.
Oh, well, given the half
hearted and misdirected efforts
of OPS and EPD. the odds of
getting caught are still probably
fairly low. even for the most
egregious of violators. This
probably means, sadly enough,
that you can feel pretty free to
continue to cycle in your in
considerate and self-indulgent
ways, much to the detriment of
those of us who want to pro
mote both cycling and respect
ful and decent cycling habits.
David Strother writes a
monthly column for the Emer
ald