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 PO BOX )t50 EUGENE OREGON 97403 The Oregon Dat*y E » punished cay Monday through F '*1ay du^ng tha school year rt'X) T .amtay and T hurtcfey dunng the summer t>y Ihe Oogon [)a..*y I mar aw Putxah.ng Co Inc . *i the Urvveivfy Of OftQOn, l „gene Oregon The Emerald operate* •idwpenikr'Mfy of the L»nrve/v,Ty eith oftcee at Su*S 300 of the t rfy Memo/-a. Un«on and t% a mwr'tw of the A&MX« EWg Hop* Ntwi aon M vm Jan*aen Dave Char&onnaau CaiJ% Anderson Associate E d it ora Tammy Batoy Stuck** Government Acffvtf*tfa, Dam*yn Vappe Commu mty Ccneen IVonug. t. ducot&n At*m*n»/r abort News Staff Ch***,** A-am Mandy Baucum. Mo;- Bender Juttm Brown Sarah Dark. Meg Dodotph. Amy Dwvenport Amanda f eme, A . a Ferrary Teew Munt**ig*' l *a Knewt* tea Maun Damon Mr l tMn S’eve M.mt T ttm W-.nv Km Nguyen Tieta Now I She* Mchaei sfwndter t r«C* StudarvcKd. Marion Sudor Mchw«> Thompson Aguiar. Arry Van Toy; Todd W am*. jatp « ' e Woge Heather /^Dawer General Manager .Kxfy Rxai Advartiemg Director Bryan R Coopodga Production Managar M«.he*» Ross Advertising Shawn Berven Soon Oa vt Jw *»' Hot* »* Jana lrt*a. Chr* KanoB Tom l oech Jeremy Ma%on. C. an Oh. Dustin Stage* Sharon Va-r Angw W ndhem CiaaafBad Peggy McGinn Manager Barry Logan Sharon Saw**. Susan UpoegraH Distribution Rebecca Brocw* K'*r Van Gorder Anthony Wynn Butmni Kathy C«rt>one St^wrvsw* Judy Connoty Production Ingnj w» -:*» ProJutnon CoGnPnMcv Knv •« G'a;-gor Dee U;vobt> Stacy Mfchai.. Jenn !,* IfcKard. Jenifer Sm«n. Anne Stephenson Newsroom 146-S511 Display Adverting J46-3Tt? tkiBinaBa Office 146*1512 Clamsdiad Advertising 146-4143 HotpTurt _ / 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