EDITORIAL
Voters want cures,
give only diseases
Voters signed the stain s death warrant when they
passed 1990’s Ballot Measure 5. I’ruperty taxes wore
sliced dramatically no replacement tax was pro
posed — leaving a monumental budget crisis on the
governor's hands
(Jov Barham Roberts was elected just in time to
face the brunt of the dilemma. Since then, she has
worked to pass a sales lax to no avail and has
proposed a comprehensive budget-< titling pl<«n to he
discussed in the Legislature's next session.
Despite her efforts, sortie Oregonians aren't happy
with Roberts They accuse her of wasting her lime in
office anti failing to understand the priorities of t iti
/ens. Disgruntled voters launched two retail efforts,
which have failed.
Her only crime is not solving a voter imposed cri
sis to the satisfaction of the electorate I rue. the state
has yet to settle the Measure r> dilemma in a positive
way Drastic budget c:uts are likely, many of whir h will
devastate statewide programs including education
But in Roberts' defense, nobodv could handle Ore
gun's situation to everyone's satisfaction. She tried It)
put a sales tax on the ballot, but the Legislature killed
it when the metnliers' egos were not stroked sulli
ciently. Mouse Speaker
Larry Campbell stubborn
ly opposed Roberts
probably loading to the
tax’s defeat — presumably
because of the politit al
thre.it a sales tax imposes
to any politician.
And as most Oregon
The only shame
is the treatment
Roberts gets
from the people
who elected her.
citizens are aware, voters
would probably turn down a sains tax anyway. It's
been done countluss times before.
Roberts lias unjustly become a scapegoat for the
problems of the state. Welfare and other sm tal services
will be (ill. schools will lose money and police funding
w ill lie reduced. Roberts will, of course, be blamed for
these problems bec ause she drew up the budget.
She had few other options. She i an propose anoth
er sales tax. but apparently it won't be considered until
the Legislature and the voters truly understand I ho
state’s fiscal situation. Nobody’s content right now, but
nobody’s taking responsibility — aside from Roberts
for the crisis either.
Realistically, blame can only fall on the voters'
shoulders. If Roberts fails to work on other problems
within the state, such as the gradual de-emphasis of
timber as Oregon's primary economic industry, she is
criticized. But cam she be faulted for ignoring other is
sues when Measure 5 is present? It’s a monstrous prob
lem, and one that won’t go away by blinking
If the voters aren’t happy with Roberts’ perfor
mance. perhaps they shouldn't have passed Measure 5
in the first place. There is nothing shameful about the
job Roberts has done. The only shame ix the treatment
she gets from the people who elected her.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
P O BO* 31M. COOCNi. OREGON *7403
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JUSTUS TO SMO#
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COMMENTARY
University education not so great
By D.tnml T F rank
Here 1 am. ilii’ third term at
Mu Lev's house (the I 'm
versity) here in Disney
hind (l.ugine). when- "earthy
liberalism is the standard, and
the qualitv of education is a
poor dollar -for-dollar value
As n Portland transplant. I
am again wondering why the
cost ol a l adversity education
at Mil Lev S house IS so expen
sive. vet so i heap in qualitv
At (dec Lamas ( omniunitv
College in Oregon ( itv for
,$;tr.t) a term, nisi .i little more
than one thiril of the $‘)(HI a
term at Mic Lev s house. I c .in
honestlv tell you that mv Insto
rv instruc tor, who had a Ph I) ,
was ,i "real historian." eager
and anxious to share his wealth
of knowledge and experience
with his students
And my geology mstnic tor. a
real geologist" who is as edu
cated equally m the field as in
the i lassroom he. too, was ea
ger and anxious to share his
wealth of knowledge and expe
rience
d ills is not so true at Mu k
rv s house At Mil Lev’s house,
enduring boring, pre-packaged
lee lures dircs tlv from the pub
lishers. laboriously delivered
with a sense of apathy, .ire stan
dard Lectures arc* so twisted
and tangled that vou leave feel
mg like a rat exhausted from
running within a maze
Where is the interaction
among students and between
student and teat her7 Or is it
that Mic Lev s house has onlv
lc-c turers and not teat tiers7
Then come the tests, en
dowed with plenty of time, and
being the good student that you
are. vou have already read the
textbook With still more time,
vou studv those interesting lec -
ture notes and the textbook
Now. complete with the
“exuberance" of the lectures,
the textbook and vour lecture
notes, vou remember almost ev
ervthing and get that A or B
vou desired, right?
Just last night 1 was talking
with mv fiance, who after five
long vears, graduated from the
Universitv in ldftH This is
w hat she said to me
When I i .sine to the Univer
sity ilirei tl\ out of high sc hool
luiving been an honor stu
denl every year 1 was very
confident. I felt like I c ould do
anything Hut hv the time I
graduated from the University.
I lac ked most of the i onfideni e
I had when I i ante. 1 think a lot
of it lias to do with how diffi
i ult I found it to do well when
the classes were so horing and
impersonal. They don’t teach
you at tfie University. You
teai h yourself."
At the kiUii kamas Communi
ty College Knglish department,
the instructors promoted free
thinking and creative writing,
with the objw live of providing
the student with the necessary
skills to write effec tively
This is not true at Mil key s
house At Mickey’s house, you
must yvrite with the same opin
ion or outlook as the instructor.
Is this what .1 liberal education
is ahout? Isn’t the purpose of
the University to create people
who i an think independently
and effectively express their
y iey\ s and opinions'
let me quote what my pre
vious iOO-level Knglish instrui
tor said to me
"Coming to the University,
yvhere the level of proficiency
expected from the student is
mu< h greater than the commu
nity college. I tail understand
yvln you may have some trou
ble.”
I was i|uii k to point out that
in my opinion, the education 1
had received at the community
college level was very good,
and 1 resented her arrogance at
assuming otherwise
If at the end of a hard day of
lectures, crowded rooms and
stale air you find yourself frus
trated and feeling either too
sloyy or too stupid to get that A
I doubt many
instructors really
care about the
opinions of the
student body, and
therefore probably
don't read the
Emerald.
or H. consult* yourself. You are
not too slow or too stupid. As
with most University students,
you are just overworked and
under-taught.
Having said so much, you
may be thinking to yourself
Isn't this guv a little nervous
about writing so < ritically of
Mil key’s house7 After all, what
if one of his instructors read
tins thing?
No, and this is why:
First of all. I doubt many in
structors really care about the
opinion of the student body,
and therefore probably don't
read the Emerald
Secondly, if any of mv in
structors do read this, they
probably don't know who the
hell I am anyway
And third, d it is my English
instructor. I doubt he could be
more critical of mv work than
he already is What's a feys
more destructive comments
scribbled on my papers7
A word of advice: Don't
waste S‘H)0 a term in Disney
land at Mickey’s house First go
to tlie community college until
you can no longer — then meet
me in Portland at Lewis and
Clark or Reed College
Daniel T Frank is a sopho
more majoring in pn>-journal
ism.
COMMENTARY POLICY
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taries from the public concerning topics of interest to
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writer must be verified upon submission. The Emerald
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if necessary.