EDITORIAL Ridiculous spending damages credibility There must he a clause in the University planning code that requires money from the parking fund bo spent on the dumbest idea availablo at the time. What else could explain spending $43,000 for the checkpoint outside Oregon Hall? What elso could explain spending S95.000 (and perhaps more to come) on seven covered bike racks to keep students' butts from getting wet? Now. round three in this ongoing comedy of errors has been proposed, and, judging from recent history, will probably be enacted. The newest fiasco is a proposed "gateway," which is supposed to alleviate the traffic problem at University Street and 18th Avenue. The plan calls for the installa tion of two concrete columns at the mouth of University Street. These columns will be effective, no doubt, in elimi nating the annoying traffic problem of people driving down the sidewalks, but it will do little else. And even better news, this war to eliminate sidewalk drivers will only cost about S 100.000. The message to those who question wasteful govern ment spending is clear: "Look elsewhere! You'll find no pork-barreling hero!" "Cars would be slowed down” by the gateway, accord ing to a recent University planning memo. Assuming for a moment that cars really do come careening down Uni versity Street, across 18th Avenue and onto campus, the only time these columns would actually slow cars down is when they run into them. Now there’s a plan. Another part of the plan calls for realigning parking spaces on University Street to bo at 90-degree angles, rather than slanted as they are now. The change would add about 70 new parking spaces. That's good. It's part of the $100,000 plan. That's bad. There's no parking problem that a couple buckets of paint and a few work-study students couldn't solve. There may be a silver lining to all this. The checkpoint could be used to collect tolls from cars, and the money could bo used to fund bigger, more defondable and more heavily armed checkpoints. And wouldn't University President Myles Brand and ASUO President Bobby Lee look good standing in front of our new impact-absorbing, traffic-deterring towers, with cups in hand begging for loose change from passers-by. It is important for the University to remember the pub lic doesn't care where the money came from. The public is aware of only two things: The University is whining incessantly about the offecls of Measure 5; and the Uni versity (if the gateway is built) will have spent $238,000 to keep bikes dry and to eliminate a non-existent traffic problem. No amount of public realtions. no amount of politick ing and no amount of explaining will satisfy taxpayers' justifiable outrage and disbelief. 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U8E0FT't'»«0ro CMM« f »»T 1 VI BOB POLE MUTTEMNGS "»m*f*"* LETTERS Respect The quality of dialogue that goes on in our community and across our country concerning such "hot" issues as homosex uality and abortion is deeply disturbing to me A typical con tribution often consists of little more than an attack on the char acter and motives of some per son or group that does not agree with the contributor Can we not treat those with whom we disagree with respect and civility, even when we view their ideas as truly ugly and destructive? (ian we not ovoid the reaction that allows us to justi fv stripping them of their human ity and pouring contempt on them instead of seeking to under stand them accurately and sym pathetically? Are we so poor in our own humanity that we can't genuine ly wish (and treat) someone well who doesn't believe as we do? Mv attempt to silence my opponents by vilifying them and by assaulting (heir motives and character, instead of engaging their ideas with my own. says more about my own character and values than it does my oppo nent. It also seems to preclude any realistic possibility that my ideas and values will come to have any influence on others, beyond hardening their positions and driving them away from me. Placing dehumanizing labels on fellow humans ("hateinon ger,” "faggot." "queer." "homo phobe." "Nazi." "bigot." "mur derer," etc.) or ascribing to them motives of fear, hatred and igno rant*. does not belong in an open and fruitful debate. Rather, they are the tools and tactics of inse curity used by the bully, the manipulator and the demagogue William L. Moor* History English No obligation In her pique and high dud geon, Jennifer Horton (ODE. Feb. 17) joins Sarah Ross and Co. and manages to miss the point entirely about the alleged assault on Steven Laliberty by Todd Pendexter and the mob reaction to it. The University is under no obligation to provide an educa tion, let alone awareness-nising workshops, to someone who has reached what passes for adult hood in this society without learning that attacking people because you don't like them is not acceptable behavior. The expulsion from the Uni versity ot a convicted offender would certainly be warranted; whether the vie tirn is a student is irrelevant. It is long past time we discard the notion that one's actions (antisocial or otherwise) take place in a vacuum and that there can be no extended conse quences. Far more important, though, is that Horton. Ross and their minions must note my use of the magic word "convicted " The main point is that, so far. Pendexter has not been convict ed of anything, hih! talk of expulsion or anything else is, to say the least, premature. The lynch mob. metaphorical ly or otherw ise, is an old Amer ican tradition, but let's not drag it from under its rock to this place of ostensibly higher learn ing and imply in any way that it belongs here. Michael E. Stamm English Department KKKristianity When 1 talk with folks who shove intolerance in the name of religion. I've discovered a revealing test I ask them. "What is your view of Native American spirituality7 Is this a legitimate religion?" One bigotry-pusher even answered. "It's satanic. They must convert so they can go to heaven." Narrow-minded people shouldn't misuse the name of |esus. who spoke of tolerance and unity among the downtrodden. I've created a better word for what these pretend-Christians really push "KKKristianity." This isn't about being white. I'm proud of my Lithuanian ancestry. Lithuania was the last European country converted to Christianity — by the sword. It took the Crusades. That phony conversion didn't stick too well on many of us pagans. People who push bigotry in the name of religion claim they're being "moral." Yet all major world religions agree that hateful lies are immoral. Instead, how about speaking out against people who rip off our savings and loans or who strip Oregon's heartbreakingly beau tiful natural wealth and mail it out of state? We who experience disgust at "KKKristianity" are getting a taste of what it dished out to other Americans: New England women mur dered as witches. Native people invaded by the Oregon Trail. Enslaved African Americans. Emotional people forcibly elec tro-shocked for "mental illness." And of course. Earth itself. “KKKristianity" seems to cre ate the hell on Earth it claims exists after death. Let Oregon go down in history as a place where independently thinking people joined the world in pushing back "KKKristianity"... forever. David Oaks Eugene Brotherly love In response to Jake Berg's opinion column "The Universi tas is a neat place” (ODE, Feb. Ifi). I would just like to say that 1. too. derive great pleasure from witnessing bicycle crashes. With the recent icy conditions in the Eugene area. I was fortu nate enough to view several ooality hike wrecks. In my book, mure is no occasion more jovial than viewing a fallen cyclist. Injuries are a bonus. Josh Barg freshman 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