Measure 5 results
finally hitting home
Unless you've been living under a rock, for the past
three years, it should be obvious to the most thickhead
ed of citizens that Measure 5 was a really dumb idea.
In typical Oregon voter fashion, those wonderful citi
zens who approved the property-tax slashing, budget
trashing amendment in 1990 were looking at the short
term gains — less money out of the pocket. And public
school and local services funding? Heck and gaowillick
ors. them thar politicians in Salem will come up with
somethin'.
That vision showed not only a kind but a totally
unwarranted faith in state government.
Three years later - surprise, surprise, surprise - the
state hasn't made up the budgetary shortfalls. Those
pesky doomsayors who said such unrealistic things like
"schools will close" and "the economy will go under"
are now lining treated as minor prophets.
Here's just a sampling of local schools and programs
nailed by Measure 5 constraints:
Eugene School District, faced with a $0.9 million bud
get deficit, slashed 116 jobs - 7H of them tear hors. For
those of you with children in the district, you can expect
your kids to be in larger classes. Bigger classes and few
er instructional aides (another budget casualty) mean
less personalized teaching.
It doesn't take a mental genius to see the s< hooh hild
run are going to suffer. In Eugene, class sizes will go up
to 27 per room in the lower grades; even higher in the
middle and high schools. Any teacher will tell you the
more students in a class, the harder it is to put out infor
mation.
lixtrncurricular a< tivities' Both hero and in Spring
field. the programs that made school a little more palat
able (music, sports, etc.) were among the first things to
go. Whoa reading, writing and arithmetic are hard
enough to fund, recreation just doesn't fit in the plan.
With the public now finally feeling the pinch of Mea
sure 5. perhaps something can be done. The legislature
stonewalled itself into a corner during the 1993 session,
coming up with little to improve the pre< arious budget
situation, hloctod officials have now had two cracks at
fixing the situation: it's up to the general public to take
control.
The options are limited. Where a sales tax just three
years ago would have been an anathema to Oregon vot
ers. the viability of such a plan has recently gained mer
it. Would a sales tax - approved by the voters and with
iron-clad statutes preventing mucking about by legisla
tors - be such a terrible thing?
It can only be hoped a Measure 5-hardened electorate
will make the right decision.
Oregon Daily
PO 001 31to fUGtKf ORfGO* 9?403
T f'.o Oregon D;tr> ( nvr.,1KJ 1 putrbahod OaTy Monday tin . *>'■ * ' ■ I.». doling the *chDO
*ea< and tueadar and Tnuitday doing me by the Oregon Dun f meiaid
Put)l**nmg Co Inc a! the Un,v*r*»ty 0< Oregon Eugene (>egon
the eyewater* independently o* 'he Unrvervty unto on*at So-v J00 o* the
[ /•) Memorial l*vo' and ia a mwnbm o* the As*oc Pi I*-,-*
The Emerald ra private property The untawtrj remora! c* ute ot pataca *a ptoaec-.t.*>rti
by law
Editor Cat Watactt
Photo Eddot Anthony I otoey
Aaeoctate Editor* Ed Caraor Martm I vfwr S >t C ww
Ntght Editor- Pat Moyen
General Manager Jody Hot
Advertising Director Man Waite. Production Manager M* hde Hoaa
Advertlatng: I tetime Be Heathe'Ch.iaon Jeremy Maaon Van v O'Bryan It Ang*
W isthenn P«|i<ii Wong
Oasatlted flecky ** hant Ui .ye
Butuneka Kathy Carbone Supervisor
Production; Ingrtd White Produrrcm Coordtna.'or Stacy *At Nh Jennifer ftotrynd
Neweroom J4A-SS1I Display Advertising J*o 3?i2
Buaineaa Office . J4A-5S1? Classified Advertising J4A4JA3
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1
OPINION
Dinosaur Certs and other ramblings
Don Peters
My favorite part of the movie was watch
ing a sleazy lawyer get chomped while sit
ting on a toilet Sort of a one-scene State
of the Union,
his year's spate of summer
flicks brings up important
JL theoretical and six ial ques
tions
Steven Spielberg's lunsnic
Pork is one of the biggest hyped
niov les since Ishtar and has boon
featured on everything from
Mi Donald s glasses to the Today
show. Action figures and plush
toys abound
Don’t get me wrong; I liked the
movie I enjoy senseless may hem
as inui h as the next socially con
fused person, but pre-movie hype
annoy s me
The who It1 movie inn be
summed up in one sentence: Peo
ple make dinosaurs; lugh-pm ed
actors ooh and <*l>. dinosaurs gel
loose: high-priced odors Ivecome
human Happv Meals
Don'I lei anyone tell you Spiel
berg doesn't know cinematic
symbolism M> favorite part ol
the mov le was w atching a sloarv
law yer get chomped while silt,
on a toilet. Sort of a one-scene
State ol the Union.
As an entertainment option,
the movie is lop notch, but in all
the hoopla and commotion, it's
easy to forget that Spieltierg's lat
est i arries a serious theme
S< ieutists just should not ns re
ate dinosaurs. Very, very Iwd
Given that, from the home
offu t* iii Eugene, Oregon. Imre's
lire lop-10 reasons scientists
should just leave tire dinosaurs
where they are:
10. Research would draw fund
ing away from valuable row
belches-causing-ozone-depletion
study.
9. Lovable Barney character
looks like a wussy compared to
a raptor.
H. Ditto-size breath mint as
large as a bulldozer tire.
7. Godzilla vs T-Kex match on
pay-per-view
6. Big risk of BETA activists
Iks oimng hors d'oeurves
V T-Kex would want own star
on Hollywood Walk of Fame.
4. Troubled kids sent to "Kup
tor Summer (jimp."
3. New Fox show about young
dinosaurs dealing with social
problems called Dina 90210
Novelty ol Flinlstones t ar
toons rendered pointless
And the number one reason
why scientists shouldn 't r»s rente
dinosaurs.
I. Three words, big. big doo
doo,
II just isn't worth it folks
Oh sure, there would be some
entries in the plus column. A T
Kev watchdog would he a sure
fire deterrent to door-to-door
salesmen, and a Milkbone Dino
Hiscuit could double as a flota
tion device during u crisis. Hut
the risks are just too much.
Scientists have more important
tilings to figure out, such as Bill
Clinton's family tree {stranger and
stranger forks all the time) and
the secret of Storm Kennedy’s
appeal.
While I'm on the subject of
summer movies, let's talk about
some of the other Hollywood
offerings:
Cliffhanger — Rambo on ice.
IjQSt Action Hero — subtitled
"Amie s Search For Keen More
Money."
Life With Mikes' Michael )
Fox gets upstaged ill the cute and
cuddly department
Hot Shots Part Deux — as il the
first wasn’t bad enough.
Super Mario Hint hers — the
let s-see how-gullible !ho-Amer
ican-movie-pu Id ic-actually is
release of the summer
It's not that I have gotten more
cynical in my old age. though
live-plus years at the University
would blunt the enthusiasm of
Mr Rogers Movies are too slic k,
and cultured, featuring high
speed special effects and big pecs
Where's a classic when you
need one, like Plan 9 From Out
er Space?
Don Peters is a columnist for
the Emerald.
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