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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1993)
EDITORIAL The tax is back; why vote to pass? Ballot Measure 1 is back in the hands of the courts, as tho Oregon Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday. There really does not seem to be much of an issue except the measure must be divided into four parts in order to be acceptable. The four-part constitutional amendment proposes to establish a five percent sales tax. cut homeowner prop erty taxes, create a spending cap and devote half of all lottery proceeds to schools. This four-part amendment would throw a great deal of money into the hat for education. If the measure were to go to the polls as a four-part measure, giving the people a choice as whom to allocate funds from, then maybe it would have a better chance of passing. Or at least par tially passing. Education is the foundation to the success of any coun try. It seems we are shooting ourselves in the foot by con tinually cutting education, especially at the rate wo are doing it. Granted the effects of Measure 1 will not be the most beneficial to the business industry here in Oregon, but we have got to generate some kind of income and allocate it to education. If Ballot Measure 1 were to go to the polls as it is intend ed. and if it were to pass, then it is estimated that mil lions of dollars would tie lost in business. Out-of-state residents come to Oregon to shop, and they do it regu larly and spend a great deal of money. With a sales tax those people would no longer have the incentive to trav el to Oregon just to do some shopping. However, a tradeoff must be made. Is the investment in education worth tho money that would be lost by insti tuting a sales tax? Maybe today it sounds like a great deal of money, but tho potential that education has to increase the revenue in this state is impressive. Oregon businesses are either going to lose money from a sales tax or con tinue to lose money from the adverse effects in educa tion because of cuts that continue to lie made in funding education. Ballot Measure 1 provides funding for grades IC-12, as well as community colleges. So the (juestion artsfcs. why should four-year students at the University support such a measure? The University has lost more than $40 million from the General Fund since 1990’s Ballot Mea sure 5 took effect. This money has been used to fund grades K-12. With the money from Measure 1. the funds for the General Fund would be reestablished, which in turn would provide revenue for four-year schools. If the current measure makes it to the polls and does not pass, it will be back to the drawing board. But we can only go to the drawing board so many times. There real ly aren’t too many options except a sales tax. It is really not so much a tax as an investment by the people of Ore gon for the people of Oregon. Let’s face it — no one wants a sales tax. No one wants to spend that extra 5 percent on something they can't readily see. But education needs a now lifeblood. It needs money to fuel the demand any society has to educate. Nobody wants the sales tax. But education needs ade quate funding, and it needs it bad. Oregon Daily Emerald The Oregon D*ty Ernwakl >s published datfy Monday through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co . Inc , atthe University of Oregon Eugene. Oregon The Emerald operates independently of the Uocvenfty ninth offices at Surte 300 of the Erb Memorial l)n*on and ts a member of the Associated Press T he f mttrMkl is private property The unlawful removal or use o< papers ts prosecutable by law Editor-In-Chief: Jafce berg Managing Editor Editorial Editor OrapHtca Editor f raalanca Editor Caisoy Anderso" Dav»d T ho#n Je« Paslay Thor Wa»botteri Sports Editor Editorial Editor Photo Editor Supplements Editor Stc*ve Mims Je« Pcfchardt Anthony Forney Katy Soto Nigh' Editor Slav* Uni Associate Editor*: Scol Clamant. Studont Govommont/Aclivihot Rebecca Merritt. Community. Rivait Janttan. higher fderation Adrurnstrafon Now* Stott: leah Bower Dov* Chorbonneau. Mag Dedckph. Amy Davenport Malm l«M> Martin F.sher Sarah Handarton. Ant Ftetseldahl. Edward Ktoptenstem. Yin long laong, Tntla No*i. Ei.iabeth R**ntl|*rna. Lia Salocci*. Scot! Smonton, Stephan.* Sitton. Sosenn* SteFtens. Julr* Swensen. kAchaia Thompaorv Aguiar Kevin Tnpp, Amy Van Tuyt. Darnel Watt Oanarol Man agar Judy Rieef Advarllaing Olractor Mart Wader Production Metiagsr Mcn<*« Rots Advartlalng: Freiime Ball, lyndtay Bernstem, Subir Dutla. Nicola Fterrmark. Teresa Itaboae. Jaramy Motor: Michael Miitatla, Van V OBryan II. Rachael Tru*. Keltay Waken. Ang* Wndherm Classified Becky Merchant. Manager Vidor Mere. Srm T;• Tack Olttnbutton Brandon Anderton. John long, Graham Srmpaon Buolnaea: Kathy Carbon*. Supervisor Judy ConnoOy Production: Dee McCobb Production Coontnsloi Shown* Abele. G>eg Desmond. Tara Gaud nay Brad Jots. Jenmler Roland Nan Thongvift. Clayton Yoe MMtlt Me-S312 Bu«ln— OWc«. Dtaplay Ad«w1liin«.34W712 Cl—Wd Ad»—tog-.— w {****_<> m;w, Now WtfAT? w»*ef «jO> f wt> Twrs .jmat >y% ^; tvyihgtc rfLivou I LETTERS Strip clubs i would like to take the time to i.larify some things about a letter to the editor ! wrote (ODE. ()i t. 11) regarding strip clubs. It seems as though 1 hove been misunderstood on the subject. It aeoms the point I was trying ^ To make Tins freedOverlooked itl the letter TTv* Maty Prf*. VViskerchen (ODE. Oct Hi. Wiskerchen makes many state ments about things 1 never even mentioned in my letter For instance, nowhere did I state that I think the human body (male or female) is any thing less than beautiful In fact, my belief is quite the contrary. Nor did 1 make any claims that 1 believed men wore exempt from being exploited in the same fashion as women. In fact. I believe that men are exploited in many (not all) of the same ways as women ore. And nttver did I make such as statement that would render the notion that I somehow believed that as "human animals.” we do not have sexual desires that need an outlet However, as the "human animals" that we are. I would hope, though, that we have enough self-control over our "natural reproductive desires" that such forms of entertainment were not fre quented. especially by teen agers. Perhaps, when men and women are treated equally then, and only then, will 1 consider having a change of heart. Until then. 1 fail to see the significance of such establishments for the bettering of women (and men) and our lives. Robyn K. Hogg Journalism Galled Ball Attention! Are you a factious, segregative group, union or cen ter with an agenda that serves few on this campus? Then you are probably already getting an unfair share of Incidental Fee Committee funding. It seems the only criterion for receiving funding is if, through a stretch of the imagination, you can place yourself under the banner of diversity Student group titles sound like the next episode of Geraldo. On the other hand, if you are a Hvfcle range . .liidpjeifc** dtimtbwMUUtudents regardless of color, sexual orien tation. religion, etc., and has no political agenda whatsoever, then you can expect to lose some funding This has been the case with the athletic depart ment and, most recently, the Harry Jerome Weight Center The idea of trying to make the weight center self-supportive would be great, if not for the inevitability that the money saved just wont to another group. No proportional savings to students, just a net increase in incidental foes. Maybe in the next round of IFC budget hearings there should Im) some kind of formula in which the number of users equals the importance to the average student, with the amount of funding from student fees then being distributed in direct proportion to that impor tance. If the ASUO and the IFC had more power, we would next see pay toilet stalls in all of the cam pus buildings. Of course, stu dents would first bo required to pay for their installation, and then we could all crawl under the doors. Jeff Ball Geological Sciences Amazon crucial There is the possibility that the University's Amazon Family Housing might be torn down and replaced with units with considerably higher rents. Behind this controversy stands another issue: Who should get the world's preferred jobs? The dominant ideology in the Unit ed States holds that those with the greater qualifications should bo correspondingly rewarded. The problems that women and people of color continue to face shows how far the precept of advancement according to abili ty is from being realized. Persons with limited financial means also fact? barriers to their being able to secure the educa tion that is a prerequisite to cer tain jobs. Amazon family hous ing exists to help such people get through the University. With students facing rising tuition, scarcer jobs available to help pay expenses while in college, and increased difficulty in repaying student loans, it is important for the University to retain low-rent student housing One ran imagine the lifelong bit terness that might Ire felt by peo ple who believe that they had the potential to become, say, an architect, but were denied the opportunity solely because they lacked the money, Milton Takei Political Science Anxiety natural Isn't it a normal reaction to ixi somewhat nervous when some one "comes out" to you? According to Jodi Mai and Spencer de Mi lie's commentary (ODE . Oct. 19), it's not. I've had about 10 to 15 people come out to me in the past two years. Even though I am very "queer positive” and I try to understand their quest for sexu al identity, 1 was nervous each and every time someone has said the words, "I'm gay,” for the first time. I understand that Mai and de Mille were trying to make a point about bigotry, but the example they used was a poor one at best. When we are striv ing for acceptance, I believe it is contradictory to say. "Oh, and by the way, you can't be ner vous!" It doesn't seem very fair to tell someone else how they should feel. Just something to think about. Teryl Pendergrass Pre-Journalism