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
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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