Information required
for decision on bridge
The Eugene City Council has done it again.
As it has with a number of the city's most pressing
issues. Eugene's elected body of representatives has
elected to make the voters decide — this time without
even having a clear idea what they're deciding on.
The issue at hand is the proposed expansion of the
Ferry Street Bridge from its current widtn of four lanes
to a larger, six-lane over
pass. The voters will
decide in November
whether the city should
proceed with the project.
Unfortunately, they’ll be
voting blind.
Those council membors
who wore in opposition to
the expansion, in discover
ing that they couldn’t just
Without knowing
what the
expansion really
moans, voters
are almost sure
to vote against It
make it disappear altogeth
er, instead took action that would damage the proposal's
chances of gaining voter approval. This will be achieved
by denying tho voters the kind of information they need
to make an informed decision.
At Monday's meeting, the council debated whether
extra design plans — clarifying exactly what the expan
sion would entail — should be drawn up before the
election, so the voters would have a better idea of what
they will be voting on. After hoaled debate, the council
decided on a compromise which still failed to satisfy a
majority of the members — mayor Ruth Bascom was
forced to step in to break the tie.
An issue as important as this one — crucial to tho
future of the downtown area — needs to be seriously
examined and studied before anyone decides on it —
and especially before it goes to the voters, who are just
aching to vote "no" on everything. Without knowing
what the expansion really means, and without city
council endorsement of the project, voters are almost
sure to vote against it. And the city will continue to suf
fer.
Past city councils have relied heavily on plebiscites.
When the council couldn't make up its mind on re
opening some of tho closed streets downtown, it
referred the measure to voters. Decisions on how to
expand tho Eugene public library have been delayed so
as to lot tho voters have their say. Here again, the public
is being asked to make a decision that the council wasn’t
able to.
When the council can't make headway, it sends the
issue to the poople. It removes the responsibility from
the council's back, but it does little for the health of tho
city.
Sure enough, the voters will ultimately decide the
fate of the Ferry Street Bridge, and there’s nothing
wrong with consulting the voters on the issue, per se.
But when tho voters don’t have enough information to
go on, they cannot issue a mandate — and that’s what
tho council is hoping for.
*,,,, ,wv Emerald
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AwO FoZlY
LETTERS
Cover up?
Now that the brouhaha over
tin* withdrawal of defense secre
tarv-designoe Bobby Kay Inman
has died down, it is time to dis
miss the observations he made
during his news conference.
Two points are particularly
noteworthy:
First in 1981, Israel, for offen
sive purposes, received intelli
gence satellite photos that aided
its attack on an Iraqi nuclear
power plant. Clearly that was
done against the laws of the U.S.
government, which allows the
Israeli government to receive
intelligence information and
weaponry for defensive purpos
es only. Who committed the
crime? And why didn't any
newspaper columnist bother to
investigate it? And more impor
tantly why was Mr. Safire, a
New York Times columnist,
complaining to William Casey.
CIA director, about Inman's
decision to limit Israel's access
to satellite photos. Is Mr. Safire
some type of agent for the state
of Israel or a newsman?
Secondly. Inman also noted
that some newspapers like the
New York Times do not publish
op-ed pieces and letters to the
editor that question its hidden
agenda
Until these issues are clearly
dis< ussod in the media. Inman's
resignation remains not a mys
tery as the editors and colum
nists would like us to believe,
but yet another case of white
wash It is much easier for opin
ion writers to dismiss Admiral
Inman as thin-skinned than to
scratch the surface of what he
said.
M. Reu Behnem, Pb.D.
Eugene
Hide out
Robbie, I sympathize with
your attitude concerning mili
tary recruiters, but you seem to
misunderstand the role of the
Armed Forces in America. If
you knew your U.S. history, you
should know that the Peace
Corps did not free America from
the fjiitish.
Despite what you might think,
the U S. military is designed pri
marily as a defensive force (i.e.,
to deter aggression toward the
U.S.). In more primitive terms
that you should understand, the
bigger your club, the less likely
you will get hit. So. if pacifists
like yourself continue to make
decisions about the strength of
the Armed Forces you might as
well build a bomb shelter in
your backyard and hide. (I bet
you would be really talented at
that ) But do yourself a favor,
don't let me find you there.
Paul Hibbard
Graduate Student
U Sc. USNR
Bahai
In a shameful display of
opportunism and political dis
honesty. the so-called Baha'i
faith has attached itself to Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr for the
past two weeks while America
honored the slain civil rights
leader.
King lost his life in a struggle
against racism and racial segre
gation. while for years the
Baha’is have collaborated with
and praised the state of Israel for
their barbaric treatment of the
Palestinians in that segregated
society (The Baha'i headquar
ters are in Haifa )
So what's in common? Noth
ing!
The Baha'is' hidden agenda is
and has always fawn to add new
members to their midst employ
ing any means possible. Recent
ly, Martin Luther King and his
reputation were opportunistical
ly used.
T.J. Footed!
Eugene
Frightened?
1 can only hope that Mr.
Thom's Jan 12 opinion column,
glorifying the human species as
the great "environment manipu
lators.'' was printed as a test to
see if anyone out here actually
reads this paper. I do not want
to believe that a University stu
dent (a seeker, not holder, of
knowledge) has developed such
an attitude at such an early age.
But if public response was the
writer’s aim. that his article was
quite successful.
Thorn would like to believe
that, as a human, he is superior
to all living and non-living
things. Maybe the alternative
frightens him. You use several
thin arguments to support your
presumption. Intelligence. Our
ability to manipulate our envi
ronment. Our ability to both
"destroy or save the environ
ment." Intelligence got us to the
moon (so what?). It also created
processed cheese food, spike
heels and nuclear waste, things
that the lowly subspecies never
wasted an ounce of energy pur
suing. And why is the manipu
lation of the environment more
advance than a life spent in total
harmony with its environment?
Why is a man who builds a fire
to stay warm better than the bear
who just is warm?
And finally. Thom's final and
weakest point. Well. I suppose it
is half-right Only the human
has the power to destroy the
environment. (Why do we insist
on thinking power is a good
thing?) As of yet, no human has
come forward with the answer
that will save the planet. But it
seems to me that as humans —
the top of the food chain — we
depend on all other living
species for our existence.
Species on the "bottom," how
ever, form the foundation of this
pyramid of life. Can even the
most naive pro-human really
believe that the planet would
not survive without us? What
would it die of? Loneliness?
The question is not "us or
them.” It is them or cheap gaso
line ... them or cleaner kitchens
... them or bigger houses. We are
not killing them to survive. We
are killing them for conve
nience.
I just have to wonder — if we
as a species have the "intelli
gence.” the “power" and the
"conscience” to choose between
saving and destroying the plan
et — why we seem to have cho
sen the latter.
Andrea Q. Rlner
Landscape Architecture