EDITORIAL
Centerpiece of the
State of the Union
With it plea to Congress and a plea to the people of the
United States. President Clinton delivered his State of
the Union address Tuesday
With hjs 64-minute speech inviting 67 rounds of
(democratic) applause, there was plenty of time for sip
ping water and wiping his brow. That's right in line with
the feel of the speech, a desperate coach delivering a
team speech like it was his last. Clinton did a fine job
delivering a strong and passionate speech putting
responsibility on individual people, hut it was all done
grazing the surface. The specifics carrying out the new
policies were specifics left out
One of the Clinton administration's biggest issues, and
one it is grappling with, is health tare, and he made it
the centerpiece of his speech. Clinton called for major
reform, calling health care a crisis. And fair enough, see
ing as Americans are hit with the most expensive health
care system in the world. Although U.S. health care is
the must expensive, the security that should go along
with the expense is not there
A system run by the insurance companies, according
to Clinton, is a system that is in the control of the wrong
people. The insurance companies are currently the ones
who decide who gets treated and what treatment they
get. The administration's policy is to provide a fair and
fulfilled system for everyone. Clinton called on Congress
to approve a health care plan that covers all Americans
or else suffer the threat of a presidential veto. Veto or
not. Clinton’s current plan is nowhere close to being
ready for adoption. Like his speech, a few questions
remain unanswered regarding health care.
Is the role of government in line with demands that
are being created? How is access, as well as competition,
handled? Cost containment is another issue left
untouched.
These are questions that require a solid answer before
the conservative nature of this country hands over its
support to government intervention in health care. The
goal for t99R, set by Clinton, is for every American to be
covered under a health care policy. And the key word of
his goal is "every” American or else it is vetoed. Not
much room for compromise; however. Clinton said there
is room for negotiation elsewhere.
One thing that goes without argument is the need to
overhaul the system. The problem has been looked at
in the past, bui action does need to be takon. Setting a
goal for 1998 may. perhaps, bo a goal that is never met.
But what is the state of the Union anyway?
As far as the Democrats were concerned, seeing as
they wore out of their seats and applauding like clock
work, they thought it was quite good.
At the other end of tho political spectrum, however,
the Republicans came to the speech with weights in
their pants, seeing as their seats wero occupied for a
great deal of the speech.
Clinton said, "What is the state of the Union? It is
growing strong, but it must grow stronger still."
Stronger is right, and the ideas that wore presented are
good ones, just subtract the details.
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OPINION
Education is no longer valued
r.sincFkL^
Rous Rkkv^s
It wouldn't be Oregon if some
agency wasn't having to wor
ry about budget cuts.
This tune, it's state-funded
colleges and universities
Gov, Roberts announced that
the state higher education bud
get for the would he cut by Si
million, but that neither enroll
ment nor the quality of edui o
tion would be affected
How so? Simple. Roberts said.
Simply consolidate smaller
classes and offer professors ear
ly retirement options And
while the colleges are doing
that, they can cut the adminis
tration a little as well.
One can see the quality ol
ediK ation plunging already
Of course, enrollment won't
he cut It can't be cut. Any cuts
m enrollment would eliminate
monei from students, especially
from out-of-state students who
pay higher tuition money the
University desperately needs
The proposals sound henign
enough However, consolidating
classes and finding way s to get
rid of instructors do affec t the
quality ol education.
It's a fact that main people
like smaller i lasses. Smaller
classes usually mean there will
he more student-instructor con
tact than in larger classes, and
students will come away from
the course learning more than
they would when there is less
personal interaction.
And getting rid of instructors,
whether they are fired or retired,
inevitably will in some way
lower the academic quality of
the University.
These proposals, in turn,
could affect the satisfaction stu
dents feel with an education
from a state school in Oregon
Satisfied students usually
means returning students, and
returning students pay dollars,
which help run this institution
There are obvious detriments
to the governor's proposed poli
cy That firings up a logical
question Why is it lining pro
posed7
Education is not valued as it
once was.
Oregonians used to value edu
cation highly This can fie seen
by the number of community
colleges (lf>) and state 4-yeur
colleges (eight) in Oregon Those
all took lots of money to fiuild,
staff and tiring to the position
they were in a few years ago
Then, in Oregonians
Imcame quite tight-fisted toward
state government and enacted
Measure .r>, an initiative that
constitutionally limits property
taxes, which is one of the prima
ry forms of taxation in Oregon
Revenues have dropped, and,
therefore, so has funding to state
agent ies and state-funded ven
tures such as public universi
ties This, in turn, necessitates
the cutbacks of staff and
re so u rt es that the universities
have to offer.
It's a sad realiH that the bud
gets for agencies and institutions
are being 1 ut It's been happen
ing for three years now, and peo
ple are being hurt by the cut
backs
Hut what is there to do now '
The moilev is not there these
days to fund everything that
needs to be funded
One could start blaming peo
ple That would be an easy wav
to deal w ith a complex problem
Almost anyone could be
blamed, from Gov Roberts for
proposing the cuts, down to the
citizens that voted in 1990 to
limit property taxes and who
have put the governor in the
position she is now in.
However, as easy and cathar
tic as blaming would be, it
would do absolutely nothing to
solve the economic problems
that are facing Oregon today.
Higher education is crucial to
Oregon's future in many ways,
from the education of students
straight out of high school to the
retraining of displaced workers
for new jobs.
As ironic as it sounds, it is
necessary to educate people
about the importance of higher
education in order to protect it.
It's not that Oregonians have
any spite toward higher educa
tion or, for that matter, educa
tion in general. Everything is
unfortunately coming down to
the question of money, and Ore
gonians seem a lot less willing
these days to part with their
cash.
And I can't say that I blame
them I hate to part with my
money, too. But there are some
things that just need to be fund
ed Itecause tbeir value to society
is infinitely greater than the val
ue of the money alone.
It must be made clear to
everyone that higher education
is worth every cent of their mon
ey. and invariably a lot more.
It w ill be an uphill battle to
convince Oregonians that the
universities are worth their
rnone\ This reflects a general
ambivalence of Oregonians in
funding edui ation these days.
Voters have often blocked oper
ating levies and tax bases for k
12 education statewide, and
rejected a sales tax dedicated to
edui ation last November by a 3
to-1 margin.
Perhaps students and profes
sors at higher education institu
tions statewide i ould be more
aggressive in telling their com
munities about the value that
colleges and universities have to
the state, and that they are worth
the money that citizens invest in
them e\ erv year.
It would be a step in the right
direction — putting education
bac k as a priority, both econom
ically and societally. in Oregon.
Hobbie Reeves is a columnist
for the Emerald.