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. Oregon Daily PO DOi 31*9 iuCCNC OMCGON 97403 The Oeyort D&iy Fn\f»ak3 * put«iVv*d daily Monday through r»day C,i'='vg »n* vfv> y#a» and Tuesday and Thursday dunng *h« »umm#! by the O'&gor. Dj y f Co Inc ai the University of Oregon. T ug«*‘-e. Oregon In# [mcvanj opiate* ?*J«pendenWy of the Un with of»••:m at Su*fe .*00 of the i rt Memonal U .» t -s j •• • ; ■«;'■• * the As*. ,i!«J !*»•»» Tn# fwxHkf -s pi'vate property The .»•*<•„ *e« ..i o# u.v pace's *s pic secutat <• t>» 4* Ed»lor'«n*Chief ;.*»« tV j Managing Editor t dMonul i dMor Graphic* Editor Fra«lanc« Editor Cftfidy Ancfefson DavxJ Thom Jett Pmiay Jett W Spoils Editor Editorial Editor Photo Editor Supplements Editor St«V« M.fT.5 j&tl PfCk^artJl Anlhooy f &noy Kaiy Solo wgni tailor Joi-e Associate Editors Edward Kloplenatem Student Go>v 'wr*''. Acl’v ’ ** Ret** .1 Mo» •• Commurvfy. Ju *? Sewsen. Mpher EducationAdrT>'f'<$&ai‘Of' News Staff Mandy Bat*. jm A ion Chan. Dave Chartxx •«•■.» j. Davs Meg Derv^iV Amy [)e*ds. Marin f >sn«r Sarah Henderson. twmerle M*m«i Yir» l eng LeooQ. Menus Me»and. Tnsta Noe*. Fl.sabeth R*er**tj«rna. Rotate Reeves l :..r Kevin Tnpp A*y Van Tuyi, Da/' o; West General Manager Jody R*ec# Advertising Director Marti Wafter Production Manager M« Wmdhe»m Claasihed: Becky Merchant. Manager Votor Me,ul. S*m T/e Tec* Distribution Andy Harvey John tong, Graf am Simpao--' Business: Kathy Carbone Supervisor Judy Connotty Production: Dee McCobb Producton Coordinator Shawma Abate. Greg Desmond Ta?a Gauttney. fVad Joss Stacy Mu h*u. Jennifer Roiano. Ratt Thangv»j»t. Dayton Yee N*w»fOom Buuneii Office J4B-S5I1 J4*SS12 Display Advertising Classified Advertising 346-3712 346-4343 as we ger down 7b the ward NEGOTIATING ow 7W€ WEALTH CARE PLAN, r THINK AT TUB OUTIET WE SHOULD Acknowledge that W€ 4ll AfMT£ WWAT TWfJ DlSCt^S'ON E6ALLVA80UT. UEA.LT/-/ Ptfffj fyop ll(£>f+Tj *wf A^w pCA'&i't AMO Accfrs 7t>/r 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.