EDITORIAL
A new age for city
if the voters allow it
Anthropologists and historians are wild about ages.
These are the folks who brought us the Stone Age. the
Dark Ages, the Age of Reason and the Space Age. As his
tory progresses, one age gives way to another, which is.
in turn, supplanted by another, until we come to the pre
sent day. And what do they call the age we live in tonay?
The Information Age.
The Eugene City Council, in an appropriate burst of
informed reason, recognized this new age on Wednes
day. as it approved a plan to include computer technol
ogy in its plans for a new library In all. St.5 million of
the new library's total price tag of $19 million will be
earmarked for computer hardware and computer net
work capabilities.
Now. the Council has an even more important task
ahead: it must convince the public of the need for the
library, and it must do so before the May election That’s
when the voters of Eugene will decide whether to
approve a $50.2 million bond issue, which, if passed,
will pay the cost of the library and a variety of other
civic projects.
Improving the library will require more than simply
creating more floor space and adding more bookshelves.
It will require just the kind of technological improve
ments that the Council has outlined, as well as the
capacity to expand when the time inevitably comes.
That's why it is imperative that the voters realize the
benefits of voting "yes" when they are faced with the
bond measure three months from now. .
Anyone who has used the facilities available in the
University's Knight Library knows that the modern
library can bo much more than just a repository of books.
It is a research Mecca, a place where one can sit down in
front of a glowing video screen and ac cess information
that couldn’t be contained in a dozen libraries' worth of
ordinary books.
At the risk of sounding melodramatic:, public libraries
are a pillar of democracy. Like the* public school system,
libraries are a way to make people better citizens. The
better the citizen, the bettor the city — state, country and
world.
Libraries can bo a groat equalizer as well. Many social
theorists are saying that the gulf between the "haves"
and the “have-nots'* is not so much a question of “Who
has the money?" as "Who has the information?” If this
is indeed the case, then the public library may be the
only resource available which can help the "have-nots"
shake off that title.
There are few services that a city can provide which
truly servo everyone. Efficient, modern libraries are
among those few services. Hopefully, supporters of the
library will bo able to make the case for a new library,
and for the bond issue which will pay for it. They must
inform the voters, so the public will be able to inform
themselves.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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OPINION
Right to pray not guaranteed for students
Marius Meland
l ■ a he 1 S Senate just passed
a law with an amendment
.A. proposed In lilt- venerable
|esse Helms, stating that the fed
eral government has the right to
withdraw funding from any pub
lit school that denies its students
the "constitutional right to
prayer."
I t»eg your pardon? I don't pre
tend to he a legal scholar, hut as
far as I remember, there's noth
ing in the U.S. Constitution that
could be interpreted as guaran
tt>eing students the right to pray
in school In fact. I even looked
up the Constitution in 1993's
"Almanac." and unless there
have been any dramatic changes
since Inst year, I fail to see when*
Mr Helms and his colleagues
found the legal support for their
claim
a proposal sui n as inis is, 01
course, to be expected from Mr
Helms, whose policies aren't
exactly what you'd call progres
sive Mr Heims, who has spent
decades in the Senate fighting
cavil liberties and equal rights for
women and minorities, is paid
for and owned by the American
tobacco industry. The only
redeeming quality about the
North Carolina senator is that he
makes it somewhat less embar
rassing to say that you're from
Oregon, home of Bob Pack wood.
Much more disconcerting than
Mr. Helms' proposal is the wide
support that it has received from
the U S. Senate. Democrats and
Republicans alike have wel
comed his proposal in a time
when the courts consistently
have ordered students to restrict
their religious practices to the pri
vate sphere. Bear in mind that
this is the same Democratic Con
gress that was going to champi
on civil rights and liberties after
twelve years of Republican reac
tionism.
It's hard to explain why Con
gress would suddenly embrace
Mr Helms' ideas But here's a
golden rule in politics: If you
want to find out why a politician
votes inconsistently, look to the
lobbyists It you can't find any
thing there, look to the polls In
this case, the lobbyists are the
powerful and financially strong
Christian Right, and the opinion
polls show that a vast majority of
Americans support school
prayers.
Let's take a look at the Consti
tution and see where the sup
porters of this now law could find
arguments for the right to school
prayers. The First Amendment
states that "Congress shall make
no law respecting an establish
ment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press..."
The troublesome thing about
the First Amendment is that the
first and the second phrases
could be interpreted as contra
dictory. While an opponent of
school prayers may emphasize
the fact that "Congress shall make
no law respecting an establish
ment of religion.” a supporter
would point to the fact that Con
gress shouldn't prohibit ' the free
even ise thereof "
1.fuming from previous mis
takes. Mr Helms and his sup
porters have been shrewd enough
to try to avoiii violating the first
part of the First Amendment. If.
for instance, he had proposed
that the government support
Christian prayers in schools, he
would have been in deep consti
tutional waters. No matter how
you interpret the Constitution,
there tan be no doubt that it pro
hibits the recitation of a prayer
from a particular religion, such
as the Lord's Prayer.
But no, Mr. Helms is a lot
smarter than that Rather than
proposing outright prayers in
schools, he appended to the law
a subtle statement that the gov
ernment could withdraw its
funding from a school that denies
its students what he calls the
"constitutional right to prayer.”
And prayer is defined more pre
cisely as a moment of silence for
reflection and contemplation.
Mr Helms thought he was on
the safe side, since the law
doesn't favor a particular kind of
religion, hut allows students of
all religious persuasion to pray
in school. But he seems to have
forgotten one thing: Although
various kinds of worship exist in
all religions, the "silent prayer"
is practiced most often in Chris
tianity.
Muslims, for instance, pray by
lying down toward Mecca and
reciting a certain formula
Although it's true that medita
tion is common in some Eastern
religions, the classroom setting
and the limited time will hard
ly afford the students the kind of
environment required for medi
tation.
More important, however, is
the fact that allowing prayers in
school would be unconstitution
al Whether Mr. Helms's law
discriminates against a particu
lar religion or not is irrelevant.
The point of the First Amend
ment is not only that the govern
ment shouldn't establish a par
ticular religion, hut that the
government shouldn't establish
religion at all.
I horn s a subtle difference
between "Congress shall make
no law regarding the establish
ment of religion," which is what
the First Amendment actually
says, and "Congress shall make
no law regarding the establish
ment of a religion." In this case,
one letter makes a great differ
ence.
If people want to pray, that's
fino. They have a constitutional
right to practice their religion
But there's no such thing as a
constitutional right to pray in
school. Pray wherever you want,
Mr. Helms, but please don't
force your religion on school
children.
That's not only unconstitu
tional, that's un—American.
Marius Meland is a colum
nist for the Emerald