Ferry Street Bridge
expansion needed
For nearly five years. city officials have debated ways
to combat traffic congestion on Ferry Street Bridge. It's
time to stop talking and start building.
Voters will decido whether to support an expanded
Ferry Street Bridge on Nov. B Measure 20-23 would
authorize the city to expand the bridge to six lanes, with
an additional two lanes reserved for pedestrians and
bicyclists. About $41 million in state, federal and coun
ty money has been earmarked for the $73 million pro
ject.
Expanding the bridge is a logical wav to utilize public
money while making room for Eugene's growing popu
lation. in the past to years. Eugene's population nos
increased by more than 16.000. With companies such as
Sony and Semantic locating in Eugene and Springfield,
the population is expected to soar. More people means
more cars that Eugene highways can not handle.
The Ferry Street Bridge can not accommodate current
traffic levels or make room for any population growth.
Alternative solutions to an expanded bridge — such as
the Mill Street Bridge alternative which would leave the
bridge as is but would add a connector for buses, pedes
trians and bicyclists — ignore Eugene's increasing pop
ulation.
Opponents say their solutions would work if we
could maintain traffic at its current level. That would
moan tolling anyone who moves here to ride their bikes
to work, walk to school or ride the bus to the mall. Ide
alistically. it would be a great way to halt urbanization.
Realistically, it wouldn’t work. People won’t change
their habits because a city doesn't want to grow.
An expanded bridge is critical for the city to meet
police, fire and medical needs. Ambulances traveling
over the bridge have difficulty reaching Sacred Heart
General Hospital in an adequate respouse time. Traffic
congestion is a terrible excuse for poor emergency ser
vices.
A larger Ferry Street Bridge could improve the vitali
ty of downtown, which has lost soveral key businesses
during the past 10 years. Businesses would be less like
ly to relocate if customers had hotter access to the down
town area, which the expanded Ferry Street Bridge
would provide.
A city of 119.000 people can not continue to function
with an inferior infrastructure. We need to recognize
this opportunity to expand before it slips away. The fed
eral government has devoted $24 million for this pro
ject, while tho state and Lane County are chipping in
$14 million and $3 million, respectively. That money
could disappear within the next year if voters don't pass
this measure. It would bo much more painful to fund
this expansion, which is going to have to happen soon
er or later without earmarked funds.
Eugene can not afford to turn its back on growlh if we
don't accommodate change, traffic congestion will just
be tho start of our problems. Vote yes on Measure 20-23.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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■ LETTERS
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like to meet new and interesting
people and develop friendships
I want to learn new i oncepts
and id«as from people. ! want to
lie able to laugh ana cry. to be of
help and to grow with them
I sit in a death row ( till, total
ly deprived of i ontact with peo
ple and ways in which we can
find each other 1 have no family
to speak of. and because of my
situation, they have distanced
themselves They don't want to
feel the pain of what they
believe to be my inevitable
demise
Even though I have great
hope. 1 will never give up on my
family But I do so need friend
ship and I am seeking it through
you, whose hearts this letter
may touch
I am a Native American/Cana
dian French. r> fee! 11 inches tall
with dark brown to almost black
hair that is somewhat long
I would like to hear from all
those with n sincere heart
Please write: *
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Arizona State Prison-Florence
P C) Bos 8600
Florence. A7. 85232
I don’t have much of an
income, and I would really
appret iate a little help with the
postage stamps so that I will In*
able to respond to your letters
Sean B RunntngEagle
Death Row Inmate
Big bad money
On Friday, the Environmental
Quality Commission voted 5-0
to adapt a set of rules which will
determine the implementation
of the 1991 Oregon Recycling
Act. Even though the act had
support (it passed unanimously
through both houses of the Leg
islature). the plastics industry
has been lobbying to weaken the
proposed rules.
This victory for recycling in
Oregon was celebrated by
OSPIRG. which delivered more
than 800 “messages in a bottle"
to the commissioners from peo
ple all over the state. The mes
sages stated that Oregon should
be a national leader in plastics
recycling, not creating loopholes
for an industry. They urged
commissioners to resist the self
interested demands of the plas
tic industry. The messages were
put into plastic bottles to sym
bolize the plastics issue.
Many students rallied before
the meeting nt Portland State
University. Joining the rally was
Dick Springer, state senator.
About 35 OSPIRG students
attended the meeting, and some
let the commissioners know
how they felt. It goes to show
that voices tan lie stronger than
big money.
Brie Malarkey
Eugene
Paying the price
This letter is in response to
Gayle Forman's column [ODE ,
Oct 25) indicating that profes
sors can "prevent students' buy
back woes." How I wish this
were more true. I have had to
select several textbooks, and it is
a difficult procedure made more
difficult by incomplete informa
tion and publishers' habits.
Much of the information giv
en us by the publishers makes
no mention of the cost So. wo
may read a dozen reviews, then
select two or three for further
review The sample copies
come, again with no price. We
select the text that seems best for
the class.
What happens to the rejected
texts' Too often they sit unused
in our offic es because the pub
lisher has no easy return policy.
The end result is that YOU pay
for other people's unused texts!
When the selection is given to
the Bookstore, again there is no
price given. The whole proce
dure can happen with the pro
fessor having no idea how much
the book costs.
I'm not trying to limit our
responsibility for textbook
choice. However, the best way
to get people to make better
decisions is to make it easier for
them to do so. Pressure on the
publishers to provide return
postage and informing professor
of the prices would help. Being
able to use the Bookstore for
information about changes in
the new editions would help.
There are a lot more of you
than there are of us. If you want
change, help us help you by
pushing and nudging businesses
and institutions, not professors.
Barbara DoFlhppo
GTF Psychology
Cyanide works
Larry Haftl's commentary on
Ballot Measure Ifi demonstrates
a limited understanding of 1
assisted suicide. The argument I
hear most often from propo
nents is related to the "right” to
die and the idea that this mea
sure would ensure that basic
right to everyone.
What this measure would do
is grant immunity from Oregon
homicide laws for a certain class
of professionals. What most peo
ple don’t realize is that doctors
are not now, and have never
been, trained to assist patients
in ending their lives.
Currently, the only drugs
available to physicians to pre
scribe in aiding suicidal patients
are barbiturates and a substance
called Sercolen. The body's
reaction to these drugs does
nothing to provide the patient
with a peaceful exit, as they
commonly cause profuse vomit
ing and convulsions and, occa
sionally, death.
Many who attempt to over
dose on these drugs will vomit
the poison and will, at best,
experience abdominal cramp
ing. At worst, they will lx; loft in
a vegetative state. Ballot Mea
sure lf> doesn’t even give us the
option of ending life "graceful
ly and with dignity." as Larry
llaftl writes.
Those who seek suicide are
better able to do themselves in
than a doctor is. Though suicide
is an unfortunate occurrence,
any person can obtain lethal gas
from a welding supply shop, or
a mask and tubing from a home
medial supplier.
If people really want their
death wish to l)e legitimized by
a class of professionals, perhaps
they should consider veterinari
an-assisted suicide. At least vet
erinarians are trained to dis
pense with large mammals
quickly and efficiently.
Until the government allows
doctors to dispense cyanide
tablets to the population (don't
count on it), the peaceful death
envisioned by many as the
promise of this measure is sim
ply misleading.
If you have any questions
about this issue, please attend
the public forum Thursday at 7
p.m. in Room 302 Gerlinger.
Kirsten Parmeter
Sociofogy