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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1995)
EDITORIAL Invest in education with lottery money With the ongoing budget crunch statewide, state leg islators are looking for new ways to fund essential pro grams. One of the proposals currently being considered would divert some lottery dollars to fund public edu cation In Oregon. Lottery money is used now to fund economic development projects throughout the state, If the legislature passes this bill, it would bo placed on the ballot for a May 16 election. Should voters approve the measure, lottery dollars would fund education as well as economic development, the current destination for the money. The idea is an excellent one. Oregonians gamble mil lions of dollars every year In the state lottery, and edu cation is badly in need of money If both the need and the money are there, the state has no excuse for not funding education with the available funds rather than make students statewide suffer Keno for the kids could be an interesting way of funding the neighborhood school. Currently, lottery dollars fund economic develop ment, usually in the form of expanding museums, tourism facilities and other programs that make Oregon ,i more livable state ter locals and more attractive to those visiting from outside the state. However, Oregon must determine what its priorities are What Is the point of building a museum if Oregon’s youth can't read? Although many agree the lottery should fund educa tion. there art? other proposals that aren't as favorable. State Senate President (Jordon smith wants to link the allocation of lottery dollars to education with « trust that would help to fund education in the next century. Smith, a Republican, wants to develop the trust, endowed partially by lottery dollars, so it has $1 bil lion by ihe end of the decade Proceeds from that account would fund education. The Senate may pass the trust tend provision, but the House didn’t support the measure when it first consid ered the bill. This may be ihe downfall for either the trust fund or the entire lottery proposal Though the idea may seem good on the surface, trust funds an? an unrealistic way of funding education. A fat trust fund for education will become a funding source for other programs, and when the time comes to fund education, there will be no money left A quick fix in the short nm, a trust fund is a bad idea in the long term. The idea to fund education from the lottery is not a total fix to the chronic problem of funding education in Oregon. Only months of work on the part of the leg islature will help to alleviate the budget crunch schools are expected to encounter. However, this proposal is a slop in Ihe right direction, and will help to ease the budget shortfalls education is expected to have during the next biennium. 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Sadly. your observation that "Roe vs Wade will not lx* over turned*' is true The "pro ( hoii .e/death" movement will march on However, your state ment that “(TJhe only way for the decision to he negated would he for a constitutional amendment" reveals your com plete ignorance of Constitution al adjudication Unlike the Hill of Rights, which has been severely curtailed in several Instances, a woman's “right” to exterminate her child is not a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution Contrary to your poorly formed legal opin ion, if you multiplied Justice Scalia by five, abortion would !»e illegal Even given the legality of killing humans in the name of women's right, is it morally right* Just l»ecuiuse our nation’s laws allow this type of murder does not make it right For example, in Dred-Scott, the Supreme C iourt determined that blac ks were not human, rather, they were viewed as chattel Hitler mandated that Jews were not human and exterminated six million Both policies were legal, but were they "right?” 1 do not c ondone any type of violence Killing doctors and other workers providing this "service” reduces the pro-life movement to the same sordid level as those performing the massacre of innoc ent humans 1 realize my word choice will offend people However, people need to realize that unless a sur gical killing is performed on a woman, she will, as if Cod planned it that way, give birth to an infant I pray that Cod have mercy on your souls and forgive you. Scott Harwell Law Focus on N.Y. The "Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Ac t" hill was again introduced to the House of Representatives this month It has been rejected four times already. What is so inter esting is that the bill was intro duced by Rep Carolyn Maloney, from New York The bill calls for a complete ban on logging and other com menial activity on more than If* million acres of forests, from Wyoming to Oregon and Wash ington. Needless to snv. this would greatly affect the economies of the states named in the bill, and especially the communities that rely on the forestry business for their liveli hood I am sure if a bill was introduced that would affect her own state ns much, with thou sands of jobs lost and revenues gone, the representative would not he so quick to support it. 1 also find it interesting that the supporters are not focusing on the environmental problems in their own states Oregon was found to be the healthiest state in the United States in an environmental study done last year, and New York produces most of the coun try's garbage Remember that barge full of tons of waste that floated around for so long' I think the supporters of this bill should clean up their own states first, instead of trying to pass the focus onto another state, which is doing quite well without their help Dayna Terry Undeclared Save the wolves Brian Womack, in his ]an 24 column, attacks wolf reintro duction as a project of "Big Ciov ernment" and as therefore unwarranted I would like to attempt to set the record straight on this important program hirst, have you ever seen a wolf? I don't mean your friend's (wt hybrid, 1 mean a real wolf, in the wild. If you had, you would realize they are far more com plex social creatures than "vicious killers." (What about what we white folk did to Native Americans or African Americans?) This label is an unfortunate stereotype started by fairy tales and encouraged by (■anchors. Wolves have families, protect their young and commu nicate in ways w« have not yet begun to understand Second, wolves have inhabit ed North America far longer than humans, including Native Americans. This makes us the invaders, by a few thousand years How would you like it if a wolf came to your door with a shotgun and told you to leave? Or would you rather they just started shooting without a warn ing' We have already destroyed their livelihood by extirpating them from the lower 48 states, the least we can do is provide them with a little leeway in the last remaining wilderness areas, like Yellowstone and central Idaho. Third, most predators keep the balance. Evolution is driven by mutations; most mutations are bad. and must be eliminat ed quickly so they don't repro duce. This is where wolves and other predators come in. Studies show that when wolves hunt, they are actually unsuccessful the vast majority of the time; they only kdi the weak, old, and excess young Instead of trying to eliminate competition, ranch ers should encourage predators Further, compensation pro grams such as that started by Defenders of Wildlife in Mon tana should be expanded. Finally, wolves are coura geous. beautiful creatures, at least the equal of humans, even if they don't follow the trap pings of modern, “civilized" society. They deserve to exist on this world as much as any other creature, to flourish. Iiear young, grow old and die If we as a species don't find a way to allow this, we will bear the bur den of this decision. Such a path will inevitably lead to less bio diversity; it may lead to our own demise, as well Marty Bergoffen Law ■ LETTERS POLICY Thu Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing comments on topics of interest to the University community Letters to the editor must be limited to no more than 250 words, legible, signed and the identification of the writer must he verified when the lettur is submitted The Fnwrald reserves the right to edit any letter for length or style
