EDITORIAL
r
Drunken driving
bills inadequate
Tho Oregon Ijegislature warns to crack down on drink*
ing and driving.
Congratulations. Salem. No one wants drivers on tire
road and any effort to save lives is good. But the dozen
or so bills introduced at this legislative session miss the
point.
Expensive bills that swing on tho verge of constitu
tionality won't solve the problem. Focus on preventative
efforts instead.
One of the bills recently introduced would require
urine samples for drivers suspected of drunken driving.
Tho “urine bill" would allow an officer to request a urine
sample. If the driver wort* to refuse, his license could
be suspended.
This bill seems impractical and will no doubt be chal
lenged ns a violation of civil liberties. Would the driver
bo required to pee in a cup in the middle of the street, or
would the state have to use up Its already diminishing
police resources to bring every suspected drunken driver
to polico headquarters?
Another bill would allow vehicle forfeitures for repeat
offenders. Authorities statewide would have the oppor
tunity to seize vehicles. A stale automobile junkyard
isn't the the best deterrent for drivers, especially for
repeat offenders who are already unfazed by stiff (renal
lies and will probably find a way around the law Also,
what happens if the repeat offender is driving someone
eIso’s vehicle? Whore will tho lines be drawn?
Other bills proposed would require emergency room
workers to report drivers with high blood-alcohol lev
els after they are injured in accidents and would increase
penalties for drunken drivers who have children or
handicapped people as passengers. These two bills seem
more practical than urine samples and auto junkyards.
Any drunk driver caught with children should definite
ly receive the stiffest penalties possible. However, the
legislature needs a more preventative approach.
Tho problem with most of the bills Introduced is that
they only deal with drivers after they have been on the
road — after they have endangered millions of lives.
What about spending money to stop drivers from getting
behind the wheel?
Police officers could patrol parking lots of bars, parties
or other areas, where people are likoly to drink, to stop
jieople before they open a car door. Someone offering a
ride home would bo cheaper and easier than forced
urine tests, imagine the lives that would be saved.
Police also need to educate drivers, especially young
drivers. At one high school where a number of teens had
been killed from drinking and driving accidents, police
showed students videos of the accident scenes where
tholr peers died. It's time to remember that the number
one goal is saving lives, not abusing police power.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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■ COMMENTARY
49ers best team in football history
Primp A. J. Fontan a
This week. I’m going ,0
write about something
more important than any
of the political garbage I usually
discuss
Of course, that would have to
be the San Francisco 4 Sere.
I'm not going to mention
scores, broken records, stats or
any of the numbers over which
we have poured since the Super
Howl It suffices to say that for
one hour, it was unquestionably
the finest team in the world's
greatest sport (that's right soccer
fans, football is the greatest; all
of the ephemeral World Cup
hype of this summer was as
empty as a flat tire).
Sports is the last bastion of
American life in which only the
best are rewarded Unlike the
arts, politics or any other facet of
our culture, athletics (boxing
and college football excluded) is
the only one in which one team
or person can prove they are tru
ly the best of the best
This is what San Francisco
did with such authority on Sun
day. retaking its rightful throne
atop the NH..
Steve Young, bless him. final
ly broke the curse of Montana.
As a native San Franciscan. I
can attest to the fait that no mat
ter what he had accomplished
before Sunday, the city always
reminded Young that he could
never replace )oe.
In any other city in the coun
try. including Dallas and Miami,
Young would be the unques
tioned starter and civic hero But
in the city by the bay. he was
just a replacement for the fallen
deity of Super Bowls past
In a way. this was under
standable. Everybody knows
that in his day. Joe was the great
est. period No questions, no
doubts, no Marino, no Brad
shaw, no nothing. It has always
been and forever shall tw |oe
Montana as the pinnai le of
greatness in the world of foot
ball
Joe knows it. Young knows it,
you know it, 1 know it Heck,
people in Madagasi ar probably
know it
But now, with the ring on his
finger, Young is his own quar
terback, no longer a stand-in for
Montana or a footnote in the
annals of 4<»er history.
Coach George Seifert has also
finally earned himself some
respect. Even though he has had
the best winning percentage of
any coach (okay, there's one
fact, sue me), many have ques
tioned his coaching ability, say
ing the NFL Championship that
he won during his first season
was simply the result of the
careful planning during the
Walsh years that proceeded his
tenure
This time, it was different.
This 4‘ter squad may have had
some familiar fates from the
Walsh era. but this was a team
built from Seifert's organization,
a victory that was his and his
alone, finally standing outside
of the long shadow of the mighty
Walsh, the greatest coach in pro
fessional football history.
Jerry Rice suited up and
played on Sunday. Need I say
more?
Ricky Watters and the other
offensive skill players proved to
he among the greatest assem
bled, providing Young with
more weapons than an NRA
convention in Oklahoma
The defense, thanks to hot
rookies and some great acquisi
tions during the off-season, con
tinued, as through the regular
season, to be one of the NEC's
elite squads
However, all of the previously
mentioned players of this drama
needed one final spark to assure
their victory. During the past
few years, everything has seem
ingly been in place on paper, hut
the team simply he Led an unde
finable something
This year, a few of games into
the season, that missing element
arrived and made an impact that
could never be measured in
numbers or stats.
As you’ve probably guessed,
I'm talking about this year's
Defensive Player of the Year.
Deion “Prime Time" Sanders.
Sanders gave San Francisco a
heart, an identity, a flash of bril
liance and originality to compli
ment the team's stringent work
ethic.
His flash, pizzazz and in-your
face attitude spread like a virus
around the team. The usually
conservative Young started to
spike the hall after touchdowns
and get into the faces of his
opponents, former meat-and
potatoes players like linebacker
Gary Plummer learned how to
dance on the field and celebrate
their accomplishments, the
whole team seemed to shave a
few years off their lives.
Basically, the Niners started to
have fun. All of this thanks to
the “do rag” (as he (-alls the red
bandana he wears on his head)
and gold jewelry-wearing two
sport star from Florida State.
Prime Time was the last nec
essary step to greatness, and
when ho took his place, boy
wore they great
We all saw what this demoli
tion crew did to its unworthy
opponents. The sheer brutality
was so epic it made Quentin
Tarentino’s festivals of gore look
like Disney cartoons, simply
Immjuiso its talents were so pro
nounced in comparison to those
of the sac rificial lambs that were
placed upon the altar
The 49ers have shown that
proper structure and organiza
tion, team spirit, talent, hard
work, soul and a little good luck
can go cjuite a long way
Our generation especially
should take note of what was
accomplished. Being a whiny
"slacker," although trendy, is
idiotic.
Winning those victories in the
competitions that we face every
day of our lives, and even more
importantly enjoying and appre
ciating the hard work that gain
ing them takes, is what life is all
about
Primo A / Fontana is a colum
nist for the Kmerald.