EDITORIAL
Reduce programs
but cut rationally
As promised during political campaigns last fall, it's
budget cutting time In Washington.
Republicans in Congress are exploring a number of
ways to reduce spending Among ideas mentioned by
some in Washington is privatizing, ctilting or eliminat
ing a number of government agencies and departments.
From billion dollar agencies to million dollar programs,
many items are Iwing eyed for the chopping block
Some of the departments mentioned for cuts are the
Departments of Housing and Urban Development. Edu
cation, Commerce and Energy. The United States Geo
logical Survey is also being targeted for elimination or
reduction.
It is true that in order to reduce spending both large
and small programs and agencies must bo cut. Both cab
inet agencies and relatively small programs, suc h as
public broadcasting, are being reviewed for cutbacks.
Whether one disagrees with the particular cuts or not. it
seems that Republicans ns a whole seem genuine in try
ing to make spending reductions based on what they s«w
as waste.
The current proposals on the table are just that — pro
posals Thc\ hast) not boon approved or. in main < axes,
offH ia 11v introduced in C.ungress They are merely a
smattering of cuts that ( an be made to save money. With
that in mind, a number of good suggestions for cuts have
been made that can be followed on within upcoming
months.
Regardless. there could be problems with some of the
proposed cuts. For example, with the proposed cutbac ks
at the Department of Energy, at least one Republican
member of Congress is talking about relaxing policies on
nuclear waste, aiming more toward “containment" of
contamination at areas such as the Hanford nuclear
reservation, instead of total cleanup.
It is probable that elimination or cuts to an agency
would reduce Its effectiveness in legislating; one would
hone that it would not come with the consequence of a
reduction in regulations for a particular industry. Cuts
must he made based on actual waste, not because one
feels that a particular policy is wrong.
While the Idea of cutting departments is good, it
seems questionable that a middle-class tax cut is still
being proposed. It seems like the money, which is just
not there to make the cut possible, is being user! to bribe
the middle class. Rather than cut on one hand and pay
the middle class with the other, it makes more sense to
use the money to reduce the deficit.
Americans elected a Republican Congress to, among
other things, cut federal spending. Congress should con
tinue to explore ways to cut wasteful expenses reason
ably and rationally. However. Congress must also con
sider the consequences of any cuts or changes that it
makes.
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■ LETTERS
Misinformed
In response to the charmingly
disturbing abortion-related ■ om
menlary in the Emerald, Feb 7,
for goodness sake. gentlemen!
Mow can you not realize what
an editorial like yours means
underneath the thinly vailed
double-talk and inflammatory
premises’ How dare you assert
that these abortion murderers
are somehow excused from
responsibility because they
whine that they are being
«x» hided from coverage by the
national news media?
This is the same kind of dis
gusting escapist malaise that is
sweeping our country today
“The serial rapist did it because
he had an absent father com
plex.” "The mass murderer
came from a dysfunctional fam
ily," eic We cannot allow these
horribly dangerous attitudes to
continue
It there is one thing we as a
society are perfec ting iotelv. it's
our ability to run away from
plating the blame where it
belongs on the individual w ho
perpetuates these unlawful
activities If we want to focus on
preventing the activities that
"drive" people to do these
crimes, fine Do not, however,
simply sit back and write off
someone's violent actions as
"just one of those things " Bv
maintaining this attitude, we are
doing more harm to our society
than a million doctor killers
every could.
|ust a side note here, hut 1 w as
espec iflily conc erned over your
assertion that "pro-c hoice" is a
kind of |argon masking a deeper
"pro-abortion” movement 1
instantly lost any amount of
respect I held for v'all, as writers
and an opposing side, when you
brought up this c ompletely false
assertion Pro-choice does not
imply pro-abortion
1 am completely morally
opposed to the practice of abor
tion. 1 do. however, adhere to
the idea that I have no control
whatsoever over w hat a woman
wishes to do with her body A
person who is pro-choice
believes in a woman’s right to
c house what is right for her own
body Pro-abortion, however,
implies that you sanction the
pra< tu e of abortion to the point
of wishing to extend its political
influence.
You are misinformed and
guilts of one of the most
heinous literary cliches ever
dev ised compromising the truth
to sue k out the last drops of con
troversy from the universal juice
box that is American political
discourse Shame on you.
Kavi Chaitanya Grace-Luke
Philosophy
Housing scarce
Mr Fontana has stated in his
editorial [OPE. Feb. H) that the
issue of Amazon Family Hous
ing is not one of low-cost pub
lic housing Patently. 14 [>ert ent
is 14 percent and low-cost pub
lic housing is an issue Did Mr
Fontana also forget that living
costs, including housing, pre
vent Oregonians from attending
the University? Students from
rural Oregon ami those with
families find it very difficult to
find housing which won't bank
rupt them in the middle of a
term
Since low-income housing is
very scarce in Eugene, students
occupy a disproportionate share
of that housing throughout the
Eugene-Springfield area, down
to the trailer spots In 1994
nationwide, Eugene had the
largest increase in housing costs.
That same year, homelessness
rose 42 percent, according to
this month's The Other Paper
Are low-income students
expected to pay fair market val
ue for S524 per month? That's
fair only if year-to-year rent
inflation is fair. II the University
can be allowed to get into the
Student Housing gouge game
Should it tie?
Three engineering studies
have been conducted for (tie
Amazon units. They all do not, I
am told, agree and at least one
did not even tour the site. The
Eugene Eire Department hasn't,
ns far as I know, expressed safe
ty concerns and neither has the
EWKB utility. True, these build
ings were not intended to he
used even as long ns they have.
They lack foundations and they
need a new sewer. The Univer
sity's lack of care over the years
has been fully documented. On
the other hand, these are light
buildings designed to be dis
mantled and moved, making
rehabilitation cheap.
The buildings have been
declared eligible for the historic
register, and this puts them in a
specific category in the demoli
tion process laws made to pre
vent tho loss of historical prop
erties have been followed. The
University hasn't followed those
laws, and as long as the proper
ty husn't been condemned, the
Save Amazon Coalition is sim
ply demanding due process.
Finally, planning for the new
housing has yet to result in any
document detailing what the
5400 per month figure reflects.
Those who will have to pay that
amount want to know whether
that figure will serve to pay the
University's financing, staffing
and maintenance costs or
w hether rent increases after the
second year will skyrocket.
With the figures available now.
it won't and increases will
occur.
Apart from the issues of low
income rental scarcity and
demolition of historical proper
ties, there is a responsibility on
the part of the University to pro
vide realistic and public plans
for future housing for its stu
dents at the Amazon site
Vincent Reynolds
History
■ LETTERS POLICY
The 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
be verified when the letter is submitted.
1 he Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length or
style.