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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1995)
EDITORIAL Lobby legislators to prevent cuts With lH'* budget for higher edut ution being targeted for cuts, now is the time for more students to lobby their legislators to save the budget for publicly-funded uni versities. The time couldn't be more right for students to act The state Senate devoted only two hours of time to pub lit: testimony Thursday — two hours when students could be offer ted for the rest of their lives by cuts to higher education The cuts to higher education are illogical. Under the proposal from Gov. John Kit/.ha Iter. K 12 and commu nity collages in Oregon would receive about 97 percent of their current budgets, with allowances made for infla tion and enrollment growth. However, the governor pro* poses to cut almost 15 percent from higher education — an obviously disproportionate cut This might be indicative of the fact that legislators might not believe that higher education is a priority in Oregon. If that is the case, then they are dead wrong Oregonians have been inc re.tsingly seeing fewer blue collar jobs available as wo move into the age of technol ogy coupled with steep dec lines in the forest supplies industry. However, students have the opportunity to let their legislators know that higher education contributes to lifelong learning. It would tw easy for students to write to or call legis lators from the lingerie area. Unfortunately, it would also lie the equivalent of preaching to the choir. Our local leg islators. for the most part, are already aware of how valu able the University is to students and the community. Students could more effectively direct their energies by writing letters to their legislators back home. Portland students should toll their legislators that the University directly impacts people in Portland Likewise, students from Bend could tell their law maker that Eastern Oregon State College helps give stu dents skills that they will need when they face the job market. Citizens of the state are aided by the education that students receive from all of our state universities However, the situation is not hopeless yet. With the collective voice of students speaking to their own legis lators bark home, more lawmakers than normal will hear the reasons why higher education shouldn't be cut. Students must contact their home town legislators Immediately, as a vote on the proposed higher education budget should come within the next two weeks Kesi dent students should call their legislator back home, while non-resident students can lobby their Eugene rep resentatives. Regardless of one's involvement in political issues, education is an issue which after ts everyone at the Uni versity. the less the state contributes to higher educa tion. the more students will be expected to pay It’s clear that legislators have a lot to learn about fund ing universities in Oregon. Students must take the ini tiative to teat h them that higher education is something that must be valued. Oregon Daily Emerald *0 BOl )1M EUGfJNC 0*tG0« t?46J Th« Owgon 4.W> f mmmj# pg&Athec1 Monday trough F rtday <^<^9 th* tehoc* vNV end t ueedty end Thursday du**ng t*« by !**> 0**000 Ote*y CmereM Pjfc**h*ng CO, Inc . «* ft** linfcw!wtj of Oregon. t O#go« t h® E 0pW*te* ^rHJopoodO'rtlff ttf lh® Un?v«rf tety * »h 0ff<c«* si Su**e 300 of th* l * M*W’ ‘ .* » '•■■.’#• «nd <* 4 -or--vt*w -’■* 1*--r Air,.. >. ,^',od P’P",v Ttve f .^orMi >* privet* property t*** remove! or w»* of pap*** «t p»o*w;:u*4£*w by van* U^nag.ng EddOf Editorial Editor News Aft Editor F rc-c-iancc Editor Edltor-in-Chlet K*»y V ? Ttyv New* Editor Robb* f5«iv« Sport* Editor *»* P*s.u*» Supplement* Editor l «.> Bett■ *w»* Night Edrtor Associate Editor* a * > i V--S'. ■<• ■’ ■> '»»*•• • A. ! . •.»*■» Otvt>rm>',vf> CoAttUK* PoMg r«gn*v £dLc4fe^4dttWK9*r*Port 4 Mom .'?' Ovx* Mc</ T ' ,*14 Need CdMr' Pohtg KAa E dsward*. Hcw» Staff Siren A*tXf#y ftagna fW Mwjy Cone. > Amy L Oevwapon iv.--, . i -r-iarwi CwtyW i vs-n*' Man Garten, Jo# Harwood. *>* Mervy ?r«vor Krumey Sn* wm Kkx.** Adam K.-fvho». Snma^ha M*rt.«n W,t" W Itiv Men McTyre. P«|<<* M*i*v*d B«r» Moot*.;* Niitw*e Mr^gomery A/vn» W vv Kor* *u*d Sn«*»> Netaaft* Shephard Paul V#' ScM* Soar M.V"«mi Sfci*** MiVA Sb*'* Jwemy S*n*orv K-.m W«r*» ftr*en Worn*.-* l«* .*»/«• GhWH Manege/ Judy FWI Advertising Director Ma^ Waft** Production Manager M ^iw* Rohm Advert)ting Am* Amador A/vta Bcva**?* Marco Ow*g. Tony Fo*. N<o»* Hwrnar* K*#y l yon. Jeremy Mason. Sarah MWcNI. Tom Mttatltaadf. Kehwy Wee* Ci***iftad fWmJry MecNrrt, Meiape *y*e Oavt*. J;.>- Solan Distribution >a#ut tong. F crane Hamoc/*. Graham S*mp*on Busin***: Ki»f^y Cart***. S«pdrv«*<y AxJy Coor*o«y Production: Ovnfca AA-Cotab PnxJU Kv- CoortanAftv ShArana .Atx»e 1 ara CWiRoey. Br«3 >:m Mt>'y McC-4r^4 J«rvv.«er Roland Daytyr1* V®# Newsroom 346 5511 Oitplay Advr^u»ing 346-3712 &u*me»*Omc« 346-3512 C**»*ifH»d Atfwt **ng 346-4343 _WHAT SHOU4.0 I SAY ABOUT YOOR REACTION Gays in the miutary' RUUNG? Don't ask, Don TtlL. OPINION DMV records must remain accessible Ann* Monk* Kornkkld Public ah ess to driver** licenses and motor vehicle records (loses in Septem ber IM7 unless each state pass es opt out legislation to keep DMV mm ords open What this means for the pub hi -at-large is that valuable. ben eficial information that leads to ensuring the general health, safety and welfare of all citizens will Ih*i ante unavailable due to a passage included in last sum mer's federal crime bill In August. Sen Hartmra Hover. D-Olif . pushed for the passage of legislation intended to protect stalking victims Boxer's bill went through the Senate qui< ki\ and was approved without pub lic hearings A repeal of the law seems unlikely Currently <itizens can pay a small fiH> at a DMV office to acquire someone’s name and address The law will prevent those who have legitimate needs of obtaining motor vehicle recordt from gaming access. States < an choose to introduce opt-out legislation, which allows slates not It) enforce the legislation's imposed restrn • lions This is the result of a com promise, authored by Rep Jim Moran. 1> Va . which met with the least opposition by groups in favor of open records Indiana and Missouri were the first to enact opt-out legisla tion earlier in the year The law passed in the crime bill restric ts the release of per sonal Information, i.e, pho tographs. Social Security num bers. names, addresses, tele phone numbers and any information that identifies an individual. Information is a neutral com modity. How people use available information cannot be con trolled by lawmakers taking an overprotec live static t* and sup posing they know what is best (or their constituents. Lawmakers were elec ted to represent the people, not to dic tate their doctrines and fashion them into law Barriers that regulate the release o( information will not deter determined stalkers from (aiding other ways of locating their potential vic tims Laws to prevent stalking and to proses ute those c onvic ted ol stalking are better methods for achieving the end intended by the crime bill provision. In a free soc iety, the- public's ability to sc rutinize readily accessible material is the best defense c iti/.wns have against the government misuse and abuse* of information like* DMV records The blanket cloture of acces sibility to DMV records pro motes a liilse sense of security from those whose original inten tion was for the good of the peo ple The sentiment behind the anti stalking provision was at its worst well-intentioned anti at its best step' in the dirertion tow ard ending violence against women But this law may he one fur ther step toward the global exclusion of information Con cealing public information shows the great need for a new set of rules accompanying the information age, before comput er records are closed unneces sarily. Most individuals have no idea who has access to their records nor w Imt their records tell aliout them At first glance, restraining ac i ess to public records appears to Ih* a good idea Perhaps it is that the traditional American notions of personal privacy are at risk l ew people want to believe that their lives are an open lajok; nevertheless, each time people fill out credit caird applications and subscribe to cable or maga zines. they are submitting per sonal information to countless groups of other people. By informing the U S Post Office of an address change using form No. 575. which says tfiat "Filling this form is volun tary, but your mail cannot be forwarded without an order. If filed, your new address will be provided to individuals and companies who request it. This will occur only when the requester is already in posses sion of your name and old mail ing address...,” the ante is upped even more. Direct marketers will still have access to DMV records The DMV records will be given only to people with a specifit business-related reason for obtaining the information. DMV records helped uncover the identities of Florida Kti Klux Klan members. DMV records help find people with drunk dri ving charges on their records Employers use DMV records to do background checks on potential job applicants Credit agencies can cross check information on an indi vidual's debt in relation to a cur rent address, driving citations and so forth. The times that l)MV records have been used lor the publtt good are innumerable l)M\ records are an important fact checking resource. By enacting the opt-out legis lation, residents can elect to block the release of their DMV records. Citizens are given an alterna tive. The decision-making process in favor or against the classification of personal data is left up to them. To overcome the enormous ohstai les which must be faced to guarantee that this freedom of information remains accessible, citizen participation is required Coalitions, the governor's office and the Oregon DMV can work as allies. The fight to keep information available to ordinary people has only just begun. Life in an open society has its hazards but life in a closed society is even more dangerous. Anne Moser-Kornfeld is a columnist for the Emerald
