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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1995)
EDITORIAL Election season success but ugly What seems to have been am* of the longest campaigns on record will end later this week, with the second round of ASUO election* beginning today and continu ing until Thursday. It will end just in time for most students, who are tired of seeing candidates and campaigning, as well ns the fliers, leaflets, signs and anything else asking them to make a decision. No matter who wins in this election or what ballot measures pass (or don't), the students wilt be the ones to come out as winners Hundreds more students dm tded to take part in tho election this year compared with last year's. Students have shown that when the issues count ami are close to home, they < an stand up and be count oil. When more than 2.000 students are motivated to take time to vote, or a candidate or ballot measure interests them enough to vote, elections on the University level once again begin to mean something While it would be better if more, if not all students took two minutes to vote, the fat t than mure students are voting should be t lewed m positive. Elect meant for the few to choose for the many, but for the diverse University community to express itself on issues of concern to students With tho met an that them hat been In motivating stu dents to vote, it is unfortunate to see how campaign rules have been violated throughout the election. A forest worth of campaign signs have been plastered throughout the University campus. While election rules spec ify that signs are only allowed on a one-per-bulletin board basis, they have been affixed to trees and other less than legal spots it's also sad to see that campaigns have become nega tive. While now common plat e in state and federal poli tit s, spending time digging up items against other cam paigns is now as ordinary as promoting one's own can didate It seems like campaigns have sunken to a lower level expected only of big time politicians This is a University campus, not a political battle ground. Candidates and campaigns should concentrate on informing and promoting their v Sewpoints to the pub lic. not trashing the opinions and lives of others. Election campaigns are never perfect, but the Univer sity has been mostly fortunate with this year’s relative ly painless election season. The University community and Elections Board have come far in increasing student turnout in ASUO elections. Candidates and campaigns shouldn't spoil the trend now- by making the elections ugly. Students deserve to participate in an election after participating in an informational and informative cam paign based on the Issues. After all. wcs are here to get an education, not to wit ness a knock-down drag-out political fight. Remember to vote today and Thursday. Don't duck the vote. Oregon Daily ► o ao« )m luetwt o*tapH«;«a t n® Outgo* £W>-1 m pufcfesfwad ..*»•••♦ Monday wgh **(&»> $*,-< *»q N »•» AT’d 1 utstifty ft*xl Thuiitia^ $v# tumm* &y Owpon D^S C/'*w)r«W ^cj&kfllxng Co . Inc . ** BN» Ufw»r*»*y of Orfrptxt f wpaox*. Owijo* Th® f rfi&&kt I'ii1in[l<ir>i1nntry Of IN* U*v«<* t *, *|ft a? Suet® 30C c-t tn« f ft' Mdvvv.f .a? Un«on ,vh3 <» a ,;.f tf*i A*s».«- %aieti TN» t.mffM*? % {***&* p*Gp«*ty Th# uOMa *®mov*s » ufc® of pap** * p#o«!Cutat*e (Editor-in Ch*#f Mf* Safe) MUnaytny Editor Editor UH Editor Newt Art Editor Fr**i*rvc* Editor pj*v*d ihom Mcwvfn f'**t*y LOrt OrnKtramk N*wt Iditor SfKirtt tmot Supp*«m«nt» Editor M*gh! I &\o* fiatwo a CNv* Me<i No* Amy Gofeyn&e A»*oc»«t© Editor* Km*/ Cr>Hf'^tx>. Shtito** Govmnmwnl A ***** U*>c <*©«* t ^4Jd*. 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ClMton Yaa N#w*foom ftuafrxHM Offtct 346-SMI Dtspisy Advertising Ctsssmsd Advertising 34*47*2 W^AJ43 TW\rage<fcj and V.ev>OftS of PJbtA > s’3 \ A catoo KV4NN ]©\ep^ SUUn VP.tm ~\ V w^r A/<fwrj snu. W0CH7A/6 cv. HU ■ OPINION Environmental regulations necessary Pkimo \. J. Fom m i is tronic. that the era of Hill Clinton has been a time in J. whir h we have seen three* of the greatest victories of the cen sors alive men termini. First, and most importantly, was the passing of both NAFTA and GATT Tin* isolationist dog ma spewed by modern )oe McCarthy's suiJi as Ralph Nader and Pat Huiiianan was no match for the greatest legislation of our lifetime No matter what hap [>ens in 1996. history will smile on President Clinton as the man who helped open our world in a way that no other pres,dent has We should all remember that when we vote. Second. Ira Magazine! s incomprehensible health-care gimmick was defeated, which will allow a true and prudent reform of our system’s ntisgiv ings Third, in the November 199*1 •lection, the Republican Party (of which a few of the members deserve to be called conserva tive) won i ontrol of both the House and the Senate At this propitious moment, we must consider the duty of tint conservative. To paraphrase the words of George F Will, it is to look at government activities and ask. "Should government be doing this'” If the answer is no, a conservative should cut the program. With this in mind, we i an look at some examples of cur rent government activity. Mow about National Public Radio? Should farmers in Iowa have to support a radio network that directs its programming to socialites in Manhattan and San Francisco? Of course not. so NPR's funding should come from people who listen to it. not all taxpayers. What about NASA ’ Should scientists he allowed to blast stuff into space at their whim on the public dole, even without practical benefit to the taxpay ers? Not in a civilized society, so its profligacy should be cut as well. So, in honor of Earth Day, which we celebrated last week end, what about environmental laws7 Am they necessary? Of course Unlike the previously men tioned programs, environmental laws have a practical benefit they keep all of us safe. The role of government, as envisioned by the oft-called father of conservatism Adam Smith, is to intervene when the free market has failed In a "pure" market society, if there were such a thing, there would be no police, no military, tio welfare and no central gov eminent Most of us, however, know that this is impractical. There are criminals, so there is a need for a police force We have an obligation to keep our nation secure, so we have a military People sometimes are out of luck and can't find work, so we have welfare and other programs to help them get hat k on their feet. Recalling win. mere i» a r«m win for the government to do all of these Hungs Now. just as we need to keep our streets and our nation wife, so too do we have a responsibil ity to our environment and its resources. This responsibility has been forgotten by many members of the business community. They have shown that they do not deserve the benefits of the free market, for they cannot truly abide by its precepts. This brings us to the crisis of conservatism, which comes from those on the right who believe the ranting* and rovings of Ayn Rami. Alvin Tofflor, and other so-called writers of their ilk These thinkers tell their rend ers that if you simply do what you want without concern or compassion for anyone else, tilings will bo just fine it is n philosophy of selfishness and arrogance that has bet mne quite fashionable in our generation. Where they are wrong, is that for the free market to truly work, it need* participants who are not less, but much more moral (for lack of a better term) than their counterparts in centrally planned sot leties The frets mar ket depends upon ethics. With out them, there would be chaos. This is what has caused the environmental problems tiiat we have today: a lack of ethics from big businesses The institutions responsible for this recklessness have acted in true Ayn Rand fashion, con sidering only their own profit, and guess what? The market, more precisely its participants has failed miserably. Therefore, the government must intervene m the market to ameliorate the situation, legisla tion such as the Clean Air and Water Acts are like the police force, the security, for our envi ronment As long as such activ ity does not trample on the pri vate-property rights of individu ats (which, lo their credit, the Republicans art) fixing), it is cer tainly appropriate, even in the freest of free markets Even those of us on the right should not allow the current GOP House to roll Iwick environ mental legislation that is both practical and constitutional. Such actions are a prudent investment that will pay high dividends in the future, and you can't get much more conserva tive than that. Primo A ] Fontana is a colum nist for tht* Emerald.
