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
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■ 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.