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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 5, 1995)
EDITORIAL ODE reflects on good, bad of year Throughout the year. loyal Emerald readers will note that this newspaper takes a stand on major issues daily From campus to around the world, the Emerald has commended and condemned just about everything under the sun. At the i lose of the year, the Emerald takes a few moments to reflect on our favorite and not-so favorite editorial topics. The good: • Oregon Public Fmployoe Union members deserve kudos for standing up for themselves and demanding a pay raise While it took months of talking and a week of sinking, a tentative agreement was reac lied. The raise, tin* first sinc e’ 1993, is well deserved by all. • Demolition of Amazon l amih Housing finally got underway spring term after legal maneuvering by resi dents of the crumbling complex While University I lous ing offic lals deserve praise; for continually pursuing destruction of the* complex, it appears that the current complex will just fade away, as every time the* I Jniv ersi ty is able to knock down one of the buildings. Amazon residents find another way to hold up the; process. It's belter to get some of the c omplex destroyed than noth ing. • After a heated battle, a contentious bearing and a number of press confeiom e», OSP1RG finally was fund ed by (lie Programs Fimint e Committee and the Student Senate While some introduced land repeated) concerns about the wavs licit organizations are funded with inci dental fee dollars, those issues should he looked at sep arately from the funding of any partic ular group. OSPIRG was justified in te< eiving its annual appropria tion. l ilt* h.Ml: • < )i* i'<>n voters top th«- bad li.st. As mm li .is we love to halo the government, its policies and proposals, the fact is that voters put them there While the optimist might think that outspoken legislators like Heps Kevin Mannix and Bob Tiornan might lie thrown out of office some day, the short memories of Oregonians will most likely ensure them life terms at the Capitol • No matter how asinine Oregon voters are, the Ore gon Legislature comes in a close second Whether it's proposing higher education budgets that would require tax increases or pandering to Oregonians by proposing to send everyone tax refund chet ks, legislators have made it abundantly clear that it’s time for this session to end Once out of the Capitol, perhaps they can try living in the real world. • ASUO election season is rarely fun. but this year’s attempt at an election was a joke, from nmdslinging to questionable advertising to costly ballot measures, this election had a little something for everyone or at least something for everyone to wretch at. There are many other issues that the Emerald might tackle in upcoming weeks From duck feet on sidewalks to budget woes in the Legislature, editorials help to inform and provoke discussion in the community. 1 lave a great summer. Oregon Iholy POfiO* J»» (UCINC Oft£&OM97«03 tNi Oeppft CWy f mot aid«* puCNNd iU?) Monday tlfcrough F <>isty du#<ng m* tattooi >«4V and t oesday and Thursday during t** summer by »*» Otgen D**y C marafct Pubksh*ng Co . toe . a* the Un»*a*»*ty o* Oregon. t ugana. Tb« imtHj&d oparal** ‘ndapendonliy ;.•■♦ Pm Uruv«H*rty w4h ofK<s§ a? S-,«t# 300 0* th« {;fl> M»nvy■ .v‘ U*v»o«r Arxf =* 4 'r.r-.-ktwftt o» ff-n A**x ,i<«3 P»«|t 1M £ vi pxvdfO property IN* uniewAA removal Or u*« ot pap** »» preoNSCutafc** by Wtr* Man Aging Eddor Editor**! Editor Hew* Art Editor Freelance Editor Editor in Chief K*> Soto O^r. ’d The - Hew* £ title* RjMxi Reeve* Sport* Editor Je'f Pav’ay Supplement* Editor l «•••.. NigM Editor Assoc * els Editor* Amy Colombo. Stodedf Government Acfv >'*»s Comm^ty. CcHer^oHg. Hyhm idbc&fe-L Adfc^nsBftattea (io6«v» d Mr»">l Qhn* SM: Tit*!* Noe« K**y Solo MaiaaNsn* Edwerds Hew* Staff Slav* Astury Hrg*vi Brown Melody Corvoy Amy i Orwytpod Prime Fontana Gayle Forman Mat! Gartah Jo* Kvwxxl A.}«* Meruy T f«vt> Kearney Shannon K»*AJf Adi**' K<r*h*« *'•»-•.» .* Mart*’. Man Mi:tVOr* Mark Mk Tyr*. Paho M %tt D*w' MoatXu* Natake Montgomery Arve M-.rw Korn Had. Sherry R*n«y Ha* ash* Shepard Paul Van $* *de. Sear Smith Si’iHr Mar* St>n* Jrjramy Sfcoson Ken W«u, Boar Womack Im /aejak General Manager Judy Red Advertising Director Mar* Wart or Production Manager Ross Advertising Anne Amador An*ta ft*gaa*t Marco Chmg. Tony Fo*. Nco*e Her/mar* Ke#y lyon, Jeremy Maw Sarah Mrkhe*. Torn MnoiilMdl *©***> Aree* Cta*»tfiad B*c*y Me* inert. Manager Ky*e Dev** Joi* $e*en Distribution. John Long, F ero-x Rak<x/< Graham S-rrp*on Busrn*** Kathy Carbon* &pav'»or Judy Connolly Production DeW 4 Me Cobb Product*** Cftydmfty Shewn* AN** Tat* Geuftney Brad Jo**, Mb*»y McCant* Jorv>.*er Roland, Dayton Ye* Hewsroom 346-S511 Display Advertising 346-3712 Busina** Office 346-5512 Classified Advertising 346-4343 o~^ r i know this LOOKS gAD 9*jt i (\n exPi>jN Eveavtv4in*6 w so* ■ OPINION New Hyundai plant will hurt Eugene \\m Mo\h< Koksm i> I'vo only Inn! in Kviy*«*n«* three years, but in that short tim«, I've scfii the sheep pasture iu russ from the K Mart on Good pasture Island Road paved over to become a housing develop ment and I've seen growth that's gone beyond what a town tins sire can properly handle Ton years ago, during my first stay in Oregon. I lived in Do ro ll a. outside of Cottage Grove Cottage Grove has exploded in a commercial truck-stop. The downtown is Imskally dead and WalMart is moving in anytime lor the final kill i ugeiie is bet oriiing overrun by outside interests in the same wily The ease people have in coming and going, working with each other on projects where people give of themselves freely and trusting outsiders is disap pearing Cast winter. I went to a plan ning commission meeting in Coburg and learned that Kugune's growth has l>t«eii antic ipated and planned for over the course of the last 20 years I felt a bit more assured that the neighbors down the street from my house, offu tally known as Home Base and Future Shop, have been expet ted for years, but the traffit hat k-up std! gets to me VVliini Hyundai announced its plans to build a $13 billion plant last week. I lost all i ompo sure toward corporate growth in this area. In regard to traffic congestion. 1 love this Eugene is proposing to build a West Eugene Parkway to relieve congestion on West ltth Avenue once the Hyundai plant is built. This town can't even approve a measure to build u new Ferry Street bridge when the government offered $3H mil imsi tor the pr.o|is ! ( an we expect anything (Hitter from voters in regard to West llth? Knowing the history of this area. Eugene drivers will just have to deal w ith traffic Hyundai plans to produce a hsgh-i apat.ity memory i hip at a local plant The plant will In* as large ns four or five Costco ware houses ond will employ 1,000 workers. In a recent article published in The Itegister (Uiwd. (errs Rust, n member of the Lane County Board of Commission ers. said about Hyundai, Most of us old-time Oregoniuns who have moss grow ing off our I vicks have some nervous twitches about the impar t of growth on livability, traffic congestion and a whole a range of things." The whole range of things Rust refers to isn't simply limit ed to long-time Oregonians. Onc e 1 graduate. I don't plan to stay around Eugene and set; the area become overdeveloped, the wetlands drained, the pollution on reuse, or my friends and fain ilv lose sight of one another I don't need to stii k around here and slowly see the quality of life diminish day after day I at least have a choice about whether 1 want to stay and see things go from Iwd to worst*. Eugene's future doesn't look very bright from where I'm standing With Hyundai moving in as a quick fix to the failing timber industry, likely to offer wages matching those of the oth er corporate giants preying on this area (namely Sony and KV manufacturers in function City) the quality of life Eugene is so proud of is more than likely to deteriorate in a much shorter time than it takes to grow a small fir tree. Now if that sounds like a idea straight out of left field with no connection to business or bin money interests, think for a minute about the various things Eugene takes pride in. Eugene values itself as a recre ational tourist attraction with beautiful, natural landmarks. The trees, near by lakes, the of fan 'll) minutes away, and hikes up Skinner's Butte all symbolize what makes this, area special. New. residents not e here to get away from the hustle of large c ities and many escape from that dastardly place referred to as ‘'boc k east." Those residents who came here for a hotter life, good sc hools for their c hildren, peac e of mind and a temperate envi ronment lietter think again about what Hyundai's tax breaks mean for them It’s really apparent that Hyundai's move into tin* Eugene area wont quickly and smoothly without opposition bee auso the people who will he the most affec ted have not bean informed about what's going on Hyundai officials said they c Irish Eugene boc ause the com pany intends to grow. How muc h larger can Hyundai get and for what? Inside of me there is an envi ronmentalist righting to get out I don't know about this progress thing I don't know if Hyundai can !>e trusted, whether the com pany is really going to do all right by the people living here The rush of publicity working to convince residents that Hyundai is worth cashing our chips in for leaves many ques tions unanswered by the deal made last week Sadly, mv con cern is that we won't know all the answers until it's too late and no one is able to reverse the damage already done lit Hyundai's case, it really looks like progress is progress ing too fas! I never thought I'd jump on the bandwagon to defend small town values. Eugene is not truly a small town. It is in fac t a city but it has its own special quality that needs to l>e preserved. Call me an old stick-in-the mud. If we're lucky, the payoff will he worth the cost, but I don't buy it for a second. Anne Moser Karnfeld is a columnist for the Emerald
