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
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Editor**! Editor
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Freelance Editor
Editor in Chief K*> Soto
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RjMxi Reeve* Sport* Editor
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Assoc * els Editor* Amy Colombo. Stodedf Government Acfv >'*»s
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■ 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