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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1995)
EDITORIAL Memorial debate so very Eugene The Eugene City Council voted Wednesday to approve the placement of a war memorial In Skinner Unite Park The proposed 5Tool high granite wall will list the names of ail lame County residents who have lost their lives in wars since HJ14 The entire cost of the memorial will !*o paid by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Willamette Post 2r).'» and the Post 20 1 Auxiliary through donations and volunteer labor Only in Eugene would this be controversial. Council members Barbara Keller and Kevin Hornbuckle voted against the donation and have opposed the memorial on the basis that it celebrates “people who wore killed killing people." The major flaw with that argument is that not ali of the people killed in wars abroad killed anyone The memorial includes the names of military medics and other service personnel who died helping the wound ed Clearly, the purpose of the memorial is not to glorify war. We have movies, television and music videos for that. War memorials do. in fact, achieve the opposite effect. They serve as painful reminders of the senseless loss involved with all war. and as a motivation to ques tion any future doc isiort to send American sons and daughters to the firing lino. I'iie Vietnam memorial in Washington, DC . has become a mncca for the survivors of the men and women killed in that controversial war. When it was first orcn ted, the initial controversy from Congress cen tered around its decidedly unc elebratory stance of American military action Opponents described it as "ominous" and ‘ unpatriotic It lias mu, cr hi*c ome a major landmark for citizens of this country, and last year more tourists visited "The Wall" than any other landmark in the nation’s c apital. Now. this same basic design Isas come under atta< K in lids city for placing a posilivo spin on international violence. Do Keller and Hornbuckle think it's possible to view tins names of thousands of dead servicemen and -women engraved in granite and think, "Cool! I want to be a dead hero, too!"/ Before his dissenting vote, Hornbuckle proposed an amendment to include a "peace memorial" in the same park, presumably to balance the "pro war" memorial But a symbol of honor for war dead inherently projec ts a pro-peace message. By erecting a memorial, the citi zens of Eugene are constantly reminded of what they have lost, regardless of whether the war was "won." Other citizens have argued that America (and Eugene) has yet to honor the veterans who lived, and the pacifists who went to prison rather than war. While this position has merit, it fails to acknowledge that the names on the wall are not for the dead soldiers, but for their living family and friends. As such, the memorial is not an exclusion of the liv ing who have sacrificed, but is an invitation to them a summons for peaceful reflection and reconciliation. Eugene's war memorial does not ask its visitors to agree with American involvement in any war; it simply asks them to remember. It seems a small request for the many who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Oregon Daily PO 801 H» tuGiXf 0«€GC*»r*OJ t?ve» Oregon Dlrfy I "'«* aki .% pubfcVvmJ da^y MovSay through F’ftdtoy CK^rvug !h* school f»4f 1 oexday ««{3 Thursday Cfeunrvg th« »uffl/r,*i by the Q» #^<>n Qi<)y t mefaid Kjbfc«^>0 Co toe Hi the Owwirfy ol Onegoo. I uyene. Oregon *he tm«*i»kt ope*at«*n ^xfcBpancjw'-vny o-l the Or»v«r**ty w*m oH<#e .* $-,*« 300 o* the t '!? Memorial t,Jn»on am*! s* a >*l ftve Associated Press Th* I miwakJ i«k private property The untowM removal or use a* wwi <§ prosecutable t>> iwn Editor-in Chief U»v*} Tho#i> Associate Editor* M^»'. e*en* t ii»a'.h Samantha MUetm Sh<»#y R,» ‘*r> Sean Sn^h Designer JtM-*! Asbury Photogr aphe# M«me*dy um»jjy Ntght Editor Ottvid Thorn General Manager J^?y M«*S Advertising Director MtvS A'ador Production Manage Mch*i#fto** Advertising Arv« Am ad.. * lc« Yen ftpri .K.sV.i Got>«< Me at he# Joi'idloo. *0f y tyon.Trtoa Shanahan Classified Be* *y Moniwtt Production T<*a Gaoftney Jerf'-'e Business *a?h> Carbone. Si^wvrfor Judy ConnoBy Distribution John l > %j. Femx RaAnc.*< r*ew*/oo*n Ho%mes.» Office M*-5512 utmpiay AOv#fti*Jng Adv*rtt*ing 346 4^43 VJB APE AAAK<NG TPoOPs AVAILABLE OM A 'UfAiTED' BAS IS... 7 TO BC DEPLOYED ON A ' TEf*PoQj\%Y 'Mission. ( I'VE 8EEN/ CB/770ZED I £OR NOT NAN'NG AN»V I \Z/£T7VAM £XP£pf£/VCE. IT's BEGIN TO LOOK like T M4V mv£ oki£ vcr. I #*•#!! S' «’'►* ‘ ro4vf*Mfwil vMtl MMr 31 /„•,*** W««M r-f tout! if l ^>'Ll ujyyf rpPCort$T ■ COMMENTARY Don’t dismantle child care act By l dward /upor hild can*. oven lousy < hild i an*. i-arries a big pru e lag JMiddle i lass families feel more than a pirn h when they pay a vernge dnv < are i enter (ees of almost $ri,(lt)tl a year fur one child Hut for I hose at the lower end of the income si ale. who may earn just minimum wage, t hild ( art* is a nei essity pru ed out of rear h Yet child care is more than a problem to tie solved, or a lull to he paid before mothers and fathers can go to work It is most appropriately viewed as an envi ronment in which i hildnai sjumd most of their waking hours dur ing early, formative years The quality of this environment is an important fat tor in determining a i fold's overall development The House of Representatives showed little awareness of child cans — either as a work-related necessity or as a major influence oil children when it passed wel fan1 n'form legislation m Man It The House lull requires moth ers on welfare to take a job with in two years, hut actually i uts ha< k total child-can* funding to the states (or all purposes, includ ing subsidies for families fust off welfare and low-income working families It also eliminates the requirement for minimum qual ity standards How will poor mothers go to work or keep their jobs without child t are' What vs ill hap|>en to the children? Lack of reliable child i are is already causing poor women to cycle tin and off ihi* current wel fare s\ stem A 1991 study com missioned by th« Illinois Depart tm-nt of Public Aid found that 42 percent of welfare mothers were prevented from working full time, and 20 port ent of those who were working went hack on welfare hoc austt of difficulties ofrtaintng and keeping child care. The Senate should give more thought to child care when it votes on its version of welfare reform In terms of sheer quan tity, the ( ountry will need more subsidized child t are, not less Even more important, children need good quality < hild care dai ly tare that meets their emotion al needs, stimulates them and helps them grow Substandard i hild care only perpetuates the » v< le of poverty ami welfare To our discredit, very few chil dren in Amerit a are receiving docent child care. A ns out study of 400 child-care t enters in four states found that fewer than two centers in 10 gave good quality care Most were found to be mediocre — not harmful, but not conducive to emotional growth and learning. For infants and tod dlers, however, < enter t are w as i-sp#n hilly fuel; in four classrooms out of 10. the adults displayed no warmth, created no opportunities for learning and failed to meet bnsic health and safety standards Another national study of fam ily day-care homes and care by relatives, where most children younger than 3 years old spend their days while parents work, found only 9 percent of providers gave good quality care; 35 per t »nt of tin- settings worn poor enough t(» threaten healtti and safety. (axel quality, child care should Ik* a national goal for all children, regardless of income. Sens Kdward Kennedy. (Christopher Dodd and others took steps toward framing a child cart* pol icy in 1990 with the passage of tin* (Child CCare and Development Block Grant Act In addition to giving states mon ey to subsidize the full cost of child i are for some low-income families, this act required states to develop minimum health and safety standards, sot aside money to improve the quality of tun*, ami develop liefore and after s< hool programs The act lays the foun dation for a flexible but sensible program — and should be built on. not dismantled. A welfare policy that insists on work — and provides the infra structure parents need in order to work would he good for children (Child care is a kev ele ment The development and future independence of poor chil dren would be entrant ed by hav ing a working mother as a mod el and a child-care environment that optimizes intellectual and social growth As the Senate deliberates on welfare and other supports for the poor, it should recognize the important role child care must play in salvaging the next gener ation Edward Zigler is the Director of the Hush Center in Child Devel opment and Social Policy ■ LETTERS Parking woes S» hools, like any other busi ness, really need to treat their customers (i.e , students) well, or they may find themselves losing those customers Case in point I recently began my first term at the University and was given directions by a staff member (whom I just love!) on where to park, with my student-parking permit. 1 followed the direi tions. but 1 re< eived a tii Let anyway because 1 supposedly parked in a designated stuff parkingonly space. 1 took the ticket to the Office of Public Safety to ask about it. and while I was gone received another ticket I also received a map. which in my understanding designates the original plai n I parked as student parking. This may be one of the Uni versity's fund-raising tactics, but it is short-sighted Businesses that don't provide parking to their customers — adequate parking — may find themselves with fewer customers in future terms. K.C. Primbs Journalism