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
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■ 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