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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1995)
EDITORIALS. OPINIONS, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ‘Homeless’ kids keep playing the con game ■ OUR OPINION: 13- A,. clean-up will work if we slop handing out our spare Change Eugene polit e* recently launched a "zero-tolerance" i ampaign along East l.'lth Avenue aimed at jaywalk ers. litterbugs and other vio lators of pedestrian related laws. Persuasion, street-side counseling and education all failed to keep aggressive panhandlers and "excessive loiterers" off Kith Avenue during the summer I'he sit uation got so bad that police sent a seven-member com munity-response team to make a sweep of the area m August. Well, the sweep worked and street kids moved one whole blot k away. Now. many of the tangle haired, money-begging street folk have found a new home in the west University park area on East 14th Avenue between Hilyard and Patterson streets. Won derful. As effective as this pro gram may seem, it is onlv a quick fix for a long-term problem. Recognize and realize that most of these street urchins are si attuning us. and the sooner we start saving "no" to free loaders, the sooner thev II pack up and leave for good. For the sake of the argu ment. vve are talking about the younger people, with their dreadlocks and wild, dirty clothes, who prefer to hangout in small groups and ask for "spare i hange" from the people who actual ly work fur it Those people have chosen the life they are living - or not liv ing, depending on how you look at it. They are not displaced timber work ers or people (hat society has coile<lively dumped on; they are living the way they want to live —- off of every one else. Have you seen all the help wanted signs in the windows of area fast-food establish ments' We wonder how many of our street friends have gone to their favorite jediiii restrooms. w.e.h<-d up a little and tried to get a job in one of those restaurants Hy the sheer numbers of these trendy transients who iiltet oiirt irbs and srd* walks (and shrubs and trees), it appears not many have tried Oiling out job applications. Most of them are not starving They choose to spend their (our) hard earned money on entertain ment and luxuries. They < an !*• seen smoking their ciga rettes and drinking their beverago-nf choir e every day on any sidewalk they ve decided to plant their buns or feet on Smokes and drinks aren't free, and the stuff isn’t handed out at the Mission or Goodwill. In fat t. those habits cost quite a bit — a pack of Camels costs $2.50 Spare change? On any given day. these youngsters walk around laughing and talking with their lifestyle-challenged buddies, seemingly having the time of their lives They aren't starving. When you're hungry, tho last thing you want to do with your mouth is smile. One final note: The city's ordinam e against aggressive panhandling was designed for your protection. If you feei threatened by a street person, report him or her to the police. 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SKvno UtcfiM* VOB4Q l« *m Mt*s ClftKM f«0WM9W»' J«k% Corw#» 0iitr«l«tiw .4« Jc^mo^ MM lijrtQ MHin M*U12 mwvotm Onf'ti 4»wrtt»t*g Aiwrttti*5 MJ7U M4 4U3 A Is ^ *< -'A / V \ < » ^ A* wf A A>rf! CfAiAN 4*J0 gl/W wffc£ MitfNJin^TBRAC'IM v *v fc> -I WINK x KW tXPU>t)i K Powell popularity boosted by Bob and Bill Lust year I wrote my fir*! column about the pos sibility of a Colin Pow ell candidai y One year Inter, ns Powell tours the coun try promoting his recently released autobiography. Sty American Journey, an announcement of a Powell-for President campaign seems im*\ liable So why should a man who lias lies rr held an ele» ted office be considering « shot of the highest in the nation? Results from a 7'irne/CNN poll of 1,000 adults taken June 21-22 show mathematically why Powell has n good chance of winning the Oval Office When asked whom they would vote for in a three-way race, with Powell as an inde pendent and Clinton and IXde representing the two major parties, the general finished a ( lose second with the presi dent Clinton received 33 irer i ent of the vote and Powell garnered 29 When asked the same ques tion with Powell as the Repub lican nominee and Clinton his only opponent, the general i ante in 3 percentage points ahead of the incumbent. For any politician, lot alone a rookie, these numbers are strong, esjMM.tally because the general election is more than a year away, and Powell has not officially entered the race We’ve never seen anything quite like this Well, at least not since Kisenhower To see why Powell is the hot ticket in the current presiden tial posturing, we need look no further than Ins competition. From the Democrats, we have President Clinton, whose tax-and spend profligacy is one of the root causes of this nation's e< onotnic woes and whose let k ol omnixatloa has left a revolving door in front of the White House Also, the president filled his campaign with promises and then wavered around a great deal of them. Remember gays in the military, when the pres idunt danced around the issue like a marionette? Or the mid dle (lass tax cut. which never materializ«d? Or health-care reform, when he allowed the COP to walk all over him? These events, and numerous others Uke them, have not gone unnotk ed by the voting public Although the president has OPINION PriaolU rtmUu ill ways seemed well intentioned, his leadership ability has been under constant cri tique Powell, in contrast, is seen as the tough general of the Persian Gull War — a trim loader, not a mere political puppet. On the other side, we have the Republicans: a dour and caustic group who, if divided by ideology, could probably form three, distinct parties. The combined influence of the National Rifle Association, big businesses and the Christ ian Coalition has left the party without a consistent philoso phy Businesses get subsidies, but poor people don't; chemi cal dumping is morally accept able, hut abortion ami homo sexuality aren't Such incon sistencies make many moderates, the ba< kbone of any general election, uncom fortable Powell has already posi tioned himself against such nonsense in his book 1 am troubled by the politi cal passion of those on the extreme right who seem to claim divine wisdom on politi cal as well as spiritual mat ters. he said. Such words of common sense, which won't be heard from a president trying to win over Christian voters, will cross party lines and ring true in the ears of the electorate Also, the new style of Republican attack-journalism repulses many Americans. As the general tolls his readers: Democracy hns always been noisy, but now, on television and radio talk shows, dema goguery and character dis memberment displace sea soned dialogue." If he chooses to run in the c urrent GOP field, Powell can distinguish himself as a gentle man above the fray, especially compared with the bar room brawlers the Republicans are fielding What distinguishes the gen eral from the Democrats and the- Republic ans is that he is where most Americans actual ly lie the pragmatic, center, lie describes himself as a fiscal conservative with a social con science." a desc ription that more and more people are using for themselves Although he has stated that he is pro-choice and supports some gun control. Powell s opinions are the most elusive thing about him. However, this may not be important for a man held in such high esteem. As Democ ratic pollster Peter Hart told Time Voting for a legislator, we say. Tve got problems with him on this or that issue But voting for a president, we say. What kind of leader wilt this person l»t? Do 1 trust this per son?"' If these are the questions the American people ask them selves. Colin Powell could lie the oniy answer. A career as distinguished as his would l>« impressive for a person from any background, but for Powell it is even inure so because he lias faced the harriers of lieing an African American in this country and of growing up in a family of modest means. His accomplishments are signs of great fortitude, leader ship and gumption — qualities that must have Clinton and Dole biting their nails to the quick. Prima A I Fontana, a senior majoring m economics, is a columnist for the Emerald.
