VIEWPOINTS
fOITORIRlS OPIWIOWS, UTTIRS TO INC tOtTOR
Senate race stagnates
at grade-school level
■ OUR OPINION
should tell Smith and
Wyden that name-caUmg
won t *in the e*ect»on
If you want to know what
the real issue* an? In the
ram for Union's IJ S Sen
ile teat. unplug your tolevi
*lon
Since th« end of the pri
mary election* on Dm 5,
Democratic cindkltte Ron
Wyden end Republican can
didale (.onion Smith hav«
been slinging lIn* proverbial
mud at each other ntrtm the
state's television *i mens,
him king tha light of ln»«h
from voters
With the Jan .10 election
nipping at their hmils, both
candidates have m tolerated
the slough of m*galive ads
against each other, opting to
inundate voters with rea
son* why they shouldn't
vote for the other candidate
This type of politic at
advertising ha* limonie
standard fan* for national
offices In recent years, but
On*gon has never seen any
thing quite this churlish or
pointless before Wyden ha*
painted .Smith as a self
absorbed, greedy and uneth
ical rich boy who dumps
effluent into the state'* pris
tine waters
Smith has called Wyden a
liar and hammers home the
message that Wyden is out
uf-louch with his con
stituents by illustrating
Wyden's inability to name
the price of bread or Ond
Bosnia on a globe
Until now. beating up
one s opponent in public
was a tac tic employed only
by candidate* who did not
have strung service record*
or public recognition with
which to woo voters {sen*
(*QOrgt» Bush. 1 **»»«! What is
most confusing and embar
resting about these personal
attar ks. Is that both Smith
sn«l Wvden have impressive
enough background* to win
the «*|i* tion without them
Yet they Insist on talking
about each other ret her than
the issue* only be* sum they
think it works
Political strategist * look at
previous user* of op(»onent
attack.* (see, again, the afore
mentioned Bush) and note
how often kinder gentler
politician* lose seals to
sucker-punching candi
date* What they do not take
into account, however , Is
how much public confi
dence (and tolerance) is lost
in the process
It’* time for us to tell
them. We, their would Us
employers, have to tell them
that we will refuse to vote
for either candidate If they
continue to waste our time
with grade sc hoof level
squabbles It’s lime to pick
up the phono
C all Wvdati'l office at
(503) 231 2300 and tell hi*
message taker* that if he
doesn’t stop the negative
ads, you will write in Peter
lkepaxto's name on the
ballot. Then, dial up
Smith's headquarter* at
(5031378 8173 and tell
him you’ll Ice writing in
Norma Pauius if he contin
ue* to talk about hi* oppo
nent instead of the issues
While you’re at )l, tell ihein
that you’re encouraging
your friend* and family to
do the same
This has been a short
campaign (can we hoar an
"amenr), and as the final
dale lo replace Oregon’s
most famous groper
approaches, the only fact
we’re sure of is that we’re
stuck choosing between
Oregon’s most famous
gripers
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UTTERS
Mo Robin Hood
t hase let your liberal paper
ramble far too lung urn h*l
kinged* and al)«<r reading your
editorial 'Smith uses la* refund
to buy volar*' support' lOD/T.
Nov JO). I wa§ vo angered I feel
1 i»wd lo mpond
The 'kicker" law gis-e* back So
people wfuii shay rightfully have
earned and deserve Should they
<.hoove lo give that money lo
school* or charities. shat i* thmr
own dec ition If the stale needs
more money, then « should ask
<•* new moo** but if ii receives
what ii expects to receive, it
should give bee k everything in
mxam* of that
You mentioned an idea of giv
ing everyone an equal share of
the esi.es* fund* Why should
girl who paid $ SO tn taxes from
her newspaper route receive the
same refund a* someone who
worked <0 hours a week at a far.
lory or offkv?
t in sure you're method of
Kobm liuod" polite * would fly
with the homeless and all the
people hanging nut in front of ?•
hieseii but what about the peo
ple svho mM then money and
paid their taaes They don't
deserve to Ijv robbed blind sim
ply iev.au*e they has e rash
tension Smith i* merely stand
ing up for taxpayers by helping
to refund the money that is nght
fully their* If it helps him to get
elected. *o he it I'd rather have
him in office than a robber.
Gregory Oaruamonl
Economics
Rape sinkness
|en lohnton's letter (OOF.
Nov 20) on rape wa# full of
information, but unfortunately
contained tome misinformation
a* svell
She wrote that ‘women can
only take measure* to increase
their chance* of surviving an
attack (They! cannot present an
assault.” Thi# t* not quite true.
Anybody ous take steps to lessen
the ciiancv of an assault esen if
he or the cant lower the chance
to tero
I think best in metaphor*, so I
think of rape as a disease (a bad
(mw*. but not usually fatal) The?re
art* dlHerence*. of course —
viruses don't have choices. art;
harder to blame. and there is
much less stigma attached to get •
ting sitk — but the similarities
are worth looking at
If you want to avoid getting
sick, you take care of yourself.
You try to May warm, avoid real
ly sick people, sleep, and eat a
balanced diet. Even if you do all
that land who can'), vou can still
get sick Hut they lower your
c hance of getting alck. If you
don't take c are of yourself and
get sick, it would m ludicrous
to think that you "deserved it"
or were trying to get skit.
Similarly, if you want to avoid
rape, you tan take steps to he/p
prevent hemming a victim. They
don't eliminate the risk, just
lessen it Jf you don't follow
them you might tie foolish, but
you're Mill not to blame if you
are atlas kod Only the atta< ker is
to blame
Jed Herman
Mathematic*
Emerald funding
I commend your hard work
and perseverance on publishing
a daily t ampti* mm spaper Most
of your art ii !e* are thorough and
well-reported leant imagine the
disc ipline that goes into the pule
licaiion of a daily (taper
However, as the Kditor of X
Magr.un# l can relate on a sim
ilar level. Although we are a
monthly magazine, much hard
work go*-* into our publication,
especially because we are self
sufficient We accept none of the
University's funds, except when
it advertises with us I don't
believe the QPE should take
approximately SUH.OUO per year
of student fees
Ptiaaae explain to me why your
prices are four times higher than
ours, you get more advertising
tlian we do. yet you still take stu
dent fees’ It seems to me you
could find a more appropriate
way to organize your finances
Our prices are t/4 that of yours,
and still, without taking any stu
dent fees (we are a business run
by stuck*!ts who started bum Sol,
we manaoa to c ome mo
Maybe I am no! giving you
enough credit. 1 don't know how
the OOt's ft nances are run. so!
shouldn't criticize them
Although the ODE keeps the
campus community aware of
what's going on. I don't find tt
so important as to use more than
SIOO.(KH) per year
Secondly, you seem to fail to
recognize any of the other pub
lications on campus Rmenlly.
you published an article on View
Magazitw. You spoke about how
amazing it was that University
graduates were able to publish a
local magazine, yet you fail to
recognize the publication* that
are run by students
The ODE has a responsibility
to represent the University with
out any biases Therefore, I
believe you should recognize
your fellow publications While
all of them may not have the
advantage of massive student
fees, they all strive to represent
and entertain students
Again. I appreciate the ODE
You publish a quality paper but
so do many others in Kugene
You are the only publication in
Eugene that is expected to rep
resent all students Because you
reach a nonspecific group. M me
remind you of the publications
that are more specific. One of
them happens to be X Magtitin*
While you report local politics,
we interviewed a Beastie Boy.
write about sex and have car
reviews. Why don't we support
one another instead of ignoring
one another?
Jennifer She* Johnston
Editor, x Magainf
LETTERS POLICY
The Oregon DtuSy EmoreW
wilt attempt to print aM letter*
containing comment* on top
a ol interest to the Unrvernty
community
letters to the eaten must be
limited to no more than 250
words leg**#. signed and me
identification ot the writer must
be verified when the letter •*
submitted
The £m#ra« reserves the
ngre to ed« any tatier tor lengsi
or styte