VIEWPOINTS
iOlTORIAlS OPINIONS UtlfRS TO T M{ tOlTQR
Telecom act does not
benefit most Americans
■ OUR OPINION:
Deregulation puts more
power m fewer hands
When politicians, broad
casters and phone company
executives are the only peo
ple who era happy, the rest
of us should be worried
The Tel«communications
Act of 1996 passad through
the appropriate channels
last week, giving the people
with power more of the
same and leaving consumers
and the First Amendment in
the dust.
In short, the bill eliminat
ed many Federal Communi
cations Commission
restrictions that had pro
vented phone, long-dis
tance, cable and television
companies from doing busi
ness outside their fields.
This prevented cable com
panies from getting into the
phone business or AT&T
from handling local calls.
Now. TCI may lie offering
great phone rates, and US
West may be offering more
Melrose and less Master
piece.
President Clinton, ot. al.
say that opening the com
munications field to the
market will increase compe
tition and result in more
choices and lenter prices for
consumers.
It s not clear, however,
that the bill will lead to con
sumer utopia With the reg
ulation gloves off,
welter-weight companies
will have to face-off with
heavy weight conglomer
ates. Any guesses on who
will get clobbered?
Somewhere below the
applause rising up from the
Holt way. you can hear the
dying breath of Independent
media. As companies such
as TimeWarner Turner gain
momentum, nothing can
keep them from buying-out
or out-competing the dwin
dling pool of dissident voic
es.
The merging of America's
media will do nothing to
democratize m e ets to the
marketplace of ideas. An
increasingly elite group will
determine what we see. hear
and know Executives may
not abuse that power, but
nothing it in place to pro
tect us from their profit-dri
ven motives.
In addition, while politi
cian* celebrate government
downsizing, they have
decided to Install the V chip
in new television sets,
showing parents to block
too-violenl programming
from reaching their chil
dren's ears and eyes The
problem, of course, is that
someone at the federal level
must decide what is "too
violent,"
And lest we assume that
politicians are deregulation
nappy, on-line interaction
is now considered broad
casting. Nothing that cannot
|*« *«>n on the »-•*! r an blip
across the screen
Other than the screen,
however, computer commu
nication shares no similari
ties with television. The
internet is more like a maga
zine rack, filled with every
thing from the New Yorker
to Nude Babe*.
Parents who worry shout
that maybe shouldn't let
their children browse the
magazines unattended for
hours at a lime
Most of the telecom bill is
misguided, putting regula
tions where they shouldn't
be and removing them from
where they should If Amer
icans really want smaller
government, they should be
prepared to pay the price
and quit expo* ting someone
else to do their parenting
jobs for them
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Don’t like my driving? Stay off sidewalk
I drive a titty-pink 70s Hulck. of which I am
rat hot proud
I added the leopardiktn upholder)- and
dva-cita hall* ntywlf. and the eight track
cassette player is vintage The whole pin kage it
a dunning ml dure of kitsch and sheer courage
On the down tide, envious driven have made
many attempts on it* life, and these accumulat
ed collision* show Still, for all its scan and aes
thetic problem* it s better than a bike
Thu t* a coat to vernal statement to make in
Eugene — to say that a fuel-burning, smog-sus
taining vehicle is better than the ecology and
economy of. say, a Diamond hack mountain hike
(of comparable value to my car) fa like saying
trow make good paper.
Tree* actually do make remarkably good
paper, hut you know, politics.
These politics were brought home to me
t*« mlly by a pedestrian who stopped to Inform
me that my car was very polluting He Mid,
Mif rvpicuvcttsg up ihe planet Cot ■
future generation* because you're too (insert
expletive! Uury to walk'"
Well. Ok I generally try to get along with
Itn*** people who will spend nearly a thousand
dollars on an db|ed that doesn't even come with
an eight-track player, but there is certain bicy
did behavior that, a* a driver, l cannot abide
Hi« vclids are rarely lound on bike path*
They prefer to pedal, at 6 mph. in the same lane
with my tar — which cant even sustain an idle
at speed* less than 13 mph
Old couple* driving their mobile home*
through mountain passes have the courtesy to
pull over to the shoulder when they real)re
they 're holding up 20 care, but a bicyclist will
have none of ini* Maybe they have their built
in helmet headsets on too high to hear the frus
tration behind them. Maybe they think ifa
payback for all the exhaust they're forced to
breathe Couldn't tell you.
It's all the more puzzling because Eugene has
some of the bed bicycle paths in the state and is
recognised nationwide for being bicycle nir
vana Recreational bicyclists have river routes,
mountain routes, mall routes and more on
which to pedal to their heart s delight They've
got maps, dubs and magazines to sudain them
But streets' Street* are for car*.
Jud as sidewalks are for pedestrians. Twice
my car has nearly been struck by a bicyclist
traveling on the sidewalk as I left my driveway.
The first time this happened. I was given such a
look of hatred that I believe the bicyctid was
tormented by envy at the sight of my chncha
balls and couldn't help himself.
The second time this happened was at night.
Ifi
OPINION
A simple rule-of-thumb is
that if your vehicle is ten
times smaller anil a hundred
times slower than the
vehicles around it. i is
probably either a himtrance
or a hazard
-39
»nd 1 tan only immt that the bicyclist was on*
of these blind bikers cycling for charity because
my headlights dearly announced my approach
Again, the look of hatred This time the bicyclist
also kicked my bumper on his way by (using bis
heightened sense of touch).
To this outrageous behavior I have one
response: Go ahead and tell me politically
incorrect, accuse me of laziness and environ
mental abuse — but accost my iar and 1 have no
thoice but to publisli my complaint in a public
forum And the nest time 1 meet you in a dark
driveway, look out
The bike vs auto debate is old. with passion
ate contenders on both sides People drive
because it’s fast, convenient and dry. People
bike because it’s healthy, ecological and cheap
Streets are for cars, bike paths are for bikes and
sidewalks are for walkers The problems arise
when these things converge in dark driveway*
throughout the city, or at busy intersections dur
ing lunch hour Then fingers go up, looks
become hateful and bumpers get thumped.
If the solution is mote bike paths, then let's
build them If the solution is less cars, then 1
challenge anyone to invent a bike with a roof
In the meantime, is it too much to ask that all
travelers stick to their respective places? A sim
ple rule of thumb is that if your vehicle is ten
times smaller and a hundred times slower than
the vehicles around it, it is probably either a
hindrance or a hazard And if you think that rid
ing on sidewalks is the answer, keep in mind
that city ordinance 5.400 (I) forbids it (although
it is damnably legal on campus). By the same
token, drivers should be aware that running
over slow bicyclists is manslaughter in any city
Nobody's happy with the restrictions, but the
sooner we recognize them, the sooner we can
greet transportation segregation with smiles
instead of middle fingers.
Songi Sherwood, a senior majoring in journalism
and English, is a columnist for the Emerald and
sometimes drives around just for the hell of it