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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1996)
VIEWPOINTS fOtTQRlAlS OPINIONS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ‘Oregon Commentator’ tests diversity dogma ■ OUR OPINION: The journal shoe*d be allowed to keep student-lee funding If the cement of the On*• gon Commentator offends you. you're not alone In this campus hut tied of bleeding-heart liberalism, the conservative Journal of opinion remains an anom aly. an aberration and a class-A button pusher The Commrntator has attacked or offended almost every campus group at one time or another and in the process has made more than Sts share of enemies. Yet, despite being on the rec eiving end of the publica tion's venom, almost every one agrees that the Com turn la far has the right to print its opinions. The bone of contention, however, is that the publication is subsi dised with mandatory stu dent foe* Tonight. lh« Programs Finance Cofflmiti(>» will convene in the EMU to eutnioi thi* question Should all University stu dent* in* forced to pay for a publication that dews not represent them and att.e ks their belief systems? The answer ' Absolutely, journals of opinion have never professed to represent the views of the majority, nor am they designed to pre sent a balanced analysis of the world's occurrences They are not reoulred to be entertaining, enlightening, educational or intelligent They can do and lie all of these things, of course, but they also have the right to be wrong, sophomoric and spiteful. The First Amendment gives everyone the right to air their ideas and opinions in a public forum This free dam has spurred revolu Hon* and civil fight* move ment* and has allowed that elusive entity called truth to enter the public conscious ness Some opponents of fund ing the (ktinmetUalor mv that its content conflicts with th« University's requirement that all student funded groups maintain the educational objective* of this institution. Hmrmhl columnist Keith Cunning ham and others have said that the Commtmlalor% stance on women and minority issue* does not meet the University's pro diversity and student safety goals, ♦ UM' ianjl , KlkK II Ml not, also moans embracing conservatives, chauvinists, and racists. It means sup porting the expression of ideas we And abhorrent This is the diversity sensi tivity that hurts litis Is when the mettle of our dug ma is tested A St 30 Vice President Zachary Knlton has suggest ed that student-fee alloca tion for the Commentator be put to a popular vote Not only is this a cowardly abdi cation of executive response .bilily, it is antithetical to the ideals of the First Amend ment and a liberal arts edu cation. The opinions of the majority never need protec tion It is the minority voic es that must rely on the Constitution to make them selves heard The ideas expressed on the Commentator's pages am clearly In the minority. But if we cannot stand up for the right to express unpopular opinions, if we do not permit offensive ideas to I** given a forum, then we. not the Comnwnta tor, are the enemies of diver sity. I Orevtm Ihn > O IW&a sm* ImC4'**t OflC'60* tftt tMgW tMi IMW4M ft Hir+tn «*>«#«tft « iftn cm» » ii—«■ w — ■If*. M « .ra.- ttMftft aa.- A |^|M- I |d . 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I ■ « V, ftt wou «A^C 4 fwn*£ /« rotACCjOl^i/Tr'IKtettCM Utility tax could improve Eugene for all Finding solutions to complex mm ml prob lem* is »v« easy, but once in a while a truly great idea due* coma along Imag ine helping as many m 220 homeless and low income families find permanent affordable housing every year Not jurt 220 fann* lie* this year, but an additional 220 every year lor the neat 10 year* Now imagine that all It would take t* one cup ol coffee from each household per month If the proponed Eugene utility tax it panned (text month, that la what wilt happen. A vote-by-mail election will begin neat week to decide if Eugene resident* and businexset will be charged a one--percent tax on their uae of electricity, water, tower, natural ga* and cable TV The exact amount customerxpay depend* upon bow much they cotmttne The average res idential customer without cable TV will pay about OS cent* per month Household* with expanded coble wrvkM may pay about Jl l» (wr month A latte co*ts more The tax would raise an emanated $1 t million per year. Ninety percent of the money will he dedicated to providing affordable housing to home lex* and low-income families The other ten percent will be used to help low-income families pay their utility Nils Advocates project that the tax will provide enough wed money to ImiId ISO low income rental units and 20 low-income houses each year m addition to rehabilitating another SO atnit* One erf the best features of the proposed la* it that instead of creating another bureaucratic ml hob lo pour the money down, the proceeds will go la nonprofit organisations, such as St Vin cent tte Paul, who have a proven record in pro viding subsidised housing Opponents of the proposal have four main objection* Kugene shouldn't have to take the lead on solving the affordable housing problem, the tax would help create more low-income housing in areas of the city that are already resisting such housing, the tax is a form o( sales tax: and the tax will be a burden to people with fixed or low incomes. People on low or fixed incomes will have to pay the tax. but ten percent of the revenues raised will be used to help pay the utility bills of those who are in need Characterising the proposed utility tax as a "sales tax" is misleading The utility tax would be added to monihly utility bills and collected by utility providers as part of their normal col lections There is no added burden on every shopkeep er in the city to collec t a penny from every dol lar every- day or lo fill out complex and audited forms every night Consumers won't have to come up with an extra penny every time they spend a dollar, and no governmental bureaucra < \ w ill lie (rested to collect those pennies As to the first two objections. If* time people in EugutM stopped and thought about what it means to be part of a community*. OPINION Simply put. Eugene must take the lead in solving the affordable housing problem because it is a serious problem in Eugene — our community. To those who fear their neighborhood will be polluted by people with low incomes, remember that “there, but for the graie of God. go I " Eugene is a small city, it only takes a few minutes to go from one end of Eugene to the other, and ail of our neighborhoods are intimate ly bound to each other. Treat people with the respect they deserve as fellow humans and they are more likely to respond in kind than to bite your hand off Treat people like animals or outcasts, and no neighborhood wilt be safe Everyone needs adequate food, clothing and shelter to live wtlh dignity. Most people in our community are fortunate enough to meet those needs But an estimated 1.200 people in Eugene (about one percent of the imputation) are home less Another 20 percent of all Eugene house holds are classified as “very tow income" (earning less than 50 percent of the median income) and in danger of becoming home less With the help of the community. Food for Lane County and other agencies are able to pro vide many of those people with enough food to at least survive on With the help of the community. Si. Vincent de Paul and other agencies are able to provide many of those people with enough clothes to avoid rampant public nudity. Affordable housing is a much bigger ticket item Until now. not even the most concerned members of our community were able to make any significant dents In this situation Now there is a possibility, for about one dollar per household per month. One last observation. Just before the special senatorial election, the ASUO ran a successful voter-registration drive. And then most of the new voters failed to actually vote Given the choices, I don't blame them But this election is different Students can have a major impact on solving the homeless problem in Eugene Now ts the time for them to get off their collective asses and make a real difference. It is time for them to vote. Larry Haftl. a senior maformg in journalism. « o columnist fat the Emerald
