VIEWPOINTS
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t PlTQRlAI S OPINIONS LETTERS TO THE fOITQR
Living, education limits
on welfare are positive
■ OUR OPINION: Reform
plan wtH work il unsafe
situations are noted
With half a million Iwibii**
being 1mm each year la
iwni, Pmidmt Clinton in
taking executive action* to
force states to end welfare
benefit* to teen-age panuii*
who refuse to finish m hoot
or live with a responsible
adult.
The action is aimed at
solving problem* of long
term welfare dependency
through preventing the pay
ment of benefit* to these
teen* who move out of their
parent* homes and drop out
of school.
The plan would target
these irresponsible teens,
who are unfortunately
responsible for these balms*
and t ease to fund their wel
fare-dependent lifestyle
Clinton plans to ensure that
in the future a baby won't
give these teen* the right or
the money to leave home
and drop out of school .
This new reform will
require teen mothers to live
with their parent* or a
responsible adult There
will la* a precept in the plan
that will make allowances
for teens in abusive situa
tions at home.
The only negative aspect
of Clinton's plan is the pos
sibility that some recipients
will lie forced to live with
abusive parents despite the
good intentions of the abu
ftivc cirtiumstam e* pres opt
Il is often the cose that
teens who are in abusive
homes do not have the
courage or the self-esteem to
challenge their living situa
tions. It is possible that a
plan like this would only
harm these exceptions to the
welfare-mother stereotype.
Thi» reform would unin
tentionally punish these
dependent teens by placing
restriction* on their living
situation choices that could
bit detrimental
This sort of legislation
would be nothing new to
Oregon In September lOflS.
the state passed a law
requiring teen-age mothers
receiving welfare to live
with parents or live in
another safe situation.
Though we cannot be c er
tain that these teens are
placed in safe living situa
tions, at least these mothers
can still be enrolled in the
Oregon JOBS program. In
July, Oregon will Itegsn to
implement these live-at
home welfare requirements
mode possible by federal
waivers received in March
These requirements will
help solve part of the prob
lem of long-term welfare
dependency and will
encourage teen-age mothers
who live off the welfare sys
tem to fump back into the
education system, live with
their parent* and hopefully
grow into responsible adults
themselves
After all. half of all adults
on Aid to Families with
Dependent Children, which
totals about 2 million peo
ple. had their first children
when they were in their
teen#
Unfortunately, welfare
reform will not decrease the
number of teens who are
having unsafe sex and bring
ing babies into this world
that they cannot emotional
ly or financially support
The solution to this prob
lem lies in needed changes
in America's presentation of
sex in the media and sex
education classes.
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Tolerate incidental fees; they serve you
Jk her reading the headline in last Thurs
/ V day's Effiwnttd that stated Ballot mea
/ \ sure* will increase incidental fees 9
JL JL percent I wasn't surprised
It *eerns hi* wb«nn« I begin to think anoth
\ *» year of sriwol wcw t completely impoverish
me. a now fee it added They are usually not the
<«•* I support But that is part of the democratic
pTOOMM,
I will wholeheartedly stand behind and
accept the student government * right to snatch
money from me that I will never see again and
place it into dubs that i usually either don't can*
•bout, don't have lime to donate toward or just
wouldn't feel quite welcome attending
While l think incidental fees could be han
dled a lot better in some t ames, I cannot be too
strongly opposed to them
What surprises me most, though, is how many
students seem to b* willing to shoot themselves
in the foot to save a few dollars — lew being rel
•live of course an in state student will spend
over $10,000 In a year of schooling, only about 4
percent of which covers Incidental fees’
The one incidental fee that receives the most
undeserved critic i*m Is the lame Transit Ihstric t
bus pass
Every term l hear students exclaim, “We re
paying for the busses I don't even ride tin
busses I'm paying for someone else to ride the
bus’ I want my money back'" I can't forget hear
ing these students asking, “Gosh, what do they
think we ro made of? Money?"
I used the bus pass all last year without toalia
mg exactly where the money was coming from
When I heard that it was absorbed into our stu
dent fee* I eagerly searched every hill for some
thing stating transportation costs' as $100 !
never found it.
When it came on the ballot last year, the cost
was not $100 or even $50 it was right around
$6 50 The 19961997 fee will be $6 65 I could
n't help but wonder what all the fuss was about
How could people be so adamantly opposed
to a mere six dollar fee? That is barely over 10
percent of the usual throe-month adult fee of
SliO Rarely do you find something with a cost
of 90 percent off. like the LTD term long bus
pass
LTD delivers passenger* to their doorstep*
and offices all over the Eugene-.Springfield arm
I can get virtually anywhere with my bus pass
— I have gone to restaurants, movie theaters and
even a tattoo parlor
I have ridden the bus during the beat of spring
when the air conditioning is going full blast and
the chill of winter when the healer warms my
toes Sever om e did I think it was a waste of
money Only after catling LTD did I actually dis
: cover how fortunate the average student is. LTD
not only extensively cover* the metropolitan
area, bul travels 55 mile* out of town. Travel
that far on Greyhound and you're talking at least
$10
"But you don't have a car." anti-bus fee pro
ponents toll cm. "You have to ride the bus." 1
don't have a car because 1 don't think I need
one. Kugtme ii home to the best local transporta
tion system 1 have ever encountered.
1 have taken mass transit systems in Kugene,
Portland. Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. Because
in# city of hugene is smaller.
LTD easily in'iiis the larger
cities in relation In conve
rt ien« :t> and the number of
routes available
In the Portland Metro area
you always have to go down
town lo gel anywhere, and
downtown can be far away
depending on where you're
going. Going to school by bus
in the summer takes a good
two hour* The commute i* about 30 minute* by
a*r. There wa* no contest — I ended up driving
Seattle tries to be at accaatrfhle as Eugene, and
the mult is that they stop at what seems like
every driveway, taking about an hour to get
three miles Fun. fun. fun.
The longest bus ride l have ever heard of in
the Eugene area was a little over an hour, taken
by my roommate.
She went htm» the University station to the
Eugene Station. This trip usually takes about 5
minutes, but she decided to get on the bus that
went to the Eugene Station via Springfield
Maybe not a bad idea, but definitely not a time
saving one
My only complaint about LTD is the unfortu
uate lack of bike racks on their busses 1 love the
fart that Portland busses have racks so you can
ride as far as you want and then hop on dm bus
if you get tired or wet.
Also, bike rack* on busses can enable you to
you reach your bikeriding.dastination still fresh
enough to enjoy the country scenery.
But even this complaint will soon be outdat
ed According to Andy Vnbora. LTD marketing
employee, busses will be being equipped wilh
bike rack* starting June 16. Bt the time school
starts in the fall, they should fee well past the
introductory period
Best of all, if you really don't use the buses,
you can get a refund Just by turning in your
sticker, you get that entire $6.65 back Instead of
having transportation all over the county for the
entire term, you can spend it on five gallons of
gas 1 hat bargain fails to appeal to me. I'm keep
ing my sticker.
kuy kmutahrtd, a sophomore tnajtxnig in bwlo
g>- and psychology, it q columnist for the Em«»
ala.. E-mail w*e/come kayk&gladstonr