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Ballot measures important, need vote
■ OUR OPINION:
The measures on
this week’s ASUO
ballot may
actually make a
difference. Here’s
our picks.
With the ASUO Executive race
already decided, many students
may not see the point in voting in
the general election this week.
However, despite the fact that the
presidential spots have been decid
ed, there is a very important reason
to vote in this election — ballot
measures.
Here are the Emerald’s endorse
ments for the 1997 ASUO ballot
measures.
Club Sports
This ballot
measure would
raise student in
cidental fees by
approximately
$0.43 per term to
help support Club Sports.
We support this measure be
cause it will help raise money to
lower the cost of participating in
Club Sports. Club Sports provides
a great opportunity for students to
get involved with outside physical
activities.
Everyone should have access to
these programs, not just those who
can afford to pay the dues. For a
reasonable cost, Club Sports could
be made more accessible to all stu
dents’ needs.
Footnotes
This measure would
increase student pro
gram fees by approx
imately $0.34 per
term per student to
help fund Footnotes.
While we support
Footnotes and believe it deserves a
spot on campus, we do not support
this measure.
The reasoning is fairly simple.
Footnotes is not a student group; it
is an independent company. As
such, it should support itself with
the money it makes from subscrip
tions, not student fees. If Footnotes
needs extra cash, Footnotes sub
scribers will have to fork over the
money.
Lane Transit
YIP Pfc /S District
f This ballot
measure would
institute a student
incidental fee of
$6.60 per term per
student to provide students with
unlimited bus service within the
Lane Transit District Service.
For many students, the bus rep
resents their only means of getting
to and from school. For countless
others in the dorms, the bus is their
only way of getting off campus. We
support this measure because it
provides a valuable transportation
service for a relatively low cost.
Pocket Play
YP /S house
This ballot
measure would
raise student fees
by approximately
$0.03 per term to
fund the Pocket Playhouse student
theater.
On the one hand, this measure
should never have come to the bal
lot. If representatives for Pocket
Playhouse had turned in their bud
get to the Programs Finace Commit
tee when they were supposed to,
this ballot would never have been
brought to the students.
On the other hand, at only $0.03
per term, it seems silly not to sup
port the student theater. Consider
ing how insignificant the increase
Y^_ __ is, we support
A this measure.
Saferide
This measure
would increase in
cidental fees by
approximately $0.65 per term per
student to purchase a new vehicle
and wheelchair lift.
This measure is probably the
biggest no-brainer of them all.
Saferide is an incredibly valuable
service, and it should be accessible
to all women. For those reasons, we
support this measure.
Students for the Ethical
BkB D1 Treatment of Animals
BIB B B This measure would
m W/ ’ increase student in
I/Y cidental fees by $0.11
/ Aj k per term, per student
to fund the student
group SETA.
We do not support this measure
for several reasons.
First of all, SETA already re
ceived a significant increase in stu
dent fees from the PFC. We don’t
believe they need any additional
money.
Second, SETA is a highly politi
cal and controversial organization
with clear stances against animal
research that do not reflect the
views of the entire campus. While
they certainly have a right to pro
mote their views, we do not believe
they should seek additional fees
from the entire student body since
their views don’t represent those of
the student body.
The ballot measures may very
well have a greater direct impact on
students than any ASUO position
because they deal with what could
be the most important issue in
higher education: money.
For that reason, all students
should seriously evaluate these
measures and then actually vote on
them.
This editorial represents the ma
jority opinion of the Emerald edi
torial board.
Quoted |
“I came here today to tell you we will contin
ue to lead the State of Israel until the year
2000, and even beyond 2000.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
assuring his party that he is here to stay
“I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t,
and so the best thing I can do is ignore the
politics... and just call it like I see it."
Attorney General Janet Reno on criticism
that she didn’t seek an independent counsel
to investigate Democratic fund raising viola
tions
“I don’t apologize for the music. I don’t apol
ogize for making the appearance on the
show, but for whatever negative fallout there
might have been, I regret that.”
Pat Boone on his January appearance in
black leather at the American Music Awards
“I feel horrible about this losing streak, but I
don’t feel horrible about the way we played
today.”
Chicago Cubs manager Jim Riggle, after
losing 13 straight games to open the base
ballseason
“Nature has no malice toward us, but nature
is sending us a message.”
Mikhail Gorbachev, urging college students
in New Orleans to protect the environment
“I'm a good Republican. I hope my integrity
is intact. I wantto help the party, help Newt.”
Bob Dole on loaning Newt Gingrich
$300,000 to pay ethics violation fines
“They got me busier than a one-legged man
in a butt-kicking contest."
51 -year-old Dolly Parton on the schedule at
her theme park Dolly wood
Letters
policy
The Oregon
Daily Emerald will
attempt to print all
letters containing
comments on top
ics of interest to
the University
community.
Letters to the
editor must be
typed, double
spaced and in
clude the author's
name, signature,
and phone num
ber. The identifica
tion of the writer
must be verified
when the letter is
submitted.
Letters must be
limited to 250
words or less. The
Emerald reserves
the right to edit
any letter for
length, clarity,
grammar or style.
LETTERS
visible voices
On April 17, the Emerald
printed an article on a stu
dent tax relief bill sponsored
by State Sen. Randy Leonard.
I was very pleased with
Sarah Keech’s story regard
ing Senate Bill 1158, and its
emphasis on the positive ef
fect that a tax relief would
have for working students.
The area that was not a fo
cus of the article is the chal
lenge that the bill faces with
the Republican-controlled
legislature and April 25 cut
off date for hearing of new
legislation.
Senate Bill 1158 is stuck in
the Revenue Committee
chaired by Sen. Ken Baker of
Clackamas. Although the Re
publican party is known for
wanting to cut taxes, because
students are not a wealthy
interest, this tax relief is not
receiving conservative sup
port.
The answer to this prob
lem and the fate of SB 1158
is for students to make their
voices heard. If you think
that working students should
not be taxed on the money
they earn to attend college,
please call and/or write Sen.
Ken Baker and other mem
bers of the Senate Revenue
Committee requesting a pub
lic hearing for Senate Bill
1158.
Jef Green
Political Science
Parallel events
The world condemns the
capture of the Holy Land,
and the United States stands
alone with the occupier Is
raelis.
Money-media man Rupert
Murdoch and muscle man
Arnold Schwarzenegger are
awarded by Israeli support
ers in New York, while bul
lets kill the children of the
natives in Palestine.
Women cry and men
scream, and Henry Kissinger
and Newt Gingrich applaud.
Pundits make God a real
estate agent for Israel, while
bulldozers do their job-to
prepare homes for newcom
ers and destroy homes of hu
man bombers.
Go to sleep; be quiet; drug
your conscience so Israel can
expand and prosper.
“Jerry Green leaves Oregon
for Tennessee for more mon
ey.”
M. Reza Behnam
Eugene
A new party
Here at the Really Regres
sive Party (RRP), it has come
to our attention that the sys
tem of student government
that operates on this campus
has serious holes in its abili
ty to represent students as a
collective entity. The collec
tion of candidates on this
year’s slate are symbolic of
the useless drips we get
every year. The candidates
slated for this year will
promise to do one of the fol
lowing:
a) Reinvent student gov
ernment; b) support multi
cultural issues; c) support
the Greeks; d) make campus
safer; e) promise to solve the
parking dilemma; f) all of the
above; g) promise free beer.
While these appear as
campaign promises each and
every year, it is obvious they
are never fulfilled. Our
ASUO Executive this year
has managed to take away
student seating at a basket
ball game in the name of race
relations, has proposed using
your money to finance a
completely unnecessary am
phitheater and has found
zero causes and activities to
bring the campus together as
a whole.
The RRP is stringently
against the continuing use
less droning of monotonous
candidates sputtering the
same collection of cacopho
nous claptrap. We are the
first officially sanctioned po
litical* group on campus,
ever. None of the other can
didates have taken on this re
sponsibility, and none will
because of their reluctance to
alter the status quo. The RRP
is dedicated to guiding the
student majority, so that they
will not fall prey to the trap
pings of the candidates’ usu
al drawl.
Chris Kantrowitz
Really Regressive Party
Sound of Al
As long as we are con
vinced to spend at least
$300,000 on a new am
phitheater, I think that it
would be reasonable to
spend a few thousand dollars
more to soundproof those
classrooms that immediately
face that corner of the EMU.
1 teach in Friendly 106. On
Tuesday, I once again had to
shout over the music coming
from the EMU mosh pit. It’s
not that the Macarena is that
bad of a song; I was just terri
fied by the thought that Al
Gore might Macarena his
way through my classroom
asking for campaign contri
butions.
How to spend our
$300,000 might, in fact, be a,
decision that we can make in
a moral vacuum, isolated
from social realities that sur
round the campus. Let’s,
however, look at the difficul
ties of teaching and learning
in foreign languages in
Friendly 106 and 214, and
perhaps in other classrooms
in the amphitheater’s sound
path. At least budget for
some insulated windows.
Bruce Waller
Germanics
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