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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 5, 1997)
▼ EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Steven Asbury MANAGING EDITOR: Thom Schoenbom NIGHT EDITORS: Laura Cadiz &• Nicole Krueger EDITORIAL EDITORS: Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond editorials, letters, commentary and perspective NEWSROOM: (541)346-5511 DISPLAY ADVERTISING: (541)346-3712 BUSINESS OFFICE: (541) 346-5512 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: (541)346-4343 M: v... § m | M * m gg§ muma : - * ./ ' , mmm • CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald New bill hardly equals the crime ■ OUR OPINION: A state proposal seeking to criminalize the possession of marijuana should go up in smoke The Oregon House of Representatives wants you to know it’s taken a firm stand against that drug of death, that near-narcot ic, that wily weed — marijua na. But actually, what it has real ly done is make a purely sym bolic statement that will place undue restraints on an unde serving group of people and ul timately, cause more harm than good. The House just passed a bill that will “recriminalize” the possession of small amounts of marijuana. If the bill passes through the Senate and be comes law, anyone caught with less than an ounce of the drug will be charged with a Class C misdemeanor. This means any young per son or other casual user out for a short high could be thrown in jail just for holding a joint. Yikes! A regression seems to be tak ing place here. Back in 1973, Oregon was the first state in the union to decriminalize mari juana. Why the change of heart? Well, many representa tives say today’s marijuana is much stronger than the weed of the trippin’ ‘60s and ‘70s. Therefore, it should be ranked with more “powerful” drugs, presumably like LSD and crack. This is where the bill’s first problem becomes apparent. In deed, today’s street marijuana is stronger than its predecessor and is obviously not necessari ly good for one who uses it. But it can hardly be ranked with more potent drugs. A signifi cant difference in physiological effects, and therefore addic tion, still clearly exists between cocaine, for example, and mari juana. Furthermore, the bill is un justly cruel to a primarily young group of users. Should an 18-year-old girl, for exam ple, be subject to a permanent mark on her record just for be ing caught with a joint? We don’t think so. Young people could have trouble finding jobs in the future or even staying in school with such a strong so cial stigma as a criminal record. Also, the bill is terribly im practical. Even the people en forcing the law can see this. Some policemen in Portland, for example, say they may not even seek jail time for people they catch breaking the law. And if they do choose to en force the law, already over crowded jails could see an in flux of new inmates — inmates that had done nothing more than hold a joint. A glaringly unbalanced im age comes through in all this hoopla. Should marijuana users — not dealers, not pro ducers — be held in the same regard as burglars and other criminals? Of course not, but with this law, they will be. Instead, if we must fight mar ijuana use, let’s increase the fine already in place for posses sion. Perhaps a monetary pun ishment would persuade users to curb their behavior. We sure know putting them in prison won’t help anything. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editori al board. Quoted “We’re screwed, we’re screwed!” Peruvian rebel leader Nestor Corps's reported last words as commandos stormed the Japanese embassy in Lima that his group had taken under siege. “You pat him on the back and say I congratulations and enjoy it, and tell him not to serve fried chicken next year...or collard greens, or whatever the hell they serve." Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, referring to Masters champion Tiger j Woods. Zoeller j apologized to \ Woods but later \ claimed he was j misquoted, j “I feel very fortunate. My three children are safe. The rest is just stuff." Grand Forks, I North Dak. \ resident Paula Haney, after her j house was : overrun by flood j waters, as quoted j in Newsweek, j “I never lose. I have never lost in my life.” Chess champion \ Garry Kasparov, j being interviewed j for his upcoming 1 series of matches I against Deep Blue, an IBM j supercomputer, j The series is tied 1-1. i LETTERS Musical sacrifice I was appalled at the mindless ness of Corey Johnson’s letter, “Disappointing endorsement,” printed on April 17, regarding for mer ASUO executive candidates James Boyd and Andrew Oberriter. Corey, in pointing out that the Emerald represents “racial insensi tivity” and “conservative voices that are grossly out of touch with student opinion,” you certainly did not represent yourself in a way that could set a good example, since you are somehow out of touch with my student opinion, for one, and perhaps many others who happen to know James Boyd and Andrew Oberriter personally. Like Boyd, I am studying music. We are colleagues, both having been through many of the same O /~v_ _ things a music major faces. It takes willpower, dedication and courage to pursue a career in music. Liter ally, it takes blood, sweat and tears. It is not a field for the “frail ego.” I agree with your suggestion for the editorial board to “start getting in touch with the students on this campus.” But have you ever even had a friendly conversation with James and Andrew? Did it ever oc cur to you that perhaps these two people are for real and not interest ed in political slash and burn tac tics? Why else would someone like James come back after his so-called “frail” ego was destroyed to coura geously run for a higher position? Dealing with scathing editorials is willful enough. Lara Daskivich Music Education Parking solution During the recent ASUO elec tions, we heard a lot of talk about the University’s parking shortage, but few viable solutions. I think that the best way to solve the prob lem is to look at it from a fresh per spective. How about instead of a “parking shortage,” we simply ac knowledge that what we actually have is a “car surplus.” So how do we go about getting rid of all these surplus cars? Just suggesting alternative forms of transportation hasn’t helped. Even funding alternative forms hasn’t worked. Eugene is not only walka ble and bike-friendly, but our inci dental fees already pay for unlim ited access to ride the bus. The University can’t keep peo ple from driving to school... or can it? What if the people who are dri ving to school just weren’t stu dents? Just expel people who drive to school? That’s crazy! These are our future leaders ... or are they? Anyone who has taken classes in finance, accounting or economics and actually thinks it is economi cal to drive a car to school rather than walk, bike or take the bus for free, is not applying their educa tion. But why stop with business ma jors? How about environmental studies majors who drive to school? All of their classes on pro tecting the environment haven’t af fected how they treat it. Or exercise & movement majors? Don’t they know how much better walking and biking is for you? Most of all, how can we forgive the history, architecture, planning & public policy and geography ma jors who drive to school? Haven’t they learned that cars have taken over and destroyed our landscape? Don’t they know that only places that were well in place before the invention of cars are memorable or even worth living in? I’m positive that there are several other well educated students who drive to school despite what their studies, or even simple logic, should make clear. The University should probably expel them too. So with all of these cars and peo ple off-campus, we would proba bly have a parking surplus. The problem is solved, and we can re claim all of that wasted land to find an appropriate use for it. Robert Nobles Architecture
