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20-83 2064
Stopping the wrecking ball
■ OUR OPINION: Three measures on this
months mail-in ballot try to put their own spin
on Measure 47 and should be treated
accordingly
By passing Measure 47 in the November
election, the voters created a state of disar
ray and difficulty among lawmakers almost
unparalled in its magnitude. On the state
level, representatives and senators scrambled to in
terpret the confusing measure and produce a
streamlined version for the voters. On the local lev
el, Eugene city councilors and Lane County offi
cials worked around the clock to prioritize local
services under 47 and help bring two “adjustment”
measures to the May 20 ballot.
After all this work, it’s time for the voters to de
cide. They narrowly accepted Measure 47, opting
for lower property taxes and screwing schools and
local government in the process. Now they need to
choose what kind of changes, if any, they want to
make to adjust to their boldness.
For us at the Emerald, our decisions were easy.
Each was ultimately guided by an extreme hatred
for Measure 47 and all its sneaky side effects. So
here they are:
First and foremost on the docket is Measure 50,
the state legislature’s brainchild. Basically Mea
sure 47’s prettier but deadlier younger sibling, it at
tempts to solve many of the inconsistencies and
confusion behind the original measure. Among the
minor changes is a decrease in overall property tax
reduction, from $1 billion under 47 to $800 mil
lion, and exemptions for rural hospitals and a Port
land public safety levy.
But in the end, it’s the same thing. Measure 50
stills limits future property tax increases by 3 per
cent and still hurts schools and local government.
We didn’t like Measure 47, and we don’t like Mea
sure 50.
The new measure limits the overall tax cut but is
actually more damaging. Because its language is
much clearer and was referred to the voters by the
legislature, Measure 50 is virtually impenetrable to
legal challenges. Measure 47, on the other hand, is
currently the subject of a lawsuit by the League of
Oregon Cities for being unconstitutional.
Herein lies the reason Bill Sizemore and other
tax cut advocates support Measure 50. They know
Measure 47 has serious problems and could very
well be abolished. Measure 50 solves all that.
We would rather see Measure 47 be played out
in the courts for a few years (and not go into effect
in the process) than pass a foolproof version of the
measure now. It’s a gamble, but one we’re willing
to take. Measure 47 is too problematic to come out
of the legal battle unscathed.
The adjusting, meanwhile, hasn’t been isolated
to the capitol. City and county officials recently
put two measures on the ballot to help save Eugene
from the havoc of Measure 47. Measure 20-83 re
stores $32 million of the estimated $36 million the
measure would cut from the city budget. And Mea
sure 20-84 would allocate $2.5 million to the Lane
County jail and other services set to be reduced as
part of 47. We support both measures, despite the
fact that they each raise local property taxes.
The city council has worked hard since 47’s pas
sage to prioritize local services under the new mea
sure. We agree with most of their decisions, in
cluding setting the community center and Hult
Center as priorities. Under 20-83, these and many
other programs would be saved. It is, in a sense,
Eugene’s way of defying the state’s decision. And
for good reason. Eugene citizens voted 2-1 against
Measure 47.
As for 20-84, we believe public safety is not
something we can compromise on. The measure
adds 48 beds to the county prison and restores oth
er vital safety programs. And it restores voter will
by protecting services that citizens approved in a
levy last spring, pre-47.
We look at the era before Measure 47 fondly.
Most people in this area do. Measures 20-83 and
20-84 give us back a bit of the glorious past. And
Measure 50, well, it’s just stupid. But they all came
about as part of Measure 47. And now we must
deal with them, in whichever way we see fit. Vote
smart.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board.
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LETTERS
Bad paper
I am very concerned about the number of
fliers and newspaper inserts I have seen that
are on heavily dyed, goldenrod and neon
papers. These colored papers hinder the re
cycling process and contain toxic dyes.
Dyes used in paper production are toxic
and have negative impacts on our ecosys
tem and the recycling process. All paper, ex
cept unbleached or chlorine-free paper, are
first bleached with industrial chlorine,
which produces dioxin, one of the most tox
ic chemicals known.
Then it is dyed to make colored paper.
Neon and goldenrod papers are heavily
dyed to make colored paper. Neon and gold
enrod papers are heavily dyed, beyond
lighter colored or white paper.
When choosing your papers, please con
sider using creative graphics with lush col
ored soy based inks and less toxic paper
choices.
Karyn Kaplan
Campus Recycling
Understand oppression
I was disturbed to read the criticism of the
Women’s Studies Reading Group 405. The
idea that one cannot learn by reading the
perspectives of others is to deny one of the
central values of reading. Reading is one
way to learn to walk in another’s shoes and
should not be denigrated by the putative
representatives of the very cultures these
women are trying to understand.
Americans of European descent are (often
justly) criticized for not knowing and appre
ciating the cultures of non-European Ameri
cans. But let someone make a serious at
tempt at bridging this gap in perspective,
and there is concern that, unless one is
raised as a member of that group, insight is
impossible.
This is a barbaric notion. Reading and dis
cussing sensitive, articulate accounts of
struggle can only add to an understanding
of the trials experienced by their authors. If
you think you can learn only from first
hand experience, you are leaving a lot out of
your education.
Through my reading of James Baldwin,
Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison, I have
gained insight into the conditions of
African-Americans in this country. Would
my insights have been modified if I had
someone of color personally guiding me
through my readings? Possibly.
But what I did have was my own critical
abilities, and my own awareness of oppres
sion suffered by my forebears (Irish and Ger
man). Most importantly, I had my own
sense of humanity, which enables me to
identify with anyone, African American,
Jewish, Native American or whoever is op
pressed.
I do not need to be African American to
recognize oppression. I, and you, only need
to be human.
Joseph Renaud
Germanic Languages/Literature
Pete Peterson
After being held
prisoner in Hanoi
for dose to seven
years during the
Vietnam War, the
former Air Force
captain returned to i
the country he once \
fought, this time as 1
a U.S. Ambassador, j
His arrival marks
the first bme full
diplomatic relations j
have been estab
lished between the \
one-time enemy
countries.
Female politicians
Decades of working j
for political equality I
between men and
women may finally \
be paying off with
concrete results.
Nationwide, the
gender gap in poli- \
tics is closing. In
the Washington
State Senate, 22 out j
of the 49 members j
are women. So how j
long until we have a
female president?
50 percent
voting rale
In accordance with
the results of the
fall election, if half
the registered vot
ers fail to vote on a
given measure this
month it will auto
matically fail. That
means failing to
show up at election
time is the same as
voting no.
Beijing
A recent report has
shown that the air
quality in the Chi
nese capital is five
times worse than
that of Los Angeles.
Breathing the air in
Beijing for a day is
reported to be the
equivalent of smok
ing three packs of
unfiltered ciga
rettes. While China
is struggling to in
dustrialize for the
future, this level of
pollution is plain
unacceptable.