Friday
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Clashing views electrify candidate debates
Guest Commentary
Kitty
Piercy
The real truth about what is at stake in
this election is much more important than
a personality contest. It is about our lives,
our rights and our future.
I have had the opportunity to meet Vice
President Al Gore on three different occa
sions. I found him to be an accessible,
principled person with a good sense of hu
mor. He is committed to creating public
policy that will benefit our county and all
its people. He has worked diligently and
successfully on our behalf as vice presi
dent. We can believe with assurance that
he will build on this record as our presi
dent.
It simply does make a crucial difference
who wins this election. If George Bush
wins, we will lose environmental regula
tions that protect us and reproductive
rights that enable women to fully partici
pate in our society. Our public schools
will be further undercut by the move to
ward vouchers. Affirmative action will be
at great risk, access to high-quality health
care will be eroded and Social Security
will be jeopardized.
These are just a few of the policies at
stake, and yet some of our most concerned
citizens are willing to risk all because Gore
is not as appealing to them as Ralph Nader.
I am under no illusion that Gore is perfect,
but I have yet to meet someone who is.
Everyone in political office is constrained
by the views of those they work with and
the power of those they oppose. In spite of
these constraints, good public figures keep
working to improve policy and to ensure
that the rights of others are upheld. I be
lieve Gore to be a good public figure and
deserving of your vote.
Here in Oregon, if you disliked the divi
sive, partisan, anti-public education lead
ership in the last legislative session, then
you will want to be sure that Lynn Snod
grass does not become our next secretary
of state. Bill Bradbury is known for his
ability to work across party lines. My ex
perience as House minority leader in the
last session was that Lynn Snodgrass did
her utmost to undermine Gov. John
Kitzhaber, to punish moderation in the Re
publican ranks and to avoid working with
those she disagreed with. Bill Bradbury
will be a secretary of state who wi 11 rise
above partisan policies and keep his eye
on serving all of us.
Kitty Piercy isfinishing her last term as state repre
sentative from District 39, which covers North and
West Eugene.
Guest Commentary
Tony
Chichi
All right, you buncha doe
eyed, namby-pamby, fair
weather liberals, listen up.
I’m done smoothing your ruf
fled feathers and calming
you, trying to convince you
it’s OK to vote for Ralphie. I’m
sick of hearing about how you
want to vote for Nader but are
scared to death of George II.
Yes, there is a lot at stake.
Yes, this is probably the most
important ballot you will
ever cast. And yes, it’s
agonizing.
But the stakes are higher
than Al Gore’s surrogate at
tack dogs let on. They show
EKGs of the liberal Supreme
Court justices and shivers run
through the room. They show
photos of Dick Cheney and
children cry. They try to
leverage our own values
against us but fail to mention
what is really on the line: our
democracy and the future of
the left.
I freely admit the differ
ences between Gore and
Bush. They are different dogs
— on the same leash. But the
distinction between Neo- and
Non-Neo-Democrats cannot
be overemphasized. That
tiny, Orwellian prefix threat
ens to change forever the par
ty it modifies.
You cannot influence a
party to do right if you
% support it when it does
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
wrong.
Gloria Steinem suggests we
elect Gore, whom she admits
is no great shakes on women’s
issues, and then pressure him
once he is in office. Pressure
him with what? A nasty let
ter? Politicians only under
stand a loss of votes. I know
that by voting for Ralph Nad
er, I am taking a vote away
from Gore. Why swap votes?
Denying Gore my vote is half
the point.
The other half is that I
many never again have a
chance to vote for a citizen
such as Nader. I want my kids
to be interested enough in
politics to ask about the 2000
election, and I don’t want
them to kick me in the shins
when I tell them I voted
against Bush.
Nader has dedicated his
life to reclaiming the citizen
power inherent in a true *
democracy and he represents
my values better than any
candidate to ever seek the of
fice. Call me naive, idealistic ^
or just old-fashioned, but I’m
voting for Nader because I be
lieve he’s the best man for the
job.
For me to vote for anyone
other than Ralph Nader is for
me to throw in the towel on
democracy, and I am not pre
pared to do that just yet. Bal
lots are still bullets, and to
vote against your conscience
is to shoot yourself in the
head.
Tony Chiotti is a journalism major.
Vote not out of obligation, but out of good judgment
LONE VOICE IN
THE WOODS
BRET JACOBSON
Contrary to what you may hear,
it is not every citizen’s duty to
vote, unless he or she has the men
tal faculties and are informed on
the issues and the candidates up
for election. People should not feel
inclined to vote simply based on a
misplaced sense or duty and the is
sue of possible voter-means testing
should be examined.
The notion that it is every citi
zen’s duty to vote is interesting.
Most take that to mean that every
few years they should take an hour
off work and go pull levers for is
sues they haven’t mastered. If this
is, as it seems for too many Ameri
cans, the sense of duty they feel,
forget it.
The real duty is to do the re
search and cast an informed vote.
That doesn’t seem to happen all
that often, when one examines
how many measures passed by the
public are thrown out by the
courts, or if one looks at the num
ber of undecided or “don’t know”
answers given to polls.
It is not the place of the unin
formed to decide elections just be
cause they were taught in third
grade that they must. At some
point, the question of whether it is
appropriate to institute some form
of voter testing will have to be ad
dressed.
America’s founding fathers did
not intend for everyone to vote.
While their criteria for voting eiigi
bility were wrong — using race,
gender and land ownership is not
acceptable — the principle for
some sort of means testing has a
precedent.
Some like to argue that it is the
death of a democracy when the
majority of its citizens don’t turn
out to have a say in the running of
the state. But that simply doesn’t
hold true when one realizes that
there are widely varying levels of
knowledge and wisdom that make
some opinions more valuable than
others. While every individual has
the same innate value under the
law, their opinions do not, as evi
denced by the fact that America
elects representatives to use their
wisdom on a daily basis for the
betterment of the country.
In conclusion, elections are very
important and shouldn’t be taken
lightly, as it often seems many do.
It is your duty to cast an informed
ballot or none at all. Make the right
choice this year.
Bret Jacobson is a columnist for the Ore
gon Daily Emerald. His views do not neces
sarily represent those of the Emerald. He
can be reached at
bjacobso@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
Letters to the editor
Seeing the real enemy
As election season winds into
its 11th hour, desperation hangs
in the air around the issue of
whether those of us who actually
vote our principles will be en
abling “the enemy.”
It amazes me how readily
Americans give away their natural
power. We pretend that we only
have a shot at real power every
four years; that if we blow it at the
ballot box, we have to wait until
the next electoral circus to recov
er our power. Then, of course,
there's all the power we'll “lose”
to the “wrong” Supreme Court.
A Bush presidency and
Supreme Court is not really the
disaster. The disaster we actually
face is the relinquishing of our
spirit to a politics of despair, a poli
tics of second-guessing and hedg
ing bets and a politics that accedes
our natural power to create both lo
cal and global change day to day
and week to week: Bottom-up
change, in defiance of whatever hi
erarchy pretends to wield defini
tive power in this land.
When, exactly, do we intend to
start living and behaving in accor
dance with our actual highest be
liefs and principles? Is it just after
we cast one more vote for the guv
we don't really believe in — be!
cause we're afraid?
Living life, and doing politics, in
this hopeless and fear-based fash
ion is the paralyzing sickness
which we need to see as the real
enemy. Too many “Greens for
Gore” have lost their vision, and
now preach a politics of reactivity,
disempowerment, appeasement
and despair.
Vip Short
Eugene
Putting youth first
Born in the summer of 1950, in
the small town of Eugene, I was the
product of a home filled with love
and support. My mom was always
there to talk to me after school and
dad came home every night, anx
ious to hear all about my day.
Most parents are still trying to
till those roles — but they are find
ing themselves stretched beyond
belief by the demands and stresses
of needing to work to make ends
meet. There are many single parent
homes who are even more chal
lenged to find positive alternatives
for their children before and after
school hours.
As a lifelong Eugene resident
and a graduate from the Universi
ty School of Community Services
and Public Affairs, I have long be
lieved that we, as a society, need to
prioritize prevention programs.
That means spending money up
front to teach life skills and not
waiting until a young person
makes a really poor decision that
forces us to begin their connection
with the juvenile justice system.
Measure 20-37 is the first true
prevention measure I have ever
seen. It was developed by a very
thoughtful and caring group of
non-profit agencies who worked
with the city recreation depart
ment staff to plan, survey, docu
ment gaps and develop a proposal
that reaches out to as many youth
as possible. It definitely put the
young people first — right where
they belong!
Please join me in voting yes on
Measure 20-37. We need to start
prioritizing youth right now.
Marilyn Kalstad
class of 74