Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Editor in Chief:
Andrew Adams
Associate Editors:
Peter Hockaday
Jeremy Lang
Wednesday, August 22,2001
Editorial
Poor policies pose
danger to forests
This is turning out to be
one of the most de
structive fire seasons
in recent memory. The
Oregon Department of Forestry
reports that as of now, there
have already been 801 fires
that burned 18,247 total acres.
That is nearly twice as much as
last year.
Even the city of Portland has
witnessed a large brush fire
that threatened homes on
bluffs overlooking the
Willamette River.
The latest report holds that
more than two hundred thou
sand acres across Oregon and
Washington are still burning.
In a fire near Monument alone,
nearly 30,000 acres have al
ready burned, and the fire is
only about half contained. As
Oregonians, we need to sup
port and praise the firefighters
and National Guardsmen who
are risking their lives to con
tain the state’s conflagrations
and respect local and state reg
ulations designed to prevent
more forest fires.
uesuucuve ana norriDie
as forest fires may appear, ex
perts contend that they are a
natural part of the life cycle of
any forest. However, years of
forest use by humans and
highly successful methods of
fighting forest fires have al
tered that natural system to the
point where an out-of-control
forest fire can be a destructive
force of awesome power. In the
natural cycle, fires periodical
ly cleared out the underbrush
and left large trees relatively
untouched. With modern for
est firefighting methods, fire
fighters have been able to stop
much of that cleansing, and so
a large portion of our forests is
thick with underbrush that in
the summer becomes tinder
dry and can spark massive and
uncontrollable fires. But
through proper forestry meth
ods, we can clean out that un
derbrush by harvest or control
its growth.
Therefore, because of
decades of forest management,
humans have paradoxically be
come both the cause of and
bulwark against massive fires.
However, our ability to pre
vent large fires is threatened by
a blanket initiative begun in
the late 1990s by former Presi
dent Bill Clinton to prohibit
the use of roadless areas in na
tional forests and also to stop
all construction of roads into
those areas. While this initia
tive is questionable on the
grounds that it ignores many
local and state laws, it is also
questionable because it would
prevent the type of manage
ment that helps stop huge for
est fires from occurring. The
National Council for Science
and the Environment has re
ported that some of the most
effective methods of prevent
ing forest fires are selective
timber sales and underbrush
management.
To then block this from hap
pening by locking up thou
sands of acres of forest lands
from use does not make much
sense. Advocates say the road
less initiative will bring our
forests back to their pristine
states. That pristine state,
however, allowed thousands
of acres to burn unchecked,
and as this summer shows,
that is a risk few of us should
be willing to take.
As this editorial goes to
print, the tiny town of Ukiah
off Highway 395 in northeast
ern Oregon is surrounded by
fire lines and crews hoping to
keep a nearly 10,000-acre fire
from destroying parts of that
town. Some environmental
policies may sound good on
paper, but when homes and
lives are threatened, those poli
cies quickly lose quite a bit of
their appeal.
Honoring tne memory of a
professor
It is unfortunate, to say the
least, that when the Emerald
takes a moment to spotlight
the University Law School,
one of its brightest talents has
left the stage. Our sympathies
and prayers go to the family
of Wayne Westling, who
passed away recently in a
fight with cancer.
He was an internationally
known professor whom many
colleagues describe as the
epitome of the best scholars
of the law school and a man
who exhibited professional
ism and due consideration in
the pursuit of the greater goal
of knowledge throughout
one’s life.
As hundreds of law school
students begin their classes,
they all are continuing their
education. Some are fresh
from college with only a few
years’ experience under their
belts, while others have been
in the professional world for
quite some time. But no mat
ter their age or experience, all
of them have made the pledge
to improve themselves and
their society in the pursuit of
law. It is a much-maligned
profession, probably because
some of life’s greatest
tragedies and horrors are set
tled by lawyers in a court
room. But where there is
tragedy, there is often glory,
and let’s hope that this incom
ing law class will make us all
remember the honor of the
profession. Because in doing
so, they will also honor the
memory of Professor Westling.
This editorial represents the views of the
Emerald’s editor in chief and does not
necessarily represent the views of the
Oregon Daily Emerald.
Reach out to people in despair
Guest Commentary
Jason
Borbet
It's an indescribable feeling to
see such a vital and beautiful
thing looking so motionless
and fake. Seeing her lying
there reminded me of my track
coach after he passed away during
my senior year in high school. His
face was sucked of life, he resem
bled a doll, he was lifeless. Then to
see the girl I spent every day with
for the last two years in a similar
box with the same light striking
her face that did for every day of
her nineteen years was just as
hard. The difference between
those many sunsets is that this is
the last one that will ever grace her
gentle and loving face.
For weeks after the funeral I
stared at a little white envelope
with my name scribed desperately
in thick black strokes. She never
wrote with a heavy hand when she
was happy. Finally, when I felt
strong enough, I broke the seal and
took in her final words.
"Jay, I see my eyes buried deep
within my shadow-ridden face.
My mouth, void of happiness, re
veals the devices with which I tear
apart food. These mandibles have
crushed animal, bone, and your
heart. They oscillate, spitting forth
the passions of my inner demons,
hurting everyone I love and care
about. Like a criminal relative, I
have learned to love and accept
my mouth because I can never re
place it. Well, accept anyway, as I
have no love for myself anymore.
My turmoil and pain come from
tangible anguish to inexplicable
agony. Sometimes my body aches
from a tangible bruise, cut or strain
(many of which are the results of
my own actions). Other times my
brain tortures my heart with wild
images and explicit thoughts of
crushing reality and speculation.
Maybe I seem like a coward to you
running away, but you only see
what you want to see. Sometimes
by staying you are the one running
and hiding.
“My heart and being are alone
physically, emotionally and men
tally. I am so lonely. There have
been too many lonely Friday
nights. Now look at me. I am here
with a serrated dinner knife
pressed against my neck and all I
can wonder is just how much I
will feel it when I summon up the
courage to slice my neck and leave
this horrible world. I have stared
into the mirror until my eyes cas
cade with clear blood, and all I see
is a mistake looking back at me. Fi
nally, I fear nothing: myself, my
past, my parents, death ... Am I
crazy for entertaining my darkest
thoughts? My eyes bum, my body
is wasted, it is time for me to go. I
will miss you."
She didn't even sign her name.
We had been through so much to
gether, from rape to depression,
that I was just exhausted. Seeing
her writhing on the floor in her
world of agony every day, crying
and moaning, was something I just
couldn't handle. So, to give her
time alone and to get away, I came
to Oregon to chase my running
dreams. Her episodes (as she
called them) got worse and worse
from week to week, and the only
thing I could do was listen on the
other end of a phone three thou
sand miles away.
She had called me two weeks
before I received the news, and I
asked her to write me a note if she
felt suicidal, hoping it would deter
her. Now, all I have is a letter from
a broken soul that could not find
the strength to go on. Everything
inside of me died a little when I
heard she was gone. Death isn't a
vacation. She isn't studying
abroad; she is gone forever. What
could I have done to help her more
than I did? Why isn't she waking
up today? Maybe if I had flown
back to Boston to see her, I could
have saved her.
Feelings of despair affect not
only the person suffering, but the
people around them. In this partic
ular instance, someone I love is
gone forever, and I am riddled
with the guilt over what I could
have and should have done. In
Christine's case, medication and
biweekly therapy sessions weren't
enough. However, many people
just need someone to lead them to
help with a caring and non-judg
mental hand. So if you can stop
someone in your life from ending
everything, do whatever is in your
power, because it's a long life to
miss someone.
Jason Borbet will be a senior at Boston
University and is living in Eugene for the
summer.
OUS treats workers with disrespect
Guest Commentary
Star
Holmberg
The Emerald's coverage of
SEIU Local 085/OPEU's
declaration of impasse (in
our contract re-opener) as
well as our Aug. 6 campus action
was much appreciated. It should
be noted, though, that it's not the
Emerald’s fault that the Oregon
University System's spokesman,
Bob Bruce, dished out a large serv
ing of tripe for the press.
He scored a big zero in my book
when he failed to mention that the
OUS couldn't come up with any
dollar figures for wages even by
July 20, when we moved from bar
gaining to mediation.
Typically, by the end of the fis
cal year, business-minded folks
have a handle on their dollars
and cents, but the OUS could not
offer us a full economic proposal,
even though by that time it most
certainly was aware of its Legisla
ture funding.
Now their self-selected exten
sion has arrived, ironically coin
ciding with the required (legal)
deadline following declaration of
impasse, and we’re looking at an
offer that reflects what some view
as progress since it proposes a 2
percent wage increase for each of
the next two years. However,
what Mr. Bruce fails to mention is
that the proposed first raise is de
laved, when in fact it should take
effect July 1 of this year. This
meager wage proposal is not terri
bly impressive, especially when
viewed in conjunction with the
insurance proposal. The OUS ap
parently does not believe it can
manage insurance premium pay
ments comparable to what was
offered to our 17,000 union
brothers and sisters by the state
Department of Administrative
Services. The Chancellor’s team
proposes that classified workers
making $30,000 a year and above
pay into the premiums, while
those below would not. This
would essentially be a loss in pay
for them, certainly not an incen
tive to advance within the classi
fied system and a real swell tool
for driving a wedge between
union members.
Compound this with all the oth
er familiar surprises being pulled
out of the bag, such as contract lan
guage that would make it easier to
use more temp workers and out
side contractors to do our jobs, un
dermine our seniority rights and
attack our earned overtime rights
— and I am all the more untrusting
of the OUS cyclical cat-and-mouse
budgetary game.
In our third bargaining go-round
since the OUS was split off (by the
Legislature) from the DAS, we con
tinue to be treated like second
class employees. Meanwhile, our
DAS counterparts get their con
tracts worked out in a more timely
manner, and what they get offered
from the get-go is always better.
Even though the OUS insisted
years ago that it could handle its
money more efficiently if granted
some autonomy, I am seriously
unimpressed with how we, as
workers, have fared under its aca
demic wing.
Now, once again, we get to
watch the biennial drama of pri
orities unfold. Most faculty, ad
ministrators and officers of ad
ministration continue to get
higher percentage raises than we
even ask for. Further, the latter
group (the OAs, as we call them)
bulges to a ratio of 1 of them to
1.4 of us (in the bargaining unit),
and we see no evidence of a re
versal in this tilted management
trend. Meanwhile, a depiction of
Joey Harrington stands in Madi
son Square Garden to remind us
of the $250,000 of general funds
that couldn't possibly have been
used for our wages, but will be
paid back by athletic backers, we
are promised. New construction
continues to take place around
the state, and a myriad of mainte
nance projects continue to be
funded.
I am among the union workers
who keep this bureaucratic mon
strosity running, in spite of the
disrespectful way we are bar
gained with, to say nothing of the
pittance we are offered at the end
of each bargaining cycle, and I am
outraged.
Star Holmberg is a member of SEIU Local
085/OPEU and is a delegate of its General
Council.