Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
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PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, July 9,2002
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor:
Jenni Schultz
Editorial
Oregon voters should
demand better fixes
to state budget woes
Oregonians should be outraged at their elected representatives.
Last week, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday, the Oregon
Legislature passed a package of bills to close the state’s $860 mil
lion budget shortfall. And despite Gov. John Kitzhaber’s demand for a
structurally sound fix for Oregon’s revenue problems, legislators used ac
counting tricks, a targeted tax and money raids to get themselves out of
Salem and beat the heat of new, across-the-board taxes. Instead, they
passed to voters two measures — one to take $150 million from the educa
tion endowment and another to make smokers pay 60 cents per pack more
for schools — that need to be approved in a Sept. 17 special election to
make the budget work.
The plan is a shining example of politicians failing to muster the will to
do their job. Kitzhaber should veto the plan and call another special ses
sion — and he should again remind lawmakers to find a real solution.
On Thursday, just three days after Oregon’s budget “deal,” the Ten
nessee Legislature passed a plan to fix that state’s $800 million shortfall
by raising its sales tax as well as levies on businesses, alcohol and to
bacco. That’s right: They raised tobacco taxes in Tennessee, where'the
leafy plant is the leading cash crop. It had to take some guts to just
make a decision to raise taxes.
Back in Oregon, no such political courage exists. The state has a
structural revenue problem. Until Oregon politicians acknowledge that
fact, as the folks in Tennessee did, there can’t be a proper debate about
the best solution.
At the Pacific Green Party convention in late June, former U.S. Con
gressman Jim Weaver, currently being courted by the Greens to be their
candidate for governor, suggested a progressive sales tax be established
and dedicated to education. Also in late June, the Emerald editorial
board suggested a two-tiered sales tax that would levy a higher rate on
big-ticket items.
Whether it’s a sales tax or not, new taxes are going to bp necessary if
Oregonians want roads, schools, social services and police. And we
would like to see these taxes reverse the trend of the past 15 years and ac
tually split the tax burden fairly between businesses and individuals. Cur
rently, businesses pay far less than 50 percent of the state’s tax bill
— which is an issue we’ll explore in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, if Kitzhaber doesn’t have the political fortitude to call
another special session, voters should make their own demands in Sep
tember by defeating both of the ill-conceived measures referred by the
Legislature.
Voters should then take another step and demand that candidates run
ning for the Oregon House and Senate offer their ideas for fixing the state’s
budget. Finally, Oregonians should take care in November to elect lawmak
ers who will look at the state’s future needs and fight for a tax structure that
provides enough revenue to cover expenses.lt was a surprise to see people
all over campus on Sunday and Monday after a month of lazy, quiet after
noons. The first of seven IntroDUCKtion orientation programs finished up
Monday afternoon, and it was a pleasure to see excited faces learning what
to expect from their higher education.
Welcome, new students
We want to extend a warm welcome to new students and a thank
you to the orientation staff for getting students prepared for and
interested in the University. Involved students make better news
paper readers, better citizens and more successful adults.
New students should be prepared for their own surprise, however; good
housing near campus is mostly hard to find and expensive, and classes this
fall could cost upwards of 10 percent more than last fall if a student regis
ters for all “prime time” classes — those before 3 p.m.
This is only a friendly warning, and we’ll explore these concerns in more
depth in the coming weeks. Parents need not suddenly worry about hidden
costs; the University is still a great buy. We just thought new students
should know.
■
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald
editorial boat a, Responses can be sent to tetters@daiiyemerald.ce01, letters to the
editor and guest commentaries are encouraged. Letters are limited to 250 words and
guest commentaries to 550 words. Please include contact information, The Emerald
reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style.
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add security
fraternities and drinking are a
combination that has been
eternalized in the minds of
Americans by the film “Animal
House.” Filmed on the Univer
sity of Oregon campus, “Animal
House” provided an image of
fraternities where, like the infa
mous Deltas of Faber comically
display, college life is nothing
more than sex, beer and drunk
en camaraderie.
Saying he was disturbed by
recent studies claiming that
those who drink the most are in
fraternities and sororities, Presi
dent Frohnmayer has acted on
this drunk image, signing a ban
on all drinking in greek houses,
which is to take effect later this
coming school year.
I am not so naive to believe
that this ban will alleviate the
problems of binge drinking cur
rently afflicting many college
students here and throughout
the nation. There is no way to
“fix” the problem with a piece
of paper, and just as can be seen
in the rebellious and deter
mined actions of the Deltas, fra
ternities will not stop drinking
simply because the University
tells them to stop. While the ban
may seem to be a Band-Aid at
tempting to cover a severed ar
tery, it is in fact an appropriate
and timely step toward making
the overall campus environ
ment a safer place.
Long-standing party trends in
fraternities in which a wide ar
ray of unknown alcoholic con
coctions are freely available in
evitably leads to trouble for
University women. For exam
ple, this environment is espe
Guest Commentary
Meghann
Farnsworth
cially dangerous for incoming
freshmen women, newly re
leased from their parents’ pro
tective custody and thrilled at
the prospect of large parties
filled with an unlimited supply
of alcohol and boys.
Since fraternities are, for the
most part, University spon
sored, young women may feel a
false sense of security when
they attend those parties. While
anyone can become intoxicated
at an off-campus party, those
which take place within the
University system should be
held to a higher standard be
cause of their affiliation. The
University provides neither ad
equate cautionary words for
these women nor classes on al
cohol abuse.
While rape occurs off-cam
pus as well, the drinking and
social situations of greek living
provide a potentially dangerous
surrounding that the University
should not sponsor. Because
they are able to participate in
“rush” — the campuswide re
cruitment week where sorori
ties and fraternities are able to
dip into the freshmen pool for
new recruits — fraternities and
sororities should promote
healthy college living.
While this ban certainly will
not end underage drinking, its
effect will provide an alterna
tive living environment for
those who may not feel com
fortable with drinking. Peer
pressure is an unfortunate oc
currence which is astounding
ly hard to navigate, especially
as a new recruit, and having a
dry house will allow those stu
dents who may not want to be
surrounded by drinking and
constant parties to live free
of pressure.
Those members who are of
age and wish to drink can sim
ply walk a couple of blocks to
the campus bars and get a drink
there or attend an off-campus
party; plenty of members live
off-campus, and there is no ban
on drinking there.
Most of the vocal critics of the
new policy have asserted that
the ban will not end abusive
drinking, and I agree; however, I
cannot understand the argu
ment that this ban will simply
force greek members into the
community at large, thus en
dangering countless citizens
with drunken driving. Are the
fraternity brothers really that
out of control?
I have slightly more faith in
our greek system than to fear for
my life once the ban has taken ef
fect — the majority of the stu
dent population already current
ly attends off-campus parties.
It is obvious that binge and un
derage drinking is a problem, but
keeping drinking out of the eyes
of the community will only
cause this dire problem to fester,
not be kept under control.
Meghann Farnsworth is a freelance
columnist. Her opinions do not
necessarily represent those
of the Emerald.