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Tuesday, August 13,2002
Editor in chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing editor:
Jenni Schultz
Editorial
Kitzhaber
cares about
Oregon's
school system
Since Measure 5’s property tax limits were set in
1990, Oregon schools have been on a downward
trajectory: fewer services, fewer teachers, fewer
staff and a disintegrating infrastructure.
And despite many words to the contrary, no one
has really cared. Until now.
For all of the Democratic hand-wringing and Re
publican spin that has occurred since Wednesday,
when Gov. John Kitzhaber vetoed two budget bills
that would fill a $317 million school budget gap, at
least the vetoes showed he cared about education.
Taxpayers haven’t cared — they continue electing
legislators who cut taxes and refuse to find a long
term solution.
Legislators haven’t cared — they keep using one
time funding sources and poor excuses for revenue
generation (like the proposed cigarette tax increase)
to prop up school budgets.
Businesses certainly haven’t cared — they have re
ceived the lion’s share of tax cuts in the past 12 years
and still they beg for more.
Yes, the schools really needed this influx of cash.
Yes, catastrophic events are likely to happen if the
Legislature sustains Kitzhaber’s vetoes.
But they ought to sustain them both.
Maybe Oregonians need a wake-up call to realize
how horribly they have been treating their children.
Maybe education supporters will push harder on
lawmakers to fix the problem if they see more teach
ers fired, more programs cut and fewer buildings
maintained.
And maybe they won’t.
But overriding Kitzhaber’s vetoes only allows the
problem to fester. Does anyone really think lawmak
ers will fix it in the next biennium? Hmm, seems we
have heard that before ... and before ... and before,
We also have heard repeatedly that Senate Bill
1022 is a budgeting “maneuver” or that it is “Enron
style” accounting. It is neither. It is actually a cut.
When the state pays for schools in this biennium
with money from the next biennium, it reduces the
schools’ budget in the next biennium. So SB 1022 re
ally is a $267 million cut from Oregon schools.
Yet Sen. Susan Castillo, D-Eugene — who was
elected school superintendent in May — wants to
override Kitzhaber’s veto and cut next year’s school
funding.
School supporters should call and ask her why she
would do that. Is that the vision of stability for
schools she promised in her campaign?
School supporters should also call Reps. Vicki
Walker, D-Eugene, and Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, both
of whom have said they are undecided and want to
hear from constituents.
Legislators have said that this budget plan was the
best they could do. And Kitzhaber showed he cared
about Oregon children when he told the Legislature
that it wasn’t good enough.
Now lawmakers should find some courage and
prove they care by passing a budget plan that pro
vides stability for Oregon schools.
Letters to the
Guest Commentaries Policy
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.
A few ‘wacko’suggestions to help
Lon Mahon get elected governor
The political front is heating up in
Oregon. “Damn,” says the politi
cal front, “it’s getting pretty hot.”
I am of course speaking of our up
coming elections, which include a race
for governor. Running this year is
everyone’s favorite wacko-in-resi
dence, Lon Mabon, head of the Oregon
Citizens Alliance.
I think this is wonderful. I personal
ly could not be happier if they picked a
patient from a mental institution to run
for governor — the kind of guy whose
first order of business would be to ap
point a thermos of chocolate milk and
a small stuffed rabbit named Captain
Wiggles into high public offices.
I’m all for Mahon’s election, and I
just want him to know that if I can be of
any help, to please contact me as soon
as possible. I have a few ideas for his
candidacy that could be of great help
in getting him elected.
For example, I propose that the first
thing that Mabon does is to secede Ore
gon from the union. We can avoid all
the strife from the rest of the country by
simply doing it late at night when no
one is looking.
I think that this kind of “take charge”
action will show the rest of the country
that Mabon is not someone to be
messed with. Assuming they notice.
Now some of you might not like the
idea of Mabon in office. Some of you
might say that he is an ultra-conserva
Guest Commentary
Ryan
Nyburg
tive right-wing wacko with extreme
anti-homosexual, anti-abortion views
that do not represent the majority of
the voters in Oregon, or the majority
of rational human beings. That’s just
the kind of whiny nitpicking I’ve
come to expect from you left-wing
subversives.
(Warning: Satirical statements to fol
low. Do not read in presence of lawyer.)
Once Lon’s in office, I’m going to see
that all of you are locked up where you
can’t cause any more trouble. We’ll see
how much you environmental pansies
like trees when we start beating you
over the heads with sticks. And we’re
going to make you hemp-wearing vege
tarians change your ways if we have to
stuff raw steak down your throats.
That’s right, you’ll be good meat-eating
Americans from now on, and Mabon
will see to it!
All these great political happenings
almost make me want to start my own
political party. It would need a general
political outline that I can support,
something rational and effective,
something that will draw a large con
stituency.
Piracy is the most logical choice.
This is a political view that I can get be
hind, so I am officially announcing my
candidacy for governor of Oregon as a
pirate. If you think that this will inter
fere with my support of the Mabon
candidacy, then you obviously do not
understand the advantages that come
with being a raving lunatic.
My political agenda will include
solving the current budget shortfall by
plundering California. I think effective
raids on Los Angeles, San Francisco
and Sacramento will solve most of our
budget problems for the next few years.
I will also solve prison overcrowd
ing by forcing all prisoners convicted
of anything higher than a misde
meanor to walk the plank.
Medical care: Replace expensive
prosthetic limbs with wooden pegs
and metal hooks.
I also propose changing the state
flag from its current unthreatening
picture of a beaver to the more threat
ening skull of a beaver set over
crossed Douglas firs.
With these changes, I think that we
as a state will become the most feared
and powerful state in the country.
Captain Wiggles will lead us to glory.
If you think this sounds mildly dement
ed, wait until Mabon gets in office.
Ryan Nyburg is a freelance columnist. His views
do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald.
VanLeeuwen should learn basic biolooy
Liz VanLeeuwen (“Tom Daschle
should learn logical forest man
agement,” ODE, Aug. 1) appears
to know nothing about basic biology
if she actually believes what she
wrote, which is questionable, as she
is a politician.
She applauds Senate Majority
Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., for
sneaking an attachment to a bill that
exempts his state’s forests from all en
vironmental regulation and lawsuits.
As an aside, I found it interesting
that she describes the main legisla
tion that bears the attachment only
as “a critical funding bill.” In actual
ity, it’s a $29 billion increase in mili
tary spending, a gift to a few of the
richest corporations in the world,
who are awarded government con
tracts without even having to bother
to bid against competitors.
VanLeeuwen echoes Daschle’s
claim that it is necessary for the tim
ber industry to thin the forests to
prevent forest fires that are so de
structive. She states that in the event
of a forest fire, “Not only are plant
and animal life and fish habitats
completely destroyed, but the soil,
organic matter and structure are de
stroyed — leaving bare soil to erode
and choke waterways.”
That is utter nonsense. If it were
Guest Commentary
Mason
Gummer
true, all of America’s forest ecosys
tems would have been “completely
destroyed” by lightning fires cen
turies ago.
In actuality, fires are essential to the
health of a forest. They clear all of the
deadfall trees and branches that accu
mulate on the forest floor and gradual
ly choke out the underbrush.
Extinguishing forest fires prevents
dead wood from burning, letting it ac
cumulate further, creating a “tinder
box” situation. Evergreen seeds re
quire the heat of a fire to crack their
outer shell, allowing them to sprout.
The leftover ashes fertilize the soil,
prompting a quick rebound of plant
life. Animals can usually escape fires
because they can hear them coming
and smell the smoke — they don’t just
wait to be incinerated.
I am from Eastern Oregon and I re
member a few years ago when the
forest near Tower Mountain burned.
Before the fire, the deadfall in the
area was 4 to 6 feet deep and there
was little underbrush.
Then the forest burned in the sum
mer, and afterward it looked like a
charred wasteland. The trees were
reduced to skimpy black poles and
the ground devoid of cover.
The following spring the entire area
was covered with green foliage and
tiny evergreen sprouts. The following
year the tree sprouts were a foot tall.
The next year they were 2 feet.
I have seen with my own eyes that
the forest rebounds from fire. Every bi
ology class I’ve ever taken has said
fires are a natural and essential part
of a forest’s ecological cycle. So why
don’t we just let the fires burn, so long
as they don’t threaten peoples’ homes?
Because each live, unburned tree
is a dollar sign to the logging indus
try and its lobby. That’s why we have
politicians like VanLeeuwen and
Daschle lying to us about the issue.
Their campaigns are funded mostly
by corporations — therefore they
must, if they wish to receive further
funding, represent that constituency.
So long as we are content to be dis
tracted from our government’s ac
tions, issues like forest management
will be decided based on what gives
corporations the highest profits,
rather than on what is best for the en
vironment or the people.
Mason Gummer is a senior sociology major.
CORRECTION
Thursday’s story about the governor’s vetoes
(“Kitzhaber kills Legislature’s budget plans,” ODE,
Aug. 8) should have said the total amount of money
represented by House Bill 4056 and Senate Biii 1022
is $317 million.
Also, the story should have said the two bills would
til! school budget gaps if the Legislature overrides
Kitzhaber’s vetoes.
The Emerald regrets the errors.
Letter to the editor
Revise laws to improve
forest management
It was refreshing to this old
Class of ’49 alumnus to have you
print Liz VanLeeuwen’s com
mentary (“Tom Daschle should
learn logical forest manage
ment,” ODE, Aug.' .i)., Nearly all
my dollars were earned working
in the timber industry in various
capacities.
My opinion is that corrections
to the poor federal timber man
agement actions will not take
place until corrections are made
in laws that created the EPA and
EDS Acts.
W. Rex Stevens
. 7. .7. ... '' ' ‘ Eiigene