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Email: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, October 30,2002
Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editors:
Salena De La Cruz, Pat Payne
Editorial
Bradbury best
supports what
students need
Voters can send back the garbage U.S. Sen. Gordon
Smith has been shoveling and elect a senator who
genuinely supports what students want and need —
Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury.
Although both these candidates are similar in their
stances on some issues, they differ greatly on issues
often embraced by the campus community. Smith’s
campaign portrays him as a moderate, but voting
records tell a different story.
According to Vote-right.com, Bradbury has voted in
support of a woman’s right to choose, while Smith
thinks abortions should only be legal if pregnancy is a
result of rape or incest. Bradbury has taken an active
role in supporting equal rights for minorities and ho
mosexuals while Smith seems to have signed his name
and little else. Bradbury was a proven environmental
advocate in the state Senate; Smith received a lowly 24
percent score from the League of Conservation Voters
for his environmental record in the 107th Congress.
Bradbury also has taken action to engage students;
former President Bill Clinton will be on campus
Thursday to get out the vote. Smith, on the other
hand, said in an Emerald interview that students
aren’t political because they can’t understand the
long-term impact of taxes.
Bradbury and Smith agree that more federal grants
are needed for college students, but Bradbury added
that higher education funding should remain strong to
keep tuition down and low-income access up.
Bradbury is the best choice for students — his un
derstanding and support of issues extends beyond a
TV commercial.
Yes on Measure 26
protects signatures
We urge you to vote yes on Measure 26, which will
prohibit paying petition gatherers by the signature.
Oregonians need to protect the integrity of their bal
lot measure system.
There have been widespread allegations that paid
by-signature petitioners have forged signatures on pe
titions and that signature lists have been traded for
money, drugs and sex, which can deter voters from
signing petitions in the future. This has led to a num
ber of measures being disqualified for the ballot this
year, eroding public trust in the system.
Earlier this year in an interview with a Portland tel
evision station, anti-tax initiative maven Bill Size
more threw up his hands and said that he doesn’t
have any control over what his petition gatherers do.
This has to stop.
It has been enshrined in federal, state and local law
that votes cannot be bought — it’s called bribery. It’s
high time to extend that definition to petitions. People
have an expectation that when they sign a petition it is
for that particular measure and not for others.
Measure 26 will not affect the richness of Oregon
ballot measures or the ability of groups to put initia
tives on the ballot. Unpaid volunteers and even those
paid by the hour will still be able to solicit signatures
for measures and candidates.
Instead, this measure prevents a layer of fraud that
has been laid on our excellent system in recent years.
..
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The Halloween special edition article ‘Traditions date
back to Celtic festivals” (ODE, Oct. 28) should have
spelled the ancient Celtic festival
as “Samhain.”
The .Emerald regrets the error,
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CASJE
A«iLLEN
" BATTLE over THE- SHlfER.
Steve Baggs Emerald
Letters to the editor
Mannix wants to take away
retirement
When looking into the future, many
parents see a bitter existence for their
children. My fear is not for the future of
my children, but for the future of my
mother. All my mother wanted was a fu
ture for me and my brother. She works
long hours at two jobs so that my brother
and I can succeed. She has already
dipped into her 401(k) to support us.
What if it’s not enough?
With health care rising every year, her
retirement won’t keep her safe. Kevin Man
nix wants to “freeze the expansion of the
Oregon Health Plan” (The Oregonian, May
28). This brings a chill to my spine. The
Federal Government has promised 81.4
million to expand the Oregon Health Plan.
What will Mannix do with the money?
Kevin Mannix also wants to “partner
with the pharmaceutical companies” (
Washington County Public Affairs Forum,
Sept. 25) and provide them with legal im
munity in exchange for lower prices. Why
is Mannix partnering with the pharmaceu
tical industry when he should be partnering
with our communities? And does the phar
maceutical industry deserve immunity?
My mother has given so much to me, and
I refuse to see her still working in 20 years
because her retirement couldn’t take care
of her. Freezing the Oregon Health Plan
would hinder my mother from retiring.
When you look at your ballot think of
your mother like I do every night, then
think about how much Mannix wants to
take away from her.
Nick Maggi
Eugene
Talking about feelings
can ease pain
Just as talk of outright war with Iraq has
increasingly dominated the news over the
last several weeks, so has this distressing
possibility also occupied our hearts and
minds. An underlying sense of uneasiness
pervades our souls.
The sniper attacks in the Washington,
D.C., area have only added to our appre
hension and feeling that the world seems
like a particularly unsafe place right now.
We know that we are not alone. We sus
pect that many in the University commu
nity share our apprehension and uneasi
ness. At the same time, for some, these
feelings may remain unrecognized.
While we are committed to peaceful
means of resolving disputes, we write not
to further our own religious or political
views. Rather, we are writing to encourage
members of the University to notice within
themselves any uneasiness or fear they
may be experiencing and talk about it.
As human beings, we are gifted with a
range of emotions. Acknowledging those
emotions and feelings encourages our
own growth. More than anything, the sim
ple act of acknowledging our feelings to
others reveals our humanity in all of its
fragility and beauty.
As we move ahead in this often times
frightening and random world, we do so,
certain that the sun will rise tomorrow
(yes, even in Oregon). We are also cer
tain that there is a goodness in this
world that is greater than any of the
temporary and transitory experiences
of evil we may encounter.
Rev. Ann Bowersox
Koinonia Presbyterian campus ministry
Jeremy Hajdu-Paulen
Wesley Foundation campus ministry
Bradbury reaches out
to students
I am a student enrolled at the Honors
College at the University. One strong focus
of the college is centered on the necessity
for critical thinking in everyday life.
During Oregon’s campaign season, such
a mode of thinking has helped me to devel
op an objectionable opinion of each candi
date running for office. However, you do not
need to be an astrophysicist to notice that
Bill Bradbury is the best candidate for U.S.
Senate. Bill believes that students matter.
He has coordinated a Halloween event on
campus, simply to encourage students to
vote. Unlike the Smith-Bush campaign
event, which sold at #1,000 a plate, the
most expensive ticket at the Bradbury
event is #25 for an adult.
Bradbury even went further with his mis
sion to educate college students by donating
2,500free tickets to University members.
Kevin Mannix, on the other hand, is more
concerned about campaign finances than
his younger constituents. In fact, he arrived
90 minutes late to a student X-Pac debate
because of a possible donation he was to re
ceive from a timber industry union.
Sarah A. Koski
freshman
law
Peace through war?
Gordon Smith did not make it onto a
recent list by a syndicated columnist of
officials in Washington who say one thing
and mean another. The Emerald (“Politi
cal leaders stand against war push,” Oct.
14), however, quotes Smith’s defense of a
green light for war against Iraq: “We must
take the heavy mantle of leadership to
seek peaceful regime change.”
Shades of Orwellian war is peace! Has
the senator been asleep in his office, with
the shades drawn during the (President)
Bush push for a regime change in Bagh
dad by war or the threat of war?
Orval Etter
associate professor emeritus
planning, public policy
and management
Mannix supports
higher education
There is little doubt that Kevin Mannix
is the higher education candidate for gov
ernor. Mannix does not support the pro
posed tuition increase for students, and if
he wins the Nov. 5 election, Mannix will
immediately go to work with the Legisla
ture to avert harmful tuition increases.
Mannix promises to pump $350 million
more into Oregon universities during the
next two years to bring state higher educa
tion funding to a level where it should al
ready be. Higher education funding has
continuously been put on the chopping
block by Gov. Kitzhaber and his friends
like Ted Kulongoski, who always put a
higher priority on big government social
programs than Oregon’s universities.
We need a governor who will put stu
dents over government bureaucracies. We
need a governor who has a solid record of
commitment to higher education.
For lower tuition, a better economy and
a stronger University, students should vote
for Kevin Mannix for governor.
Matt Pfeiffer
* . ... junior
* ■* political'science