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Email: editor@dailyemerald.com
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Monday, January 27,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Editor
Pat Payne
Editorial
Legislature’s ‘secret
plan’no solution for
state’s budget woes
The Register-Guard recently reported that some Republicans in the
Oregon Legislature claim there is a way to solve the state’s budget crisis
without a need to vote for Measure 28’s tax increase. They claim
there’s plenty of money to go around, and they have a “secret plan” to
find it. The rub? They’ll only tell voters if Measure 28 fails.
After we finished laughing (yes, there are secret “money shacks”
hidden behind state buildings across the state, and only those greedy
state workers know where they are!), we decided to ask, in all calm
ness and equanimity: If you have such a plan, why in the name of bro
ken government didn’t you bring it up in the summer?
Gould it be that: A) It’s the same old Kruse-Doyle plan, calling for
cutting state services and disbanding the OLCG, that was floated
around in the special sessions and went nowhere? (Gee, cutting state
services? Sound familiar?) or B) It’s a clever misdirection campaign
to fool Oregonians into voting “no” on the promise of fixing the prob
lems with a bag of “magic budget dust”?
Oregon’s vital services don’t have time for nonsense — they need
answers. If anyone has a fair, workable solution that will pass political
muster, either sing or step away from the microphone.
Editorial policy
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial
board. Responses can be sent to letters <®dailyemerald.com.
City councils dramatics
reminiscent of ‘Gang of 9 ’
If I weren’t so upset by what it means to Eugene polities, I might laugh at the
drama of the Jan. 13 City Council meeting. Councilors made a rip-roaring
start on what could become a more ideologically contentious year than most
students have ever seen.
I’ve been watching Eugene politics since the late 1980s, and I’ve been a politi
cally active city voter for many years as well, which is why I am using this space
to write about something other than the Emerald. Students may not think City
Gouncil has much campus impact, but in many ways, it does (think “Special Re
sponse Fee” for parties and increased pot fines currently being considered).
Eugene councilors are non-partisan, at least for the purposes of election. In
practice, they are anything but non-partisan. Progressives and pro-growth
conservatives currently split the Council seats, although two of them might be
called “moderate” even though they vote with one bloc or the other fairly reg
ularly. This causes 4-4 ties, with pro-growth Mayor Jim Torrey left to break it.
Council was split before the recent election as well, and 4-4 votes were cast on
hardcore ideological issues.
But the ideology took an ugly tone Jan. 13, and it became clear that a con
servative mood could drown out Eugene’s progressive voice. The subject was
pretty arcane for most watchers — electing the council president and vice
president — but the discussion had a telling ideological tone. The tradition
governing who gets elected to the largely ceremonial executive positions was
questioned, and two conservative-leaning councilors were elected to the posts.
This should be disturbing to all Eugene voters, because the progressive
voice, which represents the progressive half of the electorate in our bipolar
town, now has no role in the ceremony or administration of the Council.
Equally disturbing was the acrimonious debate before the election. There
were personal accusations, charges of ideological war, high tension and gen
eral incivility. I have been watching the Council at work long enough to know
that it can get much worse; I remember the food-throwing and shouting
matches of years ago.
Maybe that’s what makes me so concerned: Council has made such progress
since then, and the city doesn’t need more of those public policy train wrecks.
Recent years have shown that the two ideologies have a lot in common.
Progressives are not anti-growth, they generally are just asking for something
better than simply additional low-wage, big-box corporate jobs and develop
ments that only line the pockets of developers. Pro-growth advocates don’t
hate the environment or low-income residents, they are generally just asking
for policies that make it easier to draw companies with jobs. With some work,
these ideas can meet.
Unfortunately, what was on display at the Jan. 13 meeting was a subtle in
dication that a “Gang of 9” mentality (for those who remember the growth-at
any-cost cartoons from 18 months ago that lampooned progressive coun
cilors) may decide that informed argumentation and discourse is beneath it,
and that brute force is the best way to achieve its goals.
Such an attitude won’t serve any Eugenean well — except maybe those
watchers who enjoy food fights.
Contact the editor in chief at editor@dailyemerald.com. His views do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.
Wal-Mart's dominance will
eliminate mom-and-pop stores
Ever seen the parking lot at Eu
gene’s West 11th Avenue Wal-Mart
on any given night? The lot is usual
ly packed, and it makes the adjacent
Target look deserted in comparison.
Wal-Mart is the Superman in the
world of ailing discount heroes. In
some areas, the Arkansas-based “el
cheapo” chain has stores less than
five miles apart, creating a dominant
presence in suburbs by bullying
their way through city building
codes and asphyxiating competitors.
According to Time magazine, Wal
Mart’s goal is to have a 30 percent
share of every
major business
it is in. And the
company’s va
riety of busi
ness endeavors
has grown,
from cheap _J[
toweis maae in
India to used
car sales in
Houston. That’s
right, soon you
Julie
Lauderbaugh
Judge Julie
too can pur
chase your very own lemon decked
out with Wal-Mart tires, seat covers
and G-rated CDs such as John Tesh
(sorry, sinful Snoop Dogg albums are
not sold at faith-based Wal-Mart).
Wal-Marts are so hot in America
that the company is mounting an ex
pansion that will increase from
3,400 U.S. locations to 5,000 stores
in five years. Hiring for all of the new
stores will give Wal-Mart a workforce
that outnumbers the U.S. military.
Just when you thought the epitome
of big American business couldn’t
make us look more like capitalist
(and cheap) hee-haws, the company
plans to invade Japan and has suc
cessfully pushed its way into Mexico,
Brazil, Germany and China.
Wal-Mart has proudly announced it
will increase the number of stores in
China from 25 to 40 next year. And
just when you thought things could
n’t get any weirder, at the Super
center in Shenzhen, just north of
Hong Kong, employees have their
own fight song: “My heart is filled with
C'MOM, BOVS S
I See
A mom-amd-pop market?
pride ... I long to tell you how deep
my love for Wal-Mart is.” Creepy.
The gloomy irony is that the same
Chinese capitalists who patronize the
Asian version of a “white trash” Amer
ican grocery store are contributing to
the exploitation of their own people.
The Nation reported the company
refuses to tell labor-rights activists
the locations of its factories. Last
year, Wal-Mart was kicked out of the
Domini 400 Social Index, a socially
responsible investment fund, for fail
ure to respond to “calls for change”
and not upholding a standard of la
bor rights. Besides Wal-Mart, only
Nike has been removed from the
fund for the same reason.
Not only does Wal-Mart have ques
tionable manufacturing practices
overseas, the company’s image is
suffering domestically from a class
action lawsuit victory in Portland
last month. The company was con
victed of forcing employees, who are
not unionized, to clock out and con
tinue working. The case was one
success out of 38 pending lawsuits.
To add insult to injury, Wal-Mart is
being sued for gender discrimina
tion. In July, a San Francisco judge
Pfeter Utsey Emerald
will begin hearing Dukes v. Wal-Mart,
a civil rights class-action lawsuit that
may bring restitution to more than
700,000 women.
So if Wal-Mart is the part of the big
box world’s axis of evil, why don’t em
ployees just quit? Why should anyone
feel sorry for the “associates” — up
per-class parlance for “cashier” —
who are perfectly capable of filing
complaints or walking away?
Well, most employees earn less
than $10 per hour, are uneducated
and are working in communities
that offer residents few alternative
jobs. Small communities where
competition, such as mom-and-pop
stands down the street, are easily
bullied out of town are the types of
places that Wal-Mart likes to set up
shop. Jobs available for their skill
level simply aren’t out there.
Big business has its place in the
United States. However, I will think
twice before handing over my mon
ey to a hopeless cashier and support
ing the yellow smiley face brain
washing America.
Contact the columnist
atjulielauderbaugh@dailyemerald.com.
Her views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Schools should spend wisely
Guest commentary
As I sit each morning and listen to
the garbled pleas of elderly spokes
people and parents of children, I
cannot help but wonder if stupidity
is merely a natural phenomenon of
human nature or whether indeed
people strive to be as imbecilic as
they possibly can.
I have to wonder, because the cur
rent budget woes of the state, though
perhaps tight and frightening to the
services we have come to expect on an
annual basis, are in my mind die result
not of lower-than-expected revenue
collections as the nimrods in this com
munity seem to want us to believe, but
rather are the result of a tradition of
waste and fiscal irresponsibility that,
were the public to spend enough time
to become familiar with, would cause a
real scandal for the ages.
I say this not as a person separated
from the hullabaloo but from the point
of view of a classroom teacher, and a
person who has dedicated his life to
the service of the community in the
form of the education of our youth.
It seems to me that instead of rais
ing the rate of taxation that this state
imposes on its citizenry, perhaps we
ought to consider the idea of forcing
publicly funded institutions and
agencies to be fiscally responsible
and ethical with what they have been
given. I don’t think even the most
conservative Republican in this state
would object to paying more taxes to
support government programs and
agencies that were utilizing their
budgets soundly but simply were not
funded to the level necessary to prop
erly carry out its mission. That, how
ever, is not the case.
Instead of encouraging responsi
bility and thrift, our mid-level bu
reaucratic leaders here at the Uni
versity and in Salem seem to think
that waste is the way to go. I believe
the only way to combat this is to
force the state to live within its
means by refusing to bolster an al
ready obese budget.
To the next person who dares
complain to me that our schools are
faced with imminent and drastic
cuts in faculty, resources, etc., I
would advise you to take a close and
serious look at the budget of the dis
tricts in this area. Not only do you
not have to be a CPA to recognize
and be baffled by the extraordinary
waste that dominates the public
schools of this state, but I would sug
gest that were you to spend any time
at all looking over how and where
funds are allocated, you would come
to nearly the same conclusion that I
have come to: You could cut the
budgets of the school districts in half
and they would still have more than
enough funds to run, should they opt
to use those funds wisely.
But hey, in this community, the
idea that funds ought to be allocated
in a responsible manner is, after all,
quite an offensive notion. So, as a
classroom teacher, let me encourage
you all to vote no on Measure 28.
Scott Austin is a graduate student
in educational leadership.