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Wednesday, January 28,2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
EDITORIAL.
Upcoming
Measure 30
election has
high stakes
Politically-minded Oregonians have been abuzz in re
cent weeks over Measure 30. The embattled and wide
reaching ballot measure, which would affect income tax as
sessments if passed, increase some corporate taxes and
reduce or cancel various tax deductions, would also avoid
$544.6 million in budget cuts.
The dollar figures, and indeed the stakes, are high and
reflect that this proposition is much more than a simple
tax measure.
In fact, the political and economic implications here are
dramatic enough that some members of the Editorial
Board could find little common ground.
Those who favor the measure argued that cuts trig
gered by the measure's failure would deal a serious blow
to critical state services, particularly education. Those
who opposed said that, like the defeated Measure 28, the
proposition's supporters are overstating the potential
negative impacts.
The measure's opponents also argued that the personal
income tax was too progressive (those making between
$10,000 and $20,000 would pay an additional 1 percent
in income tax; those making $90,000 or more would pay 8
or 9 percent more); its proponents said taxing the highest
income taxpayers the most would be fiscally easier for the
state's residents on the whole (the average Oregonian will
pay only $24-$36 per year, according to an argument in fa
vor published in the voter's pamphlet).
In general, supporters of the measure argued the wide
educational and health benefits of maintaining state serv
ices at their current level mandated the tax changes; its op
ponents said the negative effect on families and businesses
could be too harsh in an already stagnating economy.
Despite political differences, the members of the Editor
ial Board agreed on at least a few issues. For one, education
(and higher education in particular) are increasingly un
derfunded; long-term decreases will harm not only those
in Oregon's education system over the next decade, but will
negatively impact the state's competitiveness and econom
ic health in the long-run.
Moreover, the members of the Editorial Board agreed it
would be in most students' short-term interest to vote yes
on the measure. Most students make under $20,000 per
year, and so would pay at most 1 percent more taxes: just
dollars, not hundreds of dollars. Measure 30's success
would probably stave off tuition hikes (or at least keep
those hikes small) and keep some classes from being cut,
for the time being.
No matter how you feel about Measure 30, the issues at
stake are too important not to vote.
The voting deadline for the special election is Feb. 3.
EDITORIAL POLICY
This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald
editorial board. Responses can be sent to letters
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Brad Schmidt
Editor in Chief
Jan Tobias Montry
Managing Editor
Aimee Rudin
Freelance Editor
Ayisha Yahya
News Editor
Travis Willse
Editorial Editor,
Eric Layton Illustrator
Logging for love
When I was small, my parents bought
126 acres of timberland, much of it old
and first-growth, in southern Oregon. They
also bought a log truck, a small sawmill,
enough seeds to begin a well-stocked gar
den, eight chickens and a rooster.
The first year, the focus was on clearing
enough land for a home, a home that my
dad built by hand from trees cut and
milled on our property. In our old family
albums, there are pictures of Dad standing
in the snow with a hammer putting to
gether the frame of our house. I'm beside
him holding the nails.
For the majority of that year, we didn't
have electricity or indoor plumbing. Our
water came straight from the creek, and
Mom hung an old railroad lantern from
an exposed beam in the half-completed
kitchen for light.
The next year, with the house nearly fin
ished, my parents began selectively log
ging the land they had bought. We would
all venture out together to find the perfect
tree to cut into specialty pieces of lumber
for sale. Once that tree was found, Mom
and Dad would go back alone to figure
out how to bring it down and back to the
mill. It was hard, dangerous work, and it
was beautiful.
A few years later, facing mounting debt
and a poor school system, my parents sold
the land to a family who pledged never to
log it. Then, they put my brother and me
in the back of the Isuzu Trooper they had
recently traded in the old Vanagon for, and
headed for five-day-a-week workweeks
and an education system they felt confi
dent in. It was a trade-off that to this day
Aimee Rudin
Five-feet of fury
they say was for the best, but I'm not sure
either of them really believes that. They
loved that land like it was a child. It was
part of their psyche and an integral part of
how they defined themselves as humans.
Every day, as new anti-environmental
legislation is passed through Congress, the
battle between loggers and environmen
talists continues. But in this war, both
sides are losing, and perhaps only the
government is winning.
When a timber sale is made on federal
or state land, the money from the sale goes
not to families, individual logging outfits
or even private companies. It goes to the
government, often to finance further
stages of "healthy forest management."
Last spring, I had the chance to spend
some time at a tree-sit and also to spend a
day with a local logging outfit as they
cleared a hillside owned by a private cor
poration. Both groups were adamant that
what they were doing was right, and both
groups seemed to truly love the forest they
were standing in.
As I spoke with the logging foreman
about his crew, his family and his up
bringing, I was struck with his compassion
and knowledge not only of the land he
stood on, but also of the forest policy be
ing dictated in Washington, D.C. It's very
easy to say that loggers are anti-environ
mental, and probably some are, but many
have spent their lives in the forest and they
love it just as deeply as any activist. Just
like me, they grew up there.
Contact the columnist
at aimeerudin@daiiyemerald.com.
Her opinions do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
Measure 30 failure threatens education
On page 4 of the Voters' Pamphlet for the
Feb. 3 special election is a brief description of
Measure 30 and a statement of the results of a
"Yes" or "No" vote According to this descrip
tion, a "No" vote on Measure 30 would "trig
_ ger $544.6 mil
n n mgas&ft lion in budget
Ui El i cuts to areas in
COMMENTARY dudins educa
- tion, health care
senior services
and public safety." A "No" vote on Measure
30 would overturn a bipartisan agreement
arrived at by all 25 of our Democratic and 11
of our Republican representatives. This agree
ment was designed to address the State of
Oregon's budget problems. Citizens for a
Sound Economy, a Washington, D.C., lobby
group, and a few laige Oregon businesses
seek to overturn the hard work of our elected
representatives in arriving at this agreement
Please take the time to read the arguments
in favor of Measure 30 starting on page 14 of
the Voters' Pamphlet as well as those argu
ments against Measure 30 starting on page 34
very carefully, and please note who has paid
for the printing of each argument
I am a senior, a retired economics in
structor, and I represent Springfield on the
Lane Community College Board, which
passed a resolution supporting Measure 30.
Therefore, Measure 30 is an important issue
for me as it should be for all Oregon voters.
After reading all the arguments in the Vot
ers' Pamphlet it is my opinion that a "No"
vote on Measure 30 would constitute a
major threat to Oregon's education system,
including higher education and communi
ty colleges as well as K-12.1 also see a "No"
vote on Measure 30 as presenting a threat
to senior services and health care as well as
public safety, all of which are important to
citizens of Oregon such as me.
Therefore, I intend to vote "Yes" on Mea
sure 30 and urge all other Oregonian voters
to do the same Remember that taxes are the
price we pay for our civilization and the high
quality of life we enjoy in Oregon. Also re
member that this tax is progressive so the
major burden will be on the rich, and it will
only last for a maximum of three years.
Dennis Shine sits on the Lane Community
College Board of Directors.