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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 12, 2004)
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511 Suite 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com Online: www.dailyemerald.com Oregon Daily Emerald Editor in Chief: Brad Schmidt Managing Editor: Jan Tobias Montry Editorial Editor: Travis Wi Use Wednesday, May 12,2004 EDITORIAL. Goldschmidt's private woes won't diminish public success Former Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt has led a po litical career rivaled by few Oregon politicians. 1 lis ac complishments are numerous, and his dedication to the public's interest over his lifetime has been commend able. But, unfortunately, his record came crashing down on top of him when he resigned from his two public and private posts — chairman of the State Board of Higher Education and chairman of the Oregon Electric Utility Company — amid the revelation that he had sex with a 14-year-old girl while he was the mayor of Portland near ly 30 years ago. He was 35 years old at the time. Such an indiscretion can't be forgiven with a mere apology and relinquishment of his offices. The girl with whom he had sex has since suffered severe emotional trauma and had problems with drugs and alcohol, ac cording to several media reports. Furthermore, the girl had been molested by her grandfather for years before he died — and then Goldschmidt came along, the girl's cousin told The Register-Guard. In a time when the girl should have been healing and seeking to alleviate the pain of the crime against her, an other man came along to once again take advantage of her. Still, disgusting as the act was, it's important to ac knowledge Goldschmidt's service to this state rather than automatically dismiss it in light of his private indiscre tions. In his political life, Goldschmidt, a University gradu ate, began as a Portland city commissioner in 1971. In 1972, he became the youngest mayor of Portland at age 32. From 1987 to 1991, Goldschmidt served as Oregon governor. Goldschmidt also served as transportation sec retary under the Carter administration and was an exec utive for Nike during his career. Before throwing his hat in the political ring, Goldschmidt used his law degree to aid the public as a legal aid attorney from 1967 to 1969. Conversely, in his personal life, Goldschmidt has a re ported history of infidelity. Were Goldschmidt to be tried for his sexual crime in 1975, the charge would have been third-degree rape. The perversity of his actions and his subsequent attempts to cover it up have dishonored him in the worst possible way. But are his political accomplishments materially di minished by his private actions? No. Goldschmidt is living in shame for what he has done and has resigned in disgrace from his political positions. He's paid monetary compensation to the girl — now a grown woman — and continues to face his own demons, as he has indicated to the media. If the public wishes to crucify him, which it inevitably will, we hope it will keep in mind his immense contributions to the public good and separate them from the indiscretions of his private life. EDITORIAL POLICY This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Responses can be sent to letters ©dailyemerald.com. Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged. Letters are limited to 250 words and guest commentaries to 550 words. Authors are limited to one submission per calendar month. Submission must include phone number and address for verification. The Emerald reserves the right to edit for space, grammar and style. EDITORIAL BOARD Brad Schmidt Editor in Chief Jan Tobias Montry Managing Editor Travis Willse Editorial Editor Jennifer Sudick Freelance Editor Ayisha Yahya News Editor In the 1960s, a young generation of post-war baby boomers came of age and wrought extensive changes in the politi cal, social and sexual arenas. Long haired and radical, they led the charge for women's rights and gay rights and they added urgency to the civil rights movement. Then they aged and decided taxes were the real enemy. They elected Ronald Rea gan president and the conservative resur gence began. But the baby boomers were not unique in abandoning liberalism. Generally speaking, people become more conservative as they age. For example, Americans age 65 and older support the death penalty by a 71 percent majority; only 59 percent of those age 18-24 feel the same. Older Americans are also less likely to support stricter gun control and less likely to say abortion should be "always legal," ac cording to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In 1970, the median age of the popu lation stood at 28.1 years, the youngest it had been in four decades, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The prevalence of youth directly contributed to the burst of social advancements. In 2000, the year George W. Bush won the presidency, the population reached a median age of 35.3 years, the oldest it has ever been. Clearly, old age and con servatism have correlated strongly in re cent decades. The United States' population as a whole continues to age, and fast. By 2025, the number of Americans age 65 Chuck Slothower Taking issue and over is expected to jump nearly 80 percent, while the population of younger Americans will grow at a rela tively paltry 15 percent, according to the Census Bureau. Besides changing how we think about old-age entitlement programs, the gray ing of America indicates that the current conservative vogue in American politics is in fact a long-term fixture. Progressives better steel themselves for decades of playing defense. The older population might bring about vast changes in American politics. Watch out for further solidification of the tax revolt, attacks on public educa tion and abortion rights, militarization and an ever-increasing privatization of government services. It's an open question as to why people grow more conservative as they age. Per haps it's because older Americans have more income to protect from taxation than younger Americans. Perhaps people care less about supporting public schools when their kids have grown up. Maybe it's just a simple loss of idealism. In any case, it's pretty sad. Increased selfishness may lead to greater personal wealth, but it also contributes to the de cay of civil society. 1 wish more old adults would realize that supporting education — higher edu cation in particular — benefits everyone. It leads to higher wages, which results in greater government revenue. Every government dollar that gets someone into and through college comes back to the Treasury in spades. Ac cording to the Census Bureau, a high school graduate can expect to earn $1.2 million over the course of his or her working lifetime. Those with a bachelor's degree earn an average of $2.1 million, and it gets even better with advanced de grees: Those with a master's earn an aver age of $2.5 million, doctoral graduates earn an average of $3.4 million, and those with professional degrees earn an average of a whopping $4.4 million. A conservative might argue that higher tax revenues result in bigger government, which is what true conservatives object to in the first place. However, having fi nancially self-reliant citizens instead of citizens dependent on public assistance lowers the tax burden for everyone. The value of other commitments to government are less quantifiable, but just as real. Older Americans should keep in mind that their declining support for government harms us all. Contact the columnist atchuckslothower@dailyemerald.com. His opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald.
