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
Wednesday, May 26,2004
-Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor
Travis Willse
EDITORIAL.
Plan for Iraq
must have
extensive
definition
Addressing an audience at Cariisle Barracks — home to the
war college — Monday night, President Bush spoke for a half
hour about the war in Iraq. Offering somewhat more defini
tion than his administration had in the past, Bush outlined
five general steps for establishing a sovereign Iraqi state: A
transition of power, rebuilding infrastructure, improving se
curity, working toward a national election and encouraging
international support of efforts in the nation.
And despite recent troubles in the embattled nation — the
138,000 troops in Iraq now comprise a somewhat larger force
than the 115,000 that were antidpated to be needed by this
point in the conflict — Bush remained generally optimistic.
"Despite past disagreements, most nations have indicated
strong support for the success of a free Iraq," he explained,
"and I am confident they will share that success."
Bush darified and more spedfically defined what the in
terim government will be, including a prime minister, a pres
ident two vice-presidents and a few dozen Cabinet ministers.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair suggested that
the new Iraqi government's dedsions might trump the Coali
tion's desires, if the issue arises.
"If there's a political dedsion as to whether you go into a
place like Fallujah in a particular way, that has to be done with
the consent of the Iraqi government," he said.
Although the Emerald Editorial Board recognizes that
Bush's speech was short and didn't address many of the even
broader issues at hand, more definition in the mission is
needed for the sake of building confidence in reconstructing
Iraq — on the parts of Americans, the world community and,
most importantly, Iraqis.
Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., the ranking Dem on the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, noted, "He didn't say who's
going to send more troops," conceding that Bush might ad
dress that point in an upcoming speech (Monday's speech
was the first of six scheduled between this week and the June
30 handover of power in Iraq. Biden also said Bush should
explain how some 35,000 Iraqi soldiers will be trained, too.)
League of Arab States Ambassador Yahya Mahmassani was
more pessimistic, telling CNN, "(Bush's speech was) essen
tially the same statement we have heard before, except now
actually he gives a general outline.... I think essentially the
situation in Iraq is getting from bad to worse"
Even this general plan still evidently needs adjustments:
Speaking on Tuesday, Bush and French President Jacques
Chirac agreed the outline needs some changes to win U.N.
Security Council support Meanwhile, Russia wants more de
tails of the interim government plan worked out
So, the Bush administration should maintain an open dia
logue with its foreign counterparts for the good of die Iraqi
people and international stability alike.
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
VHHH
S SOARING X
ENERGY PRICES '
ARE PUTTING OUR
v ECONOMY AT '
7 ^ RISK/
r FILLING L~
THIS THING UPi
IS KILLING .
ME! 5
Eric Layton Illustrator
Bring the WAL down
Wal-Mart is not just another company. It
is the largest corporation in the world and
everything it does sends shudders through
the economy, affecting market behavior and
the practices of its competitors.
A year ago, I told you about Wal-Mart's
censorship. I told you about the company's
forcing its employees to work unpaid over
time. My column mentioned Wal-Mart's
low wages and alleged use of pressure tactics
to prevent the formation of labor unions. I
told you about the accusations of sex dis
crimination and I urged you to shop at more
socially responsible businesses.
In the year since, the bad news about Wal
Mart has continued to rain down. Details
have emerged ofWal-Mart workers routinely
laboring through their breaks in violation of
state labor laws.
An internal audit found numerous viola
tions of child labor laws that limit how
many hours minors can work and when,
The New York Times reported. Wal-Mart re
sponded to these findings not by striving to
improve its labor record but by eliminating
the time-clock records that provided the
only paper trail of its violations.
Wal-Mart also came under fire in October
for employing illegal immigrants. Federal
agents raided 60 Wal-Marts on Oct. 23 and
arrested more than 250 janitors whom the
government believed were in the country il
legally.
Just two weeks ago, Wal-Mart settled an
environmental case brought by federal agen
cies for $3.1 million. The company paid the
record amount for violations of the Clean
Water Art caused by excessive stormwater
runoff.
When grocery store workers went on
strike in California this past year, the grocery
chains used the looming threat of competi
tion from non-union Wal-Mart stores to
push for labor concessions.
Now, Wal-Mart wants a bigger piece of
Eugene. The company has applied to ex
pand its store on West 11th Avenue to
217,000 square feet.
At a Eugene City Council work session
Monday, several councilors expressed reser
vations about the prospect of the city
Chuck Slothower
Taking issue
playing host to a larger Wal-Mart.
"The current application... will have neg
ative consequences on the transportation in
frastructure and the wetlands," Councilor
Betty Taylor said. Taylor displayed strong op
position to Wal-Mart's plans at the meeting,
going so far as to propose a moratorium on
applications for retail space exceeding
50,000 square feet
Councilor David Kelly, whose district in
cludes the neighborhoods around the Uni
versity, said Wal-Mart's plans struck him as
an economic development issue Kelly said
the kind of "low-wage and low-benefit jobs"
that Wal-Mart offers may end up costing tax
payers money by creating a gap between
those workers' wages and real-life costs that
government ends up paying for through
welfare and government-subsidized medical
aid.
Councilors Bonny Bettman and Scott
Meisner — after a switched vote by Meisner
— joined Kelly and Taylor in supporting a
motion for a moratorium. The effort was
shot down, however, by opposition from
Mayor Jim Torrey and a bloc of conservative
councilors.
One of those councilors, Jennifer
Solomon, dted Wal-Mart's low prices as her
reason for supporting the expansion. Ad
mittedly, Wal-Mart offers the cheapest prices.
But at what point do social concerns out
weigh saving a buck?
Wal-Mart poses a classic example of the
excesses of capitalism. Though capitalism is
by far the best economic system tried yet it
has flaws.
Sensible regulation can partially correct
those imperfections. Regulating Wal-Mart
extendsithe industrial regulation in.place
since the late 19th and early 20th centuries
in response to child labor, unsafe work en
vironments and tainted food, water and
drugs.
Any city council effort to oppose Wal
Mart faces the difficult task of preventing un
desirable developments while allowing de
sirable ones. The council can't legislate
against Wal-Mart by name because of legal
obstacles, so it's left with crafting a difficult
definition of what constitutes a "big box" su
percenter.
One proposal, a blanket prohibition on
any retail development or expansion of
more than 50,000 square feet could ensnare
plans for a new Home Depot on West 11th
Avenue and expansion of other stores in Eu
gene, said Tom Coyle, executive director of
the city's planning and development depart
ment While the proposal may have its mer
its, it would clearly affect more than just Wal
Mart.
Some councilors said it's too late to turn
Eugene into an anti-big box oasis. As Kelly
noted, however, "The horse may be out of
the bam but preventing more of it happen
ing is valuable as well."
It may be too late to stop the Wal-Mart ex
pansion under consideration, but by pass
ing an ordinance, the council can limit Wal
Mart or its competitors from building more
supercenters.
Perhaps a 100,000-square-foot ceiling
would prove more workable. As an editorial
in The Sunday Register-Guard noted, this
would have the effect of giving Wal-Mart a
local superstore monopoly.
Yet a superstore isn't a true monopoly be
cause it doesn't offer products or services un
available elsewhere A Eugene resident could
get a haircut at Wal-Mart or at myriad of lo
cal businesses.
Any effort to stop Wal-Mart from growing
in Eugene constitutes a noble action. Let's
hope our city councilors are crafty enough
to figure out a workable solution that a ma
jority of councilors can tolerate
Contact the columnist
atchuckslothower@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.