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Oregon Daily Emerald
Thesday, October 26, 2004
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■ In my opinion
Columnists
chop down
Measure 34
Chuck Slothower — NO
Measure 34 has the right intention,
which is to safeguard Oregon’s forest
land from excessive timber production.
But as we all know, the road to Spring
field (hell is so passe) is paved with
good intentions. While Oregon’s state
forests could stand a reorientation to
ward conservation and away from tim
ber production, Measure 34 would mi
cro-manage competent professionals.
People who manage state forests know
what they’re doing. They don’t need
voters tying their hands. Perhaps an
even greater concern is that Measure
34 would negatively affect local school
funding when schools need every red
cent they can get. The Voters’ Pamphlet
estimates the measure would decrease
local government revenues by $17.2 to
$19.4 million a year, much of which
would come out of school funding. The
initiative is far too blunt a tool to man
age the delicate balance of Oregon’s
forests.
7favis Willse — NO
While new high-tech industries have
propelled Oregon's exports into the
21st Century, the state's forests remain
one of its most valuable, if contested,
assets.Forestry experts spent seven
years building a working plan for state
forest management around the collec
tive knowledge of agencies, county of
ficials, academics, conservationists and
others who have a stake in one of Ore
gon’s oldest legacies. Measure 34,
however, would discard the benefits of
this balanced, organic process in favor
of a ham-fisted approach that blindly
and inappropriately reassigns priori
ties. Worse, including state expendi
tures and decreases in state and local
government revenue, Measure 34
would cost at least $26.2 million annu
ally in an already cash-strapped state.
In myopically zeroing in on only one
priority for a system as complex as the
state’s forests, economy and liveli
hood, Measure 34 can't see the forest
for the trees. Vote no on Measure 34.
Ailee Slater — NO
A yes vote on Measure 34 will result
in at least $17.2 million less per year
for local governments, cutting $8.6 mil
lion in school funding and more than
2,000 jobs throughout Oregon. Instead
of this costly measure, forest manage
ment in Oregon should be allowed to
operate under its current system,
which is already managed for mixed
uses, including the timber industry as
well as protection of the watershed and
fish and wildlife. Because timber rev
enue funds forest management, Mea
sure 34 would actually reduce money
that counties are currently using to pro
tect drinking water and wildlife habi
tats. Although the environment is cer
tainly an important issue in our world
today, 1 implore voters to remember
that the Oregon economy cannot be
held responsible for the poor environ
mental choices of our nation, especial
ly with a measure that could do more
harm than good to the protection of
precious natural resources.
Jennifer McBride — NO
I don't live in Tillamook. I doubt 1
will ever visit the Tillamook forest.
We're in a time of economic crisis, and
I don't feel comfortable taking food out
of people's mouths and money from
our schools, hospitals and mental
health care facilities when sustainable
forest management is possible by other
means. 1 trust the Oregon Department
of Forestry knows more about what
they are doing than I do, so I will vote
to leave management in their hands.
INBOX
Legal abortion allows
termination of human life
Why is this country obsessed with ter
minating human life? I want to seriously
think about this question. The pantheon
of great legal, moral and scientific minds
in our society have done everything
within their power over the last 40 years
to justify the termination of human life.
We call it abortion and it has developed
efficiently into a billion-dollar industry.
In keeping with our great entrepreneur
ial spirit, Americans have figured out
how to generate an insatiable, capitalis
tic institution based primarily on the ter
mination of human life.
How cold is our conscience as a
nation, as a people and as individu
als? This great beacon of life, liberty
and property daily calculates the
marginal rates of return for the n + 1
abortion. Without a blip of concern
we forecast for the third quarter
whether we will terminate a suffi
cient volume of human lives so as to
meet operational costs and deliver re
ports at board meetings.
Many are enjoying the act of hating
Bush during this election season, even
comparing him to history’s greatest cap
tains of evil, such as Hitler and Stalin.
Hitler rose to kill two-thirds of an entire
race by exterminating six million Jews.
Stalin topped that by killing 20 million
Ukrainians. But this election year we
have to make it a priority to topple the
Bush administration because he opposes
an institution we have deemed a consti
tutional right, an institution responsible
between the years of 1970-2000 for per
forming over 38 million legal, reported
human life terminations.
Ethan Nelson
Eugene
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■ Editorial
Varying
levels of
controversy
hit ballots
Measures 31 and 32 — YES
There is a reason why nobody ponied
up $500 to come out against these two
measures in the Voters’ Pamphlet — both
are largely uncontroversial. Measure 31
would delay an election in the case of a
candidate’s death. Some are weary of
changing the constitution for a problem
that has not yet occurred in Oregon, but
this is a proactive fix that would ultimately
strengthen our democracy. Measure 32
would change the wording of the state
constitution to allow fees and taxes as
sessed on mobile homes to be used for
purposes other than highway mainte
nance and repair. This measure is nothing
more than a shift in bureaucratic respon
sibility. There’s no reason to oppose this
benign proposal by our state legislature.
Measure 33 — YES
We support the use of marijuana for med
ical purposes. It is the humane thing to do.
Measure 33 would improve our existing med
ical marijuana law by providing easier access
to the drug. As the law stands now, patients
are forced to grow their own medicine or rely
on a “caregiver” to grow it for them. We don’t
force people to brew their own Morphine
when they are in pain. If we are going to take
seriously the use of marijuana as medicine,
then we must allow those in need to purchase
the drugs from a convenient dispensary. We
must also allow patients to have enough of
the medicine so that it can be maximally ef
fective. Measure 33 would do all of this.
Do not believe the fear mongers. This
measure will strengthen, not weaken, our
medical marijuana law. This measure will not
result in de facto legalization. This measure
will not create rampant drug use. This meas
ure will not break the bank or cause the feds
to lock up all Oregonians. Measure 33 will
simply remove the barriers that currently ex
ist between patients and the medicine they
need to ease their pain and suffering.
Measure 34 — NO
We appreciate the spirit behind Measure
34. Our forests have been mismanaged. The
ethic of conservation has lost to the pres
sures of industry time and time again. How
ever, we cannot in good conscience support
this measure. The initiative process should
not be used as a backdoor means of manip
ulating the management of our forests.
The 50/50 solution outlined in Measure
34 — in which half of the Tillamook forests
would be managed for restoration and half
for production — sounds fair but is arbitrar
ily drawn. Balancing protection, recreation
and timber production is a complex matter.
This complicated decision-making process
should not be pre-empted by activists with
a ballot measure.
Furthermore, we cannot be certain of the
consequences of 34. Perhaps Measure 34 is
the best thing for Oregon’s forests, perhaps
it’s not. But deciding an issue like this one
through the ballot would set a dangerous
precedent for an initiative process that is al
ready dangerously misused.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Jennifer Sudick
Editor in Chief
David Jagernauth
Editorial Editor
Steven R. Neuman
Managing Editor
Gabe Bradley
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