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Logging leads to fires
that devastate forests
I am disgusted with the abundance
of uninformed bias in the article
“Waves of Environmental Opinion”
(ODE, Oct. 20). The article did not in
clude any facts that support preserv
ing the Roadless Rule; rather, the argu
ments relied solely on common myths
and misinformation.
A common misconception is that
fires are bad, yet fires have been a nat
ural part of nature’s system for thou
sands of years. In fact, some trees can
not reproduce without fire.
The nation’s leading ecologists have
concluded that past commercial log
ging, road building, livestock grazing
and aggressive forest fires are major
sources for increased insect and dis
ease outbreaks and severe wildfires.
Ironically, some people advocate con
tinued heavy logging as a method of
fire suppression. Yet logging is what
causes the catastrophic and deadly
fires that burn out of control. Forests
are naturally able to withstand fires,
but logging takes away the part of the
forest that controls the fires: the tree
trunks. After an area is logged, only
dry leaves, needles and limbs remain,
all of which are very good fuel for
fires. So go log all the trees! It doesn’t
matter that we will sacrifice millions
of dollars and that unnecessary lives
will be lost if it’s good for the econo
my, right?
Only five percent of America’s native
forests remain. Who’s the extremist?
Danielle Foley-Mutu
Voting still possible for
voters without ballots
If a student did not receive a bal
lot but believes that he or she
registered, it is still possible to vote.
This is a legal right under the feder
al Help America Vote Act of 2002. To
help you do this, send an e-mail to
vote@uoregon.edu. The ASUO's di
rector of legal services will then try
to help such a student exercise his
or her right to vote on a “provision
al ballot.” If you received your regis
tration card back in the mail and a
letter from Lane County Elections
about making corrections, take
these steps:
1. Make a photocopy of your card
for your records and keep the enve
lope if possible.
2. Draft and sign a statement that
you originally tried to register before
Oct. 12, if that was the case. Keep a
copy.
3. Take the original card and state
ment to Lane County Elections at 275
W. 10th Ave. (one block west of the
downtown Eugene library).
4. Correct the card in front of a desk
clerk and file it with Lane County
Elections.
5. Vote on a "provisional ballot" for
this election.
John E. Bonine
Professor of law
■ In my opinion
Heroes in error
Ahmed Chalabi gave a candid in
terview to the (London) Telegraph
in February 2004. When asked
about his disinformation campaign
before the Iraq war, he said, “We are
heroes in error. ... That tyrant Sad
dam is gone and the Americans are
in Baghdad. What was said before is
not important.”
The members of the Bush Adminis
tration are not heroes. They are “he
roes in error.” What is the difference,
you ask?
1. Heroes win wars. Heroes in error
fight unwinnable wars. (When asked
about the war on terrorism, Bush said,
“1 don’t think you can win it.”)
2. Heroes have success. Heroes in
error have “catastrophic success.”
(This is what President Bush called our
quick occupation of Baghdad during
an interview with Time magazine.)
3. Heroes accomplish their mission.
Heroes in error stand behind “mission
accomplished” signs even though the
mission is far from accomplished.
4. Heroes fight bravely when asked
to serve. Heroes in error never seem to
make it into the battle for one suspi
cious reason or another, but they feel
no qualms about questioning the pa
triotism of those who do serve.
5. Heroes move our country for
ward. Heroes in error take four years
just to “turn the corner.” (This was a
popular campaign slogan for Bush un
til he started to be mocked and
ridiculed for it.)
6. Heroes have peace on their
minds. Heroes in error have war on
their minds. (”I'm a war president,”
Bush said during an interview. “I
make decisions here in the Oval Office
on foreign-policy matters with war on
my mind.” That’s reassuring.)
7. Heroes “shock and awe” the ene
my. Heroes in error shock and awe
their own people. Americans are truly
shocked at and in awe of how poorly
things are going in Iraq.
DAVID JAGERNAUTH
CRITICAL MASS
I could keep going, but you get the
point: Heroes in error are not like oth
er heroes. Rather than take responsi
bility for their mistakes in Iraq, as he
roes would, heroes in error pass the
buck by suggesting that everyone
thought Saddam had weapons of
mass destruction.
Really? In February 2001, Colin
Powell said, “(Saddam) has not devel
oped any significant capability with re
spect to weapons of mass destruction.
He is unable to project conventional
power against his neighbors.” Con
dellezza Rice made similar comments.
The only people in the administration
who thought Iraq had a significant
weapons program were the neocons
who were listening to Chalabi. And re
member what he said: “What was said
before is not important.”
It is tragic that the majority of
Americans support the way the presi
dent is handling the war in Iraq. We
can only assume that this support is
based on ignorance. A recent poll sug
gests that three-fourths of Bush sup
porters still believe Saddam possessed
weapons of mass destruction and that
he had substantial links to A1 Qaeda.
It is probably foolish to think that
further proof will change the minds of
people who have such faith in the cur
rent administration that they have
somehow managed to ignore the most
basic facts about the Iraq war, facts
that were discussed during the de
bates, facts that even the president
owned up to. 1 can respectfully dis
agree with somebody who supports
the war in Iraq, but anyone who sup
ports or defends the administration’s
handling of the war is, with all due re
spect, a moron.
Bush’s first mistake was letting Ch
eney bring Rumsfeld into the admin
istration. This man is so hawkish, he
actually considered Kissinger to be a
moderate. Rumsfeld wasted no time
asserting civilian control over the Pen
tagon, which quickly alienated the en
tire military. It was like Vietnam all
over again: Cheney, Rumsfeld and
Wolfowitz decided that they knew
how to run a war better than the four
star generals. As a result, Colin Powell
was marginalized, General Shinseki’s
advice was ignored and an original
plan that called for 400,000 troops on
the ground in Iraq was downsized to
around 120,000 troops. Rumsfeld had
originally wanted only 50,000 troops,
according to a report by “Frontline.”
We all know the results. We took
Baghdad in a blaze of glory, but did
not have enough troops on the ground
to secure the peace or even for our
troops to protect themselves. A com
plete lack of post-war planning creat
ed chaos that we are still dealing with
today. And the president’s cavalier, go
it-alone mentality, tempered slightly
by Colin Powell’s desperate efforts,
has resulted in Americans paying an
unacceptably high cost in terms of
blood and money.
When the commander-in-chief
botches a war this badly, we have no
other choice than to relieve him of
duty. Bush got his four years despite
the popular will. We see now that the
instinct of the majority of Americans
was right. We need a hero as a com
mander-in-chief. Bush is not a hero.
He is a hero in error. And heroes in er
ror can only succeed at one thing: Tak
ing real heroes to war and needlessly
sending them home in body bags.
davidjagemauth@dailyemerald.com
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SAIF: Taking on Measure 38
Continued from page 2A
give Liberty Northwest a dominating
market share in Oregon. Clearly,
SAIF has its problems. It may be Ore
gon’s most corrupt, poorly run state
institution. But it would be a shame
if Oregon voters let an insurance
company tell them how to run their
public policy.
7Yavis Willse — NO
In what is probably the most tech
nically challenging measure on No
vember’s ballot, Measure 38 details a
plan to dismantle the State Accident
Insurance Fund, a public (i.e. social
ized) insurance program. SAIF cer
tainly suffers from its share of prob
lems — an FBI investigation and
allegations of unfair denials of work
ers’ claims, among others. But these
questions and others, coupled with
the benefits of better private competi
tion, prescribe the state’s eventual
withdrawal from the insurance mar
ket. However, the measure’s provi
sions aren’t sufficiently specific to
convince me that its passage would
n’t do more harm than good during
the upcoming years. Vote a (re
served) no on Measure 38.
Jennifer McBride — NO
SAIF may not be perfect, but it's
good for Oregon. Over the past 14
years, workers’ compensation rates
have not gone up, while prices in
other states, such as Washington and
California, have. A loss of competi
tiveness resulting from increasing
rates will drive away jobs from Ore
gon and worsen our state woes.
Though there are problems with the
insurance company, they must be
fixed by limits and reforms and not
by abolition if we intend to preserve
the quality of Oregon's health care.
Ailee Slater —- NO
It is extremely important to keep
SAIF intact by voting no on Measure
38. Companies such as Measure 38’s
biggest supporter, Liberty Northwest,
have internal problems similar to
those of SAIF; yet the difference is
that these problems will never be
solved by for-profit private insurers.
Keeping a state-owned SAIF and con
centrating on reform is the best op
tion. Furthermore, SAIF insures
many high-risk businesses, such as
nursing homes, that other insurance
companies would either refuse to
cover or charge 30 percent to 50 per
cent higher than what SAIF charges.
This results in unemployment. Also
important to remember is that SAIF
covers workers’ compensation;
whereas states such as California
have seen workers’ comp rates rise
20 percent in the last year, SAIF has
made it possible for Oregon’s basic
rate to stay stable for 14 years.
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