TO THE EDITOR
BY TOM LININGER
NOT THE FIRST
Thanks, But
No Thanks
Oregon refuses federal aid in the
midst of a budget crisis.
A
s a kid, I was always perplexed by the saying, “You can lead a
horse to water, put you can’t make him drink.” Why wouldn’t a
thirsty horse want to drink? Is the horse stupid? Hey Mr. Ed,
lose the ‘tude: You need water to live. It’s the pond or the glue factory.
You choose.
Oregon confronts a similar choice as it decides whether to accept
millions of dollars in aid that the federal government has offered to
the states. This aid could be used for a variety of purposes, such as
the improvement of public health programs or the acquisition of open
space. The money, of course, derives from federal taxes that
Oregonians pay like all other U.S. citizens. So the question is simple:
Should Oregonians take back our money when the feds offer it?
There can’t be any doubt that Oregon needs the money. The
Oregon Legislature is so hard up for cash that the little gold man on
top of the Capitol building had better watch his back. The Legislature
has raided all sorts of one-time funding sources, and would be looting
Oregon’s rainy day fund if we were one of the 47 states that have one.
State officials are checking for nickels under the cushions of every
couch. Despite exhausting our resources this session, Oregon still
needed to kick 150,000 people off the Oregon Health Plan, reduce our
school year to the shortest in the nation, and slash the number of
state police to half the total we had in 1980.
S
o how did the Legislature respond when the feds offered to
give us back some of our tax money? Amazingly, Oregon
turned down the federal aid. The co-chairs of the House and
Senate Ways and Means Committees decided that the federal money
was a Trojan horse. One of these legislators said Oregon must be care-
ful not “to get hooked by the lure of federal funds, establish the local
bureaucracy, then the federal funds run dry.” In other words, we
shouldn’t accept any money because of the risk that we might end up
with no money. Interesting logic. That’s like burning down your house
to avoid the risk that your house might catch fire.
Because Oregon’s Legislature takes this unusual view, the federal
grant money that Oregonians paid for with our federal taxes will actu-
ally go the other 49 states. Anyone still wondering why our state has
one of the worst budget shortfalls in the U.S.?
As a county commissioner, I’m aware of the harmful consequences
to Lane County that will result from the Legislature’s decision to
forego federal grant money. For example, the Ways and Means
Committee withheld authorization for state health officials to seek fed-
eral grants that could have provided $1.6 million in funding to help
children afflicted with whooping cough. Right now nearly half of the
Oregon children with whooping cough live in Lane County. The federal
grant could have provided Lane County with $160,000 to $180,000
per year to hire new staff at Lane County’s public health clinics over a
one- to five-year period. Without the grant money, a large number of
children could suffer a painful, preventable illness. I’m starting to
understand how the relief workers in Uganda felt when Idi Amin pro-
hibited them from receiving international aid for starving children.
The
Archaeological
Channel
International and Video Festival recently
running at the MacDonald Theatre (an am-
bitious project, to be sure) was touted by the
Archaeological Legacy Institute’s (founded,
1999) founder and president, Richard
Pettigrew, as North America’s first archaeo-
logical film festival. That is not quite accu-
rate. Actually there is precedence here in
Eugene. The Archaeological Institute of
America (AIA), Eugene Society, has spon-
sored in the past at least two archaeological
film festivals, the last in 1988. It included
films on Easter Island, the17th century
Warship Wasa, the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial,
the Chaco Legacy and the ancient tombs at
Xian, China. Each of these films was dis-
cussed by university scholars, experts in
their fields. In fact, the AIA has practicing
archaeologists sent each year by the na-
tional office to all of the 102 local societies
(two others in Oregon besides Eugene).
The AIA is North America’s oldest
(founded, 1879) and largest (9,000 mem-
bers) organization devoted to the world of
archaeology. For those interested in finding
out more, they can call the local secretary,
Ted Booth (683-0831) or the new president,
Prof. Steven Shoemaker (346-4998).
In any case, I hope that many local
Eugeneans attended the recent festival,
since the films and commentaries were cer-
tainly educational and stimulating.
Dean McKenzie
past president, AIA
Eugene Society
BUSH’S INEPTITUDE
All over town I’ve seen “Bush lied, peo-
ple died.” The need for armed aggression re-
gardless of the end result must be weighed
with deliberate earnest. The tragic events of
9/11 cannot and should not be minimized.
At the same time, however, to use those
deaths as a springboard to measure your
place in history is despicable and disregards
the very thing the president says he stands
for.
Not only did he create a fear of all things
near-eastern, but his homeland debacle has
injured our constitution. His need for blood
has put our troops in harm’s way while he
lacks a specific plan and definable goals.
While the war was waged as war should be,
there seemed to be no way out, and this con-
tinues as our troops are being picked off one
by one.
Using Korea and Vietnam as models of
an indecisive and paranoid “high noon”
O
n Tuesday, July 22, I learned from State Rep. Bob Ackerman (D-
Eugene) that our Lane County delegation in the Legislature
has persuaded the Ways and Means Co-Chairs to reverse their
decision on the whooping cough grant. That’s great news. I’m glad we
have a few thirsty horses in Salem. But I’m still worried about the
state’s overall position on federal aid. If we have to coerce legislative
leaders to accept a grant that would save children from disease, we
can’t be optimistic that the budget crisis will end any time soon.
Tom Lininger is the county commissioner for the East Lane District.
FRONT-YARD GARDENS
An open letter to UO officials: As a UO
graduate student, citizen of Eugene and avid
gardener, I was appalled to read the recent
Eugene Weekly article (7/10) about the il-
logical, arrogant and simply bewildering
manner in which the UO recently saw fit to
deal with student and gardener John
Boosinger.
Although I have not seen Mr.
Boosinger’s garden and certainly cannot
comment on its aesthetic appeal or lack
thereof, it is well known that lawn mainte-
nance is one of the most resource-draining
land uses known to civilization, and virtu-
ally any other use at all would be a prefer-
able alternative. The increasing presence of
front-lawn vegetable gardens in Eugene is
in my opinion something we should, as a
city, be proud of, and something we, as a
university, should foster and not suppress.
Under whose authority do you suppose
yourselves to have been acting when declar-
ing vegetables to be illegal plant types, unfit
for public viewing? May I suggest that, if
you truly have the public image of the Villard
neighborhood in mind, begin by planting
more vegetation, making the households less
dependent on public resources, and working
with your tenants in the process, instead of
dealing in such senseless, counterproductive
nastiness as this.
Mark Post
UO Ph.D. candidate
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EDITORIAL
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6 JULY 24, 2003
mentality, the current Bush’s arrogance is
being guided by greed and ineptitude in
other policy areas. This game that is all too
real is being played by someone who is
above all the harm he has created. In addi-
tion, the home front has been given impossi-
ble criteria for homeland security without
the funding to pay for them. Finally, all the
money that has been spent in the Gulf could
have been spent here at home to save lives
instead of taking them.
Let us all urge the current administration
to get out now and hammer out a realistic,
achievable plan with all deliberate haste.
Our lives and our integrity depend on it.
George G. Brooks
Eugene
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