LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

Byline: The Register-Guard

District needs new blood

On Sept. 22, I attended the House District 14 debate between Democrat Chris Edwards and Republican State Rep. Debi Farr. Farr seemed awfully snarky in some of her remarks. I'm not sure why she felt she needed to belittle her opponent just because she's older than he is and has decades of volunteer experience in the com- munity.

Farr made some wisecrack about not waking up yesterday and deciding to run for the state Legislature. What kind of message does that send to younger people about getting involved in public service? She made it sound like a person isn't qualified to run for public office unless they're old enough to have kids in college. Chris Edwards is a young father and local businessman who deserves our vote as much as any entrenched politician in Salem.

Farr also made a condescending observation about new residents in the district. Like Chris Edwards, I am a fifth-generation Oregonian who also grew up in Eugene and attended middle school and high school here. We both graduated from Oregon universities. My wife and I are new residents in District 14. We moved to our new home in the Bethel area last summer. Apparently, that's not sufficient to engender common courtesy from Farr.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with having new blood in the community. And there is definitely an advantage to putting new blood into the state Legislature. Now more than ever, we need a Democratic majority to put Oregon (and the nation!) back on track.

I'm voting for Chris Edwards.

ERIC A. STILLWELL

Eugene

Let Bush do his job

I get a quite perturbed when I hear the ranting and raving that President Bush is responsible for everything that happens in the world or that has happened in the last several thousand years. He is not perfect, but is no guiltier than anyone else of most of what he is blamed for. Every president or government official throughout the years has been guilty of the same types of things because they are only human and make human judgments. There was only one perfect person in this world, and there won't be another one until he returns.

It is about time that we give the government the room it needs to operate and do its job. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, it is your duty to support the lawfully elected government. Things do not occur overnight but take many months of planning and execution before any results are known. New analysis and evidence of the John Kennedy presidency is showing that he was guilty of worse crimes than Richard Nixon. If the past administrations had done the job they needed to do, we wouldn't have the problems today that we do.

Unfortunately, we haven't had a president since Teddy Roosevelt that had the guts to stand up and do what needed to be done. President Bush is trying to correct the errors occurring over the last 100 years. He probably won't succeed, but at least he has tried and will continue trying until the end.

That is much more than I can say about most of the last 50 or 100 years.

CHARLES E. PHILLIPS

Eugene

Cigarette tax is cowardly

A proposed increase in Oregon's cigarette tax intended to help the poor is front page news (Register-Guard, Sept. 26). The Register-Guard probably will support this. But first, assign a crack reporter do some research.

The figures are available from the Oregon Department of Human Services. Households earning more than $50,000 per year are virtually exempt from this tax; they contribute about 10 percent of the revenue. Half of the cigarette tax is paid by households earning less than $25,000 per year. A third of this tax is paid by households earning less than $15,000 per year!

Tax the poor to help the poor? Yeah, right.

Soul-searching is good: How many of the newspaper's editors will contribute so much as a penny of this tax? The unique thing about the cigarette tax is that virtually no one in or outside of government who support the thing will be subject to it. They don't smoke, ergo they are utterly exempt! A free ride.

The true reason that the cigarette tax is so popular is that poverty does not breed voters. It is a cowardly, disingenuous tax, and any one who knows the facts and supports it is both.

JOHN BIGGS

Cottage Grove

4-H youth lost opportunity

At the 4-H Youth Fair in July, one of our son's friends `chirped' his tires in the parking lot after the dance. Boys do these things. Because of this, he was not allowed to sell his steer at the auction the following day.

The head of the 4-H program said that she wanted to make an example of him. Basically this resulted in a ticket worth nearly $2,000, because of the lost value of his steer. Due to the severity of his punishment, a teachable moment was lost.

At a recent 4-H fair evaluation meeting, many people showed up in support of this boy, some traveling great distances. Emotions were high at this meeting, and the 4-H leadership refused to allow the topic to be discussed, even though it was an opportunity for members of the leadership to hear how their members are disillusioned with them and their lack of child-friendly decision- making.

This boy is Hispanic. The severity of the punishment can only be explained in my mind as an example of racial prejudice in this exclusively white Lane County organization. And when the leadership refuses to be accountable for this outrageous decision and attempts to suppress any discussion, I feel it necessary to appeal to the community on this child's behalf.

Lane County 4-H as a youth organization needs to welcome youths of all races, not make an example of a model 4-H'er because he is of a different race.

MARY SHERMAN

Blue River

Consider rail alternative

In his letter of Sept. 25, Mike Burke suggests using existing railroad tracks for local commuter trains. Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy repeatedly has said we need to find an alternative to the West Eugene Parkway. OK, let's put these two ideas together.

We have an existing railroad from Eugene to the coast, passing through Veneta. It is used by about one freight train a day in each direction. This keeps many trucks off Highway 126, which is beneficial, but is hardly heavy use of the railway.

Would it be too difficult to develop a system of self-propelled passenger cars to use the tracks between Eugene and Veneta? Eight or 10 cars (or multiple cars as use increases) could provide departures every 10 minutes when needed. Very short passing tracks would have to be built (none in the wetlands), with a computer system to keep cars moving efficiently.

The cost of a rail system would be small compared to a new parkway and would relieve traffic all the way to Veneta. The environmental impacts would be minimal. Extending it to the coast is a possibility for the future.

I know there will be problems. Coordinating use with the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad would be the primary one, but it should not be insurmountable.

This project should be tackled by a group of people who are eager to substitute environmentally friendly mass transit for ever-increasing private vehicle traffic. Let's not let potential difficulties keep us from trying. I believe it can be accomplished.

EDWIN STOUT

Eugene

Voting nears, gas prices fall

It looks like it must be payback time! Does anyone else find it odd that five weeks before the election oil and gasoline prices have hit a six-month low?

It appears President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney must have called their friends in the oil business and asked them to cut profits until after the election. This demonstrates that all W.'s work to ensure that the Saudi royal family remains one of the richest in the world has paid off.

I also have to assume that the latest government contract that "accidentally" omitted the royalties the major gasoline companies are supposed to pay on profits worked in his favor. Everywhere you look there's smoke, and where there's smoke there's fire. This administration is beyond corrupt, and if your vote in November is intended to keep it in power, shame on you.

TIM BROADBENT

Eugene

No more exclusion of the ill

On Sept. 25, the Citizens Health Care Working Group published legislative recommendations to reduce the impact of illness on the lives of both insured and the uninsured Americans. If a bill passes Congress, we will transition to a different system of health care financing and delivery over the next five years.

There is a lot at stake.

A large majority of Americans favor a system of universal coverage. Similarly, a large majority favor a single-payer system to stabilize insurance coverage and primary care relationships. Medicare is a single-payer system for Americans older than 65 - everybody is in and gets the same set of benefits. Most Americans want to reduce the influence of competing private health insurance companies. Fewer and fewer employers are offering health insurance each year.

The working group recommendations are very vague on single-payer and have been widely criticized for ignoring the will of the people. There are, however, other ways to improve health care access and efficiency. The real problem is selective marketing to low-risk groups (cherry-picking).

The private health insurance industry has done a lot of good over the years. If we choose to keep the private insurers around, we must have them all provide benefits to all comers. No more risk stratification or experience rating of small groups. No more marketing exclusively to large, healthy groups. No more exclusion of the ill.

A single risk pool is more important that a single payer. Let's move on.

FRANK N. TURNER, M.D.

Eugene