Thumbs up: Legislature aims to raise legal tobacco possession age to 21
A new House of Representatives resolution in the state legislature, which aims to raise the legal age for tobacco possession to 21 years of age, may not do much to reduce the number of teens smoking, but it at least creates some level of consistency between the legal age for both drinking and smoking. The resolution’s effect will primarily be on the cultural perceptions toward smoking, but it could also prevent smoking ads from being targeted at younger audiences. The legal age for tobacco possession is set at 18 while the drinking age is 21, giving the unrealistic impression that smoking is somehow more suitable for younger people than drinking. The only “benefit” of keeping the age lower, it seems, is keeping more money in tobacco company CEOs’ wallets.
Thumbs down: ASUO presidential candidates reject campaign spending cap
Last year’s political campaign is still very fresh in people’s minds, especially the massive deluge of advertising and the near inescapable presence of political slogans, campaign signs and pizza slices. Now, students get to look forward to another season of campaigning that already shows signs of being just as petty and dirty as those at state and nationwide levels. A spending cap would have lessened the overflow of campaign announcements and events, leading to more emphasis on the more important elements, such as debates and Q & A meetings. Instead, we have already seen T-shirt vans and people on sidewalks assaulting passersby about their candidate. It appears the ASUO candidates are once again more concerned with who is the loudest, instead of who actually has something to say.
Thumbs up: Democrats roll out climate change plan
One of the more unfortunate practices of the Bush administration was its sort of casual neglect – if not outright opposition – to important environmental issues. House Democrats, hoping for a change of direction on climate change policies, this week proposed fairly aggressive measures to move forward with a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gasses and a significant increase in renewable energy sourcing by 2025. Further, their plan calls for all but eliminating energy-related pollution by mid-century. While protecting the environment is probably still nowhere near the priority it needs to be, this is no doubt finally a step in the right direction.
Thumbs down: Duck mascot sports Oregon Action Team colors
Whatever your opinion of the Oregon Action Team or our mascot, we should all be able to agree that having the Duck sporting the colors of an ASUO slate is not the greatest of ideas. While it may be an instance of innocent joking, the blatant display of intermingling between the public image of the athletic department and the administration and one of the ASUO tickets is not the best way to start off the election season – which has a track record of being especially heated and prone to frivolity. Further, it must make students wonder if the administration and the Oregon Action Team are getting a little too cozy. OAT candidates, if elected, will be expected to negotiate ticket contracts and other matters with the athletic department, after all.
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