Oregon should invest in higher ed

As the president of the Associated Students of OSU-Cascades, affordability and access to a four-year degree is very important to me. Many of my fellow students and their families face difficult decisions when it comes to paying for school. Unfortunately, tuition for Oregon’s public universities, including OSU-Cascades, is among the highest in the West. This is driven by our state’s significantly lower investment in per-student funding than any of our neighboring states.

This is one of the many reasons I was glad to see the governor propose a budget this month that would increase funding for public universities. Unfortunately, that recommended budget would still fall $14 million short of the minimum funding required to sustain current operations at our state’s seven public universities.

Without adequate funding from the state, universities like OSU-Cascades will be forced to make difficult decisions around student services and tuition increases. Students and families in Oregon are already bearing a disproportionate share of the cost of higher education compared to students in other Western states. Now is not the time to shift an even greater financial burden onto them.

A $275 million investment from the state will significantly help alleviate this financial burden on students, support student services, and stabilize universities. I urge the legislature to prioritize the needs of Oregon’s students, their families, and the institutions they rely on by making this a meaningful investment in our public universities this year.

— Whitney McFarlane, Bend

Public defense crisis needs real solutions

Your December 20 article on the public defense crisis abating highlighted important progress occurring locally. However, it missed a critical point: solving this crisis long-term requires both proper funding for nonprofit public defenders and cooperation from everyone in our justice system.

Nonprofit public defense firms are the most cost-effective, community-centered organizations in the system. They recruit and train nearly all of Oregon’s new public defenders. Without strong nonprofit offices retaining experienced attorneys to train the next generation, Oregon cannot achieve long-term stability in public defense.

Unfortunately, excessive caseloads and below-market compensation have forced many attorneys to leave the field. When public defenders have too many cases, people sit in jail longer, lose jobs and housing, and can’t get the help they need. Ensuring defenders have manageable caseloads and fair pay will keep experienced attorneys doing this vital work.

As our successes in Deschutes County show, prosecutors, judges, public defenders, and legislators all have a role to play in ensuring our system focuses on public safety and operates efficiently. Locally, our expanding diversion programs, moving appropriate cases to treatment courts, and other collaborative actions among all stakeholders allowed us to end the current crisis early.

As the Legislature meets in January, they have an opportunity to build on Deschutes County’s success by investing in proven solutions that work for everyone: manageable caseloads, fair compensation, and system-wide collaboration that keeps our communities safe.

— Joel Wirtz, executive director, Deschutes Defenders

Take a look at tinted windows

A recent editorial about speed and red-light cameras mentioned the potential for drivers to wear masks to avoid tickets, which got me thinking about another issue in Central Oregon: heavily tinted front and side windows.

As a pedestrian, I’ve encountered numerous situations where I couldn’t confirm if a driver saw me because their windows were so dark. Eye contact is an essential part of ensuring safety at crosswalks. Without it, pedestrians are left to gamble on whether a driver is aware of their presence.

Allowing heavily tinted front windows creates unnecessary risks not only for pedestrians but also for bicyclists and other drivers. It also raises concerns about future camera enforcement. How will we verify who’s behind the wheel or whether a violation occurred if the driver’s visibility is obscured by excessive tinting?

For the sake of road safety, we should take a closer look at regulations surrounding tinted windows. Prohibiting heavy tinting on front and side windows would enhance visibility and accountability for everyone on the road.

— John Heylin, Bend

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