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UNACCEPTABLE The Board of Directors of Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC) would like to express our concern about the current situation at the UO College of Education (COE). Students of color, as well as LGBTQ students and students with disabilities, find the learning environment at the COE to be hostile and believe it is risky to bring forward their observations and complaints. The staff and curriculum at the COE are failing to prepare teachers, counselors and administrators to teach and work with increasingly diverse populations in our public schools. Multicultural education is extremely limited, and an overwhelmingly mono-cultural faculty is not equipped to prepare culturally competent future educators. This situation continues despite a COE policy which calls for the infusion of culturally diverse perspectives in all the courses offered. The COE currently has a number of faculty openings. This is an opportunity for the college to make a significant transition towards cultural inclusiveness. We hope that the COE will hold these positions open until qualified candidates of diverse cultural backgrounds can be hired. We particularly support the idea of "cluster" hires, so that a change in the learning environment at the COE can occur. Until the supply of new teachers includes more educators of color, and until new teachers of all backgrounds are culturally competent, our local districts are greatly hampered in their efforts to close the achievement gap and otherwise provide an equitable and culturally relevant education to all their students. Carol Van Houten, Chair, CALC Board of Directors
MEDITATE ON THIS I would like to respond to the letter by Kelly Hinrichs (5/5) who was appalled that ODOT and EW would run an ad mocking and demeaning the Buddhist religion. If there is one thing I cannot tolerate, it is when someone disrespects another religion, no matter what that might be. I dug through my recycling at home to find this bad ad, and was surprised to find a man in a business suit sitting in the lotus position, possibly meditating, with the headline, "Get Enlightened." Below that it reads, "Realization is the abandonment of ignorance" and further down it offers, "Achieve inner peace and heal anxiety, depression and anger," and offers commuting options other than driving to work. Sounds good to me. Where is the injustice here that spurred your rage? All those things sound reasonable to me. First of all, do not assume, just because someone sits like this or meditates, that they are Buddhist. Secondly, don't rush to judgement. What makes you think that EW created this ad or feels it contains the same message that you do? And lastly, if you really need something to feel outraged about, just look around you. There's the war, the state of the economy, the environment, and the list goes on and on. I think, Kelly, you should have sat and meditated on this, instead of firing off your reactionary, angry letter. Have some compassion for the poor ODOT marketing person who thought up this ad campaign. Oh, and by the way, how did you travel to work today? Bhoddi Dharma, Eugene
END DISCRIMINATION As an organization that cares about discrimination in our community, Lane Gender Task Force is very concerned about what is happening at the UO College of Education (COE). We are further concerned that very few people are aware of what has been occurring. For the last 20 years there has been large scale discrimination at the COE. In the last two years alone there have been more than 40 documented incidents of discrimination. Many more cases are going unreported because of fear of retaliation. This includes discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, gender, nationality and ability. The COE fails to provide a safe learning environment. There is retaliation against students who bring up diversity issues, as well as students being shouted down in class and followed to the bathroom. This is wrong. All students need a safe learning environment. In addition, this is a problem that affects our communities as a large number of COE students become educators in our schools. Not only are students leaving the COE incompetent to deal with the diverse populations that they will be serving, but they are being taught in a discriminatory environment that makes the silencing of diverse voices normal and acceptable. This is a community issue. A large coalition of student and community organizations working on this issue have put forth an eight-step plan of specific changes to address these problems. Join us and many other community groups in working to end discrimination at the COE. Lane Gender Task Force, Risa Bear, Maceo Persson, Joe Humphreys, Toby Hill-Meyer
HERE I SIT … Answering a letter to the editor in EW is like entering into a correspondence with that strange person who scrawls weird remarks in toilet stalls, but a lie-stuffed, political letter by Dennis Shine (5/5) requires rebuttal as much as Shine requires rebuke. I am a member of the Safety and Respect Committee of the Springfield School District and have attended every meeting for the duration of every meeting. Mr. Shine is not a member of the committee and, though I have heard him quoted extensively on events which have occurred at the meetings, I have never seen him attend one. Wade Richardson, a moderate parent, productive citizen of Springfield, and valuable member of the committee, also has attended every meeting and is known for his sincerity, searching questions, and attempts to get to the truth, instead of bobbing his head in ignorant agreement, as do, unfortunately, a number of the other committee members. Mr. Richardson has always insisted on including all persons attending the Springfield Schools as being entitled to the full protection of the law as set forth in the 14th Amendment. Given the diversity of our country (yes, there are people in this community and elsewhere who are not homosexuals, minorities, illegal aliens, or suffer from diseases physical and psychical, but are, in fact, normal, healthy, native-born Americans), and these persons deserve protection under the law also. In contrast with Shine's false and politically motivated allegation that Richardson opposed celebrating Martin L. King Jr.'s birthday, Richardson has never made that statement, but has indicated a desire to distribute the district's sparse allocation of social studies time to the discussion of a number and variety of American historical figures, no doubt including George Washington Carver, W.E.B. DuBois, and our current secretary of state, Dr. Rice, not to the exclusion of Presidents Washington, Lincoln, and, perhaps, Roosevelt. Finally, Richardson is not a candidate for the religious right as Shine claims, but is the father of a number of children he would like to see get at least a half-way decent public school education. Unlike Shines's favorites, Richardson has accepted contributions only from individual neighbors and friends and will finish the campaign not indebted to or owned by any group or organization. Shine should be ashamed of himself for repeating lies and EW for printing them, but the two do seem remarkably compatible — a lot like the scrawler and the toilet stall — and such decency is not their forte. Reis R. Kash, Springfield
NO NOBLE CAUSE In response to Josiah Sanders' letter (4/21): While I can certainly respect you and your comrades for your courage, I cannot "support" you or respect you for what you have done. You are not making your country safer, you are not protecting the U.S., you are not performing some great, noble purpose. You are a patsy for a corrupt government, you are complicit in the deaths of thousands of human beings, you are a tool that is used and discarded. Those little magnets are a constant, sickening reminder of what was done in the name of our citizens. They do not "support" you or your comrades, they support the people that manufactured them. These magnets provide nothing but a false justification and frail peace of mind for an illegal and totally unwarranted military action. You say that you have "responded to the call of duty that not all good Americans are willing to do." My duty is to my family, friends, and community, not to a corrupt regime that steals my money and turns it into weapons of mass destruction. My duty is to ensure that I have as low an impact on the world around me as possible, not to fire depleted uranium rounds into the environment or drop cluster munitions into the playground of my neighbor. My duty is to attempt to live in peace, harmony, and understanding with those around me, not to kill the enemies of a morally defunct ideal. I support our troops by calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal from our failed little brush wars around the globe. I support our troops by asking that they only risk themselves in the defense of our nation. Justin Bengtson, Eugene
TAKES ALL KINDS There aren't many things sillier than people who feel they have to complain about things they don't have to read in a weekly paper they don't have to pay for. (Well, OK, we all know that's not true — TV, Washington, D.C., and every state house in the country are awash in sillier things.) Me, I enjoy Date Girl, as I enjoy— even if I disagree with — just about any other writer who is willing to speak his or her mind and is not willing to pander to the myriad offensensitivities of every layabout who has nothing better to do than complain. (If they want pablum, let them read the R-G.) We need to realize just how dishwater-dull life would be if everything in it were tailored just for our individual limited palates, and be grateful that it does indeed take all kinds to make a world. Michael E. Stamm, Eugene
WHAT A DRAG The Playboyz wish to send out an apology to those of you who came out to Sam's Place see our Drag King Show on Saturday, May 7 merely to find that we were not performing after all. Due to unfortunate circumstances surrounding Sam's Place involving incidents of verbal harassment toward certain members of the Drag Kings, the Playboyz opted out of the show. Needless to say, we will no longer be performing there. The Playboyz are about performing with enthusiasm for our fans in venues that are queer-friendly, employee-friendly — and just plain friendly. We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming shows at venues where we are made to feel comfortable, and where everybody is about having a good time. The Playboyz, Eugene
OBNOXIOUS That's right, Date Girl is objectionable, obnoxious, offensive and of no redeeming value, and I choose not to read it. It's not as if Date Girl is a EW column, it's an advertisement for The Freudian Slip. As a red-blooded American consumer, I choose not to set foot inside of that business. So there. Jim Bolker, Corvallis
ON OUR OWN The district attorney's office is no longer going to prosecute "minor" crimes because "we don't have the resources." My assumption is that this means citizens are on their own and will have to fend for themselves against the hordes of hoodlums running rampant in our neighborhoods. Just watch what happens when one of these punks ends up hurt or dead at the hands of a citizen protecting his or her property. "Resources" to prosecute that citizen will be readily available. Jerry Ritter , Springfield
ON GELATO NATION Being born and raised in Germany, I grew up eating gelato at the Italian gelaterias. As I read the article (Chow, 4/28) it was clear that your writer didn't do her homework. She warns vegetarians from eating gelato, due to its gelatin content. "Pfui" I thought, they put gelatin in gelato? I have never eaten gelato made with gelatin in Europe, ever. So I researched it. She claims the name gelato comes from the name gelatina. Gelato and gelatina have different meanings. According to an Italian/English dictionary, gelato means iced or frozen. Gelatina means gelatin. Just because the two words sound similar in Italian doesn't mean they have the same meaning. Researching recipes, the only gelato recipes with gelatin I could find came from American recipe sources. I did find out that many Americans mistakenly think that gelato is made with gelatin, and that true gelato is never made with gelatin or egg whites. Gelato was created in Italy by the people of Dolomite and by Sicilians. In Dolomite the gelato was made with milk, cream, sugar, egg yolk, and natural flavors. In Sicily, it was predominantly water-based, higher in sugar and called "sorbetto." Gelato is lower in fat than American ice-cream and is denser. I have eaten gelato at Lucky Noodle and Francesco's. Francesco's gelato tastes more like what I remember eating at the Italian gelaterias. I did not like the gelato at Lucky Noodle. Hmm, must have been the secret ingredient I didn't know about.
Isabell Norman, Eugene
EDITOR'S NOTE: You are correct about traditional European gelato. True gelato does not require gelatin as a thickener, but many gelato recipes do include gelatin. Only Café Lucky Noodle confirmed their use of gelatin in their gelato.
PUBLIC NUISANCE As a gun owner, I respect the right to own firearms and the importance of gun education. I recognize that the Izaac Walton League (IWL) shooting range south of Eugene existed before I lived in the area. There's hypocrisy in advocating moving a known nuisance after the fact. However, when the range was created, there was no understanding of lead contamination, lower-powered weapons didn't risk injury at distances of today's weapons, and noise pollution from firearms was lower. This unsupervised range is well within shooting distance of large numbers of homes and schools (NRA range handbook). No incidents related to discharge have been reported, but we cannot wait for children to be hurt. Topography does not protect from misfires and stray bullets. Last July, a jury found the IWL negligent of polluting the watershed. Despite a settlement that should have forced cleanup of lead contamination, and in defiance of previous settlements to resolve damaging effects of dangerous activity so close to residents, virtually no action has been taken by the IWL or officials. Misbehavior by IWL members and interlopers presents enormous dangers from stray gunfire, unattended bonfires and pollution. Risk of wildfire is tremendous given the location at the bottom of a heavily wooded valley. As a volunteer firefighter, this is truly frightening to me. The IWL expanded without regard to their Conditional Use Permit, with almost no enforcement by Lane County, including creation of a new range on neighbors' property, firing south where topography offers no protection, and "pistol pits" where hundreds of rounds per minute are discharged. The IWL applied for a new conditional use permit encompassing its illegal expansion to "grandfather" it in. Shockingly, Lane County approved this permit. An appeal of this horrendous decision to Lane County Board of Commissioners is pending. As a board member of the Spencer Butte Neighborhood Association, I've expressed concerns directly to the IWL and been rebuffed. After viewing the range, we requested Lane County review the existing permit: no action was taken. The IWL should be encouraged to stop its risky behavior and move its range. Mike Speiser, Eugene
REMEMBERING RAY On April 27th, his life ended. He touched hundreds of thousands of musically talented middle schoolers and high schoolers. I had the priviledge of being one of his students. His name is Ray Beccerra, an educator, musician and friend. He was a Latino American who loved music and children. While all of us are running around with our heads cut off complaining about equality and this, that and the other, think of Ray Beccerra and what he lived for: the children. He changed many lives — he still does. Are you reading this, President Bush? Brian M. Peterson, Eugene
IT'S BAD CHOICES Your Slant column May 12, in a discussion about lack of funding for schools, states that "we can blame the economy for part of it." It is not the economy that is the problem; it is our choices that create the problem. These are excellent economic times. Indeed, the U.S. right now is the richest country in the history of the planet. People are living in bigger homes (new homes are almost double in size now compared to 20 years ago), with more and bigger toys than ever before. The lack of school funding is because the people choose to buy things for their own use with the money instead of giving some of it to the schools. Want proof? Look around at all the new expensive cars, with luxuries in them that we never dreamed of 20 years ago. Many of these super-expensive cars are owned by the same people who continually try to cut taxes. To them, it is more important to have a optional $1,200 navigational system in their new cars than it is to fund the schools properly. While we spend more and more on ourselves, our schools are forced to sell soda pop to kids in order to afford to run the schools. That's not a bad economy, that's bad choices. Steve Brown, Eugene
TINY ANSWERS I've been struggling with the "new" and "improved" puzzle for a couple of years. I agree that it probably appeals to younger people who know their TV shows, movies and music stars, and if that means more readers actually do the puzzle, that's fine. However, I have to object when the answers to last week's puzzle are so small that I need a magnifying glass to see them. I don't use reading glasses, so no, my eyes aren't that bad. If I can't do the puzzle because it's too modern for me, at least let me see the answers. I think that a lot of your readers are from my generation, you know, the '60s, and we are not too awfully cranky or un-hip. We still get ourselves thrown in jail to protest immoral and illegal logging, etc. Please let us see the answers to the puzzle. Here's an idea: maybe just for fun, once in a while, Matt would throw in a few '60s things, like, where did all the hippies gather in Colorado when the end of the world was supposed to arrive, 10 different out-of-date words for marijuana, where did the Dead give their first concert? Between groans of perplexity, my eyes would light up. Anne Hollander , Eugene
ON THE HOOK Thanks to Carrie Packwood Freeman's viewpoint ("Sexist Oppression: A Slap in the Face to Motherhood, 5/5), the meat and dairy consumers among us can no longer get off the hook by claiming they didn't know of the horrendous cruelty their dietary choices entail. Though it's hardly breaking news, I do hope it will penetrate the consciousness of some of them. Alice Pueschner, Eugene
TIPS FOR KILLING The top 10 ways for a motorist to kill a bicyclist or pedestrian: • Pointless conversation: A driver's main concern should be focusing on the road, not attempting to entertain passengers. • One-hand driving: I know it's less comfortable and uncool to drive with both hands, but one-hand driving undeniably cuts down on reaction time and accuracy of steering. • Taking wide turns: Those yellow and white lines aren't just suggestions. • Cell phones: Let's be honest here: are you really that popular? • Stop signs: They aren't slow signs. • Crowding/cutting off bicyclists: For bicyclists to get anywhere on time, they need to keep their momentum, so avoid cutting them off when it means only a three-second wait for you. • Aggressive driving: When you tailgate or unsafely pass other drivers, you increase the chances of running into a bicyclist or pedestrian. • Speeding: This is such an obvious factor, yet one so regularly ignored. Honestly, where are you going that is so damned important?! • Casual driving: It's neither drugs nor alcohol that cause the most accidents, but rather sheer carelessness or overconfidence. A driver should not be sitting back and relaxing while controlling a hurtling ton of steel with a little plastic wheel — hardly different than pointing a loaded gun at the heads of bicyclists and pedestrians. • Driving at all: The next time you think you have someplace to be, stop and think a minute about whether you can take the bus, ride a bike, walk, or — just stay home! In memory of those who have fallen. Paul Hilbert, Eugene
WIN AT ANY COST The latest Nike public relations "disclosure" [locations of all sweatshops] is actually an attempt to divert attention from upcoming Nike products such as wearable computers equipped with GPS that will create new health and privacy concerns for consumers. Nike's win-at-any-cost ethos is helping power the doping trend and race to develop undetectable athlete "enhancements." Nike's embrace of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology should cause every parent to boycott their products and products sold by Nike-owned companies also. These technologies along with Nike's poor human rights record and new Microsoft product development partnerships should deter consumers if they only knew. Zachary Vishanoff, Eugene
STOP THE RIP-OFF I want to be a writer when I grow up. I want to be successful. But when I graduate, I will be neck-deep in debt. My father always told me that an education will take me wherever I want to go. Instead my education is so expensive it has become the road block to my future. As a student on financial aid I am bewildered by the never-ending rise of textbook prices. I guess that's the catch-22 of a college education: You can get a better job with a college degree that will help pay off all that college debt! Tired of being taken advantage of, I joined OSPIRG, an organization on campus dedicated to issues that affect students such as overpriced textbooks. OSPIRG has turned the frustration of the students onto the cause of the problem: the publishers. Rising book prices are due to the conniving tactics of the publishers who constantly put out new editions. There are often no changes to the content, yet prices continue to rise faster than inflation rates. Students are unable to sell back books and are left penniless. McGraw-Hill publishing company claims their new releases contain information based on student and professor feedback. I am a student working with professors to get our feedback heard: Stop ripping us off and don't release new editions with no content changes except a higher price tag! Michelle Leo, University of Oregon
MANDATORY PEACE Talking about "thinking outside the box," I believe that we should reinvent the United Nations. Since it already exists as an International Organization, simply change its mandate to secure mandatory peace. Basically, we would arm the U.N. to the max with all member nations voluntarily transferring their military powers to U.N. control, essentially making the U.N. bar none the most absolute powerful military force on the planet. Once this military power is in place, any country that shows any signs of aggression toward any other country would immediately be converged upon by the dynamic U.N. power grid to quell the situation. Hence, mandatory peace. All problems would be solved at the conference table just like mature, conscientious, adult human beings should act. Wait, there's more: Once we have an enforced peace, why not just stretch our imaginations a bit further and solve world hunger and poverty?
Steve Berger, Eugene
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