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ESCAPING RELIGION I'm not a bit surprised to hear the right-wing religious fanatics threaten to hold a recall election to remove Kitty Piercy as mayor. The disagree-with-us-and-you're-out-of-here fanatics. How dare she decline a mayors' "prayer" breakfast because she happens to believe in that disappearing constitutional idea regarding separation of church and state? These people will stop at nothing to advance their desire to dismantle our Constitution and impose their religious beliefs on us all, including our mayor. Isn't that what we were escaping when we fled Europe in the 1700s? I am a practicing Christian. What I hear in scripture is Jesus telling us to love one another, tolerate our differences, help the poor, be honest and forthcoming and hold with great care and respect this beautiful creation called planet earth. The Bush born-agains, the God squad of government, are nothing but a pack of reverse Robin Hoods. They take from the poor to give to the rich, they plunder and pollute our beautiful planet, bomb countries full of poor people, kill hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and tell their twisted and perverse lies — all while wearing that "Christian" smile! Kitty Piercy had the courage to stand up for her belief in our beloved Constitution. These "Christians" have just shown themselves to be the thugs that they truly are. Julie Claybaugh, Eugene
NOT ENOUGH The UO and the College of Education (COE) need to put more effort and will into addressing the ongoing discrimination at the COE. President Frohnmayer has passed responsibility for dealing with this on to Greg Vincent and the external reviewer. Dean Kaufman after ignoring the situation, has now passed responsibility on to the Diversity Steering Committee. While some things are being done, the UO is not fully committed to making lasting change. The coalition of students, teachers, staff, and community members working hard on this issue has put forth eight demands, and so far only one has been met: the request for an external review. Some of the demands that remain are: creating a program of recognition for faculty and staff who active advocates for people who have been discriminated against, requiring all faculty and staff to attend trainings about affirmative action policies regarding prohibited discrimination and retaliation, creating an advocacy and grievance center that has the authority to hold faculty and staff accountable, and operationalizing the COE's Infusion of Diversity policy. These are very achievable and reasonable demands. Real and lasting change is needed. Diversity is not just a fringe issue that we bring in a specialist for. Diversity is something that everyone, from the president and the dean on down, is responsible for working on. Frohnmayer and Kaufman need to take personal responsibility. They have to do more than just say they are committed to change; they have to make change happen. Pira Kelly, Eugene
THE UPSHOT OF WAR I'm trying to find the positive aspects of the second Gulf War. These are the things I've come up with. Tell me what you think. Families of the dead soldiers get a brand-new flag just in time for the 4th of July. Soldiers who are blinded by explosions and disfigured won't be able to see themselves in the mirror, at least. How lucky is that? A quadriplegic soldier can be the new Christopher Reeves. Soldiers with severe brain injuries won't remember a thing. Soldiers whose kidneys are destroyed by medicines will keep dialysis machines. A good investment. Military morticians will know anatomical structures better than ever before. People who never could write with their opposite hand before learn quickly that they can. When will they ever learn? Greg Hume, Creswell
VOTE SORENSON The headline in the R-G business section 5/11 caught my eye. It read, "State businesses bear low burden." Which seems at odds with what feels like a constant drumbeat of how poor an environment it is here in Oregon for business. As I read on, I found out that Oregon didn't rank just low, it ranked 50th, dead last in percentage of all state and local taxes that come from businesses. This did not come as a big surprise to me, as I have read similar facts elsewhere as to the major drop in corporate taxes in recent years. One of the recent places I heard a discussion of such trends was a Jeff Golden interview of Peter Sorenson on the radio show "The Jefferson Exchange" on 1280 AM. This show helped solidify just why I am very supportive of Sorenson's run for governor. I found him extremely thoughtful, well-read on taxes and a major push in his run for governor is for a return of the corporations paying their fair share, thus lowering the burden on individual taxpayers. It is refreshing to hear a politician speak openly and honestly about corporate taxes, a topic which lately seems almost taboo. I also appreciate that he understands the need for a sustainable economy and the importance of retaining Oregon's wild areas, a major asset often overlooked in economic discussions. Tim Boyden, Eugene
COLLARED I got quite a shock when I read the Carrie Packwood-Freeman Viewpoint 5/5. The accompanying photo shows Carrie and (I assume) her animal companion, who is plainly wearing — my God! — a collar. Oh, the caninity! Since the column is titled "Sexist Oppression," I can only surmise that the dog is male and, therefore, considered fair game for oppression and degradation. John R. Sanders, San Dimas, Calif.
TREATED LIKE DIRT They're treating Florence's signature dunes parcel like dirt! All Lane County residents should be alarmed at a recent Lane County Board of Commisioners' decision to auction off the magnificent 87-acre dunes, osprey nest, Indian gathering site along the Siuslaw directly across from Old Town. An April 13 meeting saw the board, led by Commissioner Anna Morrison, instruct the county's Parks Division to get an appraisal pursuant to sale of this priceless, irreplaceable gem (taken via tax foreclosure) that has been cherished by thousands of county residents for more than a century. California developers are salivating over this juicy plum, which would be lost forever as open space. A "win-win" outcome is possible, however, if citizens and opinion leaders swing into action immediately. The Oregon Department of State Parks has expressed a keen interest in acquiring this historic property to annex to its existing land adjacent to the county land. Because we voters passed Measure 66, which reserves a substantial share of lottery proceeds for such acquisition, State Parks has the money to pay Lane County — making both sides happy. It is wise for the County to sell some re-possessed lands for Parks operations, but this is the wrong property, which is to coast dwellers like Mount Pisgah and Spencer Butte are to valley residents. This land should stay in public ownership, protected forever for all of us. Craig Harbiso, Veneta
INVADERS Someone recently asked me how I felt about the insurgency in Iraq. I replied: "if there were an invading force occupying my country, the U.S., I would be an insurgent." However the history books would likely refer to us as "patriots." Which brings me to the seemingly endless, unquestioned/accepted "war" in Iraq. I have one question, to anyone reading: "Why are we, the United States of America, an invading force, and "at war" in Iraq?" Before you answer, please consider these few simple facts: The Bush administration has finally admitted there is not now, and never were, "weapons of mass destruction." There is no connection between Iraq and the events of Sept. 11. (I'm sorry, there really isn't. Even Cheney himself has finally admitted this.) The longest range missiles Iraq's standing army possessed at the time of U.S. invasion was 100 miles. Hardly a threat to our "homeland security," 6,211 miles from Baghdad. If we invaded simply to "overthrow Saddam," or to "liberate the Iraqi people," why is this suddenly worth losing U.S. citizen lives over and spending over $228 million a day of the U.S. taxpayers' money? What about domestic schools, health care, homeless folks, everything else this country needs? As an American taxpayer, I don't like my money going to support an unexplained war. I urge anyone who would like an explanation as to the "official" reason we are occupying Iraq to please demand an answer from "President" Bush at: president@whitehouse.gov James Walker Studabaker, Eugene
ILLOGICAL SPEWS I am sick and tired of listening to the mean-spirited people in Eugene, and to the entire cabal of god-fearing, anti-humanists in this country trying to force their dangerous, narrow-minded, illogical views on the rest of us. The rabid responses of these people to such a minor issue as the mayor's refusal to attend a prayer breakfast is beyond belief, if it were not true. To those folks criticizing the mayor on this ridiculous, low-priority issue, I have some thoughts for you to chew on. If Mayor Piercy is expected to attend this prayer breakfast, then as mayor of all Eugene, she should be expected to attend a Secularist Breakfast, an Anarchists' Breakfast, and a Wiccan Prayer Luncheon. Regarding the first, an estimated 10 percent of the American population is composed of secularists. Many others who don't declare themselves secularists are nevertheless rare participants in the church/religious arena. This is a sizeable minority that is, by definition, ignored at all mayor's, governor's, and national prayer breakfasts. Furthermore, there is a misconception that secularists are value-free. In fact, we secularists have deep-feeling values. Few of us are hedonists. We value the planet we were born on, and we value other humans and life forms that we share this planet with. We have no post-life agenda. For us, this is "it" — and we try to make the most of it. I sympathize with Rabbi Yitzhak Husbands-Hankin. However, humans being humans, there will always be someone left out at these events, and hard feelings will always be on display among the many religious groups. The key instigators are the ones who feel that their particular religious group is the only one that has a direct line to God. If a person practices The Golden Rule in his or her life and treats our planet Earth with respect, a rewarding afterlife will surely be experienced by those looking for one. Robert Simms, Eugene
PEDESTRIAN ETIQUETTE Eugene is in full bloom, and more people are out walking. It seems a good time to pass on a friendly reminder of pedestrian etiquette. Since I have been walking the streets of Eugene homeless as part of my seventh year University Militant Pedagogy, or as Jon Young (4/7) states, "an imposed education rights/discriminatory gulag," I have learned a lot about how to walk safely using pedestrian etiquette. Use common sense. Non-verbal gestures and body language work well to communicate your intentions. When approaching an intersection, do not automatically advance to the edge of the curb. About 20 feet from the intersection, I stop (become mentally present), look (assess the approaching intersection), and listen (become cognizant of the activity around me). I stand back near the light pole that has the sidewalk control. Before I advance into the crosswalk, I get eye contact from the motorist nearest to me, smile, and advance across the street when I feel safe to do so. Sometimes this person is making a right hand turn into traffic and I have to wait to advance out into traffic. It helps reduce motorists' stress at an intersection if I stand still, wait for the light to change, and gain eye contact with the motorist before I cross the street. In general, be courteous. When elderly and young children are present, be considerate and call out as you come up behind them, so as not to scare them. When passing, call out. This keeps them from being startled. Enjoy walking the streets of Eugene, use common sense, pedestrian etiquette, and be safe. Denise Foster, Eugene
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