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KLCC DRIFTING Allow me to indulge in a little media advocacy. While I'm happy to donate my musical talents on the Garden Tour fund-raiser for KLCC, and my sole commentary (on racial profiling) in 2004 won an AP award for Best in Oregon, I often wonder, "Who is KLCC's community, and am I represented in it?" Increasingly, I'd say no, though I'm represented in the donor age bracket reported in your paper. While NPR has drifted to the right, increasingly using conservative think tanks to comment on the news, KLCC has also drifted away from its left-center roots, where you could have actual live community of color-oriented radio educating about issues of concern. Back in the day, "Black Is" was more than just a music show, and in prime time, not in the "Liquid Beat" spot. I'll give a nod to "Ahora Si!," "Latino USA" and "Earthtones," but there is a reason I stopped doing KLCC commentaries, even during the obvious stereotypical news peg ghetto of Black History Month in February. With Tripp Sommer's editing and engineering, I originated the Spectrum commentaries. The idea was that communities of color (hence the name) would be given airtime to comment about relevant, longstanding, current, and ongoing issues, outside of being mere entertainment (jazz, blues, Air Jamaica, Tropical Beat, etc). I stopped commenting, though there is sufficient material to do weekly community related commentary, even a show, like I hear on Pacifica and NPR in California. Oops, riiiight, this is Eugene. Mark Harris, Eugene
MORE FLAVOR It appears that the dictatorial administrators of KLCC (10/13 cover story) are convinced that their word is the best word, that programming is best determined by the lowest common denominator. That would be any numerator over stale to the 10th. Open up, guys, and allow that messy concept, democracy, to have some influence on the airwaves. Otherwise more members will find themselves alienated from your subjective tastes and withholding of their donation to "public" radio. There is a big world of creative new music and insights into the news out there. How's about a little flavoring? Richard Gross, Deadwood
WINNERS DISSED Some of your readers might be wondering how the Best of Eugene Awards Show went. Here's my take: It was all about the presenters and the MC, and the winners were treated with disrespect. The MC waxed effusive about what great pals he was with the next presenters, then the two presenters came out and wasted time reading lame jokes. Then they read — often inaudibly — the names of nominees in the next category, announced the winner, and then, as the winner came happily up to receive the award, they jumped to the next category, often ignoring the winner's presence. There was no spotlight on the winner, no really focused moment of acclamation, and certainly no chance for the winner to speak. Organizers probably chose not to give winners the mic because of time, but if they had cut out the presenters' jokes, removed the MC entirely, axed some categories, and allowed entertainers only one song each, there would've been plenty of time for short comments from the winners, and THAT would've been fun! Some of the musical guests (all volunteering for the same good cause, FOOD for Lane County) were wonderful, and the first segment of the evening — multiple renderings of Zappa's "Black Page" by the Oregon Percussion Ensemble — was extraordinary. But most of the event was like a TV infomercial-Chamber of Commerce back-slapping (and apparently a major party back-stage among the presenters) in the guise of an awards show. Next year, spotlight on the winners, please. Jeff Harrison, Eugene
IMMODERATE FIX As a law student interested in land use, and as a citizen of Oregon who cares deeply for our great state's rural lands and its wonderfully livable cities, I welcome the recent court decision that finds Measure 37 unconstitutional. In Measure 37, the people of Oregon clearly demonstrated their consternation with the status quo; few deny the need to revisit our laws. However, Measure 37 is an irresponsible solution; it is poorly drafted, ambiguous, and radical. It purports to benefit people like Dorothy English, yet it creates a windfall for land speculators and developers. While the people want change, we did not intend a wholesale abdication of our right to control growth and plan for a better future. The court's decision is yet another signal to our Legislature that Measure 37 has thrown our land use laws into chaos. It is time to revisit them, not with the purpose of pandering to special interests, but rather for the purpose of ensuring fairness, livability, and a beautiful and healthy state for our children. I ask of the governor and the Legislature, please do not permit such an important issue to be decided by courts in a piecemeal manner, and by ballot measures that, while well-intentioned, go too far and benefit too few at too high a cost. Do your job! Make the hard choices, find middle ground, and give the legislative process a chance to succeed so that we need not rely on such immoderate solutions as Measure 37. Jason Busch, UO Law School
NORTHERN VIEW I was in town this past weekend for the excellent second annual Beaming Bioneers Conference at LCC. I want to thank those who organized the conference and your paper for printing that great Viewpoint (10/13) by Nina Simons, one of the founders of Bioneers. I want to invite you to send a reporter to the conference next year as I believe your paper may be a great medium for bringing the cutting-edge thinking presented at Bioneers to the citizens of Eugene and Lane County. For your readers, bioneers.org and bridgingworldsnw.org are two places to learn about the Bioneers, biological pioneers. While in town I caught a show at the McDonald Theatre — what an incredible venue and wonderful music. I also had a fantastic dinner at the Lucky Noodle and shopped for snacks at one of your incredible co-ops. I really love Eugene and have to return sometime soon. Finally, I read the letter to the editor about the Mercury vs. Eugene Weekly. Besides some of the local reporting on political issues in the Mercury, I'd take EW any day. Just for the letters section alone, and the rest of it looks pretty good, too. You all are very lucky in so many ways, and I'd say EW is one of them. Hopefully, at some point our Mercury will get a clue and become more interesting and less stupid. One can only hope. Albert Kaufman, Portland
HAMMERIN' BACK It took 50-year-old Lori Kasprzak's letter called "Hammer Work" (10/6), in which she publicly stated that she'll stop her son from being available for military service by using a sledge hammer to smash one of his ankles after "narc"-ing him up, to remind me that in this culture most male kids receive their first forms of physical violence from their mothers; then pre-violenced older siblings get their whacking times. The male child is also raised in schools primarily staffed by women who see men as a threat in their older lives and take from these boys their rightful male competence and natural protective cultural position in human society — a needed element of any family element. I note that if Kasprzak's son dared to say the same about doing anything as violent to his mom to "save" her from a purely paranoid social perception about how the world works, he would be arrested and forced into treatment for mental instability and logged permanently in government files as a violent delinquent. In the name of "equality," arrest and send to treatment Mrs. Kasprzak now, and chase down how much exposure other children have to her. Get her listed as fast as possible as a serious violent risk to kids. This would be the "equal treatment" Mrs. Kasprzak has always demanded, while the rest of us 50 year olds actually went to war in a boys-only draft. We didn't get to vote either. Daniel J. Moore, Springfield
TOUR DE OLSON The story of Aaron Olson, bicycle racer, which appeared in the 10/6 EW, was a nice twist away from the usual smash 'em, crash 'em fall sports story. I met Olson when he was 15 and have had the pleasure of viewing his struggles and successes in bicycle racing. He is not likely to go off to fame and fortune in the Tour de France. But better yet, he will find his teenage dream and send out the message to all: Miracles can happen. There was no path he was able to follow to this achievement, and none will be able to follow his own path. In my prime, I never could have raced with such a lofty goal and deep economic debt. In the years ahead, Olson is sure to be a blessing and an inspiration for the young people he is certain to encounter. Russell Morton, Eugene
BIG OMISSION In your story on KLCC (10/13), it is astonishing that you could mention their dearth of left-wing news, and describe their local competition, without mentioning KWVA. This is the UO student station at 88.1 FM; WVA stands for Willamette Valley Alternative. Unlike KLCC, they carry "Democracy Now," the news show that middle-of-the-road KLCC spurns as advocacy, every weekday morning from 7 to 8. They carry "Pacifica News," the news show that middle-of-the-road KLCC once carried and dropped, every afternoon from 6 to 6:30. Since you refer to an organized group's desire to have this show here, why would you neglect to mention that it is in fact broadcast locally? They also carry "Counterspin," the media criticism show from FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Media, www.fair.org),and "Radio Nation," from The Nation, the oldest American newsweekly and still a pillar of the left. They carry locally produced left-wing news and commentary. These offerings make for an extraordinarily valuable and unusual local resource and it is really quite shocking and a discredit to your staff that a self-declared alternative publication would overlook them. Their main detriment is a comparatively weak signal, which makes me think that you overlooked them perhaps because you're secretly located in Albany. I can't imagine any more credible explanation.
Larry Koenigsberg, Eugene
EDITOR'S NOTE: Our bad. See correction in News Briefs last week.
ENDANGERED ACT The National Endangered Species Act (ESA) is up for renewal, but is being threatened by radical revision. The act has already brought back from near-extinction numerous species whose survival proves the effectiveness of the act. To assure the survival of the Earth as our forefathers knew it (and we discern its threatened future), it is imperative that the act not only be renewed but strengthened. We and all humankind share the genes of all animate life. Survival of our lives and our children's lives depend upon the vast gene pool of every living creature. The large animals and all people depend upon the diverse nature of all created order, in order to remain a viable human creation. The future of our children requires a sustainable ecology in which all varied animal life is preserved. The ESA is important existing legislation that underscores these principles. Doug M. Still, Cottage Grove
LISTEN TO RIDERS When I called LTD two months ago to report how many bikes were getting turned away on the rural routes to Cottage Grove and Creswell, I was told that the buses were primarily for pedestrian passengers. Riding the bus with 22-plus people standing because the longer buses were not available for the most vulnerable route, I am beginning to wonder exactly what LTD and the buses really are for. Are they for the transit dreams and plans of the people who work in Glenwood? Do they see their job as what "mass transit should look like," as opposed to the daily conditions working people and families depend on? Is the latter not exciting enough for them? Do they not see the great responsibility they have? LTD even failed to apprise their own drivers about the construction of the rapid transit, to the tune of many working people in Cottage Grove missing the bus entirely or getting home an hour late. This is already after a long work day with a long commute tacked on. Instead of punishing people who commute from the country and clear the streets of hundreds of more cars, LTD should take greater care for their most vulnerable route. Maybe the people making decisions about the buses need a large reality dose. Maybe they can actually start listening to the riders who call them every week, if not every day, about the urgent need for more service to this route. Kerstin Britz, Cottage Grove
MONEY FLOWS DOWN Capitalism and the free market make up the best economic system ever. More people get wealthy under this economy than any other. Capitalism is helping the poor of the world by giving them jobs that pay them more than they would otherwise make. It's best for everyone, and should raise all people out of poverty as it spreads worldwide. We have more wealthy people now than ever. They enjoy a lifestyle unimaginable to kings of the past, and that number is growing. Capitalism benefits those who are competitive and willing to take risks. Capitalism allows those capable to get ahead, and in turn, money flows down to many other people who benefit from the wealth others earn. As communities get wealthier, they take better care of the environment because they have more financial resources to do so. It's mostly a bunch of bullshit! The poor will never be raised out of poverty — there are more people in poverty now than ever after decades of capitalism. Even in America, 90 percent are losing in wealth, while the top 10 percent are getting unsustainably rich. The environment is quickly being polluted and depleted, and other species are going extinct at a phenomenal rate. We're trying the impossible, and doing more of the same: "Growth is good" will only make our situation worse. If cancer in the human body could speak, it would sound much like the growth advocates above. We need a more cooperative social and economic system, locally based, that recognizes the very real limits to human growth and consumption. Please, speak out about this. I need your help! Patrick Bronson, Eugene
HOPPED-UP BIAS In response to the "So Hoppy Together" article (10/13 Corvallis section): Good beer can be made without the addition of hops. People have been making beer from grain for thousands of years and have used a wide variety of herbs and spices to balance their brew. Yes, hops work extremely well, balancing the sweetness of the malt, while providing and antiseptic quality that helps to preserve the beer. That doesn't mean we have to close our beer loving minds and forget the wonders of the past. Before hops, sage was the most common herb used in beer. Cardamom, nutmeg, wormwood and rosemary were also popular additions to beer. I can just imagine some ancient brewer saying, "Without sage, beer would simply be a sweet alcoholic drink that tastes a little bit like oatmeal." Anchor Steam brewery of San Francisco has experimented with an ancient Sumerian beer recipe estimated to be around 5,000-plus years old, and guess what, no hops. Stephen Mildrexler, Eugene
MIERS TIME? In a nation divided by political labels, there is unity on at least one issue. Informed people on both sides are speaking out against President Bush's choice of Harriet Miers, his former personal attorney, as a Supreme Court nominee. Charles Krauthammer wrote, "If Harriet Miers were not a crony of the president of the U.S., her nomination to the Supreme Court would be a joke, as it would have occurred to no one else to nominate her." George Will added, "There is no reason to believe that Miers' nomination resulted from the president's careful consultation with people capable of such judgments. If 100 such people had been asked to list 100 individuals who have given evidence of the reflectiveness and excellence requisite in a justice, Miers' name probably would not have appeared in any of the 10,000 places on those lists." There's no requirement that a nominee for the Court must have served as a judge at a lower level, but a person who lacks that experience should have an impressive legal mind and be able to demonstrate their superior ability over any other possible candidate. Miers can meet neither standard. Based on the small amount of public records regarding her accomplishments and opinions, she may well be the least capable person ever nominated to the court. But that's probably an appropriate choice, coming from the least capable president in American history. Rob Lafferty , Blachly DILUTING LABEL Thanks for your coverage on the organic food industry (beginning 9/1). There's more to the story that will interest your readers. According to the Organic Consumers Association, this week, "Large corporations are moving to lower organic standards allowing Bush appointees in the USDA National Organic Program to approve a broad list of synthetic ingredients and processing aids that would be allowed in organic production." What this means, if the Bush administration has its way, is that virtually ALL food will qualify as "organic." USDA bureaucrats and industry lobbyists (including Wal-Mart), not consumers, will gain control over organic foods and products to the detriment of public welfare. For more startling details, visit www.organicconsumers.organd voice an opinion before this gets voted on in congress real, real soon. Soon like hurricane soon. Scott W. Webb, Nashville
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