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RIDICULOUS MESSAGE Good grief! Whatever happened to the principles of responsible journalism? How could you regard an anonymous e-mail with sender and recipient redacted as evidence of widespread disrespect by city staff of elected officials? A moment of thought might suggest that given the uproar over Jim Carlson's far less inflammatory e-mail, no city employee in his or her right mind would send such a ridiculous message via electronic mail. If I had manufactured and sent to you anonymously an e-mail that suggested Bonny Bettman was engaged in an unwarranted persecution of city staff, would you have used it as the basis of an article cataloging her misdeeds? I think not. Alan Pittman should check out employment opportunities with the White House and Pentagon. I understand they are always looking for "journalists" who are skilled at misleading the public. I'm glad we have an alternative press in Eugene, but think the community has a right to expect a higher standard of reporting and some token efforts at fairness. Lynn Taylor, Eugene
WETLANDS ALTERNATIVE On June 19, 2001, the City of Eugene, Lane County, the Oregon Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Bureau of Land Management reached consensus on selecting "no build" for the West Eugene Parkway (WEP), and decided to finish Beltline highway as part of an effort to find practical solutions to west Eugene traffic. Documents from that decision are archived at www.permatopia.com/wetlands/nobuild.html It is nice that Mayor Piercy says she wants to look at alternatives to the WEP. However, since local governments do not make federal highway decisions, the City Council vote last October against WEP lacks legal power to stop it, just as the 51-to-49 citizen vote in favor of the WEP in November 2001 cannot force the FHWA to approve the porkway. It is weird that the Mayor, who has been a WEP opponent for many years, is avoiding the fact that there are already practical alternatives. After the State of the City speech in January, she tried to persuade me that the June 2001 inter-governmental "No Build" consensus did not happen (it was never implemented, but the agreement did happen). The mayor has declined to mention the WETLANDS alternative, which is largely based on the June 2001 consensus. If the city really wants to stop the WEP, it would transfer its properties bought for WEP to the BLM's West Eugene Wetlands project for conservation and restoration, which would make WEP even more illegal to approve. The WETLANDS alternative — West Eugene Transportation, Land and Neighborhood Design Alternatives — is described in detail at their website: www.permatopia.com/wetlands.html Mark Robinowitz, Eugene
BEST FOR THE BENCH Though I'm now retired, I practiced law in Lane County for more than 30 years. From that experience, I have a strong opinion about the Lane County Circuit Court race. Only Alan Leiman has demonstrated judicial temperament — one of the most important qualities a judge can possess. I have personally witnessed the devastating effects of rude and impatient judges on the clients in their courtrooms. For criminal defendants, it further diminishes their respect for society. For civil litigants, it can shatter the fragile psyche of a divorce litigant or a victim of domestic violence. For business people, it is simply shocking to be treated in such a manner. Judges are the face of our judicial system. Leiman has already demonstrated his character on the bench, and he is clearly the most qualified candidate for the position. Ken Gough, Eugene
FLICK THE LEVER Around noontime I saw two cars idling at a stop sign intersection, each alert to the other, and both seemingly at a loss as to how to proceed. I waited it out at on the sidewalk. After a while one inched forward a bit, and then the other, and then they both turned left. Neither signaled with a blinker. Employing turn signals seems pretty unhip these days, but I'm not speculating on cause. Just please use them, save us the guesswork, and perhaps spare a life or two. OK? Aaron Rosenberg, Eugene
PREDATORY HEALTH CARE In a recent article in the R-G, it was mentioned that PeaceHealth had "rescued" three local hospitals (Florence, the Eugene Clinic and Cottage Grove). I guess "rescued" is a euphemism for "driving them out of business and taking them over." And they were fined for illegal trade practices in trying to do the same to McKenzie Willamette. In discussions of these "hospital wars," greed is often cited as the root of PeaceHealth's predatory practices, (hence the nickname "Sacred Wallet") but we must remember that PeaceHealth is also an ideological entity with a goal of restricting the availability of medical care in Lane County to those procedures approved by a bunch of old men in dresses, in Rome, who believe in forced pregnancies and the protection of pedophiles. And before we listen to the propaganda about what great state-of-the-art medicine we have in Eugene, let's consider the following: Have you ever heard of anyone from Portland coming to Eugene for medical care? I'll guarantee you there're a lot more going from Eugene to Portland, myself having been one. Predation, rather than honest competition, does not result in improved medical care. It is imperative that access to the full spectrum of medical care be preserved in Lane County, yet we have allowed PeaceHealth to erode such access and force our community-based hospital to be sold to a large corporation in order to compete. Wayne Ford, Eugene
MAHN'S THE ONE On May 16 voters have the opportunity to choose a new Lane County assessor. Bill Mahn is the only candidate who has the necessary experience and qualifications to do the job. Bill has worked in the assessor's office for 21 years, starting as an accounting clerk in property records. He trained as a residential appraiser and was promoted to commercial appraiser, then became the personal property appraiser for the county, and finally advanced to his current position as the lead commercial appraiser in the department. It is essential that the assessor knows how to appraise property and has actually done so right here in Lane County. Bill is the only candidate who can make that claim. Through 21 years of experience, including the institution of Measure 5 and Measure 47/50 in the last decade, Bill has a practical and thorough understanding of property taxation and assessment. He doesn't have a lot of political connections because he's not a politician; what he does have is the support of the majority of the current employees in the department, those who know him best and work with him on a daily basis. It is interesting to note that none of the county commissioners bothered to interview Bill before handing out their endorsements. Bill does have the endorsements of AFSCME Local 2831 and 626 and has been active in union activities and the rights of workers. Bill is the underdog in this race, and his campaign is a grassroots effort. Most importantly, he will be a strong advocate for the taxpayers of Lane County, with a commitment to fairness and equity. I have worked with Bill for over 15 years as a Lane County appraiser and I know that he will do an outstanding job as the next Lane County assessor. Please join me in supporting him. Steve Nasset, Junction City
COERCION, NOT SEX Newsflash: When a cop coerces someone to perform a sexual act, it is not "cop sex," but cop sexual assault. Sex is what happens between consenting individuals. Once coercion enters the picture, regardless of what physical acts are involved, it is no longer "sex." Why is it that you can't seem to understand that sexual assault by police offers isn't sexy? It's not a blow, or any other sort of, job. It's assault. It's rape. It's not kinky. It's not sex. Here's what might be a handy rule of thumb: Until you clearly understand the difference between sex and sexual assault, drop all pretense to being sophisticated and just report the news.
Timothy Shaw, Eugene
EDITOR'S NOTE: "Cop sex" was the teaser headline on the cover of our 4/13 issue. The actual story headline inside was "Magaña Ruling: Failure to stop cop sex abuse was pervasive."
TRUCKS AND DUCKS Eugene Weekly's suggestion that land EWEB plans to vacate along the riverfront be used as a park has Eugene Planning Commissioner Philip Carroll so upset he's parlayed the proposal into "an 'us versus them' shouting match" (4/20). Before "demanding specific outcomes," he says, "we should first discover what really lies at the water's edge." Fair enough. Let's take a look. What lies at the water's edge between the river and the asphalt bike path is a strip of native and non-native trees and shrubs too narrow to adequately protect the river. On the other side of the path is a chain-link fence enclosing 27 acres of asphalt, EWEB maintenance buildings and equipment. In its recent history the Willamette has been dammed, rip-rapped and channeled, which has opened its banks to the pollution of housing, chemically maintained lawns, roadways, restaurants — and a public utility. Very little of the natural river remains. Restoration of the EWEB site to a natural park seems a reasonable proposal in keeping with its proximity to, and master plans for, Skinner Butte and Alton Baker parks and the needs of the river itself. Carroll doesn't say what he's discovered at the water's edge. But from the point of view of the "riparianistas," his riverfront group, "the edge formed by a promising young city and a far-reaching old stream" has plenty of room for both trucks and ducks. If "riparianistas" conjures a vision of wild-oriented, if not wild-eyed, revolutionaries, think Wise Use with a veneer of liberal acceptability. EWEB's maintenance facility shouldn't be used as a pretext for development dressed in green. The Willamette River has served our needs for more than 150 years. It's time we serve the needs of the river. Robert Emmons, Fall Creek
BIKE PARADE Critical Mass: The minimum amount of fissionable material necessary to sustain a nuclear chain reaction at which point a nuclear chain reaction becomes self-sustaining. To choose a specialized term associated directly to the natural science of physics and assume the "Critical Mass" bike parade is in any way correspondent to the natural function of physics is pretentious and absurd. Critical mass as defined by science is a completely natural event, whereas the bicycle parade is a completely contrived event. If the everyday usage of bicycles increased to the point where such an event actually occurred naturally on the streets of Eugene, then there may be some correlate association to critical mass. However, as it is presently staged, this event is more akin to the psychological event called "control drama," as this is what these people are indeed acting out — all at the expense of the traffic flow and the patience of drivers and the police department. To think that such a staging of the so-called Critical Mass bike parade is raising consciousness about bike use is absolutely delusional. The only thing this event is raising is the tax dollars necessary to pay for the extra police people required to monitor this event and to prevent serious accidents as a result of breaking traffic laws. As for the violence folks — this bicycle parade of "critical chaos" is a passive-aggressive act, directly causing the police to react in a violent way. You reap what you sow, what goes around comes around. Just like a bicycle wheel. Please take more responsibility for this irresponsible event, and realize that you are giving the rest of us bicyclers a bad image by simply riding bikes in this irresponsible event! Tom Vincent, Newport
INACCURATE GEOGRAPHY Does Kera Abraham get out of Eugene much? Her sloppy inaccurate locality references ("The Battle of Biscuit," 4/13) remind me of President George W. Bush's publicly revealed ignorance of geography. Kera's lack of knowledge or research of landmarks south of Lane County has lowered the credibility of her entire article. She states people in Douglas County wondered what to do after Biscuit. However, because the fire occurred in Curry and Josephine counties, residents of those counties were probably wondering even more, although I do concede that timber interests in neighboring Douglas and Jackson Counties were also seriously mulling it over. She also states that the Forest Service has proposed sales in roadless areas around the Siskiyou's Klamath Wilderness. Sorry, no such place. If she had looked at a map of the Biscuit fire area, she would see that it is the Kalmiopsis Wilderness that was affected by the Biscuit and that Forest Service sales are planned and already have occurred up to the edge of the wilderness area (and in some cases into adjacent botanical areas). Kera, you've done a disservice to us who place great value on our national forest, our unlogged roadless areas and on accurate reporting and fact-checking!
Melissa McDowell, Gold Beach
EDITOR'S NOTE: Thanks for the feedback. We have corrected the web archive of the story.
A REAL THRILLER I was quite impressed with Kera Abraham's "The Battle of the Biscuit" cover story (4/13). It read like a political thriller. It makes me wish it were fiction when I saw yet another story of corporate influence corrupting public servants. Daniel Donato certainly seems brave for a graduate student. As a grad student myself, I'm glad I don't to deal with an oppressive department interfering with my research. Thank you for covering this important local environmental issue. I have been hearing a lot about it in fragments, but I hadn't really sat down and concentrated on finding out a cohesive story until I read your article. I went to the April 17 campus talk to find out more. Great job! Carrie Packwood Freeman, Eugene
BUSH ON THE COUCH Last week I was inspired by David Barsamian at his lecture at Harris Hall on, "Another World is Possible: People Power in the age of Empire." I found him to be humorous, informative and motivating. He was frightening, too. He pointed out that Bush is likely going to start a war with Iran in the beginning of October to help keep Republicans running Congress. If history is a teacher, it may well succeed. That means that impeachment is unlikely although I feel it is important to keep the pressure up. I asked Mr. Barsamian (who is the director of "Alternative Radio," which is on KLCC Tuesday nights at 6:30 and at www.alternativeradio.org)if he would have Justin A. Frank, MD. on his show. Dr. Frank wrote the book, Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President. It is an extensive analysis drawing the conclusions that Bush is an untreated alcoholic who can only see things in black and white. Also Bush is a paranoid megalomaniac with sadistic tendencies who resents the troops he sends to war. Dr. Frank concludes that Bush must be removed from office before he hurts more people. Bush is a danger to himself and a danger to others. It must be possible to have him committed to a mental institution for evaluation and treatment to protect him and those around him. I strongly recommend that everyone read Dr. Frank's book and EW interview him as to the possibilities of removing Bush through commitment proceedings as there seem to be no other solutions. Anand Keathley, Eugene
IMPRESSIVE HILL On Sunday the 16th of April, Eugene radio station KLCC featured gubernatorial candidate Jim Hill, and I was listening. About midway in the show an unasked question kept crossing my mind, so I decided to call in. I'd read in an Associated Press article that at the age of 13, Jim had met Martin Luther King, Jr. Knowing how my own convictions were influenced at that same age, I asked him what an impact meeting King had on his own decision to enter public service. Though I surmised the experience was at the foundation of his political beliefs, I was quite surprised by the emotional candor evidenced in his response. For a few moments I was acutely aware that this man was reflecting on a time — the year was probably 1961 — when the Civil Rights Movement was at its peak, and he was a young person of color in Atlanta, Georgia. He composed himself and answered affirmatively that this had a great deal to do with his path in life and his advocacy for working people. I was so filled with emotion by that point, as I visualized the sad and controversial memories he must be recalling, I may not have captured his precise words. But, regardless, I drew from it more evidence of his integrity. And in a time when many of us yearn desperately for leaders who speak from the heart and exhibit courage, it was like a breath of fresh air in generally stifling political times. Star Holmberg, Springfield
FACT VS. FICTION Debra Merskin's article on Hustle and Flow (4/30) mixes fact with fiction. Yes, the stereotyped and distorted portrayal of the pimp on MTV and video games is destructive, pathological, and should not be celebrated. But since Hustle and Flow offers a complex human story about a pimp, that does not make it automatically evil. The film does not glorify or "sweeten," as she puts it, the life or character of the pimp, "DJay." He arrives home to a house of screaming kids, and a hooker who berates and belittles him. He drives an old Chevy with no paint job and a push button radio. He sells drugs, pimps and hustles, and yet he still lives in a run-down house in a run-down neighborhood. In a poignant scene he tells us what we have long since discovered: He does not want to be doing what he is doing. Rather than glorifying the life of a pimp, the film contextualizes the reasons why people are forced into that life and demonstrates the barriers to escaping its reality. Just like rap music, the film tells a story that, like it or not, portrays the life as it is for some people. And it is through his music that he finds a means to regaining the purpose, dignity and self-respect that his existence will not otherwise permit. Some people, like Debra, may hear words like bitch and pimp and become triggered by them (and rightfully so), but in order to understand their meaning one also has to understand their context. She fails because she judges the words as objects in her politically correct universe, rather than seeing their flawed but meaningful place in a complex world. Debra believes we are "pimped into believing (DJay) is a good guy." Since the movie portrays him as one, I am left to wonder why Debra believes that he isn't. My only hunch is that she believes that being a pimp and a good guy are mutually exclusive. I find this odd, since hundreds of movies portray businessmen, lawyers, politicians, and college professors (the hustlers of white culture) as good people, and yet she makes no mention of them. She accuses us of "celebrating pathology," but what I see her doing is undermining a rare glimpse into the humanity (and complexity) of black ghetto culture. Luke Gonzales, Eugene
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