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BACH TO THE FUTURE I found much to admire in Brett Campbell's balanced and judicious opinion article entitled "Bach on Track," which appeared in your Oct. 19 issue. The author takes care to list a few of the Oregon Bach Festival's recent contemporary music highlights, including works by Arvo Pärt, Oswaldo Golijov and Tan Dun, although he curiously omits mention of Krzysztof Penderecki, whose Credo was commissioned by OBF. It's worth noting that the festival's recording of that work earned a Grammy award. So I am puzzled by the criticism of "stodgy programming" leveled at OBF by UO's Pappas report, cited indirectly by Mr. Campbell's piece, and the subject of recent controversy. Perhaps it's an instance of seeing the glass as either half-empty or half-full. Yet it seems to me ironic that Campbell can make the laudable and constructive suggestion that "the OBF could get worldwide attention by issuing recordings of commissioned composers" when the Festival has done just that, as noted above. Long-term OBF patrons know that its educational mission is paramount, even if its public concerts and performances have grown larger and more ambitious over the past three decades. In that regard, the HIP (historically informed performance) Campbell seeks at OBF may be hiding in plain sight within its Discovery Series, an extension of the Master Class in Conducting. In the public performance part of this series, Helmuth Rilling explains and illustrates the historical context of the work at hand, patiently showing how each composer communicates a musical meaning. In the case of a Bach cantata, for example, he tries to place his contemporary audience in the realm of its 17th century counterpart whilst reminding the former that the latter cannot be recreated today, however hard one might try. Hence, there is, finally, an insurmountable barrier for HIP: One can recover many elements of historically authentic/informed performances, but not the audiences, beyond a few written comments of critics long dead. On the mundane but always sensitive level of ticket prices for all performances under the sun (and moon), yes, we in the seats prefer lower ones. However, I note that many of those who grumble over the cost of classical music tickets readily pay over twice as much to hear Lyle Lovett, Bob Dylan or Willie Nelson live on stage. I salute their catholicity of taste, but reserve judgement on the logic of their complaints about ticket prices. I should note in passing that UO music professor Marc Vanscheeuwijck has been here long enough to expect his name to be spelled correctly, whatever the origin of its misspelling in Campbell's article. I appreciate the several perceptive comments and criticisms Campbell outlines in his article about OBF's future, and I can assure him that the coming years will bring changes in the Festival. Whether or not such changes represent progress will depend on one's viewpoint, and I am grateful Mr. Campbell has offered his. John E. Heintz, Eugene
TALKING TRASH Eugene-area recycling professionals have demonstrated to UO Athletic Department officials specific methods by which the tons of waste carted off to the landfill after every football game could be both significantly and inexpensively reduced. Athletic Department Operations Manager Gordon Burke, however, offers only fumbling and unconvincing excuses for the department's dismal inability to recycle effectively. $8 million (plus the cost of new facilities for the wrestling team) will soon be spent to expand and update the University of Oregon treatment center for athletes — and for salary increases for coaches and departmental administrative staff. Many millions have already been spent on stadium expansion, expensive uniforms, a costly indoor practice field, the state-of-the-art Cas Center weight room and a grotesquely opulent football locker room. Yet there's nary a penny for the minimal cost of reducing waste. I know that trash talking has become the accepted norm on the sidelines and in the field during games. Perhaps trash recycling should become the accepted norm in the parking lots and in the stadium after games. Jerome Garger, Yachats
SLOPPY REPORTING Kera Abraham's article (11/2) about the Warner Creek campaign was the worst piece of reporting I've ever read. For the record, absolutely nothing that was reported about me is accurate. There was never any such thing as a "Monty Python Forest Engineering Division." I didn't build the fort. Abraham got my age wrong, my past job wrong, my current job wrong — she got literally every single detail about me wrong. The vast majority of facts as reported in this story, including dates, times, and who did what, where, when are similarly just plain wrong. I was proud to play a minor role in the Warner Creek campaign. Everyone involved took full responsibility for committing misdemeanors — including physically affixing ourselves to a logging road. It was a very conscientiously crafted response to a timber sale that could only be sold because Congress had suspended all environmental laws. Warner Creek had absolutely nothing to do with orgies, arson plots, or hairy armpits. The Warner Creek campaign was made up of a group of smart, serious and strategic people taking radical but carefully measured action against a government that thought it could break its own rules and get away with it. And no, I never "made love, as free wild creatures do" at Warner Creek. For one thing, it was cold as hell most of the time and I wouldn't have taken off my clothes for sex or money. I have been a working locally on forest issues as a volunteer and paid professional for almost 15 years. Most of the people reading this probably know me as a guy who knows what the hell I'm talking about. Anyone interested in Warner Creek should know that Abraham's characterization of the people and events of that time are flat wrong. After communicating with her at length about her piece and her sources, I am convinced that she is an extremely sloppy reporter who relied on other peoples' reporting for a third of her story, second-hand gossip for another third of the story, and simply made up the remainder.
James Johnston, Eugene
EDITOR'S NOTE: Abraham relied entirely on records and first-hand sources for this story. For the most part, her sources provided accurate information. One notable exception is Johnston, who twice told Abraham with a straight face that he was part of "the Monty Python Forest Engineering Division." When she asked what the MPFED did, he replied: "Picture, for instance, a fort complete with drawbridge structure." Now he claims he'd been joking. The discrepancies Mr. Johnston correctly pointed out were minor and have been corrected online; see "Corrections." The substantive parts of the article are unchanged, and we stand by them.
NOT SO FRIENDLY I keep hearing these comments in a lot of papers locally about how bicycle "friendly" the Eugene area is supposed to be. Lately I'm starting to wonder. Have been here since June of this year and am amazed at the amount of bikes on the road. That's a good thing. I don't have a car, so I ride on my bike from Springfield to Eugene where I work. I've noticed since the leaves have started falling that a large number of homes along Harlow Road have been raking their leaves right into the bike lanes! Now if you drive everywhere you may not notice this much, but if you ride, it's like an obstacle course just getting around all these piles of leaves without getting hit by a passing vehicle! And who knows what's lying in these piles of leaves besides leaves. Glass? Nails? Metal fragments? Any number of things that could give me a flat tire, for which I will have to pay to replace, right? I'm not sure why the residents are allowed to practice such acts of "littering" in your city, but if we tried something like this back east, we would be ticketed so fast it would make your head spin! Before you start raking all your leaves into the bike lanes, please consider your neighbors who still like to ride their bikes. Even though the weather has started to turn colder doesn't mean that we all stop riding. Some of us have to ride; we have no other transportation. I think the city of Eugene should pass an ordinance prohibiting yard waste being littered into the bike lanes! It can be a safety issue, plus it makes your neighborhoods look like hell! Neil Deweese, Springfield
NO COUCH POTATO Ah, generalizations and stereotyping! Just as there are different types of Republicans, so too are there different types of Democrats. I've been a registered Democrat for over 25 years, and excuse me, Tim Wefler (10/26), but I don't own, and I never have owned, a video game player. I don't even have cable as I don't watch much TV. Do you? I've worked since the age of 14 and have never collected unemployment or disability. My entire tenure in higher education I worked at least part time, and am now working full time-plus to pay off my student loans. I doubt my friends and colleagues would consider me a couch potato. I believe that our country should have a strong military, but I also think that the lives of our young men and women should not be thrown away on thin excuses for war. While it may be true that Republicans have been known to be the more fiscally conservative party, wanting minimum governmental interference in private lives, the operative words here are "have been." Since the coming to power of the current administration, coupled with a Republican congressional majority, this country's deficit and debt have skyrocketed. And as for working for the preservation of a woman's right to choose, higher education funding and civil liberties for their electorate, their record is equally as dismal. Tim, your letter seems to equate advancements in science, medicine, and "necessities" (whatever that may be) with Republicanism. How do you respond to the fact that a lot of research takes place at universities? We all know what a hotbed of Democratic liberalism they are! All in the face of a reduction in funding to the National Science Foundation, a major contributor to scientific research. You are correct that corruption is a human trait, not a political one, but you could say the same for stupidity. Oh, and by the way, I've never had a problem keeping my pants up, thank you. Mary E. Baxter, Eugene
SHOCKING WRITE-UP The Black Forest is honored to be named "Best Place To Do Karaoke" (10/26). We are, however, shocked and insulted by the write-up. In particular, the bit you mentioned about "old ladies with flasks of whiskey in their bras" suggests that we are not only some kind of trashy dive, but that we knowingly allow people to sneak in alcohol, a serious OLCC infraction. All of us at the Black Forest feel you represented our bar in a derogatory fashion. We are a responsible and respected establishment, and the demographic you described does not, for your information, frequent Karaoke Night. So, thanks, but no thanks. The Black Forest Barkeep, Abbey Bowman, Mackenzie Goodwin, Sabrina McNamara, Stacy Boyd
IMPOSING YOUR WILL I enjoyed reading Bernard Nickerson's letter (Monkeywrench Time, 10/19) and was quite impressed with his conviction. But I say we should risk even more "crackpot" labels than he dares. Stop voting altogether, forever. Stop participating in this tyranny by majority and don't lend it authority over you. Voting is not a decision-making process. It is the imposition of your will over another human being, a game of chance (rigged or not) where each party attempts to enslave the others. Each intrusion of will made through voting is ultimately enforced through violence of one sort or another. Here the anti-war party goes wrong; you don't want to blow away people in other countries, but are perfectly happy holding a gun to the heads of others in case they infract. What hypocrisy. Here's a perfect example many Eugeneans can relate to: We have a group of 100 people, of which 49 smoke pot and grow hemp. The other 51 call for a vote on whether they will allow dope-smoking and hemp growing. Obviously the 51 will win the vote, thereby preventing, through "law," the other 49 from peacefully going about their business. Enforcement is provided through incarceration and violence by "police." Interestingly, under this system the other 49 will be expected to pay, through taxation, for their own enslavement. Sound familiar? Drop the mindset that you know what is best for other people. Make a better world. Justin Bengtson, Eugene
ALIENS IN AMERICA We have created an new "aborigine" class in America, composed of those who, measured by arbitrary standards, are in the bottom 10 percent of intellectual capacity. Not able to enter the college culture, they are abandoned to lives in the "servant class," minimum wage jobs with few benefits. The "smartest" 10 percent become lawyers or doctors while those at the bottom cannot find housing and live in a culture dominated by those who have degrees. They went from being in second grade and having a sense of belonging to high school where they were filtered out of the mainstream by their college-educated teachers and college-dominated economic system. Prisons are filled with the fury of the poorly educated. They have been abandoned by the educated elite, and their alienation results sometimes in crime. Look at who ends up in state prison, and who ends up at the university. Those who test badly, who are often made to feel defective, have become aliens in America, and the alienated often commit violence against themselves or others. More and more, poverty is about intellectual capacity measured on a test. Hugh Massengill, Eugene
LOCAL STEELHEAD This letter is in response to page 28 of the Best of Eugene issue (10/26), "Best Reason to Stay Alive One More Day." How can you possibly say that Steelhead Brewing Company is not local, and that Ninkasi Brewing Company is the only truly local brewery? Journalists are supposed to verify the facts they print! Steelhead in Eugene is owned by four partners and their families. The majority owner and managing partner of Steelhead is local restaurateur Cordy Jensen, who was born and raised in Eugene. Another partner's family has lived here for several generations. The third partner's family moved here when he was a boy, and he attended high school in Eugene. I know less about the fourth partner, but I believe she was also born and raised in Eugene. If you want to know their identities, contact Cordy. None of the money that Steelhead generates leaves Eugene because all the owners, support staff and on site staff live and work in Eugene. Two members of our management team, the general manager and myself, have been working for Steelhead since before the doors opened to the public in 1991. I have been living in Eugene and working for Steelhead since 1990. Perhaps the fact that Steelhead has two sister breweries confused your writer. Those two California locations each has a local partner with a Eugene connection. The rest of the partners of those two breweries live in Eugene. The article incorrectly states that, "Ninkasi will not only be local, but they'll create one-of-a-kind beer that you won't find at another location outside of Eugene." In fact, Ninkasi's beer is sold in Portland. Horse Brass had Ninkasi on tap last week and will have it on tap again next week. In my opinion, this article was very biased in favor of one local brewery at the expense of the other local breweries, and it was full of opinions disguised as facts. Teri Fahrendorf, Brewmaster, Steelhead Brewing Co.
LOOKIN' FOR LOVE? Hey ladies, wondering where all the good guys are nowadays? Because they're sure as hell not at the workplace, at school or in the bars. I'll let you in on a secret: The guys you're looking for are working with or volunteering for our local nonprofit organizations. If you're looking for a smart, sensitive and confident man who is passionate, speaks his mind and fights for what he believes in, try the environmental movement, the peace movement, the social justice movement. How to meet these eligible — yet often overlooked — bachelors? Attend a nonprofit organization's event, meeting or benefit; walk up to their tables at public events like the Eugene Celebration; volunteer. I guarantee you'll be in for a treat. Of course, you should need no other incentive to get involved with your local nonprofits than the knowledge that they are working tirelessly to make the world a better place in which to live. But charming, attractive and SINGLE guys are certainly an added incentive! Julie Anderson, Eugene
INFLATED TIMBER STATS I have a Ph.D. in forest science and although I am presently employed by Cornell University and reside in Ithaca, N.Y., I am an Oregon resident and have spent a considerable amount of time in the forests of southwest Oregon where the current controversy is located. I did an extensive field review of Biscuit logging. The article in the Oct. 26 EW ended by suggesting that there was 105 million board feet available from the Biscuit matrix and the USFS went ahead with the LSR and IRA sales anyway, with a quote indicating that had they stuck to the matrix, they might have avoided the controversy. However, there never was anywhere near this quantity available for sale in the matrix. After years of staff cutbacks, instead of using field surveys to give them realistic estimates of harvest volumes, the FS relied on computer estimates, resulting in grossly inflated timber volumes that had to be adjusted down by 80 percent after later ground truthing. The Biscuit FEIS stated that 11 percent of the acreage was in no cut riparian reserves but federal attorneys later acknowledged that at least 50 percent was in riparian reserve. With much of their projected volume in these reserves, they were only able to sell 17 million board feet from matrix lands. Attempts to reduce these streamside protection buffers were met with vehement and effective opposition from FS biologists, something not recognized by many activists. The problems seen during Biscuit will be far worse if salvage logging is accelerated under legislation that recently passed the House. Recent Bush administration plans to privatize and outsource two thirds of the FS work force will only lead to worse disasters since contract employees can't be expected to stick their necks out for the environment. Greg Nagle, Cornell University
THE NO-HATE STATE In The New York Times, on the front page of the Metro Section, there was a picture of gay rights activists holding signs that read "New Jersey: We're the state that doesn't hate." This evokes a bittersweet feeling in me, Oregon, because that should have been us. On Oct. 25, the New Jersey Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision that gay and lesbian couples must be given the same rights heterosexual couples enjoy under the title of marriage. Don't misunderstand me; I'm thrilled. This is a huge feat for New Jersey and equality activists around the country. However, it makes me reflect on Oregon's own battle to extend necessary rights to all citizens. In 2004 we had a landmark opportunity to disregard a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and open the discussion for providing all families with equal treatment. Instead, Oregon, you voted to write hate into our Constitution, and now my generation must pick up your pieces. We have an uphill battle, but I have hope for Oregon. We boast a progressive exterior, and overall it is a positive place for the LGBTQ community (OK, OK, at least Portland and Eugene). However, to win this battle we must dispel the myth that this argument is about gay marriage. It's not. It's about withholding the mark of equal citizenship just because of a difference. It's about fighting discrimination in all forms and uniting together as a human race that celebrates differences, not discriminates against them. Perhaps we didn't win the legal battle in 2004, but there is a more important social battle to be fought. As New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Barry T. Albin said, "Although courts can ensure equal treatment, they cannot guarantee social acceptance, which must come through the evolving ethos of a maturing society." Kyra Buckley, Syracuse, N.Y., Former, Eugene resident
IT'S JUST SPORTS I have no reaction to Patricia Burkart's letter (10/19) other than laughter. Anyone who knows anything about college football knows that the billboard featuring the word "lethal" is not condoning violent acts at football games. It is simply saying that the players will be lethal in their performance. Much like when people score at volleyball games they are not saying they actually "killed" someone. This is merely saying that the featured players are "lethal" to the opponent's offense/defense. Not in the physical sense, but in the sense that it makes the opponent unable to make plays. Is this sensitivity to mere words really what we need? And the gun-toting teens comment was uncalled for. Billboards do not make people violent. If they do, then that is no fault of the board, but of the person stupid enough to be swayed by a billboard. Remember: Football players with the words lethal near them mean they are lethal to the opposing team in that they will make that team inoperable, NOT "hey kids, let's go shoot up a school!" Do people like Burkart honestly think that people would put up billboard telling people to commit acts of violence? It's sports, nothing more. Seeing as Ms. Burkart brought up the issue of school violence, shouldn't we focus more on what really causes violence in schools? Maybe parents, movies, or anything else more relevant? James Ready, Springfield
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