Viewpoint: D's on Defense: Education, human services targeted in Legislature. Viewpoint: Green Synthesis: Will the Green movement seize the opportunity for coalition building? Living Out: Lesbian Tendencies: Could the Mystic Oracle have made a mistake? Letters: EW readers sound off. D's on Defense Education, human services targeted in Legislature. I want to thank Eugene Weekly for doing something that no other newspaper in Oregon does: dedicating a column to working family issues in the Oregon Legislature. One of my greatest frustrations as a legislator for the past six years was to participate in the Legislature and then watch The Register-Guard and The Oregonian feed the public pablum unrelated to what was really happening inside the Capitol. I have to be somewhat circumspect, because I work with my colleagues every day, but I will try to give you a taste of "insider baseball" as we proceed through this session. As you read this, we have begun the 71st session of the Oregon Legislature; and I will play my usual role of unabashed progressive-populist senator disguised as a short, balding, bowling ball. Remember, there are three institutions in Salem -- the state prison, the state hospital, and the state Legislature -- and only two are controlled by the inmates; so I always appreciate visitors! Before I tell you what lies ahead for working people in Oregon, let me tell you a little about what we're facing. We will begin this session in the midst of the largest budget shortfall since the mid-1980s. On Friday, I spent two hours in a joint Revenue Committee listening to possible recession scenarios for the Oregon economy. In preparation, I watched Gladiator last Saturday night and Patriot on Sunday. And I think that's why my loving wife, Jeannie, got me Machiavelli's The Prince and The Art of War by Sun Tzu as Christmas presents. The budget crisis is real, not a scenario. We start the next session almost $700 million short of "current service level," the amount of money needed for our general fund to pay for current budget items in the next biennium. Oregon's Republican leaders in the House and Senate have said, and the governor has grudgingly agreed, that there's probably not going to be enough votes to increase revenue -- that is: new taxes -- so now we're faced with cuts in budgets. Education, human services, and public safety will be the targets. We probably won't have the much needed discussion about tax inequity and corporate giveaways that should be included in a strong public debate about the services the state provides. While many of my colleagues try to convince their constituents that there are distinct campaign seasons and legislative seasons, the truth of the matter is that the former always bleeds into the latter. Therefore labor unions, supporting the losing Democratic side for the most part, will be on the defensive during this session. But the attacks probably won't be as severe as the last three sessions. The margin of Republican seats has narrowed in both chambers; 16-14 in the Senate and 33-27 in the House; and it appears the Republican leadership in both chambers has finally figured out that it does them no good to pass bills the governor will veto. This session may be less partisan than the last three. Take my next door neighbor for example. He is a Republican, Sen. Lynn Hannon, from the People's Republic of Ashland, a former union public employee, and a guy who doesn't back his party's knee-jerk attacks on labor unions. (Plus, he owns a couple of shares of the Boston Celtics, so what's not to like about him?) Hannon is co-chair of Ways and Means and we'll be counting on him to help us defeat some of the more egregious attacks on working families. Organized labor's agenda this session is hard to narrow down, because so many issues go beyond collective bargaining rights, wages and benefits. I will give you a sense of these issues in this first article, then follow up with a description of our Senate Democratic caucus' agenda in future articles. As you read these issues, note how similar they are to issues that are important to labor's allies in the struggle -- seniors and the disabled, people of color, the working poor, women, students, the faith community, the gay and lesbian community. HMO reform: the right to sue HMOs through an independent authority. Continuity of care through patients' health plan changes. Referral to specialists. Independent reviews of disputes in care. Prescription cost containment. Women's health and wellness: including paid family leave, domestic violence, contraceptive parity. Electric deregulation: an unmitigated disaster for consumers, a gold mine for investor-owned utilities. Farm workers' rights to collectively bargain. PERS: There will be an attempt to create a lesser retirement system for new employees. Workers' compensation: eroding the rights of injured workers to petition the courts. I've often described the legislative process as a five-way negotiation between the governor and the Republican and Democrat caucuses in both chambers. Each session takes on its own flavor. It may go smoothly -- it may not -- stay tuned. Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove represents portions of Lane and Douglas Counties in Senate District 22. He will be writing occasional columns during this legislative session. He can be reached in Salem at (503) 986-1722 or e-mail corcoran.sen@state.or.us Green Synthesis Will the Green movement seize the opportunity for coalition building? The time has come in Eugene for Green Party members and "greens" of all shades to put the debate about the election behind us and seek common ground. The extreme closeness of this election catapulted the U.S. Green Party into a position of importance it has never occupied before. It was only natural that there would be differing perspectives on what the Green Party should have done in these circumstances. Greens have existed since long before the Green Party, and many are not members of that party -- for varied and pragmatic reasons. Wherever one stands in the green spectrum, we must mature as a movement, stop lobbing attacks over the fence, and honor the diversity of the majority in this country that is left of center and holds green values -- from mothers raising their children to respect the earth, to consumers learning to recycle or buy organic, to treesitters and protesters. We can take a lesson from the WTO protests in Seattle, in that so many different people came together to stand for one cause -- but not in one voice. The ensuing debate has been healthy and necessary, except for the personal attacks by some letter writers. The challenge now facing local greens and progressives is to discern the emerging points of consensus and to craft a pro-active strategy for empowerment. There appear to be three areas of potential synthesis: 1) Eliminating structural barriers in the electoral process that prevent any parties other than the Republicans and Democrats from playing a meaningful role in the U.S. political system. The "winner-take-all" approach, at its root, is fundamentally anti-democratic. A party could garner 49 percent of the vote, and yet those voters receive zero representation in government. Some form of European-style proportional representation must be implemented -- which for example would allow a 10 percent vote to be translated into 10 percent representation in the government body. 2) Bringing the Democratic Party back to its populist roots. The Democrats have clearly adopted many positions that are too close to the Republicans. At the same time, it must also be recognized that members of the Democratic Party are capable of taking action that is truly progressive and even visionary. A dramatic example was President Clinton's announcement to severely restrict all logging in the remaining roadless areas of the country's national forests. This sweeping policy will protect over 49 million acres of forestland -- over one third of the total area in national forests. Actions like this provide hope that there is some point of connection between the Green Party and Democrats, if we can convince the Democratic Party that the support is there for green policies. In a cogent Washington Post editorial Jan. 10, Robert Borosage points out that a center-left coalition did in fact win this election if you combine Gore's and Nader's votes. That fact cannot be lost on the Democrats, and we must keep it in front of them. 3) The U.S. Green Party may someday be in a position to form majority coalitions in exchange for progressive policy changes within the Democratic Party. Mark Robinowitz alludes to this possibility in his EW column Jan. 4 when he mentions how the German Greens obtained a phase-out of nuclear power by forming a majority coalition with the Social Democrats. Equally dramatic examples of this leverage power are a secretary of state and minister of the environment from the Green Party in Germany. In this one sentence, Robinowitz touches what is very probably the most promising path to green political empowerment. Although the Green Party just experienced an unprecedented spurt of growth in this last year, it is still a minor party -- the primary base for which continues to be contained in scattered progressive pockets around the country. Until the Green Party can begin to rival the major parties in numbers, its strength will lie in its ability to obtain maximum leverage from the limited number of seats in government that it might be able to win. What kinds of changes might be achieved by such coalition power? A ban on all corporate money in Oregon elections? A phase out of clear-cutting? A de-licensing of all corporations in Oregon that chronically break environmental, labor, or human rights laws? Only our imagination can limit us in considering the many and wonderful possibilities! In the juxtaposition of these three areas of seeming consensus, a positive, forward-looking, and perhaps even unifying strategy begins to appear for the Greens. If we overcome our indignities and stop the mudslinging, we can forge a real coalition of the Green Party, green independents and progressive Democrats and their huge array of allies. Changes in the electoral and political roadmap like never before are a golden opportunity for greens and our agenda to leverage our insistent way into power. It will take political will, some old-fashioned courtesy, mutual listening and just a touch of trust for all of us to seize the moment. Continued infighting and bashing of the larger progressive community, however, threaten to send the Green Party the way of the Reform Party. What will it be? Don St. Clair and Fiora Starchild were co-founders of the Greens for Gore Coalition. Spruce Houser was one of the founding members of the U.S. Green Party. Lesbian Tendencies Could the Mystic Oracle have made a mistake? Helen and I sat cross-legged on my bedroom rug, the Ouija board balanced on our knees. She wouldn't be called home for hours, and my parents were out at my brother's Little League game. Now that the two of us were alone, I could get serious. I had a question I couldn't trust with my eighth-grade crowd. At Teri's slumber party the night before, my new Ouija board had been a big hit. Since it was my board, I told them it would only work if I summoned the Ouija spirit. They took turns sitting across from me and followed the instructions I read from the accompanying booklet: Place your fingertips on the planchette and empty your mind of everything but your question. They obediently set their fingers on the flat, heart-shaped little table and stared at its quarter-sized window. The others leaned in. Candle shadows danced on their gullible faces. Each asked some version of the predictable "Who will I marry?" I pretended to slip into a trance, then spelled out names of the dorkiest boys in school. Helen wasn't in junior high yet and would probably never join the slumber party circuit anyway. She was different. She was still a tomboy and she didn't gossip. She was the star pitcher of our neighborhood, always first-picked for the games we played in the vacant lot between our houses. Little League was stupid not to allow girls on their teams. One time behind her house, we'd solemnly nicked our pinkies with a fishhook, pressed our fingers together and vowed to be blood sisters forever. I trusted Helen. She wasn't silly or boy crazy. Tonight I had a serious question and she agreed to help me get the answer. "Do you swear you won't move it on purpose?" Helen dragged her finger in the shape of an X over where her breast bud made a tiny swell in her T-shirt. She held up her palm and looked straight at me, "Cross my heart and hope to die stick a needle in my eye." "Me, too," I swore. Helen rested her slender fingers opposite my chubby ones and lowered her eyes. Sweet smoke ribboned from a sandalwood incense stick. Our breathing made the only sound in the room. I emptied my mind of everything except my question. My knees felt warm where they pressed against Helen's worn jeans, but I tried not to focus on that. "Ouija, are you with us?" The planchette quivered under our fingers, then slowly made a tiny circle. Another few circles and it glided across the board to YES. I knew I wasn't directing it and Helen was good for her word. It must really be working. "Ouija, who else is here?" The little table slid to the H and circled there, then zeroed in on the S. "Go ahead and ask your question," Helen coaxed. She probably didn't have as much faith in the Ouija board as I did, but she was willing and trustworthy. She didn't know yet what was bothering me. Had she heard the talk from older kids, too? I'd even overheard my mom's psychiatrist friend mention it. I was determined to find out if it applied to me. The words of my question paraded like ticker tape behind my eyes. It was now or never. "Do I have lesbian tendencies?" I stared at the glossy surface of the Ouija board to avoid seeing any reaction Helen might have had. The plastic ledge where my fingers rested felt warm and smooth. Then Ouija jerked into action. It pulled our hands into rhythmic circles at the center of the board. The circles got bigger and faster. We rocked forward and back in time with our circling hands. The planchette spiraled round and round, its widening orbit brushing equally close to YES and NO. I glanced up to make sure Helen wasn't messing with me. Her head was bowed in deep concentration. What exactly were Lesbian Tendencies? My mom's friend had said a lot of people had them, but I didn't know anyone who went around saying so. I was pretty sure it had to do with the teasing remarks about tomboys, and girls' obsession with being feminine. It had something to do with boys too, and how we weren't supposed to hate them any more, now that we were teenagers. Having brothers made that tough, though. Suddenly the planchette stopped circling and shot directly over to YES. I waited for it to move again but it just stayed there. A jumble of feelings spilled over me. I was shocked, embarrassed, relieved. I realized that I had hoped to rule out the possibility, not prove it. Yet I felt elevated somehow, lifted above "boys play ball, girls like boys." Helen's calm face showed no signs of disapproval. Her knees pressed hotly into mine. My head swirled. Could the Mystic Oracle have made a mistake? "Are you sure?" Immediately, Ouija swept our hands to the bottom of the board. "Good-Bye." Sally Sheklow has been a part of the Eugene community since 1972 and is a member of the WYMPROV! comedy troupe. Her column, which began in EW, also runs in several other newspapers around the country. Back to Top March for Democracy Where is the outrage? Why aren't people standing up and yelling they've had enough and they aren't going to take it anymore? The presidential election was a blatant disregard of democracy and a scary example of one of the many ways our government is corrupt and dishonest. We already know money controls the campaigns, media, Democratic and Republican parties, but now to see how the elections are manipulated is disgusting! Joseph Stalin once said, "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."... Then there's those who don't count the votes! Ron Daniels and others are outraged, and propose a "Million People March" for democracy in D.C. on Saturday, Jan. 20, inauguration day. A unified effort to mobilize millions for democracy. I propose we march in the streets here in Eugene, hang flags upside down as a sign of distress, make signs, talk to family and friends about the importance of this issue and don't just roll over take it! This isn't a Monica story, this is real and it's about our basic rights to have our votes count! Pamela Driscoll Eugene Intellectual Lite Dan O'Gorman of Creswell (1/11) tells us that, as president, Ronald Reagan ("Ron" to Mr. O'Gorman) showed himself to be "honest and trustworthy." Huh? I laughed out loud, and then re-read Mr. Gorman's letter to get the full measure of his satire. My eventual response, after wide-eyed disbelief was, "Oh my God!" There's good reason to question someone's grasp on reality who perceives "Ron" Reagan as "honest and trustworthy." I guess we will soon be told that George W. Bush is the intellectual light of our age. Don Kostur Eugene Moviemercials Lois Wadsworth's detailed review (1/4) of the film Cast Away failed to mention that it's a long FedEx commercial, with cameo ads for Wilson Sporting Goods, Dr. Pepper and Snickers. Wadsworth is so eager to see the "hero' s journey" that she ignores the ubiquitous logos. The line between advertising and culture is being blurred to extinction, but at least let' s stay aware enough to know the difference. Movie characters used to drink soda, not Dr. Pepper (conveniently positioned for full view of product). Like fish that can't see water they swim in, we visually imbibe logos without seeing them, so that the images are all received without discrimination: i.e., ocean, crab, Fed Ex, raft, water, FedEx, rock, blood, FedEx. Tom Hanks showed us this same tricky moviemercial mentality in You've Got Mail, a Starbucks/Borders commercial disguised as a romantic comedy. Most of the people I asked about this didn't notice the ads or didn't mind them. This worries me. If Cast Away symbolizes a hero's journey, what do the FedEx packages symbolize? Rescue, Hope, Angels? This positive association will still be hanging around in our minds the next time we see that friendly, life-saving FedEx truck. And it's no accident that the hero is a high-powered corporate CEO who remains loyal to his company to the end. The chance to explore some real philosophical questions was wasted in favor of blatant advertising. Some people liked this movie. OK, some of the island sequences were pretty good. Still, I would rather see a film in which a soda is just a soda and a hero has true soul. Ruth Wren Eugene Weapon of Choice A quote from a Las Vegas newspaper March 24, 1955: "Fallout on Las Vegas and vicinity following this morning's detonation was very low and without any effects on health." Fast forward to Belgrade, Yugoslavia Jan. 6, 2001: "There is no danger of radiation unless a person finds himself on the very spot hit with the depleted uranium or holds such ammunition in his bare hands." The governments of the world that possess the "Silver Bullet" depleted uranium munitions are sending the spin doctors out to assure us that a weapon that vaporizes its target on impact, has a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years and is the weapon of choice for all future wars, poses no danger to mankind. Tell that to all the people around the world who have to figure out where all the DU rounds have been fired so they can protect innocent people from exposing themselves to a substance that causes leukemia, cancer and thyroid ills. I am afraid that this is one Genie that will not be easily put back in his bottle unless the people of this planet demand the truth about this horrible weapon from the governments who seem to be living in a constant state of denial. Michael T. Hinojosa Drain Nader Helped Gore? The notion that Ralph Nader's candidacy inadvertently threw the presidential election to George W. Bush is a questionable one. It assumes, of course that most of the votes Nader received would otherwise have gone to Gore. That may be true within a very narrow context, but we live in an interactive universe, and nothing occurs in a vacuum. There was never a specific, finite number of votes that Gore and Nader had to divide between themselves. My suspicion is that Nader's candidacy actually helped Gore. The reason is really quite simple: The Democrats were extremely worried that Nader would act as a spoiler. Consequently they worked overtime to get out the vote for Gore. This highly motivated and focused effort heated up his otherwise lukewarm support, and probably more than made up for what Nader "took" from him. That gave him the popular vote nationally, and probably in Florida as well. I hope the Gore and Nader supporters will consider this assessment, and resist the temptation to blame each other for Bush's dubious "election." Gordon David Kaswell Eugene Abstention's Power News flash: Bush Withdraws From Contention for the Presidency! Says he can't in good conscience take power knowing that the majority of the electorate voted for somebody else! "What integrity; I am very proud," his father, the previous George, was quoted as saying. Well, anyway, did you ever wonder why "the maker" (or time, or evolution, or the cosmos, whatever you want) has allowed us humans such leeway and largesse as to bring us -- and the beautiful planet we were given to live on -- to the brink of nuclear and ecological culmination? It is because: If we're to take on our potential as co-creators, one primary and essential lesson of such power must be abstention. (My personal challenge: an abstemious Leo?) Not everything that you can do must be done. Not everything that can be made need be. And certainly not everything that can be taken... (This has vast application. See Rory Gallagher's "Cradle Rock" for the premise and Lennon & McCartney's "All You Need is Love" for related material. This is just a letter to the editor.) In another news flash: London: Charles Finally Assumes the Throne Only to Announce Its Dissolution! Citing the monarchy as a "clear-cut anomaly at this point in history," as "an indulgence and a distraction with tragic implications" (the new king says he has been "doing some serious thinking since Diana's death") and "of dubious origins, not to mention a genuine drain on the exchequer," he begins proceedings and divestitures. "The family will be fine with their personal fortunes and incomes. It's time we all did a little growing up, anyway," he noted. Kyle Christopher-Courier Eugene Different Interests I thought I lived in a fairly liberal, hip community. I am astonished and appalled. Disappointed. Disillusioned. Again. Yes, once again. I just left the Eugene Public Library website and the online catalog. More than once the catalog has said a book is there that is not on the shelves. Books that were checked out years ago were not returned and have not been replaced. This time, I was looking for Confessions of A Medical Heretic by Robert Mendelsohn, MD. Nothing! So then I looked for some of his other books: Male Practice and How to Raise A Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor. Nothing! Each of the books that I have not been able to find over the past several years has been what you might call an "alternative" to conventional medicine, science or religion. Librarians might call them "controversial." I call them educational, enlightening, empowering. Are EPL books being censored? If not officially, by employees or patrons who take it upon themselves to protect us from ideas that are different than their own? My favorite topics are barely represented in the Eugene Public Library. For the 12 years I've lived here, we have had the same four or five astrology books. I wouldn't mind donating my books to the library if I thought they would actually make it to the shelves and not be sold at the next book sale. And I wouldn't mind supporting a new, improved library structure if I thought we'd also have a more representative book collection. Guess what, EPL -- some Eugeneans have different interests than you! Patricia Robinett Eugene LETTERS POLICY: We welcome letters on all topics and will print as many as space allows. Please limit length to 250 words, keep submissions to once a month, and include your address and phone number. E-mail to editor@eugeneweekly.com, fax to 484-4044, or mail to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401. Back to Top Table of Contents | News & Views | Arts & Entertainment Classifieds | Personals | EW Archive