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Viewpoint:
Sustainable U: UO quietly emerging as a leader in environmental
responsibility.
Viewpoint:
Biohazard: It's time to ponder the unthinkable.
Living Out: One World: Even during mourning
we can celebrate our community and our connection.
Letters:
EW readers sound off.
Sustainable
U
UO
quietly emerging as a leader in environmental responsibility.
Sometimes good things happen and nobody notices. This is often
the case at very large institutions such as
the UO where the good things tend to go unnoticed while the less than
good ones are trumpeted in the media for all to see. So we are here
to report on the many sustainability initiatives that are under way
at the university. As the term "sustainability" and its meaning have
become better defined, the university has begun to emerge as a leader
in a variety of different ways.
What follows is short summary of the various ways
the university is currently pursuing environmentally sustainable practices.
This list is certainly incomplete and current efforts are aimed at
developing a more complete list to demonstrate support of the Governor's
Directives for a Sustainable Oregon.
Commitment to environmental
education. The university offers strong academic programs
addressing environmental issues in design, community planning, business,
law, the sciences and literature. In addition to a wide range of classes
addressing sustainability, numerous special projects and organizations
include the: Ecological Design Center, HOPES Design Conference, Urban
Farm, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, Sustainable Business
Symposium, Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, and an eco-criticism
English program.
Environmentally responsible
purchasing policies. The university has begun integrating
waste reduction into vendor contracts and purchasing low-toxicity
and recycled-content products. For example, more than 95 percent of
the copy paper used has at least 50 percent recycled content, and
the default copy paper contains 100 percent post-consumer recycled
fiber. The university also is working towards purchasing carpet made
from 100 percent recycled materials.
Efficient use and conservation
of energy, water, and other resources. Reducing energy
use on campus has been a primary focus for decades. Despite substantial
construction over the past decade, the overall campus electrical use
has decreased over this same period of time due to energy conservation
retrofit projects. In addition, all recently completed major projects
($60 million worth of work) have been awarded the regional Energy
Smart award. And last year university students voted to spent $100,000
of their own money to install photovoltaics on the roof of the Student
Union.
Minimization of solid waste
production, hazardous waste, and toxic materials. The university's
nationally recognized, comprehensive Campus Recycling Program services
more than 1,500 collection sites. The Green Chemistry Program and
Laboratory are the first in the U.S., and campus food operations are
providing an effective food rescue and composting program.
Environmentally responsible
campus design and planning principles. The Sustainable
Development Plan (2000) requires that sustainable design principles
be applied to all new development and remodeling projects. It strengthens
sustainable practices and the collaborative design process that began
with Christopher Alexander's The Oregon Experiment (1975). The upcoming
Lillis Business Center project will use 50 percent less energy than
state code requires and will incorporate a full spectrum of sustainable
measures.
Commitment to alternative
modes of transportation. The university is nationally recognized
for its transportation innovation. Fewer than 40 percent of all trips
to and from the university are made by automobiles, compared to 74
percent in the surrounding community. Incentives include nearby student
family housing, free bus passes for faculty, staff, and students,
on-campus transit stations, and numerous bicycle amenities. Overall
there are more bike parking spaces than spaces for cars on campus
with half the parking of a typical university.
A comprehensive list of campus sustainable efforts
will be available on the web sometime during the fall term. Please
visit the UO web page (www.uoregon.edu)
and join with the university in working towards a truly sustainable
community.
Jan Payton Oliver is associate vice president for
Institutional Affairs at UO. Maggie Moore serves on the board of directors
of the Institute for Sustainable Ethics and Economics.
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Biohazard
It's
time to ponder the unthinkable.
As many struggle to assimilate the most horrificly
destructive terrorist act in U.S. history, it
is difficult for people to fathom that there could actually be something
even more horrible facing this country in the near future. As an activist
motivated by a belief that humanity can do better, I am not a subscriber
to "gloom and doom." But when real life circumstances arise which
contain the potential for cataclysmic suffering, there is a moral
imperative that some alarm bells be rung. World scale events have
the power to rapidly shift what is deemed "possible." Unless we adjust
our awareness as rapidly, events can overtake us.
During CBS's "Face the Nation" Sept.23, Secretary
of Defense Rumsfeld confirmed that the U.S. government is "taking
seriously" the threat of biological or chemical weapons. He described
links between terrorist groups and nations that have been developing
these weapons such as Iraq and Iran. All crop-dusting planes in the
U.S. were temporarily grounded on Sept. 23 because of concerns they
could be used to disperse such material.
Before eviction in 1998, U.N. inspectors discovered
no less than 86 active bio-weapon manufacturing sites in Iraq. Ken
Alibek, formerly Kanatjan Alibekov, is a former Soviet bio-weapons
designer (and creator of the world's most powerful anthrax) who defected
to the U.S. in 1992. In his book Biohazard, he revealed that
20 tons of liquid smallpox were being stored at military bases with
poor accounting practices.
Over the course of history, smallpox is believed to
have killed more people than any other infectious disease. Because
of a worldwide vaccination program from 1966 to 1979, the disease
was pronounced eradicated. But in what has suddenly become a very
important article ("The Demon in the Freezer," New Yorker,
July 12, 1999), the person who headed the vaccination program, Dr.
Donald Henderson, graphically describes the continuing ability of
smallpox to spread like wildfire. He also questions the adequacy of
our vaccine supply since most was destroyed when the disease was thought
eradicated.
Bush has made statements
that this is a "new kind of war" but other statements indicate that
he is clearly still caught in the old paradigm. Over and over he claims
that "superior" U.S. military power will overwhelm the terrorists
and their protectors and that "victory" is therefore inevitable. What
he does not seem to fully grasp is that his opponents do not seek
any traditional military objectives such as territory or resources.
All they want is maximum destruction, and believe that dying in the
process will only glorify them before Allah.
The dynamic now developing between Bush and the terrorists
is an explosive one. Each side is looking at the conflict in completely
absolute terms, seeing itself as the personification of good and its
opponent as the personification of evil. When our human-ness is stripped
away, and each becomes a "devil" to the other, the way has opened
for the commission of inhuman acts.
If a potential consequence of military escalation
is the use of biological weapons, the people of this country have
a right to be provided information about not only the magnitude of
risk but also the level of preparation for consequences. In my opinion,
it should be mandatory that a portion of the emergency money being
allocated right now be used immediately for the production of vaccine
supplies.
But there is a much deeper
moral issue at stake here. What ethical ground can we stand
on to decry the "poor people's atom bomb" when we continue to possess
and deploy an incomparably larger arsenal of weapons of mass destruction?
The U.S. not only possesses such weapons, but actually used them to
incinerate hundreds of thousands of civilian men, women, and children
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Our hands are not clean. We have been complicit
in that which we now decry.
If humanity has not yet evolved to the point of renouncing
all war, it must at least repudiate and renounce the possession of
all weapons that cause massive and indiscriminate killing of civilians.
Inspired leadership in the U.S. would be moving immediately to seek
such a ban. Since this does not seem likely, the people at the grassroots
must lead.
If there is anything positive that can possibly come
out of this terrible tragedy, it will be a collective waking up that
this time has arrived. To avoid escalation into nightmare scenarios,
such a movement must quickly be revived. Citizens of the Eugene area
are invited to support its local manifestation. Such a worldwide renunciation
would bring hope to the future of humanity. We may not receive a warning
as stunning as this again.
Spruce Houser was an activist in the nuclear disarmament
movement for 11 years and was the co-producer and writer for a documentary
on accidental nuclear war shown on most PBS stations at the start of
the Persian Gulf War.
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One
World
Even during
mourning we can celebrate
our community and our connection.
We interrupt this column to bring you a special
report. Anybody wondering if there's a unique
lesbian take on the events of Sept. 11 will be pleased to know that,
in fact, lesbians are to blame. Yep, according to the dubiously-reverend
Jerry Falwell himself, it's our fault. No need to smoke out terrorist
enclaves and training grounds across the globe, it all happened right
here. Lesbians made God mad at the United States.
I really believe that pagans, and the abortionists,
and the feminists, and the gays and lesbians who are actively trying
to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American
Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America --
I point the finger in their face and say, "You helped this happen,"
says Jerry Falwell to Pat Robertson on "The 700 Club," Sept. 13.
Bad enough communities are splitting between cries for swift military
retaliation and pleas for peace. Along with the hawks and the doves,
the dodo birds have now taken to the skies.
How brilliant do you have to be to recognize terrorism
as a hate crime? As a lesbian and a Jew I know what terrorism feels
like. I've been personally targeted with hate letters and death threats.
But, as our Palestinian friend said in the wake of last week's disaster,
"I don't feel personal fear. I feel collective fear." That's what
terrorism does. When people are hated for who they are, everyone in
that group feels vulnerable and is terrified of what else is in store.
When lesbians are shot point blank in their tent,
you never want to go camping again and you look over your shoulder
before you take your lover's hand in public. When a disco in Israel
is blown up, Jews around the world feel threatened. With the huge
tragedy on the East Coast, the whole country feels attacked and fears
what might happen next. It's all based on hate.
The way I cope is to connect with people. Thank goodness I had
my writers group that morning so we could share our raw, instinctual
responses to watching the planes crash into the World Trade Center.
And how I appreciated having my Jewish study group that evening to
sort out our reactions to the day's unfolding. I am so thankful that
my being a lesbian is not an issue in either of those settings. I
am out and accepted for who I am and don't have to worry about letting
my guard down.
That's why Wifey and I went to the Eugene Celebration.
We go every year and it felt important to get out and see people.
We unfolded our chairs next to our friends' colorful blankets along
the parade route. We were in a sea of lesbian families, some old neighbors
and lots of people I hadn't met before.
Little kids swarmed around us. Humanity. What a relief
to get away from the TV for a while, to stop staring at rubble and
tragedy and white male newscasters with bad hair.
A 5-year-old friend sat on my lap for the whole parade,
her two moms and her sister on the curb in front of us. We waved our
rainbow streamers at the marching band and the Slug Queen and all
the silly, playful groups that give our town its character. We cheered
for P-Flag's "Rainbow of Love" and for all the "Peace," "One Planet,"
and "One World" signs. We gave an ovation to the international flags.
My little pal shouted "Lookit! There's a dragon! And
another one! And another one!" Her innocent happiness and excitement
reminded me of how important it is for us all to be here for the kids,
doing something fun together, celebrating life. Even during these
days of mourning and heavy hearts we can celebrate our community and
our connection to each other. We remind each other of our connection
to the whole world. Dodo birds and all.
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 at EW, also runs in several other newspapers around the
country.
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TIME
FOR TACT
So far little has been done to examine
the real reasons why terrorists are willing to commit suicide to attack
America. They don't despise freedom and democracy as we are being
told. They hate the U.S. because of what they perceive our country
is doing to them, their families, their religion, and their country.
Until we face reality and start addressing the issues
causing concern, we will never stop terrorism no matter how many bombs
we drop and people we jail. The Bush administration's foreign policy
has been arrogant until this current crisis which put us in the position
of needing the cooperation of other countries to fight terrorism.
The administration dropped out of the global climate change talks,
the treaty to fight germ warfare, the U.N. sponsored meeting on racism,
and is trying to end the anti-ballistic missile treaty.
Colin Powell's state department is having a difficult
time trying to put a worldwide coalition together while the president
talks about wanting Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" and states that
other countries will either be "with us or against us." Now is the
time for tact and diplomacy and not the rhetoric of war.
Sure we need to bring to justice those who planned
and participated in the horrible attack against the U.S. But we should
be urging our government to attack the real causes of terrorism and
not beat the war drums until we create an even bigger problem that
results in more hatred of the U.S.
Mary Lou Vignola
Eugene
RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY
Regardless of how one might feel
about PeaceHealth's decision to build the new hospital in Springfield,
demeaning the lifework of religious women, as Benton Elliott did in
his letter to the editor (9/13), is unacceptable in a community that
prides itself on tolerance.
Had Elliott substituted the word Jew or black for
the word nun or sisters, the Eugene Human Rights Commission would
have held a press conference and denounced Elliott for his letter,
as well as Eugene Weekly for publishing hate mail. Instead,
this publication finds it appropriate to run the letter. Where is
the outrage of those who claim to protect the community against religious
bigotry?
The religious women Elliott labels as the Sisters
have spent their lives in dedicated service to the poor, indigent,
the ill and undeserved of our community. Their combined ministries
have uplifted Eugene's school-based clinics, Centro Latino Americano,
White Bird, and include vocations to the poor, institutionalized and
imprisoned. Their mission includes the Volunteers in Medicine Clinic
in our community, as well as bringing medical care and comfort to
the desperately poor of Guatemala. The suffering and dying, as well
as their families, are comforted by their compassion and healing ministry,
which includes bedside music vigils. Their lives are devoted to peace
and justice regardless of race, creed, economic status or religion.
Perhaps if Mr. Elliott moved beyond his own prejudice,
he might have discovered that PeaceHealth is a non-profit organization
run by a governing board made up of community volunteers. The religious
women of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace dedicate their lives in
a very pure way to the community with a dignity and tolerance not
reflected in Mr. Elliott's letter.
Brian and Diane Terrett
Eugene
WHAT'S
CHANGED?
I heard on the news the U.S. government
believes it will be difficult fighting a "war" against such a decentralized
force as "terrorists." I thought about the last time the U.S. government
fought against a decentralized force: the indigenous people of this
continent. It was a hundred tough years of battles; in the end, the
indigenous people were slaughtered, innocents along with those who
made war or terrorized white settlers to preserve their way of life.
Isn't it the same today? With the U.S. hands already
bloody protecting its oil and other global interests, rather than
feeding and providing health coverage for its own people, it would
spend billions on fighting terrorists and murdering innocents in order
to wreak revenge on a few. But hey, that's the price of fighting evil,
according to that angelic Bush. Hah! I say. If George were to look
first for evil in his own heart, he might have a clue where it lives.
Back in the 1700 - 1800s, settlers thought they had
it all sewn up with Red Cloud or some other "chief" they considered
a "mastermind" (as Osama bin Laden is thought to be now, the
Charles Manson of all this terror). Then they'd be bewildered when
the warriors and others in the tribes didn't go along with the deal.
Well guess what? If you get bin Laden, there will still be others
who are capable of striking out.
If we spent our resources cultivating peace in the
world, how far might that take us? Perhaps towards an evolution past
the primitive calls for war that we're hearing now: towards making
a world where we can live together, where there is enough for everyone.
That's what I vote for.
Hope Marston
Eugene
CALLS FOR REVENGE
With each school shooting over the
past several years, we "as a nation" have come to recognize the need
to understand why they are occurring. What is happening to our children?
We know it is not simple. We know school shootings will not stop if
we don't somehow
address the causes.
I am horrified and traumatized, not only by the tragedies
of Sept.11, but by the response I am hearing from our federal government.
I am horrified by the thought that there are people in my country
and in my own community who believe military action-"more killing"-will
stop the violence. I am horrified by the flag waving that's accompanied
by calls for revenge. I am horrified by George W. Bush's declaration
that we will "eradicate evil," something I might otherwise expect
to hear from some religious zealot.
Sunday's Register-Guard included a photo of
a banner that read "Americans Think! Why Are You Hated All Over the
World?" The Guard captioned it "an anti-American banner." I
did not see it as anti-American, but as an effort to communicate --
with words -- perhaps what is most important for us all to hear
right now. It is guaranteed we will breed more hatred if we kill even
more innocents around the world than we already have in recent years.
Stop and think! Open your hearts! Please don't invite
more WTC-scale atrocities into the lives of the world's children --
our own included.
Bonnie Souza
Springfield
SECURITY
LANDING
I awoke from my short nap to the
pilot's voice: "We will be landing in Indianapolis for security reasons."
I looked questioningly at my seatmate, a firefighter from New Hampshire.
While I was asleep, he'd noticed that we'd been losing altitude a
couple of hours shy of our Denver destination, so he had questioned
a flight attendant. She hesitated before telling him that a plane
had crashed into the World Trade Center.
I was flying home from my wedding in New York state.
My husband, Chris, made it home with the cat the day before. Watching
the horrific images of the World Trade towers and the Pentagon, I
am struck by the powerful dichotomy of the joy of my wedding and the
sadness of the terrorist attacks. The images of both will be linked
in my mind forever. Not much matters when compared to the tremendous,
pointless loss of life; but I would like to think that love does.
It gives me hope.
In Indianapolis, an extremely generous couple took
another stranded woman and me in for three days until we could fly
out again. Tom and Jenny Godby ran us back and forth to the airport,
fed us, encouraged us to make phone calls to our loved ones, and generally
made us feel as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. All
they asked in return was that we pay their generosity forward. I hope
my fellow Eugeneans will hold me to that.
Minutes before the first plane slammed into the World
Trade Center, I admired Manhattan's skyline out the plane's window.
If I'd turned in my seat, I may have seen it happen. My plane, with
its flight plan so close to Manhattan, could have easily been one
that the terrorists chose. But it wasn't. I'll be forever grateful
for that as I mourn those who were so much less fortunate that sunny
Tuesday morning.
Julie Polhemus
Eugene
LTD'S
STATEMENTS
I'd like to address the political statement
Lane Transit Authority has made by choosing to display American flags
in the windows of Eugene city buses. Personally I am outraged that
a public space that many people rely on as their main source of transportation
has been adorned with highly politically charged imagery indicating
patriotism without critical analysis, coupled by a written message
("One Nation, Indivisible") indicating support of our president non-elect
and his choices regarding foreign policy.
The signs distributed by The Register-Guard
last week are clearly more than symbols of mourning and support for
New Yorkers -- they carry a strategic and powerful message that
has been presented by mainstream media as the only message. We are
one planet, indivisible, one nation of diverse political response
to the events of last week. Respect that, LTD!
Lezlie Frye
Eugene
BREAK
THE CYCLE
As I read EW's Sept. 20 issue
I sit confused, frustrated and saddened by the recent attacks on N.Y.
and D.C. Nationwide there are cries for revenge, retribution, war
and more death. Think for a moment of the sadness all Americans have
felt these past two weeks over the deaths of innocent people. Isn't
it exactly how people in the nations we are about to destroy will
feel as we deliver our "message" against terrorism? Will their suffering
be any less because they're not Americans? We say we will not stand
for the loss of life in the U.S., but we will accept it when our military
takes the lives of another nation? "Revenge" by destroying another
country is not an end to terrorism. It's a molotov cocktail thrown
into an already burning fire.
I find it somewhat disturbing that people across the
country have suddenly become so patriotic. Everyone is suddenly showing
how much they love their country and its people. Do we forget the
fact that everyday Americans murder thousands of other Americans and
countless more are raped and physically assaulted? Is that not a reason
to band together and show our patriotism?
Remember those we lost in this tragedy. Mourn in your
own way. But most of all take a moment to think about why this happened.
Do not let your patriotism cloud the fact that in one way or another
the U.S. has brought this upon itself. There is no doubt that the
people responsible for the attacks should be brought to justice. But
destroying another nation is not the way to end this ordeal.
Break the cycle!
Mark Frisbee
Eugene
LAND
COUP
How ironic that the foulest anonymous
smear campaigns in recent local memory had as its final aim not political
expression, but public justification of a multi-million dollar sweetheart
land deal. The wily signatories knew the city's ruffled political
roadmap well. They used classic good cop/bad cop anonymous public
attacks, smarmy corporate ads and cool backroom manipulations to fracture
officials and the community into pro-development and pro-livability
camps, to alienate neighborhoods, and to politically isolate the majority
opinion of the City Council, all in the name of $$$.
We should wish Sacred Heart well in its journey and
by no means boycott the healing clean waters and forested slopes of
its new home. But we should first and foremost see this $$$ land coup
for what it is, dust off our civic pride and exonerate the City Council
and the honorable Councilor Kelly, and keep remaining urban natural
areas natural. We don't need a sprawling park-like hospital campus
or a cut-and-run toxic-polluting chip plant, if it requires public
smokescreens or public giveaways that degrade our civic environment.
Vincent Reynolds
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.
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