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Viewpoint:
A Herstory: Who defines terror? Who defines reality?
Viewpoint:
WEP Between the Ears: Parkway remains just an idea.
Natural
Resistance: Ignoring the Evidence: Science gets
skewed in the debate over gravel vs. family farms. Part I.
Living Out: Minding Our Beeswax: Holiday house-warming.
Letters:
EW readers sound off.
A
Herstory
Who defines
terror? Who defines reality?
Ancestral Visions. Parting the mists of time
I see huge trees growing on hills by the ocean.
A dark line appears on the horizon, growing thicker, coming closer:
birds! For hours they pass and disappear over the hills. Silver-red
salmon leap sparkling waterfalls on their journey home.
Our ancestors lived in a time when the Earth was thickly
forested, people knew and moved with the rhythms of other animals
and the seasons. They knew hundreds of edible and medicinal plants.
They lived in plenty, worshipping life and the female power to create
it. Men hadn't taken control of women and nature, and I'm sure if
they dreamed of this future it would have seemed a nightmare.
Conquest of the Mother. As cities grew, walls
came up around them to keep out the marauders who worshipped an angry
male war god. When the walls were breached the marauders killed all
but the young women who they raped and made into slaves who would
give birth to a dominated and broken people. What remained of the
old language were words like artist, healer, potter, weaver, acrobat
and priestess. The conquerors had none of these words.
Eeven into the Middle Ages, respect for Nature and
female creative powers was strong. Villages still celebrated the great
wheel of the seasons together and had medicine women (witches) who
were not only midwives, herbalists and surgeons, but often led popular
revolts against new taxes and laws of the encroaching Church-State.
Drunk on its new wealth from the African slave and sugar trades, the
Church-State reached out for power. Its centuries-long program of
state terrorism continued with the first printed pornography, the
Maleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of the Witches. This book
graphically instructed the man of God in the torturing and killing
of women whose "evil" was thought to reside in their sexuality. Sir
Francis Bacon, father of the scientific method, was made a clerk of
the interrogation room for witches in 1589. He wrote, "the Earth should
be tied to the rack and tortured for her secrets." And so She was.
In the spirit of this trinity of Science, Church and
State, Columbus happened upon this lush green continent. Finding the
people beautiful and the land incredibly rich, he began the rape and
massacre of the Native Americans and the plundering of the land.
Modern terror. So it continues. And who defines
reality? Who defines terrorism? White businessmen define terrorism
as what terrifies them. Feminists define terrorism as what terrifies
people. According to the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights
Action League, 480 letters containing white powder and notes from
the Army of God declaring it to be anthrax were received by abortion
clinics since Sept. 11. The Register-Guard article about the
letters did not mention terrorism. When The Emerald ran an
article about "date rape" drugs, which male UO students increasingly
use to rape women without them remembering, there was no mention of
terrorism.
If white businessmen were being systematically drugged
and beaten, it would be suspected terrorist activity and daily news
and suspects would already have been found. In Lane County three or
more women have been killed by their male partners in recent months.
Are flags at half-staff for our dead?
The values of the Taliban are not only visible in
Afghanistan. Women in the U.S. represent the largest growing homeless
and prison populations. Battery by a partner remains the largest cause
of injury to women. Three-quarters of working women have no healthcare.
Lawmakers, predominantly men, are considering a $263.4 million cut
to the Oregon Department of Human Services. In 1996 lawmakers passed
welfare reform with a five-year cutoff. Exactly five years later,
prostitution exclusion ordinances were passed in two Eugene neighborhoods.
Literally, lawmakers are criminalizing the symptoms as they spread
the disease of poverty.
Afghani women and their children are the vast majority
of the population in their land and have endured a long, brutal imprisonment
by their own men. Now, the U.S. plans to hand the reins over to another
patriarchal group of men. There, as here, women should be making the
important decisions about our future.
What do "women's issues" have to do with war? What
does domestic violence have to do with terrorism? In this patriarchal
reality every "issue" is separate, because when we join them together,
we're looking at a different reality. A reality that we knew long
ago; a reality that we can recreate.
Kari Johnson (http://kariart.net)
is a Eugene artist.
Back to Top
WEP
Between the Ears
Parkway
remains just an idea.
November's 51- to 49-percent vote for the
West Eugene Parkway (WEP) does not guarantee it will be funded, approved
and built.
Eugene voters were deadlocked; the nearly tie vote
was not a mandate to build the so-called parkway. If the referendum
had included a tax increase, it would have lost in a landslide.
Federal aid highways like the WEP are not local decisions.
The "record of decision" will be made by the Federal Highway Administration
-- not ODOT, not the Eugene City Council. The feds can reject
projects even if localities want them, and they can approve them over
local objections. The voters merely authorized the city to lobby for
the road, but did not actually approve the project.
The city wants the WEP so much that they included
two-thirds of the WEP (Danebo Street to Highway 99) in Measure 20-53,
which claimed to be projects "other than the WEP."
The money's not there. The 1970 National Environmental
Policy Act bans "segmentation" of the approval of federal projects
into smaller pieces. While a highway's funding and construction can
be phased, its approval may not be segmented. This is similar
to a house bought with a mortgage; it can be paid for in stages if
the full cost is budgeted.
The WEP from Beltline to Seneca Road is the only segment
in the regional TransPlan's 20-year fiscally constrained budget --
a mere $17 million of the $88 million cost. Most of the WEP is in
the "Future/Beyond 20 Years" (unfunded) list, which is legally the
same as "never." Building only the funded segment would dump
Beltline traffic onto narrow 5th Avenue between Seneca and Highway
99, which would create a traffic disaster. That would force an emergency
appropriation for the Seneca to 6th & 7th Avenues segment --
which is not the legal way to approve highways. (All WEP segments
must be in the 20-year budget before it can be approved.)
During the election campaign, Mayor Jim Torrey, Commissioner
Bobby Green, Rep. Robert Ackerman, and Oregon Transportation Commissioner
Randy Papé claimed that, "The money is there." However, TransPlan
already allocates our gas taxes for the next 20 years, and those funds
are not available for the unfunded parts of the WEP. TransPlan is
already over budget -- its wish list seeks $352 million in new
and expanded roads yet only $142 million is expected, while our road
maintenance needs will be $241 million but only $161 million is budgeted.
On Nov. 28, the City Council voted 7-1 to start the
process to rewrite TransPlan to move several funded projects to the
"future" list so that their funds can cover the WEP's $71 million
shortfall. On Dec. 13, their decision was endorsed by the regional
Metropolitan Planning Committee.
These projects include the widening of West 11th (Terry
to Green Hill), Beltline (Roosevelt to West 11th), Beltline (River
Road to Delta), I-105/Jefferson bridge, plus the construction of the
Jasper Road/I-105 extension in Springfield.
These TransPlan revisions also transfer $18 million
to the parkway from the reconstruction of the I-5/Beltline interchange
into a Los Angeles-style spaghetti bowl. That project is budgeted
at $53 million in TransPlan, but the current estimate is double that
cost. West Eugene and Gateway developers may soon squabble over which
project gets our money.
Illegal "segmentation." The FHWA report, "The
Development of Logical Project Termini," states that a project that
forces other road construction not included in the "record of decision"
is illegal segmentation.
The 1997 WEP Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact
Statement predicted that traffic on Beltline between Roosevelt and
West 11th would skyrocket from 9,300 cars per day (1995 data) to 26,800
per day in 2015 with the WEP. The WEP requires this Beltline segment
to be widened to four lanes, and therefore that cannot be removed
from TransPlan's 20-year budget to fund the WEP.
The WEP's western terminus, 1-1/2 miles outside the
city limits (Highway 126 at the railroad tracks), violates the FHWA
"logical termini" standard, since the WEP would force the widening
of 126 beyond that point.
West of Beltline, the WEP right-of-way is about 300
feet wide at Amazon Creek -- more than needed for four lanes.
It's likely that the WEP would be widened to six (or more) lanes once
the Urban Growth Boundary is expanded for new subdivisions and strip
malls around Fern Ridge Reservoir. But that widening would force six-lane
traffic to throttle down to two lanes on existing Highway 126. The
SDEIS states that the WEP would support "the development of the rural
residential properties just outside the UGB near the project's western
terminus and in the Veneta Area." Therefore, the future extension
of the WEP -- widening Highway 126 to four lanes across Fern
Ridge to Veneta -- should be in the Final EIS.
Other hurdles include the use of federal land bought
with Land and Water Conservation Funds (the BLM's West Eugene Parklands),
the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act (the wetland destruction permit),
the Endangered Species Act, and Section 4(f) of the 1966 Transportation
Act (which bars federal aid highways through parks). State laws about
UGBs would need to be bypassed.
The WEP vote might resemble the 1992 referendum to
close the Trojan nuclear power station near Portland. While the utility
won that vote, it closed the nuke two months later. Eugene could follow
the example set by Portland a decade ago, when its "Western Bypass"
was dropped in favor of improved public transit and smarter land use
policies.
Mark Robinowitz (mrobinowitz@igc.org)
was a road scholar for the No on 20-54 Committee.
Back to Top
Ignoring
the Evidence
Science
gets skewed in the debate over gravel vs. family farms. Part I.
It can be tempting to throw up your hands and walk away when
documents pile up on opposing sides of an issue. Too complicated,
too technical, too many contradictory claims. But often a simple question
lies at the heart, and documents pile up because someone is wanting
to avoid the clear answers.
Here's an example: Eugene Sand & Gravel (ES&G)
wants to destroy prime farm land to operate a gravel mine and crusher,
and manufacture asphalt amid River Road family farms. Before they
can do this, however, Oregon law requires them to show that there
is a gravel layer thick enough, and of quality high enough to justify
destroying that farm land.
Specifically, Oregon law requires ESG to demonstrate,
by means of "a representative set of samples," that there is a gravel
layer averaging at least 60 feet thick beneath the soil "overburden."
Also, the gravel must undergo a series of tests showing the gravel
meets Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) specifications for
road-building.
During the past year, UO geology Prof. Mark Reed has
volunteered his time preparing more than a dozen documents which show
that:
-- ESG has not sampled the gravels in a manner that
is "representative," according to either basic scientific methods
or national and professional highway engineering testing standards.
These standards require drilling in proposed mining areas, and testing
the gravel separately in strata that differ from each other. ES&G
hasn't done this. They've sampled drill holes in only one of the three
proposed mining areas, and mixed together distinctly different gravel
layers from top to bottom, before testing it.
-- The gravel layer beneath the "overburden" of
farm soil is 53, not 60 feet thick (see diagram). Underneath
these 53 feet of gravel lies a 10- to 14-foot clay layer, with even
older gravel beneath, which appears to be cemented together, like
bedrock. This stuff is likely to be economically infeasible to mine,
and would probably fail the ODOT tests. However, ES&G has never
tested this layer separately to show whether it meets ODOT specifications.
The reason Reed has been writing so many documents
is that ESG and Lane County planning staff have seemed intent on ignoring
scientific evidence. For example, ES&G and County planning staffer
Thom Lanfear have invented a bizarre definition of the term "overburden,"
which Oregon's Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD)
subsequently accepted without seeking or considering any professional
opinion. They define the 14 feet of clay lying beneath the 53 feet
of gravel as "overburden." Lanfear then recommended that the commissioners
simply add the gravel layer beneath the clay barrier (newly christened
as overburden) to the 53 feet of gravel above the clay bed to meet
state law requiring a layer (singular) of 60 feet of gravel beneath
overburden. However, calling the buried clay bed an overburden is
like calling the floorboards of a house part of its roof. Even ES&G's
hired geologist admits that professional geologists refer to overburden
as material that lies at the surface of the ground.
Though it's not clear what prompted DLCD to go along
with Lanfear's novel definition of overburden, Steven Pfeiffer was
at the time both chair of the commission that oversees DLCD, and ES&G's
company attorney. Pfeiffer has an obvious interest in whether buried
clay layers can be called "overburden."
In this gravel vs. family farms saga, Lanfear has
dismissed more than just Reed's scientific evidence. Other scientists
have studied ES&G's documents and have determined that the proposed
gravel mine would likely dewater neighboring farms during summer and
expose the farms to crop-reducing dusts and toxic asphalt-production
chemicals. Lanfear's memo refutes none of these scientists' evidence
and yet recommends that the Commissioners assume these problems won't
occur.
This all leads to an even bigger issue. When
judges and juries are faced with "dueling scientists," they have to
wade through the science to decide who is being most accurate. How
can we be assured that county staff and commissioners are paying attention
to scientific evidence which, like Reed's, provides uncomfortable
answers in controversial situations? Next time, I'll suggest a way
of doing this that has worked elsewhere, and could be adopted in Lane
County.
Mary O'Brien has worked as a public interest scientist
for the past 20 years. She can be reached at mob@efn.org
Back to Top
Minding
Our Beeswax
Holiday
house-warming.
Hanukkah is over. No need to wish me a happy one as
you bustle by with your red and green ear ornaments bobbing merrily.
We've lit our candles, spun our dreidles and eaten our potato latkes,
and now we're done, thank you very much.
That may come as a surprise to people who think of
Hanukkah as "The Jewish Christmas," but despite the dominant culture's
efforts to pump The Festival of Lights into a full-blown consumerfest,
it is still a minor holiday on the Hebrew calendar. Contrary to comments
by one well-meaning clueless person, the only difference between the
two holidays is not that "Christians believe that Jesus was born on
Christmas, and Jews believe He was born on Hanukkah." Sorry.
Truth be known, Hanukkah is the eight days during
which Jews attempt to set their houses on fire. We came close this
year, stopping just short of calling 911. There is something to be
said for sticking to tradition--this year we strayed from the
usual custom of buying our box of 44 Israeli paraffin candles for
$1.25 at the temple gift shop. With complete directions clipped from
a magazine, we rolled our own, very classy, beeswax Hanukkah candles.
Let's just say Martha Stewart owes us big time.
This Thanksgiving (call me testy, but yes, Jews do
celebrate Thanksgiving!) our otherwise very bright friend Judy set
up the craft project as a fun thing to do while we waited for our
feast to come out of the oven. Don't ask me what we were thinking.
As anyone who has studied the manual of Sado-Masochism Safety can
tell you -- after their gag has been removed -- beeswax
burns hotter than paraffin. A lot hotter. A drip of beeswax will raise
a blister; paraffin just stings. Not something you're likely to forget,
but we remembered too late.
Every year my beloved and I dust off our beautiful blue glass
menorah, given lovingly to us by our circle of Jewish lesbian friends
on the occasion of our nuptials, and observe the eight-night, candle-lighting
ritual. We give a prayer of thanks for our ancestors, exchange small
gifts, eat chocolate money and hold hands while we gaze into the flickering
candlelight. Only this year we had taped "The Ellen Show" and left
the candles burning while we turned our attention to the TV. That's
how we learned why watching TV is not a traditional Hanukkah activity.
It's amazing how much smoke can fill your house before
you notice it. It could have been a lot worse if my beloved hadn't
arisen from our reclining love seat to let the cat in. Who knew they
could make something that looks exactly like real glass out of plain
old, highly flammable resin? In a moment of religious insight, it
occurred to me that the bush Moses is reported to have seen burning
in the desert was neither a shrub nor the secret lesbian interpretation,
but actually a replica made of resin.
Perhaps we can take some solace in surmising that
the two of us are the true chosen people among all the other Jews
whose Hanukkah flames are limited to their piddly little candle wicks.
An entire menorah crackling in full blaze is an awesome sight. It
makes the word God just fly out of your mouth. That's what
it did to my brave and noble spouse who, it turns out, can run pretty
fast carrying a flaming glob of melting resin. God was invoked repeatedly.
No doubt it was Divine intervention that gave her the wherewithal
to grab our NOT-GLASS menorah by its still-cool base, rush it out
the door and leave it smoldering in the pouring rain on the front
steps.
So, if you notice some Jews being just a wee bit cranky
this time of year, please don't wish us a Happy Hanukkah, we already
had one.
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 two years ago, also runs in several other newspapers
around the country.
Back to Top
BURGLED DRUMS
It is perhaps a little known fact (and a
great story idea) that Eugene area property crime is a frighteningly
common event. This was unfortunately learned the hard way by my friend
Jill Sager, founder, heart and soul of Hands-On Rhythm and Drum School.
Her school was broken into Dec. 12, and all of her drums were stolen,
along with her stereo. Her office was rummaged (undoubtedly looking
for money), and her phone line was cut (apparently the not-so-brilliant
thieves thought they were cutting the alarms a la Mission Impossible).
The ill-conceived burglary of Hands-On Rhythm and
Drum School served only to stall a unique and wonderful resource of
music therapy and education in our community. Besides the fabulous
classes it provides, Jill has been expanding her outreach programs
to include partnerships with community centers, LCC, people with disabilities,
and most recently with the school visit program at WISTEC/The Science
Factory to provide drumming experiences to students from all over
southwestern Oregon. And yes, she provided the drums!
I realize that the odds of those drums returning to
her doorstep are basically zilch, but I hope the thieves consider
it, in the spirit of the season. And anyone else with an extra drum
lying about, perhaps consider donating it to the school?
Robyne Miles
Eugene
CORNER STORE
My family and I were recently unpleasantly
surprised by the unannounced closing of our corner store, the New
Frontier Market East. We are very saddened and disappointed by this
move from "Our Neighborhood Store." My patronage of this store was
intended to support nodal development within the existing neighborhoods
of the university. Unfortunately the owners of Frontier East seem
to have little regard for the community they have helped support over
the years. We are left disappointed and feeling this loss.
Jocelyn McAuley
Eugene
GRATEFUL SHOPPER
In contrast to the expected protests from
all sides, I'd like to say "thank you" to the owners of the New Frontier
Stores for providing a wonderful and friendly shopping service to
our neighborhood in the past. I can only respect their decision to
shut the NFE store, which is after all, a private business decision.
John Willoughby
Eugene
AFGHANI ALLIES
During the holidays, while our country is
at war, I would like to give thanks to the people who are giving their
lives to defend our way of life and the things we hold dear in the
world, the men and women who are on the front lines of America's war
on terrorism: the people of Afghanistan.
I do not wish to diminish the roles of Americans in
the war, but the people of Afghanistan have lost thousands of lives
to this conflict, not to mention the deaths from landmines, famine
and poverty. They are fighting our battles. We brought the conflict
to them; they did not ask us to come. Regardless, the goal of this
campaign was not to liberate an oppressed people who had been ignored
by the world, but to destroy a network of terrorists with Osama bin
Laden at its center. The people of Afghanistan have liberated themselves
and continue to put their lives on the line to destroy al Qaeda.
But let us think ahead to when the conflict is over;
let us remember the price the people of Afghanistan have paid for
their freedom, and ours. The United States has a horrendous reputation
abroad, particularly when dealing with countries in the Middle East.
I hope this has allowed us all to reflect on the damage America has
caused in the past and I hope America treats Afghanistan as the ally
and the equal it has become.
Benjamen Alexander Wright
Springfield
FREE SPEECH
So many EW readers, or at least letter
writers, seem to be missing the point. Commercialized sex is bad,
but providing the opportunity to discuss it is not the same as promoting
it. Only we can promote it by spending our dollars on those products
and services. The only thing that I've ever experienced as being "promoted"
by this paper is freedom to express all points of view and freedom
to advertise any product. But according to some of the letters to
the editor, freedom seems to be too huge of a burden to trust ourselves
with.
What gives you the right to say what should and shouldn't
be printed? Your letter got printed, didn't it? Do you have more of
a right to have your letter printed than a legitimate, legal business
has to have its ad appear?
Open your door and look outside. This is our imperfect,
perfect world. It's the world that we created. It is not the world
that we wish it could be. It is not the world that (Editor) Ted Taylor
made ugly by saying "buy a dildo." Or for refusing to apologize for
what he said. The EW is not responsible for this world or your
life. Please stop projecting some kind of responsibility onto them
that is not theirs.
I was at the protest outside the EW office
and I learned one important thing standing there in the rain. Dildo
comments are good because they provide opportunities. Angry responses
to the dildo comments are also good for the same reason. And so it
is entirely appropriate to thank EW, and not condemn them for
their decisions.
Daniel Linch
Eugene
SEX ADS ABOUND
I moved to Eugene a couple of months ago
from Tucson, Ariz. While I agree that the concepts condoned in the
advertisements for sex shops are incongruous with the utopia we hope
for (cough, cough), I also don't believe in censorship by any means.
I just don't read the stuff that I don't like. I also know that those
questionable ads are what keeps your paper free to the public, which
is more important to me.
I am currently in Tucson visiting my family for the
holidays, and I picked up the most recent copy of the Tucson Weekly.
I decided to compare the amount of questionable ads in TW to
EW. Surprise, surprise, there are four whopping full pages
of x-rated ads in the Tucson paper. Wouldn't it be interesting if
you compared EW to other cities as far as adult content goes?
Maybe you could prove to Eugeneans how grateful they should really
be.
Just a side comment on how Eugene compares. While
I am more satisfied with the music scene in Tucson, your club listings
are easier to read. Also, your news content is more interesting and
I favor your politics over TW's.
Heather Lorenz
Eugene
HAPPIER TRAILS
EW's Dec. 20 edition included an
article about mountain biking the Goodman Creek Trail (GCT). Because
I am the founder of Eugene/Springfield's Disciples of Dirt Mountain
Bike Club (DOD), the author contacted me, as well as another of DOD's
members, to inquire about riding this sensitive trail. We both responded
that the GCT is not appropriate to ride -- and until humans are
weightless, not appropriate to hike -- until deep into the summer
season. This is because the Goodman Creek Trail becomes waterlogged
and does not dry out until late July or early August.
The GCT is just one trail within the wet and sensitive
Hardesty Trail network, which includes beautiful stands of old growth
a few miles southeast of Eugene. It is totally irresponsible to direct
people to ride bikes, hike, or ride horses within this trail network
at this time of year. Our mountain bike club has donated many man-hours
of trailwork toward the repair and improvement of the Goodman Creek
Trail (GCT).
Although I explained this to EW's author, no
mention was made of it in his one-sided article directing cyclists
to abuse this sensitive multi-use trail. It is easy to see why the
EW author was flailing and crashing so much while riding his
mountain bike on the GCT. His sense of balance on his mountain bike
is obviously no better than his sense of balance in "reporting." It
is a shame that much of the work our club has done to educate the
mountain biking community regarding responsible off-road cycling will
be undone by EW's regrettable article.
There are places to ride mountain bikes responsibly
during Oregon's rainy season. If EW's author or any of EW's
readers seek appropriate places to ride their bikes or to volunteer
for one of DOD's trailwork parties, please contact me personally at
meaty_urologist@hotmail.com
David Hallock
Eugene
EDITOR'S NOTE: James Johnston tells us his
party didn't leave any ruts, but he "can see how running a bike over
a muddy trail could foul it up." He also says David Hallock never
told him the GCT is sensitive or not appropriate to ride in wet weather.
TRENCHY TRAILS
I have been living and bicycling in Eugene
for a year and from day one I got the message to stay off Goodman
Creek Trail in the winter. I think James Johnston should have consulted
a couple of bike stores for a recommendation for a good local winter
trail to write about; I can guarantee they would not have mentioned
Goodman Creek.
If you open up the Lane County Mountain Bike Trail
Guide to the "Goodman Creek" detail, you will see a big "STOP" sign
message telling you to please choose another trail because this one
is overused. I am so surprised you guys wrote an article encouraging
mediocre riders to go tear it up in "trench warfare." If there are
trenches throughout a trail you most likely should not be riding it
at all.
Matthew Callahan
Eugene
VOTING VACUUM
Attorney General Ashcroft is attempting
to overturn the twice-voted-on Oregon assisted suicide law. Legislators
in the state are attempting to overturn the term limit law passed
by Oregon voters, citing possible unconstitutionality. The property
forfeiture law, so popular with police agencies and so easily abused,
is also being reversed.
Measures are so often overturned, amended or dismissed
by lawmakers -- mostly lawyers -- who dislike the outcome
of a vote, that it is discouraging to people to vote at all. While
on the surface lawmakers may bemoan low voter turn out, behind closed
doors, I imagine there is quiet cheering. The fewer the votes, the
easier it is for them to get elected or change the outcome of a vote,
giving big campaign contributors more leverage.
Campaign reform is unlikely to happen with so much
greed going on, but there is such a thing as voter reform. There is
one way to get everyone to vote -- the rich, the poor, the discriminated
against -- one way to get a true picture of how people feel about
issues.
Make voting compulsory. Some may argue that this is
anathema to real democracy. But what we have now is an oligarchy and
it might be the only way to save democracy.
The cost of the public's laziness and disregard for
the voting process, as well as lawmakers' equal disregard for results,
is a society increasingly distanced from a system of checks and balances
and a society closer to tyranny.
Alisa McLaughlin
Eugene
FATAL FACTS
While we go waving our moral flag around the world, we might look
at some simple facts about ourselves. Our leaders have been fast to
give $40 billion in a day to fight the evil that plagues us from abroad,
but what can we do to save lives without war?
The American Heart Association reports that smoking-related
illnesses killed an average of 430,700 people per year between 1990
and 1994. Cigarettes kill.
According to MADD, from 1982 to 1999, 365,344 people
died in alcohol-related traffic accidents. We could stop the killing
and deaths of more than 15,000 people per year if we just stop drinking
so much alcohol.
Victims of maltreatment or child abuse in 1999 are
estimated at a staggering 826,000. Some 1,100 of these children died
of abuse and neglect. If you were abused as a child, get help; you
won't get even.
As a society, why are we not stopped in our tracks
at these appalling statistics and rush to end these atrocities? As
a nation of moral people, we can help hundreds of thousands of lives
by the simple act of not smoking, not drinking to excess and not abusing
our children. The great thing about it is we don't have to declare
war on anyone to make positive changes in our lives. After we have
killed our enemies, what will we do about ourselves?
Scott M. Douglas
Eugene
BUSH LOGIC
Surely I am not the only one to see the
contradiction. President Bush builds an international coalition to
fight terrorism, a valuable and worthy effort by any measure. With
this Bush draws people together to dismantle the forces that endanger
us all.
President Bush abandons international treaties on
global warming, chemical weapons, land mines -- and now a key
treaty to our national security, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
With this Bush thumbs his nose at the concerns of other nations. Europe
stands to become another Siberia, a global warming disaster, that
could befall in a decade, according to our National Academy of Sciences.
Small island nations may cease to exist as sea levels rise. War-torn
peoples around the world are maimed and killed by abandoned land mines.
And so on.
By abandoning the ABM treaty, Bush can race forward
with his ill-conceived and useless missile defense program, a technology
whose absurdity was horribly demonstrated on Sept. 11. Will Russia
be more willing to negotiate nuclear arms reductions? Not likely.
Will China, India, Pakistan, North Korea shun nuclear weapon and missile
development? Not likely. So are we more secure with a missile defense
system? Not at all.
Bush's motivation is easy to track. The money trail
leads to those who purchased his presidency. So Bush pays his political
debts with the currency of our collective security. Beyond politics
and beyond arrogance, this is immoral.
Eldon Haines
Eugene
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