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If only the blind and the disabled were truckers, they would have their legislators' support for a fair portion of the budget. Roads and bridges come first! Oregon's safety net has already disappeared for many, and thousands more elderly, disabled, blind and ill citizens will soon be out in the streets or without needed assistance. We need the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes and the legislators need to eliminate their tax give-aways. Peg Morton and Michelle Darr, with the support of Fellowship of Reconciliation, churches and peace groups, are fasting and keeping vigil on the Capitol's front steps 24 hours a day to protest budget cuts for social services. They are asking for our support. Blind activist Gweneth van Frank Carlson has been leading disabled citizens to Salem every week for over six months. When she leads others to sing "America the Beautiful" and "Amazing Grace" the legislators listen but there is little support from the Republicans in power. The budget has been cut too many times for the wealthy and now we must call our legislators and ask them to do away with the multitude of tax give-aways. The latest budget figures show 58 percent go for tax write-offs. This must change! Do give your legislator a call and if possible join Peg and Michelle on the Capitol steps for a few hours. Ruth Duemler
DA DUPED TROOPS Some young soldiers in Iraq believe they are fighting for our country, for our democracy, for our security. Unfortunately they have been duped along with the rest of us. Our democracy is threatened by our own attorney general. Our security is threatened by our own bullying and arrogance. Our country's economy is crippled by excessive spending on limp "homeland security" ("like patching a rusty bucket with chewing gum"), an exaggerated military, and tax breaks for the richest. Our young people are fighting for the oil that lies under Iraq, and perhaps soon for that under Iran. Our young people are fighting for the profits of large corporations which have intimate ties to the administration. We paid for Iraq's infrastructure in the eighties; we paid to destroy that infrastructure in two wars; now we're paying to build it again. Our young people are fighting for an administration that exaggerates and lies to get its war of dominance. Our young people are killed one by one by Iraqis who feel themselves invaded and colonized. Our young people know there's a better way! Eldon Haines
SPARE THE AIR In regards to a recent article "Air Quality Slipping" (7/24), I truly hope that people in Lane County and the Eugene-Springfield area extending up the Willamette Valley to Portland take the issue of air quality seriously. With more and more cars on the road (many with bigger engines), increased industrial pollution, construction and field burnings, it better be sooner than later. I fear for the future of your area with beautiful skies and clean air in that it will become another mountain "pocket" of haze like where I live. Here our once beautiful valley is hazy with dirt and invisible particles that cause numerous health problems. Every year these airborne particles irritate my lungs and essentially make me feel like I'm getting a cold for weeks on end. My nose is stuffed up constantly. My doctor says it's getting worse every year for many people in the valley. Indeed it has become worse with not only increased population growth and industrial growth, but the fact that our local version of the EPA Air Quality turns its back on the many causes of increased haze and pollution. But, the other part of the problem is an individual one. Sure I drive a car and mow my lawn, but I also get my vehicle inspected for emissions and keep the mower tuned up. I don't burn garbage and I rarely use a fireplace, and although we're not an agricultural center, field burning in the valley is limited and restricted. Although not for everyone, it's a way for me to help. With the current administration's assault on the environment and the EPA's lack of "teeth," it will be up to each individual, up to the local "watchdogs," and up to the state air quality organizations to clean up the air. Mike Miles
POLLUTING CITIZENS In a news brief last week (7/24) you pointed out that Eugene's air quality has worsened. Above the short blurb was a picture of a factory pumping smoke into the air. This juxtaposition is misleading, though, because most air pollution doesn't come from point sources (e.g. factories), but rather from so called "mobile sources" (e.g. cars, trucks, motorcycles, lawn mowers, planes, etc). According to the EPA, mobile sources accounted for 77, 82, and 78 percent of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nitrous oxide emissions respectively. These airborne toxins can stay in the air for a long time, traveling miles from their origins, and can lead to breathing problems, lung damage, cardiovascular problems, decreased work capacity, as well as cancer. It's easy to pass the blame of pollution onto an obvious (albeit lesser) source like industry, we as citizens must take responsibility for the impact we have on air quality. Perhaps when you address pollution in future issues you could include information regarding the causes of the pollution, and possible solutions. Kevin Torr Selker
IN BIG BIZ'S NAME Bush lied about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There's evidence that he and his cohorts even planned a war on Iraq before the terrorist attack of 9/11. As a result of these Bush actions, more than 200 of our young soldiers have died and continue to die and many more have been wounded. (Nowhere, however, do we have an accounting of how many Iraqi men, women and children we have killed or wounded. Their hardships don't seem to count for the sanctimonious Bush administration.) This is abhorrent enough. Yet, the American people pay $4 billion a day to continue this war! The U.S. spends, according to the current issue of Newsweek, $369 billion on its military each year. That's more than the combined military expenditure of the next 20 countries in the world, including Russia and China. This represents Bush's social and economic values. I would like to know who's profiting from this war and the billions expended daily? How much of this war is big business for Bush, Cheney and friends at Haliburton and Bechtel? How many lives will their big business ventures cost? Do we investigate this — or turn our backs to the lives lost and the tax money spent? Bob Rubinstein EDITOR'S NOTE: Estimates of Iraqi civilian deaths can be found at www.pigstye.net/iraq/
SMORGASBORD OF EVIL The question of whether Bush knowingly lied about WMDs in Iraq distracts us from the bigger question of what justification we have in accusing others of having them when we have more than anyone else, or of terrorism, when we have the School of the Americas. We know where to find evil if we dare to look. In the spirit of "follow the money," we should be asking who, and whose friends, profit from war, and therefore from lies about reasons to go to war. In the spirit of "I love my country, but I fear my government," I have more respect (though not love) for those who attack knowing they'll be among the first to die (no matter what propaganda may have convinced them), and many of their friends and relatives will die not long after, than those who would profit by others dying, while telling us it's in our best interest. Dan Robinson
TRUCKLOADS OF CASH The Oregon Legislature, in its infinite wisdom, has doubled auto fees to raise $2.5 billion over the next 10 years. $1.5 billion of that is to replace or repair highway bridges that have been damaged by large trucks exclusively. The powerful trucking lobby pushed this and also persuaded AAA to betray the club's members and not to object to this rip-off. There is a simple and much less costly way to buy time for the bridge work: « Immediately lower truck loads to a 5,000 lb. maximum — without exceptions. Rein in ODOT and cancel all overload permits. Put heavier loads on rails. « Lower maximum truck speed on bridges to 35 mph, require 300 feet between trucks, restrict them to one lane in each direction and prohibit passing on bridges. These bridges should be serviceable for a good many years with this responsible usage, and it will give the trucking industry plenty of time to raise the $1.5 billion to repair the damage that they alone have caused. David Blain
BUSH IN A CAGE I will vote for and give my total support to the first Democratic candidate to pledge to have Bush tried for treason and war crimes, and be given the maximum penalty for those crimes; and to use the so-called Patriot Act to name the rest of his gang as "unlawful combatants" and throw them into cages in Guantanamo, forever. Wayne Ford
MARGINAL COVERAGE Thank you for your feature (7/24) on My House's "ASUPERHAPPYFUDAYINTHE PARK" event last week. Unfortunately, the ill-informed article promoted the event as taking place on Sunday, when in actuality the event has always been scheduled for Saturday. It is too bad the facts of the story were not well researched, nor was the piece insightful or well written. The larger and more important issue however is EW's continued marginalization of community and contemporary arts in Eugene. The scant coverage found in the pages of EW isn't for lack of effort. After programming over 45 events at My House in the last 15 months with artists who have had exhibits at the Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum of Art, and The Wexner Center (as well as many who are local or not as well-recognized), it has been a constantly frustrating experience trying to get the EW to cover these artists. One certainly gets the feeling that your staff has no interest in promoting community or contemporary art, as we received a constant run-around /avoidance when doing publicity with your paper. Of 45 events, we have received two previews in your paper. I believe it is irresponsible for your paper not to cover local arts and culture. I believe it is irresponsible for staff writers who deal with arts and culture to not be familiar with the local venues. People read EW to find out about what there is to do. Even though My House has closed, you have a responsibility to do a better job in covering local music, arts and culture. You can start by featuring events taking place at venues like The Museum of Unfine Art, the Jawbreaker, Mother Kali's and MECCA. Covering these venues would foster a more informed, vibrant, forward-thinking vision of how our community could be. Marc Moscato EDITOR'S NOTE: It should be noted that My House got Calendar listings for every event, and sometimes photos, at zero cost to Mr. Moscato.
A LITTLE RESPECT I live at 563 Coburg Road, right behind the construction site. I just wanted to write a letter in regards to the respect and courtesy that I feel McKenzie should show to its neighbors at 555 Coburg Road (namely the Woodlands Apartments). These people start at 7 am every morning, running their cranes and tractors and 18-wheelers and loaders. They wake us up every morning at 7 am sharp, running their machines in reverse, resulting in multitudes of those beeping back-up sounds. But they quit every day at 3 pm! Why should they have the right to wake up the entire apartment building that we live in, and the nearby ones, and still quit at 3 pm? Couldn't they start at 8 am and go until 4 pm? And, on another note, they do the same thing on many Saturdays. When will we ever get a day of peace and quiet, or be able to sleep past 7 am? Don't we have a right to a peaceful and restful place of residence, or do we need to put up with the disrespect of McKenzie and the other crews working on that site? Tony Delap
NEIGHBORS FROM HADES What happened to the good old days when you could count on your neighbors for anything? Where did the Welcome Wagons go? Smiling handshakes with greeting hellos, nice to meet you? Where did the casseroles, light conversation and cups of sugar go? My neighbors are the Hounds of Hell, the teenage kid next door stole my daughter's bike, plays loud rap music with his gangster wannabe's that hang out like crows on their front porch. And don't get me started on the Monster Truck neighbor next door who has to start his Beast on Wheels three times a day, just to see if it still runs. Let's forget about the go-cart-with-no-helmet-driving kids, the four wheeler, and the trailer that is always blocking the second driveway we are always fighting over. Now I know you're asking, where do I live? Which is another issue — right on the line of Eugene and Santa Clara, in a very nice and way too small townhouse complex with no parking. Yeah, we are all renters but do we have to act like we are? I would hate to see how these people treat strangers... I am fed up and I know I'm not alone. What, were these folks brought up in a barn? Now, please keep in mind I am not some over-the-hill lady. I'm just 31 and a member of the generation that is not going anywhere. But I do have manners, and I want more from my community — if you can call it that. Looking for a three-bedroom, two-bath with good neighbors! Lisa Caimi
FIRST DIGS Let me offer a clarifying response to the letter submitted by Dean McKenzie, past President of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) Eugene Society about The Archaeology Channel's International Film and Video Festival recently organized by our organization, Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI). First, many thanks to Mr. McKenzie for attending the Festival and for his laudatory remarks about the event. His opinions carry great weight. Responding to our claim that this was the first archaeological film festival in North America, Mr. McKenzie pointed out that the AIA Eugene Society has had at least two events where archaeological films were shown. These events were important contributions and are not to be minimized or discounted. ALI is certainly not the first to hold public showings of archaeological films. Archaeological films have been shown in many places over the years. We meant instead that we are the first in North America to hold an international juried competition of such films, patterned after festivals now held regularly by a network of organizations in Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey. We invited film-makers worldwide to submit their works to this competition and received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response. Of more than 70 films submitted, we accepted 64 entries from 19 countries and screened 20 films from 10 countries at the McDonald Theatre during July 16-19. Awards selected from our jury and audience went to film-makers from France, Germany, Greece, and the U.S. I respect the AIA and am in fact an AIA Member and a member of the AIA Education Committee. Richard Pettigrew, Exec. Dir.
IT'S ABOUT TIME All the letters of complaint and accusation are evidence of how many people are frustrated and upset at just about everything that is happening in this society. From my slightly skewed perspective on things (poor, disillusioned and somewhat right of far right, which is nearly left of left), I see it all running down, like some old clock that no one knows how to wind. We have a government more interested in extending its surveillance and control over our personal lives (thank you, Dick) than in dealing with critical social and environmental problems. We have witnessed massive wealth transference from the public sector to the wealthiest of the private sector, which has resulted in the peculiar situation of George spending millions in order to hold office so he can continue to bankrupt the federal treasury, turning our children and grandchildren into permanent paupers. Since the Republican Party is so adroit at raising money, why don't they raise money for their country instead of just for themselves? Oh, sorry, what am I thinking? Anybody out there remember Watergate, Iran-Contra, the savings and loan debacle? Why do we continue to allow any Republican to hold high office? If we don't like the effects of George and Dick in power, than we should cause them to lose the power of their offices. Impeach George for crimes against the Constitution (officially lying as policy of state) and throw Dick out of his bunker if he continues to refuse to explain to the American people what he is doing as their vice president. These people only get away with this stuff because we let them. Isn't it about time to call them to account to the American people rather than to their corporate bosses? D. McDougal
ASKING FOR TRUTH I have a lot of questions to ask George Bush. First, what is the Bush administration hiding? Why won't the White House release the 28-page section of the 9/11 Report? Are we to believe that it contains materials critical to "national security?" How can the administration expect us to silently accept this refusal to reveal the contained information? Who does it implicate? Can we assume anything but the worst from an administration now blatantly on a path of one deception after another? And my final question is for Americans everywhere: What is more important to you, learning the truth, or protecting the image of the man we call our president? Henry Snow
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