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WHAT ABOUT VETS? I am writing to say how offended I am by the fact that you did not recognize Veterans' Day in any way. The soldiers who fought and died to protect the affluence and freedom that you take upon yourselves as a right were not honored in this magazine, and you should be ashamed. You may not agree with all of the decisions that were made by the government and military, but you must remember that these soldiers fought and died to protect the United States, the country that we all live in. You can argue policy decisions, but you cannot ignore the safety that has been given to us throughout history by the U.S. military. The soldiers who have fought for this country need to be recognized and thanked for the sacrifices they have made to protect us. I urge all others to write letters of support to EW, with the optimistic idea that they merely forgot about Veterans' Day. I cannot believe that they would omit mention of Sunday's Veteran's Day Parade on purpose; and it must be merely coincidence that the cover story in EW for the week of Veterans' Day is about a Muslim holiday. Do not forget that the freedoms that we take for granted were fought for and died for by American soldiers. Michael King, Eugene
BALLFIELDS VS. ENVIRONMENT We have truly come to a fork in the jogging trail at Amazon Park. Do we spend $550,000 of park bond measure on two high tech ballfields (nine in the area already), unscreened stadium lights (198 and counting), and sports tournament parking? Or do we opt for the restoration alternative — park beautification with native plant screening, channel naturaliziation, and connection to the Spencer Butte to Fern Ridge corridor? Ballfield advocates complain of occasional "scheduling conflicts." Maybe so — we all have bad hair days — but what about the rest of us getting an occasional sunset or enjoying tranquility at a real park, when do we schedule time for that? Parks planner Andrea Riner says "our job as planners is to say yes to everything." Yet willy-nilly juxtaposition of conflicting uses (noisy tournament vs. calm of nature) can only lead to park dysfunction. Ballfields aren't exactly ballfields any more. They are excavated, drained, fertilized, sterilized, delumped, and otherwise manicured to meet technical specifications for high intensity use by narrow (need I say paying) constituencies. We can't keep chipping away at the park and still have a park. The bus station, overflow pool parking, stadium lights, plastic hockey rinks — try to have it all and you end up with nothing. Please attend a 7 pm Nov. 20 public meeting at Hilyard Community Center. Contact Citizens for a Natural Amazon at 513-8151 or see www.cyber-dyne.com/~tom/03/natural_amazon.html Tom Pringle, Jocks for the Environment, Eugene
PARADISO LOST Café Paradiso melted in the hands of the OLCC; they succumbed to the ever-present ageist ways of society. Café Paradiso was given the option of dividing their facility into two sections, one for those over the legal drinking age and one for those who aren't or closing their doors to the under-21 crowd. They chose the latter, turning away the under-21 crowd on Friday and Saturday nights after 8 pm. What did I do after I was turned away from seeing WYMPROV! on Friday night? I headed over to Cozmic Pizza at The Strand and saw a stellar performance by Son Mela'O. At The Strand it is understood that music should be experienced by all, not just those over 21. Support The Strand and every other business that recognizes the desire for all-age venues and encourage those that don't to start. Stacy Borke, Eugene
ENCROACHMENT No other park in the city has as much as Amazon Park. Amazon is highly developed to meet the need of organized sports. The park has four tennis courts, three groomed baseball fields, four soccer fields (built or co-built), basketball courts, two in-line skating rinks, two sand volley ball courts, and the only outdoor swim facility. Much of this is used only three months of the year. I am not against ball fields but would like to see equal monies go toward the natural elements of the park. This park has seen a huge amount of industrialized encroachment. The worst examples have been the Amazon Parkway, maze of chain-link and baseball fields north of 24th, bus transfer station, five parking lots, the illegal use of park-land as a parking lot, and the concretization of the Amazon Creek with chain-link fencing. On the brighter side, the city has been working to create natural areas to protect the Amazon Creek at the headwaters and west of town. I'd like to see the same kind of commitment in Amazon Park. To find a good balance between differing uses, those who use the park on a daily basis must weigh-in and have their voice heard as the majority that it is. Many parks are not yet built and other parks are in need of scarce funds. Be sure to let the city know that Amazon has far more than its developed share of ball fields than any other city park. For more info write: AmazonNeighbors@lycos.com Marcy Jane, Citizens for a Natural Amazon
PETTY POLICING I would like to applaud Jenny Hoeksema (11/6) for speaking out against racist and intrusive police practices. I, too, am fed up with Eugene area police tactics and am not surprised at all to learn that they've been profiling based on race. I believe that the statistics would also show that they disproportionately pull over older, beat-up, and be-stickered vehicles (usually those who can least afford to pay the tickets). The biggest problem I have is that they never seem to be looking for harmful criminal activity, but instead spend their time harassing motorists (and cyclists) for petty violations while satiating their apparent obsession with searching for marijuana. Law enforcement is an extremely powerful and difficult
occupation dealing with many complex and sensitive societal issues.
This is why I believe that the police academy should be part of a mandatory
four-year degree program that should include diversity training and
community awareness. Many professions with far simpler societal implications
require a college education and I think it has become far too obvious
that we need to raise our standards when it comes to our police force.
As the guardians of our community, we need to be able to expect impeccable
professional conduct from them at all times. Instead they are rarely
even held I would like to see a much closer review of the data to identify which individual officers have the greatest racial disparities in their stops and searches. While we're at it let's check the stats for late model vs. old beater vehicles. When we identify which officers are profiling, they should be required to undergo sensitivity training and then monitored to make sure they're playing fair. None of this will ever happen without an independent citizen police review with real power to enforce these standards. The unfortunate fact is that police can't be trusted to police themselves. If you think they can, I've got a war for democracy I'd like to sell you. David Pullman , Eugene
TIME TO UNDERMINE I was glad to see your paper address the problems with the current conservative attempt to repeal HB 2152, the "tax increase" that is intended to save our school systems ("Decline to Sign" news story, 11/6). I recently received the letter and petition being mailed out to (I presume) all registered voters in the state urging me to sign the petition and get my friends to do the same. My envelope contained a pre-paid envelope intended for me to return my signed petition and the donation they were soliciting as well. How interesting that the "Taxpayer Defense Fund" would have the gall to ask for money from taxpayers in amounts which are higher than their estimated loss from the tax hike! As your article stated, the tax increase will cost taxpayers on average $3 a month, thus approximately $36 per year. Yet the PAC trying to repeal this increase asks for donations of $50! I saw my opportunity in that little pre-paid envelope, and I encourage all of you to follow suit. Send them back their unsolicited paperwork with your personal opinions written on it, and do it on their own dime. Certainly they will appreciate your input and critiques. Don't just "decline to sign," go ahead and undermine. Gail M. Karuna, Eugene
CASTING BANANAS When I was in downtown Eugene, I witnessed two people harassing a man for driving a Hummer. Sure, they're gas guzzlers, but what is this relative too? If the man drives his SUV but for a few trips a week, he his actually conserving more than the "right-minded" conservationist who drives their more efficient car everywhere they go. Likewise, if the SUV is kept in good condition, it is probably spewing out less noxious chemicals than that old beat up VW bus. So, in conclusion, let they who ride their bike, take the bus, and walk cast the first banana in the tail-pipe. Mandy DeVille, Eugene
OBEY THE GOVERNMENT Is it any wonder Deputy Secretary of Defense Boykin touts (while in uniform) the U.S. as a Christian nation at war with Islam, when the president himself labels enemies of America evil? Pat Robertson spends millions of dollars a day propagating the same message, as if the U.S. government were the defender of all that is good and holy, reminiscent of the Falwell/Reagan collaboration in the war on drugs to enlist support from credulous Christians, who are advised by St Paul in Romans 13.1 to "obey the government, for God is the one who put it there," yet seem to forget Paul himself was martyred for disobedience to government. Mottos, slogans, songs, and pledges of allegiance to
the contrary, the First Amendment makes this nation secular, not Christian,
and no government made by men can ever be more than a necessary evil.
One has only to watch TV for an hour or so to realize this is in all
probability the most decadent and immoral nation on Earth since Sodom
and Gommorah, so what are religious leaders doing promoting secular
causes, especially war? If there is an express line for Americans
at the Pearly Gates, you won't find me in it, because it probably leads
straight to hell. Pete Raiteri, Eugene
GREATEST THREAT Despite numerous treaties, American scientists pioneer the latest bio-weapons in secret facilities around the country. The countries we threaten are merely trying to keep up with us. Where did that anthrax in our mail originate? Fort Detrick — the same U.S. Army facility that gave Saddam Hussein his anthrax starter kit back in the 1980's. You see, we ourselves sold Saddam the seeds of his weapons program. Our country has fired over a million pounds of depleted
uranium into Iraq and Afghanistan, polluting these countries for hundreds
of thousands of years with weapons made of our own nuclear waste! DU
causes mass birth defects and permanent disabilities, as our own soldiers
know first-hand from recent wars. But this time around we slashed veteran's
benefits before they can We hold prisoners of war incognito in a permanent concentration camp in Cuba. We don't do body counts of the civilians we've killed. We resist the creation of the International Criminal Court because we fear prosecution for our war crimes. Our every policy is a war on something. We have troops in over 100 countries. We spend more on our military than the next 20 countries combined. One full third of our economy is based on the war industry. Weapons are about the only thing still made in America, and we are the world's top seller - year after year. We've destroyed Iraq and made billions reconstructing it. Can we resist doing it again? It's time to look in the mirror, America. We are the wolf in sheep's clothing — a nation made rich by war. We are the greatest threat to peace the world has ever known. Wayne Skipper, Eugene
CASINO BENEFITS? How many times have we heard the claim that tribal casinos are beneficial to their host communities because compacts with the state require them to share profits? (For example, see The Oregonian, 9/14, "Florence debates potential of casino.") Do the compacts really require them to share profits? Yes. But no one is allowed to look at their record books, so the "profits," turn out to be whatever the operators care to claim. Do the host communities really benefit from this largess? Not a bit. In fact, a great many people in communities that have been forced (or tricked) into playing host to casinos stand ready to challenge the assertion that they benefit from the ordeal. Let's examine why. The truth is that casinos return to their host communities only a small fraction of what they take away in the form of higher costs for public safety, civil services, road repair and expansion, the removal of property from the tax rolls, and many more. The list is endless. Furthermore, the typical host community is not allowed to specify who gets the money doled out by the casino, and, as a result, it's used to maintain a stranglehold on the economic survival of every organization and individual who might be tempted to express anything less than high praise for them. Many are forced to claim publicly that the casino is beneficial to them while, in truth, it's a constant threat to their well-being and livelihood. Before the casino came, these organizations and individuals could depend on a steady flow of economic support from local taxes and charities, but the casino took that away, and now they control the purse strings that spell life or death for their neighbors. Billie Heath, Florence
FREEDOM FIGHTERS I wonder if some of the people attacking American troops could be Iraqi patriots fighting for their country against foreign invaders? If you listen to President Bush, administration officials and the media, only "Saddam loyalists," "Bathists," "terrorists," "killers" and "torturers" are behind the attacks. It reminds me of the Soviets after they invaded Afghanistan referring to the "mujahadeen" fighters and "Islamists" as terrorists. It also reminds me of the Nicaraguan government in the 1980's calling the Contras who were attacking them "terrorists." Oh yeah, I forgot those were our "terr....," I mean "freedom fighters." Pete Mandrapa, Eugene
POT POSITIONS Kate Gessert's article "Anyone But Bush" (10/30) is a good summary of the Democratic candidates and their positions on war/peace issues. Another issue that is important to Oregon voters is the position of these nine candidates on Oregon's medical marijuana law. Since Bush took office the federal government has continuously
conducted raids on sick patients and care-providers in California. The
federal attack on medical marijuana patients recently spread to Oregon
when the DEA raided the home of Travis Paulson, a medical marijuana
patient in Lebanon. Kucinich has stated that as president he would sign an executive order that would permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. He is also a cosponsor of the Truth in Trials Act, an act that would allow prosecuted patients to speak about their medical use of marijuana at trial. Kerry would stop the federal raids on marijuana patients. He has also called on the DEA to allow marijuana to be grown and studied for its medical value in the state of Massachusetts. Gephardt supports states rights to medical marijuana and would discontinue the raids. Edwards has vowed to continue the raids. Dean would direct the FDA to study medical marijuana and make a recommendation on its use within a year. As governor of Vermont he vetoed a bill that would have allowed the medical use of marijuana. Kevin Feeney, Eugene
NADER AGAIN? Ralph Nader is a highly principled man, one of the reasons, I imagine, he ran for the presidency in 2000, thereby diluting the voter pool for Al Gore, the end result of which need not be gone into in detail: the Bush administration. If Nader decides to run again in 2004, he no longer could be considered a principled man; he knows what he did, doing it again would be purely selfish, putting his personal political agenda ahead of the national political agenda and the greater good of the country. This is a dilemma facing members of the Green Party. I urge you to seriously think about the consequences of four more years under the Bush administration. Your political agenda, while laudable, does not make Ralph Nader electable. Take into account the greater good of the nation when voting in the next election and, in the year ahead, I suggest you work with Howard Dean's campaign and vote for him in November 2004. Pauline Hutson, Eugene
LACK OF OUTRAGE Kevin Mannix has a plan to restore a small portion of hundreds of millions of dollars of further cuts to Oregon's human services and education. Once voters are successfully lobbied to repeal the new taxes legislators agreed upon, Mr. Mannix dreams of relaxing state certification for teaching, slowing teacher pay scale increases, and eliminating educator mastery programs while defunding the institution. Clearly education is not a priority to this legislator. The lack of outrage over comments like these proves Oregonians have resigned themselves to levels of apathy and ignorance that are unprecedented. Education was not this boldly attacked even during the great depression. Legislators like Kevin Mannix may be hoping for an uneducated and apathetic citizenry to overlook their disservice to the state. If so, their strategy is working. As this deliberate erosion of education and social services takes hold in Oregon we will pay the costs exponentially in future generations. Record higher education tuition increases and numbers of students in a classroom are not an accident. They are designed. We need to wake up and defend what little education we have left on all levels before class level sizes and inexperienced teachers makes attending school ineffective and eventually counterproductive. Mike Meyer, Eugene
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