VIEWPOINTS
fOllORtALS OPINIONS IfTTfRS TO TMt TOHOR
Anti-Hyundai activists
go to bat for amphibian
■ OUR OPINION It would
bo funny if it worent true
Sshh, Hyundai You'll
wake the frog*
Ami-Hyundai activists am
at il again. Surprise.
After mouths of trying to
block the building of lH«*
computer-chip l«* lory in
west Eugene, these aware
nmahnightanad folk* am
protesting the nighttime
excavation and construction
work lhal Hyundai has boon
approved to do bul ha*
never done.
Thai’* right They're upset
about an activity that wm
approved try the city in
bucorntmf but has never
h«ip|M*ned
Ap|ummliy, the men*
thought of bulldozer* and
tuM khom keeps the 2.5 peo
pl« living around the site up
at night Not to mention, of
course, that such under-the
cover-of-darkness digging
will disrupt the sleeping
and mating habits of various
bints and tree frog*
It's such great fortune that
Eugene has only one
moral/ecolugical/economk:
crisis at a time so that these
reason fighters can drift
from Amason housing to
police brutality to hunger
striking to blocking logging
roods to saving the love
deprived amphibian with
out having to prioritise the
myriad of injustices heaped
upon the unsus|Kxiing
working doss by the mili
tary-industrial complex
Please
Eugene ac tivism is so M?lf
c cmsc ious tliat it crosses the
line into idiocy. Every event
in this city invites contro
versy While it's rewarding
to live in a community that
earns about its environment,
erecting blockades to every
tiny decision or motion
made by the City Council
gets very tiring very fast
Morn important, this
w hat -am- w» protest tog
today mentality creates a
general malaise among non
protesting city residents
When every miniscule event
becomes an I mum. (he avnr
ago ciiiten find* it diffic ult
to got hi* or her dander up
about the big problems.
Activism Imonw* the vtatu*
quo and blond* in with the
obituario* and button**
now*
For all of the* talk in this
town about working togotti
er and rtmling uimmon
ground, it doesn't wont to
happen very often Wo just
donate and demonstrate
until one side get* tired
enough to OOOQwfat — more
pointless than productive.
The (act i» that like it or
not. Hyundai is going to
build a plant here What,
then, i* the point of making
it difficult and expensive for
them to do it? Do these
activists really think that
protest mg night excavation
will stop the construc tion?
How ridttrulous.
No construction company
ran build something that big
without causing a little
chaos. Doing it at night will
minimise traffic tie-ups and
affect the least amount of
people
A final word to the con
spiracy theorists and proles
atonal agitators When
you're angiy about every
thing, it’s impossible for the
people you're trying to
influent e to determine whai
is imporlanl lo you.
They only hear your
mouth, and your message is
lost. If you pick your fights
more carefully, you may get
something more than a story
in the local paper that
make* you look more silly
than saintly.
«K»I ttiKMaM mmm mm Mnaw ManuOuna MkMn !■«» Mmammk
tmkiMKM* !»w»iih lumttii—m. t ••*•»*■»
>*••* Ofi* m*tmm Ham am* tan *«#* Mu* Milana ta* low *a M'
<1 «»
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Remember love on this day of hearts
T»s hefter to hatr Itnmf and lout
Than never to haw M at all'
■ Alfred Lord Tennyson
here are those who say that romance Si
dead — that true love does not exist —
-JL optimistic. romantic toot*. "Prow it,"
they iay Wove that something luth a* true love
lor it i» the stuff of (airy tala* Out there I*
not mi mot h fur one to prove lo another «* there
l* to prove to one** *e!f
Va* Virginia, true love doe* evict It i* ju*t not
that e«*y to find Or rather, for it to find you
The cynics are far and many and will scoff
haughtily at such a flung
But the cynical are of two type* — those who
have never experienced *uch a thing, or those
who have and lost the one they loved so dearly
and then heroine bitter by the anguish They
then go bitterly about, preaching how love does
not eats* and never ha*, ail the while trying to
sooth their wounded heart*
After all. misery does love company.
To see if true love doe* exist, simply look
around you Spy that elderly couple who have
grown old together, whose bodies are old. but
spirit* are as young as the day they met |ust
took at the twinkle in their aye* What else
could it be hut love lno it Is not sunshine
reflecting off their cataracts).
Look at the people you have known for many
years who decide to spend the rest of their live*
together |(congratulation* Josh and Mane).
They have no othar reason to do it than thair
love for eac h other
What else do two people need? Everything
will (all into place I know that true love exist*
because I. too, have been blessed by on angel
and have had the fortune of experienc ing it
Valentine's Day is often the time to complain,
bitch and moan about how muc h at a fane this
day has become No longer is it a day of cele
brating love, hut a day that the stock dividends
of florists and greeting-card companies go
through the roof The corporate half of that argu
ment may very well he true, but doe* that ruin
the entire occasion? It is unlikely that someone
would allow another individual to ruin his or
her celebration of something, much less a corpo
ration.
Then them t* the major problem of expecta
tions. which, unfortunate as they are. can ruin
fust about anything
Bui the biggest problem i* that |m»pt.
the day as if it Were some magical .ti
the problem* of their relationships. Flowers,
dinner, theater and a passionate night of love
making will never solve love's obstac le* in the
long run Especially when it 1* done only on
February H.
Communic ation las we have all been told a
that those who believe in it are naive.
million times, but never do) is what will ulti
mately get you through relationship problems.
Than, go crazy with everything also
Being romantic on Valentine's Day is not ong
inal Anyone with half a brain could see that
action coming a mile away. Be spontaneous
Yes. it requires a good amount of effort on your
part, but that smile upon her far:* will make it
worth it
Make her positively glow. If she is worth your
love, then she is worth everything that you can
give to her of yourself.
Ana I tun talking about true
love here, not some puppyish
infatuation or. "I really like
you a lot." The true love that
make* you tremble and get
weak every time she smiles at
you. The true love that makes
your heart ache in longing for
her when she is gone and leap
with t«n when site returns
The true love that makes you
ft*** I at attat s whenever win
In her «nrm The true love that causes you to
walk around all day with a stupid grin on your
late The true love that you t*n always feel but
rain never quite explain.
Few find it. and even (ewer find what it truly
meam
Ufa is too short to be a cynic. Who says being
a romantic at the core means that you are now
some sissy "sensitive '90s man" weenie7 Just
because you like to read Shelley, heat* and
Byron doe* not mean that you have to give up
beet and football with the guys. It Just mean*
that you can mad
Live on the edge, wear your heart on your
sleeve Serenade the window of a fair maiden
Give (lowers to the next girl who strikes your
fancy Act like the fruit that you always wanted
to be deep down inside.
People might laugh, hut it will probably
brighten their otherwise dreary day.
So live this day of Hearts arid Roses to the
fullest Recite poetry to that special someone or
just someone off the street. Play Cupid That’s
right, run around in tights shooting people in
the ass with your magic arrows of love,
If you am twitterpated. then act like It, Spend
this night with her. and every other night, in
wild abandon — as if it may be your last (It
probably won’t be. but hey. why take that
chance.) And just remember, the cynic will
often grow old and hitter and ultimately leave
his sad. wasted life alone and unremembered
That is no way to leave this prec ious thing we
know as life.
/esse / Bohrer-Clancy. a ten tor maturing in biol
ogy. it a columnist for the Kmerald E mail
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