TO THE EDITOR
his Mexican best friend was profiled at the air-
port, because they should be looking out for
“those dark-skinned guys.” He was also more
than willing to give up any number of freedoms
for the illusion of safety it would provide. I’ve
seen quotes from others who support racial pro-
filing, mass round-ups of immigrants, deporta-
tion of protesters and similar thug tactics.
What happened to being proud of the sup-
posed freedoms vets fought and died for? Some
vets seem all too willing to give them away. It
would be funny and ironic if it weren’t so scary.
I’m quite aware that there are lots of vets out
there who do not follow the peculiar logic of the
misguided vets and their families who are being
quoted in the media these days. Perhaps you
should let your comrades know that they are
making you look ridiculous. It seems once again
it is protesters and assorted radicals who are ac-
tually concerned about protecting rights here.
Tracy Scharn
Eugene
REVISIT RENEWAL
The recent article on urban renewal (3/7)
contains gross distortions. The article features a
large rendering of the Riverfront Research Park
master site plan, implying that the university’s
property is the entire Riverfront Urban Renewal
District. In fact, the district encompasses all the
riverfront property between the Ferry Street and
I-5 bridges, and all the property east of Mill
Street, and north of Broadway and Franklin
Boulevard. University property actually is less
than one-half the district’s total area.
The article continues by stating the district
collects about $600,000 annually, but doesn’t
bother to mention that none of it currently is
being spent on Research Park development. In
fact, the funds are being used to help assemble
property for the new federal courthouse and pro-
vide infrastructure.
The merits of extended or expanded urban
renewal deserve to be debated and readers of the
EW deserve accurate information on which to
base the discussion.
Diane Wiley
UO
NO WAR TAX
How did I become a war tax resister? First, I
got sick to my stomach realizing that I was pas-
sively consenting to war by letting the government
use my money to pay for it. So, I changed the ex-
emptions on my W-4 at work to eight. (If I had
gone as high as nine, my employer would have
been required to send a copy of it to the IRS.)
Now, with each paycheck, I take out the taxes
that would have been deducted before, and I send
it to the Oregon Community Peace Fund (2000
N.E. 42nd St., Ste. 224, Portland 97213). They
put it together with other “resisted” money, and
use the interest to support groups that offer to
their communities “basic social needs.”
At any time, I can get my “resisted” money
back. My purpose in becoming a war tax resister
is to obey the obligations of all citizens under the
Principles of the Nuremberg Charter — adopted
unanimously by the U.N. General Assembly in
1945 and binding upon every government in the
world today. The U.N. acceptance of this charter
led in 1950 to the Nuremberg War Crimes
Tribunal in Germany at which it was ruled that,
“Individuals have international duties which
transcend the national obligations of obedience
… Therefore, (individual citizens) have the duty
to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes
against peace and humanity from occurring.”
Carol Horne
Eugene
WHITE FLAGS
Now is a good time for all persons to come to
the aid of their country’s peace movements. We
can each begin by declaring our homes a “white
stick village,” and ourselves “peace-iors” (as op-
posed to “warriors”). We can follow a Native
American tradition of being a peaceful village, a
peaceful nation.
A white stick village has no room in it for the
“red stick” ideas, i.e. war. We can choose to fly
white flags as a visible statement of peace. It
would be good to see as many flags on lawns as
we see campaign signs during election times.
Some folks may see a white flag as a symbol
of surrender, but you know, someone has to
make the first step toward peace. Let us be the
first to make that move. Wishing to make peace
is not the same as surrender. Surrender is what
folks are doing by just letting this current admin-
istration continue its current war-directed path.
C’mon, we can do better than this. Let’s
make a visible statement and fly our white flags.
Vi Sadhana
Eugene
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KEEP IT REAL
You may be a policeman or woman overdra-
matizing a peaceful crowd into a scary mass of
rioters, donning all your anti-riot gear, and firing
off your beanbag gun. You may be a war pro-
tester carried away by personal rhetoric into be-
lieving that somehow keeping people from
going down 7th Avenue is a blow to freedom.
The problem in both cases is you are a leg-
end in your own mind. Acting out is not action.
Stay grounded in reality folks. The mission of
police is to preserve public order. One of the
things that means is not to escalate conflicts. Tell
people to disperse or clear the streets before you
use force on them to achieve that object. The
mission of the demonstrators is to make a state-
ment in opposition to the war. Resisting clearing
the streets when the crowd is plenty small
enough to fit on the plaza doesn’t make any such
statement. Any statement it does make is a dis-
traction from the issue.
“Real words are not vain; vain words are not
real.”— Lao Tsu
Let’s get on with stopping the war.
Kathleen Piper
Eugene
JUST DO IT WELL
About the piece on “graf” art (3/13 cover
story): The free wall idea is a thing whose time
has come. As an aging ex-hippie, I think the wall
gives the young-bloods a chance to make their
mark in a world that is more and more hogged up
by the corporate advertising conglomerates.
I have walked a few railyards and seen their
“art.” Some of it is sniffer-head crap, but some is
cool, well thought out, and — yes — artistic. I
would say to them, “Think about your work and
convey a meaningful message designed to make
the world a better place to live. Tagging every-
thing in sight all over town is just childish mind-
less dribble — eye-litter.” If they do it legiti-
mately, and do it well, I think a lot of the naysay-
ers will come around.
Tom Jackson
Eugene
BREAST IS BEST
Kudos to Aria Seligmann for her fine job
covering Senate Bill 783, the breastfeeding and
return to work bill. As the author of this bill, I
want to clarify that it is already legal for women
to breastfeed or to express milk on the job. New
legislation is needed to address the barriers to
continued breastfeeding for mothers who return
MARCH 27, 2003 5