TO THE EDITOR
CLEAN IT UP
As a newcomer to Eugene, I have become
increasingly confounded over the awful state
of the Willamette River and the other water-
ways within the state of Oregon. The
Willamette contains dangerously high levels
of arsenic, dioxins, mercury and other harmful
chemicals.
Having recently joined a household that in-
cludes a 4-year-old child, I have had to face the
displeasing task of keeping her from swim-
ming in the Willamette. We live three blocks
from the river, and this is becoming more
daunting by the day. She understands much in
the world, but how can she understand a
predicament that I cannot explain?
Gov. Kulongoski pledged during his cam-
paign to clean up the river. We need to keep
him to his promise and without delay. The
Department of Environmental Quality must be
empowered to crack down on illegal water
pollution, conduct routine inspections and im-
pose tougher penalties. Polluters should be
made responsible for bearing the costs of
keeping our waterways clean.
It was Oregon’s natural beauty and con-
scious community that attracted me to the area.
I do not wish to see these ideals abandoned —
for our sake, for our children’s sake and for the
sake of the environment itself.
Daniel Marks
Eugene
WEALTHY OF HEART
So another presidential election is starting
up and all the political rhetoric has begun to
fly. Million dollar fund-raisers and another
huge tax cut for the rich are simultaneously
happening. Ironic or just politics as usual? The
rich politicians presently in office, who were
bankrolled by the rich in corporate offices,
give these same rich huge tax breaks. This
seems like quite a vicious circle and goes way
beyond irony to just plain wrong!
I cannot help but feel totally out of the loop
and without representation. I thought the idea
was a government by the people and for the
people, not by the millionaires and for the mil-
lionaires.
Our legal system equates money with free
speech, and as the saying goes, money talks. I
do not begrudge those with wealth the right to
buy all the commercials they want to promote
their businesses. But when it comes to elec-
tions I am not so sure I like our so-called pub-
lic airwaves accessible only to big money.
Where is the democracy in this?
While all this talk of millions, billions and
trillions goes on, at the other end of the spec-
trum everyday citizens give blood plasma to
raise money for our schools, and services for
the less fortunate are slashed. Does anyone
else think that mainstream American priorities
are completely backwards? If it were not for
the wonderful, everyday acts of compassion,
kindness and love of folks who simply care
about others and doing what is right, I would
be totally depressed!
There are many ways to be wealthy other
than money. I wish we would elect someone
for their wealth of kindness, caring, creativity
and brains instead of money and how they
look in front of a camera.
Tim Boyden
Eugene
WAS BUSH RIGHT?
I was a resident of Eugene for seven years
and have been living in Southern California
for the past three years. I have continually read
EW (via Internet) for my dosage of “real
news.” Not only does this paper relieve home-
sickness, I feel EW battles the constant stream
of propaganda that floods my world.
Now, with the complicating angles of this
war pressing upon my brain, I have started to
believe that maybe Bush was right to go to
war. I started to feel good about the Iraqi
regime coming to a violent close. I have been
fed certain images (mostly from TV) and wit-
nessed the spectacle of the Iraqi people tearing
down Saddam’s propaganda. Maybe it was the
right thing. I just finished reading the death toll
article in this week’s issue (4/24).
All of my fears that this war would do noth-
ing but hurt our own and slaughter the Iraqi
people came flooding back. I am penned in by
heaviness, but grateful for the reprieve of se-
lect information. I read quite a few American
newspapers online, and none of them put our
war faults in the limelight. In this issue and
others, I can count on this paper to deliver the
other side.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to
BY TOM LININGER
Hail Mary
Praise for a great kindergarten teacher.
T
his is the last week of school for most students in the 4J District. It is a
good time to salute our local teachers. Some critics have claimed that teach-
ers are bilking the taxpayers, but I think the opposite is true. The taxpayers
should be grateful for the energy and resourcefulness that our local teachers have
shown despite inadequate funding from the State. To paraphrase Winston Churchill,
“Never before have so few done so much with so little.”
One teacher who deserves particular recognition is Mary Christensen-Moore. She
educates, entertains and inspires over 50 kindergartners a day at Parker Elementary
School. She gives taxpayers their money’s worth and then some.
Does Mary work hard? Let me put it this way. If private-sector employees worked
half as hard as Mary does, our gross domestic product would be a gazillion dollars. (I’d
be better with numbers if Mary had been my kindergarten teacher.)
Mary shows up for work early and goes home late — after meeting with parents,
designing lesson plans, and cheering for her students at basketball practice. This
spring she built a cave in her classroom to teach students about nature. She has creat-
ed “kinder bags” full of educational toys, books, and other materials for families to
borrow. She helps to organize fundraisers for the school like jog-a-thons and burrito
sales.
Mary’s hard work makes her an excellent teacher. My son comes home from
4 JUNE 12, 2003
downgrade mainstream media. Most large
publications are important to me, and I read
them often. The R-G is one paper I will always
turn to for everyday news. But the ground-
breaking, passionate articles that humiliate
and spotlight those who are sticking their hand
in the cookie jar is invaluable to me. Thank
you.
Aubonney Wood
Los Angeles
ply swept under the rug. Perchlorate has salted
the irrigation waters of the Colorado River and
has been linked to IQ reduction and ADD in
children. This rocket fuel poison scandal
would have made the Mad Cow scare look like
a Happy Meal in comparison if not for Bush
Almighty and his magic pen.
Michael T. Hinojosa
Drain
MINIMUM RELIEF
SWOOPING CHANGES
God, it must be great to be Bush Almighty.
With one swoop of his pen he will eliminate all
the responsibility for cleaning up all the toxic
waste the military and defense contractors
have produced and will continue to produce
forever. When the spin doctor named
“Readiness and Range Preservation Initiative”
is finally shoved through Congress, the poi-
soning of our nation’s vegetable food chain by
the rocket fuel perchlorate will have been sim-
Right hand headline, page 3 R-G, 5/30
“Minimum Wage Families Won’t Get Tax-Cut
Checks.” Left hand headline, page 2 R-G,
same day (lift up your elbow): “Big Payoff For
Halliburton Subsidiary.”
Whoa, dude, mega-surprise. If it wasn’t so
painfully predictable, it might preempt the
morning yawns. As Foghorn Leghorn might
say, “Anybody, ah say, anybody payin’ atten-
tion, son?”
How many more kicks from these guys be-
Mary’s class speaking Spanish, identifying bird species, and reciting biograph-
ical information about Martin Luther King Jr. The kids in Mary’s class even
learn how to bake bread! I’m still learning how to make toast.
What amazes me most about Mary is a phenomenon that some of
the parents have termed “the Mary Mojo.” She can cast a spell over her
students. She entices them to enjoy learning. Rather than order the kids
around, she literally sings her instructions. The kids are enraptured.
Barney the purple dinosaur could walk into the middle of Mary’s class and
no heads would turn.
Not only does Mary teach kids well, but she also boosts their self-esteem.
Mary has a kind word for every child in her class. No achievement goes unrecognized.
Whether the feats are big or small, she always has plenty of kudos for the kiddos.
Children from all over the 4J District enter a lottery to enroll in Mary’s class.
Though Parker is a neighborhood school, Mary’s class has a longer waiting list than
the kindergartens at many of Eugene’s so-called “magnet schools.”
W
hen I see Mary’s selfless sacrifice, and then I read a letter to the editor claim-
ing that teachers are punching the clock to collect PERS benefits, I realize
why our schools are underfunded. Seventy-five percent of taxpayers in this
state don’t have any connection to our schools: Neither their children nor their grand-
children are presently attending public schools in Oregon. This three-quarters of the
electorate doesn’t know what really goes on in our schools. If the critics could spend an
hour in Mary’s class, we wouldn’t need to sell burritos to pay for pencils at Parker
Elementary School.
Tom Lininger is county commissioner for the East Lane District. He formerly served as chair of the Lane
School Board Association.