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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 10, 2003)
TO THE EDITOR the airshow,” although the airport is just a few miles away, and the airshow is being held there. Once again, we get to foot the bill and suffer the costs, in time, stress and money, while a “businessman” gets his advertising and sound bites on the evening news and in the newspaper, while our emergency serv- ices personnel are tied up with private mat- ters, even though the claim is that there is no money for those same services. I urge you all to write your commission- ers and representatives and loudly voice your opinion about this misuse of public funds for the good of a single business owner. Jim Godwin II Monroe PLEA FOR THE TREES The other day I went with the Sierra Club on an outing to the Cougar Monster timber sale in the Tillamook Forest. It is a beautiful, mixed species, old growth struc- ture forest, tragically about to be cut. This and other state forests are threatened by a new bill, which would emphasize logging at the expense of other uses of our forests. I am writing to oppose HB 3632. HB 3632 would double the amount of cut in the Tillamook and Clatsop forests, endanger- ing our local water supply, destroying these wonderful havens of recreation and rejuve- nation, and turning our state forests into tree farms. This would be a huge mistake. Many people come to Oregon because of its beauty and its outdoor opportunities, whether recreational or spiritual. To destroy our wild places would adversely affect us economically, and in the balance of our in- terconnectedness to the rest of life on the planet. Erica Bolliger Portland HOODIE REDUX With regard to Laci Stevens’ letter, “Just Want a Hoodie” (EW 6/26), she says she is sick of being followed by store employees at retail outlets because of her being a teenager and her appearance. She then states, “I have many more adult friends who steal than teenage friends who steal.” Since she knowingly has many criminal friends and by remaining friends condones those who steal, I feel the store employees are showing good judgment in regarding her to be socially deviant and a threat to the security of their merchandise. Neil Carpenter Eugene KEEP THE PROMISE I am pleased to see growing awareness about the problems facing Oregon’s water- ways. Ms. Alexandre (EW 6/26) is pre- cisely correct: We’re quickly running out of rivers to swim in. When will we be able to fish the Willamette without having to throw back the toxic, deformed ones? When will we be able to let children play in a stream without worrying if it’s one of the thousand in Oregon too polluted to meet Clean Water Act standards? When will we finally say “no” to the polluters we’re permitting to dump millions of pounds of toxins into our rivers without consequence? When we have someone to take the lead. Gov. Kulongoski pledged in his campaign to be that leader who will finally clean our rivers. Now it is up to each of us to be leaders in pushing Kulongoski to keep his crucial promise. Every child, every voter, every fu- ture voter — everyone who cares about Oregon’s future can make this change hap- pen. Let’s write letters and e-mails and make phone calls to our governor, to our friends, and to polluters themselves: These are our rivers. And we want to go for a swim. Summer Battson Eugene See Music in a Different Way Lelavision Sculptures transform into musical instruments on a shamanic journey filled with comedy, music, and mystery. Lelavision offers a new view of family entertainment in “Banging Bamboozles.” 10 am, Saturday July 12, Hult Center all tick ets $ 5 Sponsored by AT&T Wireless and Euphoria Chocolate Co. 682-5000 oregonbachfestival.com Bach O R E G O N B A C H F E S T I VA L WorkSmokeFree.com SAY NO TO WTO Last week at the WTO “ministerial con- ference” on Agriculture and Technology in Sacramento, protesters were faced with overwhelming police action (73 arrests, four helicopters, use of tasers, hundreds of riot police). What is it that these cops were so determined to enforce? Corporate con- Working in a bar isn’t a crime. ...pulls into the Eugene Public Library Tykeson Room - 100 West 10th Avenue on Tuesday, July 15! 6:00 to 7:30 pm Join Peace Corps recruiter Michael Kim at an evening information session to learn what Peace Corps is doing around the world and find out how you may qualify for one of the many volunteer assignments just waiting to be filled. Life is calling. What will your answer be? www.peacecorps.gov (800) 424-8580 - Option 1 It shouldn’t carry the death penalty. Work in a bar? Or a restaurant with a bar? How about a bowling alley, or a Bingo hall? Then you are probably a smoker. Even if you’ve never lit up a cigarette. Oregon has a smokefree workplace law. But it doesn’t cover over 33,000 workers in Oregon. It’s not fair, and it could kill you. • Working an 8 hour shift in a smoky environment is the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes’ worth of dangerous chemicals. [Siegel, M, M.D., M.P.H Smoking & Bars, a guide for policy makers. 1998] • Restaurant and bar workers are 50% more likely to get lung cancer from secondhand smoke than other workers. [Journal of the American Medical Association, 1993] • Waitresses have almost 4 times more deaths from lung cancer and 2.5 times more deaths from heart disease than other women because of their exposure to secondhand smoke. [Environmental Protection Agency] Think everyone has a right to work smokefree? Log onto www.worksmokefree.com or call 1-888-846-5437 and learn what you can do to protect all workers. JULY 10, 2003 5
