TO THE EDITOR
POLLUTING CITIZENS
In a news brief last week (7/24) you
pointed out that Eugene’s air quality has
worsened. Above the short blurb was a pic-
ture of a factory pumping smoke into the air.
This juxtaposition is misleading, though, be-
cause most air pollution doesn’t come from
point sources (e.g. factories), but rather from
so called “mobile sources” (e.g. cars, trucks,
motorcycles, lawn mowers, planes, etc).
According to the EPA, mobile sources ac-
counted for 77, 82, and 78 percent of carbon
monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nitrous oxide
emissions respectively. These airborne toxins
can stay in the air for a long time, traveling
miles from their origins, and can lead to
breathing problems, lung damage, cardiovas-
cular problems, decreased work capacity, as
well as cancer.
It’s easy to pass the blame of pollution onto
an obvious (albeit lesser) source like industry,
we as citizens must take responsibility for the
impact we have on air quality. Perhaps when
you address pollution in future issues you
could include information regarding the
causes of the pollution, and possible solutions.
Kevin Torr Selker
Eugene
IN BIG BIZ’S NAME
Bush lied about the weapons of mass de-
struction in Iraq. There’s evidence that he and
his cohorts even planned a war on Iraq before
the terrorist attack of 9/11. As a result of these
Bush actions, more than 200 of our young
soldiers have died and continue to die and
many more have been wounded. (Nowhere,
however, do we have an accounting of how
many Iraqi men, women and children we
have killed or wounded. Their hardships
don’t seem to count for the sanctimonious
Bush administration.)
This is abhorrent enough. Yet, the American
people pay $4 billion a day to continue this war!
The U.S. spends, according to the current issue
of Newsweek, $369 billion on its military each
year. That’s more than the combined military
expenditure of the next 20 countries in the
world, including Russia and China. This repre-
sents Bush’s social and economic values.
I would like to know who’s profiting from
this war and the billions expended daily?
How much of this war is big business for
Bush, Cheney and friends at Haliburton and
Bechtel? How many lives will their big busi-
ness ventures cost?
Do we investigate this — or turn our backs
to the lives lost and the tax money spent?
Bob Rubinstein
Eugene
EDITOR’S NOTE: Estimates of Iraqi civilian deaths
can be found at www.pigstye.net/iraq/
SMORGASBORD OF EVIL
The question of whether Bush knowingly
lied about WMDs in Iraq distracts us from the
bigger question of what justification we have
in accusing others of having them when we
have more than anyone else, or of terrorism,
when we have the School of the Americas.
We know where to find evil if we dare to
look. In the spirit of “follow the money,” we
should be asking who, and whose friends,
profit from war, and therefore from lies about
reasons to go to war.
In the spirit of “I love my country, but I
fear my government,” I have more respect
(though not love) for those who attack know-
ing they’ll be among the first to die (no matter
what propaganda may have convinced them),
and many of their friends and relatives will
die not long after, than those who would
profit by others dying, while telling us it’s in
our best interest.
Dan Robinson
Eugene
OFAM 2003
August 7-16
TRUCKLOADS OF CASH
The Oregon Legislature, in its infinite wis-
dom, has doubled auto fees to raise $2.5 billion
over the next 10 years. $1.5 billion of that is to
replace or repair highway bridges that have
been damaged by large trucks exclusively. The
powerful trucking lobby pushed this and also
persuaded AAA to betray the club’s members
and not to object to this rip-off.
There is a simple and much less costly
way to buy time for the bridge work:
• Immediately lower truck loads to a 5,000
lb. maximum — without exceptions. Rein in
ODOT and cancel all overload permits. Put
heavier loads on rails.
• Lower maximum truck speed on bridges
to 35 mph, require 300 feet between trucks,
restrict them to one lane in each direction and
prohibit passing on bridges.
These bridges should be serviceable for a
good many years with this responsible usage,
and it will give the trucking industry plenty of
time to raise the $1.5 billion to repair the
damage that they alone have caused.
David Blain
Eugene
OFAM 2003 Title Sponsor
BUSH IN A CAGE
I will vote for and give my total support to
the first Democratic candidate to pledge to
have Bush tried for treason and war crimes,
and be given the maximum penalty for those
crimes; and to use the so-called Patriot Act to
name the rest of his gang as “unlawful com-
batants” and throw them into cages in
Guantanamo, forever.
Wayne Ford
Eugene
MARGINAL COVERAGE
Thank you for your feature (7/24) on My
House’s “ASUPERHAPPYFUDAYINTHE
PARK” event last week. Unfortunately, the
ill-informed article promoted the event as
taking place on Sunday, when in actuality the
event has always been scheduled for
Saturday. It is too bad the facts of the story
were not well researched, nor was the piece
insightful or well written.
The larger and more important issue how-
ever is EW’s continued marginalization of
community and contemporary arts in
Eugene. The scant coverage found in the
pages of EW isn’t for lack of effort.
After programming over 45 events at My
House in the last 15 months with artists who
have had exhibits at the Museum of Modern
Art, The Whitney Museum of Art, and The
Wexner Center (as well as many who are
local or not as well-recognized), it has been a
constantly frustrating experience trying to get
the EW to cover these artists. One certainly
gets the feeling that your staff has no interest
in promoting community or contemporary
art, as we received a constant run-around
/avoidance when doing publicity with your
paper. Of 45 events, we have received two
previews in your paper.
I believe it is irresponsible for your paper
not to cover local arts and culture. I believe it
is irresponsible for staff writers who deal
with arts and culture to not be familiar with
the local venues.
People read EW to find out about what
there is to do. Even though My House has
The
John
Pizzarelli
Trio
OFAM 2003 Opening Gala Concert - Hult Center
Thursday, August 7, 7:30 pm - Tickets: 682-5000
OFAM 2003
August 7-16
Presenting Festival Sponsor
Rita
Moreno
OFAM 2003 Grand Finale Concert
& The Dick
Hyman Jazz
Orchestra
Cuthbert
Sat, August 16, 7:30 pm
OFAM
at Th e - Shedd
The Hult Ticket Office: 682-5000
868 High Street - 285 Broadway
541-687-6526 - www.ofam.org
AUGUST 7, 2003 5