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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 7, 2003)
TO THE EDITOR BY TOM LININGER Roadkill Herbicides are not the only way to control roadside vegetation. N ext week the Board of County Commissioners will pass an ordinance limiting the use of herbi- cides to a “last resort.” Our ordinance will be the most progressive of its kind in Oregon. Here are the highlights: 1) Say it, don’t spray it. Under the new ordinance, county staff must provide compelling reasons before the Board of Health will authorize the use of herbicide on county roadways. The Board of Health won’t allow any herbicides unless staff shows that alternatives have proven ineffective. By the way, who is the Board of Health? It’s actually the county commissioners. Years ago the commissioners decided we should give ourselves another name when we’re talking about health-related matters. Just padding our resumes, I guess. 2) An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of glyphosate. The new ordi- nance will decrease our reliance on herbicides by increasing the use of preventa- tive measures. But desk jockeys like me aren’t known for our imagination. How do we control vegetation without poison? Hmmm, let’s see. Could we pave all the roadsides? Could we chain up a goat every 50 feet? Could we block out the sun? Fortunately there are wise people with the Northwest Coalition Against Pesticides (a group based here in Eugene) who have identified viable preventative measures: planting native vegetation, controlling weeds with new high-tech machines, etc. 3) Pick your poison. In the rare circumstances when herbicides are necessary as a last resort, the new ordinance will require staff to choose from a list of herbi- cides approved by the Board of Health. Once again, that’s the BCC incognito. I’m glad that elected officials will retain the ultimate control in deciding whether cer- tain herbicides can be used in Lane County. We’re making a list, we’re checking it twice, and we’re gonna find out which chemicals are naughty and nice. 4) She blinded me with science. Aimee Code of NCAP has provided us with helpful scientific research on the effects of herbicide. Oregon also has some impressive expertise in our public university system. Lane County’s new ordi- nance will require periodic consultation with the experts to update our under- standing of the harms (and benefits) of herbicides. You can’t just rely on the research provided by the chemical industry. In the 1960s, the manufacturers of DDT arranged for their own employees to eat a huge quantity of DDT in order to prove it wasn’t harmful to humans. Remember that the next time you think you have crummy job. 5) Take five. Every year, we’ll take 5 percent away from the total road-miles where herbicides may be used. This annual goal will help us to achieve a stepwise reduction over time. We won’t lose sight of the forest through the trees — or the weeds, as it were. By the way, the exercise of updating our herbicide policy has given me renewed appreciation for the great staff in Lane County’s Public Works Department. They’ve already been more cautious than staff in most other Oregon counties. The new ordinance will require some adjustments in their prac- tices, but I think in the long run, county staff will find it to be workable. The only one who may be disappointed is the guy who drives the spray truck. Like the Maytag repairman, he shouldn’t get much sympathy when he’s idle, because that’s a sign our system is working well. Tom Lininger is the county commissioner for the East Lane District. Rumors that Tom ate huge quantities of DDT when he was younger are greatly exaggerated. For more information on roadside spraying, see EW’s award-winning report in the www.eugeneweekly.com archives of April 18, 2002. Center for Family Therapy U N I V E R S I T Y O F EDITOR’S NOTE: It should be noted that My House got Calendar listings for every event, and sometimes photos, at zero cost to Mr. Moscato. A LITTLE RESPECT I live at 563 Coburg Road, right behind the construction site. I just wanted to write a letter in regards to the respect and courtesy that I feel McKenzie should show to its neighbors at 555 Coburg Road (namely the Woodlands Apartments). These people start at 7 am every morning, running their cranes and tractors and 18- wheelers and loaders. They wake us up every morning at 7 am sharp, running their ma- chines in reverse, resulting in multitudes of those beeping back-up sounds. But they quit every day at 3 pm! Why should they have the right to wake up the en- tire apartment building that we live in, and the nearby ones, and still quit at 3 pm? Couldn’t they start at 8 am and go until 4 pm? And, on another note, they do the same thing on many Saturdays. When will we ever get a day of peace and quiet, or be able to sleep past 7 am? Don’t we have a right to a peaceful and restful place of residence, or do we need to put up with the disrespect of McKenzie and the other crews working on that site? Tony Delap Eugene NEIGHBORS FROM HADES What happened to the good old days when you could count on your neighbors for any- thing? Where did the Welcome Wagons go? Smiling handshakes with greeting hellos, nice to meet you? Where did the casseroles, light conversation and cups of sugar go? My neighbors are the Hounds of Hell, the teenage kid next door stole my daughter’s bike, plays loud rap music with his gangster wannabe’s that hang out like crows on their front porch. And don’t get me started on the Monster Truck neighbor next door who has to start his Beast on Wheels three times a day, just to see if it still runs. Let’s forget about the go-cart- with-no-helmet-driving kids, the four wheeler, and the trailer that is always block- • Individual, couple and family therapy • Affordable sliding scale fee • Daytime and evening hours The MFT graduate program is approved as a candidacy status program with COAMFTE and approved by the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists. Are You Ready for Change? (541) 346-3296 ing the second driveway we are always fight- ing over. Now I know you’re asking, where do I live? Which is another issue — right on the line of Eugene and Santa Clara, in a very nice and way too small townhouse complex with no parking. Yeah, we are all renters but do we have to act like we are? I would hate to see how these people treat strangers... I am fed up and I know I’m not alone. What, were these folks brought up in a barn? Now, please keep in mind I am not some over-the-hill lady. I’m just 31 and a member of the generation that is not going anywhere. But I do have manners, and I want more from my community — if you can call it that. Looking for a three-bedroom, two-bath with good neighbors! Lisa Caimi Eugene FIRST DIGS Let me offer a clarifying response to the letter submitted by Dean McKenzie, past President of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) Eugene Society about The Archaeology Channel’s International Film and Video Festival recently organized by our organization, Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI). First, many thanks to Mr. McKenzie for attending the Festival and for his laudatory remarks about the event. His opinions carry great weight. Responding to our claim that this was the first archaeological film festival in North America, Mr. McKenzie pointed out that the AIA Eugene Society has had at least two events where archaeological films were shown. These events were important contri- butions and are not to be minimized or dis- counted. ALI is certainly not the first to hold public showings of archaeological films. Archaeological films have been shown in many places over the years. We meant in- stead that we are the first in North America to hold an international juried competition of such films, patterned after festivals now held regularly by a network of organizations in Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey. We invited film-makers worldwide to submit their works to this competition and received an over- whelmingly enthusiastic response. Of more than 70 films submitted, we accepted 64 en- tries from 19 countries and screened 20 films from 10 countries at the McDonald Theatre during July 16-19. Awards selected from our jury and audience went to film-makers from France, Germany, Greece, and the U.S. I respect the AIA and am in fact an AIA ADVERTISING The Center for Family Therapy (CFT) is an affordable counseling agency staffed with intern coun- selors from the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) Graduate Specialization at the College of Education, University of Oregon. O R E G O N For information or to make an appointment, call closed, you have a responsibility to do a bet- ter job in covering local music, arts and cul- ture. You can start by featuring events taking place at venues like The Museum of Unfine Art, the Jawbreaker, Mother Kali’s and MECCA. Covering these venues would fos- ter a more informed, vibrant, forward-think- ing vision of how our community could be. Marc Moscato Eugene National Sales Manager Mark Frisbee Senior Marketing Consultant Bill Shreve Display Marketing Consultant Rob Weiss Advertising Traffic Coordinator Geneva Miller Classified Manager Jennifer D’Angelo Classified Marketing Consultant Jeffrey Stout 541.484.0519 • (fax) 541.484.4044 EDITORIAL Editor Ted Taylor Executive/Arts Editor Lois Wadsworth Associate Editor Aria Seligmann Contributing Editor Anita Johnson Staff Writers Alan Pittman, Bobbie Willis Calendar Editor Ben Fogelson Contributing Writers Brett Campbell, Rachel Foster, Kate Rogers Gessert, Jerry Harris, James Johnston, Sharleen Nelson, Mary O’Brien, Vanessa Salvia, Sally Sheklow, Lance Sparks, Martha Ulman West Interns Kelly O’Brien, Celene Carillo y ART DEPARTMENT Art Director/Production Manager Kevin Dougherty Graphic Artist/Webmaster James Bateman Graphic Artists Katie Beckman, Todd Cooper Contributing Photographers Kurt Jensen, Paul Neevel, Linda Smogor BUSINESS General Manager John Herron Circulation Manager Deena Miller Bookkeeper Paula Hoemann Distributors Laurel Caccivio, Sam Hauk, Sue Hunnel, Terri Molitor, Yona C. Riel, Will Thornton, Pedalers Express Printing Signature Graphics HOW TO REACH US BY E-MAIL: (letters): editor@eugeneweekly.com (advertising): ads@eugeneweekly.com (classifieds): classy@eugeneweekly.com (personals): romance@eugeneweekly.com (calendar): cal@eugeneweekly.com (music/clubs/special shows): music@eugeneweekly.com (art/openings/galleries): visualarts@eugeneweekly.com (performance/theater): performance@eugeneweekly.com (literary arts/readings): books@eugeneweekly.com (movies/film screenings): movies@eugeneweekly.com (circulation): distribution@eugeneweekly.com Locally owned and independent since 1982, now with 91,000 regular readers. 6 AUGUST 7, 2003
