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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2003)
TO THE EDITOR NADER AGAIN? Ralph Nader is a highly principled man, one of the reasons, I imagine, he ran for the presidency in 2000, thereby diluting the voter pool for Al Gore, the end result of which need not be gone into in detail: the Bush adminis- tration. If Nader decides to run again in 2004, he no longer could be considered a principled man; he knows what he did, doing it again would be purely selfish, putting his personal political agenda ahead of the national politi- cal agenda and the greater good of the coun- try. This is a dilemma facing members of the Green Party. I urge you to seriously think about the consequences of four more years Oregon Family Dental, PC under the Bush administration. Your political agenda, while laudable, does not make Ralph Nader electable. Take into account the greater good of the nation when voting in the next election and, in the year ahead, I suggest you work with Howard Dean’s campaign and vote for him in November 2004. Pauline Hutson Eugene John J. Park, DDS “Providing quality care with a gentle touch.” 344-7900 • 11th & Chambers • Eugene LACK OF OUTRAGE Kevin Mannix has a plan to restore a small portion of hundreds of millions of dol- lars of further cuts to Oregon’s human serv- ices and education. Once voters are success- fully lobbied to repeal the new taxes legisla- tors agreed upon, Mr. Mannix dreams of re- laxing state certification for teaching, slow- ing teacher pay scale increases, and eliminat- ing educator mastery programs while defund- ing the institution. Clearly education is not a priority to this legislator. The lack of outrage over comments like these proves Oregonians have resigned them- selves to levels of apathy and ignorance that are unprecedented. Education was not this boldly attacked even during the great depres- sion. Legislators like Kevin Mannix may be hoping for an uneducated and apathetic citi- zenry to overlook their disservice to the state. If so, their strategy is working. As this delib- erate erosion of education and social services takes hold in Oregon we will pay the costs ex- ponentially in future generations. Record higher education tuition increases and num- bers of students in a classroom are not an ac- cident. They are designed. We need to wake up and defend what little education we have left on all levels before class level sizes and inexperienced teachers makes attending school ineffective and eventually counterpro- ductive. Mike Meyer Eugene J Michaels BOOKS • Art & Architecture • Photography • Literature • General Selection • Used, Rare & New Chosen as "one of the 10 best independent book stores in the West" since 1975 160 E. Broadway 342-2002 buy sell trade Since Bush took office the federal govern- ment has continuously conducted raids on sick patients and care-providers in California. The federal attack on medical marijuana pa- tients recently spread to Oregon when the DEA raided the home of Travis Paulson, a medical marijuana patient in Lebanon. Voters should know whether the candidates will continue this harmful campaign against patients, or whether they will take a more compassionate approach. Here is what I’ve found. Kucinich has stated that as president he would sign an executive order that would permit the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. He is also a cosponsor of the Truth in Trials Act, an act that would allow prose- cuted patients to speak about their medical use of marijuana at trial. Kerry would stop the federal raids on marijuana patients. He has also called on the DEA to allow marijuana to be grown and studied for its medical value in the state of Massachusetts. Gephardt supports states rights to medical marijuana and would discontinue the raids. Edwards has vowed to continue the raids. Dean would direct the FDA to study med- ical marijuana and make a recommendation on its use within a year. As governor of Vermont he vetoed a bill that would have al- lowed the medical use of marijuana. Kevin Feeney Eugene NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS Get Yo-Self some HOLIDAYPIE! ★ Men's & Women’s Hemp & Organic Cotton ★ Lots of new GLASS ★ Grateful Dead, Phish, String Cheese, Marley, Hendrix & more music merchandise ★ Tons of gifts under $10 & $20 ★ Presents for Kids of All Ages ❤ Mon-Sat 10-8/ Sun 12-5 Corner of 11th & Willamette fashion that pays to be me. LETTERS POLICY: We welcome letters on all topics and will print as many as space allows. Please limit length to 250 words, and submissions to once a month. E-mail to editor@eugeneweekly.com, fax to 484-4044, or mail to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401. 131 E. 5th Ave (between Oak & Pearl) 687-2805 BUFFALOEXCHANGE . COM NOVEMBER 20, 2003 7
