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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2004)
TO THE EDITOR FREE HEALTH BENEFIT FAIRS held in Eugene the detriment of his constituents. Examples: The Oregon League of Conservation Voters gave Meisner a dismal 10 percent rating — an “F” for Failure by any measure! That, by itself, should give pause to constituents con- sidering a vote for him, but there’s more. A recent EW review of city councilor votes gave Meisner low marks as well: He only voted to support Eugene’s livability a mere 20 percent of the time and, even worse, voted only 14 percent of the time in the interest of Ward 7’s poor. By contrast, Andrea Ortiz has been en- dorsed by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, Oregon Natural Resources Council Action PAC, Educacion y Justicia Para La Raza and Local 1724 of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Andrea has the support of a wide variety of commu- nity activists working tirelessly for the public good. The voters of Eugene’s Ward 7 deserve better: new leadership in the person of Andrea Ortiz. John Jordan-Cascade Eugene IRRESPONSIBLE RULING PeaceHealth is offering FREE Health Benefits Fairs in conjunction with national Cover the Uninsured Week to help relieve fears of Lane County residents who may avoid seeking medical care because they can’t pay for it. Trained financial counselors, including Spanish-speaking counselors, will meet individually with those interested at the Fairs, and help them apply for the Oregon Health Plan (OHP), Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) through OHP, PeaceHealth’s Bridge Assistance Program, and other state and private assistance programs. The Fairs are scheduled: Tuesday, May 11, 2004, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. PeaceHealth Medical Group’s Downtown Clinic, 1162 Willamette Street Friday, May 14, 2004, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. PeaceHealth Medical Group’s Barger Medical Building, 4010 Aerial Way Saturday, May 22, 2004, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sacred Heart Medical Center’s Auditorium, 1255 Hilyard Street Eugene’s HEALTH BENEFITS FAIRS are sponsored by PeaceHealth in conjunction with the Human Services Network. 6 MAY 6, 2004 Thank you Alan Pittman for the candidate voting records of April 8. It demonstrates a true picture of what we can expect from Nancy Nathanson and Scott Meisner. They do not recognize the relationship between a healthy environment and a healthy economy with their votes for a road through our West Eugene Wetlands, against improving storm water collection, against funding Toxics Right to Know and against protecting our streams and beautiful trees in Eugene. I’m also concerned with their support of another developer slush fund for the Riverfront Urban Renewal Park. Where is fiscal and en- vironmental responsibility? Ruth Duemler Eugene HEROIC DEFENSE? Like most people I know, I’m a little hazy on many details of U.S. history. The passage of time, together with subjective accounts of motives and events, makes it difficult to re- ally know what happened and why. When a movie such as The Alamo comes along, we gain strong impressions of our history, im- pressions made more vivid by the persuasive power of Hollywood filmmaking and the simplification inherent in all storytelling. It is important to recognize who is telling the story, however, and Lois Wadsworth might consider how a movie made by a Mexican (or any foreign) film studio might differ from the one she gushes over in her re- view of April 15. The ragtag embattled underdog is guaran- teed to gain the (U.S.) viewers’ sympathy, particularly when history is turned on its head, and the Manifest Destiny of U.S. ex- pansionism and aggression against a weaker nation is portrayed as heroic defense against a well-equipped, armed occupation force. The occupation, siege and battle of the Alamo was but one chapter in decades of provocative U.S. maneuvering into Mexico. Our government made no secret of the fact that it wanted territory that didn’t belong to it. Many Americans wanted to annex the entire country. That which they couldn’t acquire by peaceful means, they took by warfare. Before hostilities ended, the U.S. had gained over 500,000 square miles of Mexican territory. Henry David Thoreau was tossed in jail for his peaceful protest and later wrote Civil Disobedience in response. If current events weren’t similarly rife with provocation, illegal occupations, and U.S. public acceptance of rhetoric that sounds much like the Manifest Destiny of an earlier era, then a positive recommendation in EW for a propaganda film might pass with- out notice. But a movie can be more than sim- ple entertainment, and in times like these, even an arts editor at EW needs to be some- what informed. As they say, those not familiar with his- tory are destined to sit through some dreary reruns. John Morris Florence MARKETING VIOLENCE The UO is marketing a leading cause of college student dropouts, violence against women, and student death by subcontracting its broadcast message formation to ESPN. The university receives money to sell the uni- versity’s image to sports networks which leads to commercial broadcasts of university events becoming 100 percent supportive of alcohol use. Furthermore, the exclusive deal terms that the university representatives bro- kers with Anheuser-Busch are kept secret from the students and public that supports the institution at the request of the beer company. As a student and member of the Eugene community, I feel that the result of this lack of responsible regulation by the UO is the polar opposite of the university mission statement. The college states it supports diversity, car- ing, civic responsibilities, learning and anti- discrimination. Yet no other messages in- volving alcohol are supported by the UO on its commercial broadcasts other than the sup- port of use of the product. The result of UO contracts clearly discriminates, thwarts learn- ing and stifles diversity. Until the UO invests 50 percent of its name to commercial broadcasts that question the use of alcohol or eliminates the ads, it is in gross violation of its mission statement. A learning institution has no business validat- ing its most disruptive influence, especially without investing in a diversity of ideas about it from a dime of the beer ad profits. Please contact Student Life to add your voice to this issue. Mike Meyer Eugene U.S. DICTATOR Journalist Bob Woodward has just given us two new stunning pieces of information: 1) President Bush has made a secret deal with the Saudis to influence the November elec- tions by manipulating gas prices, and 2) President Bush revealed Iraq war plans to Saudi Prince Bandar before he showed them to his own Secretary of State Colin Powell. Can we trust a president who uses his in- fluence to manipulate world events without consulting even his own cabinet? When will we stop believing we could never have dicta- torship in our own country? Ingrid Wendt Eugene LETTERS POLICY: We welcome letters on all topics and will print as many as space allows. Please limit length to 250 words, keep submissions to once a month, and include your address and phone number for our files. E- mail to editor@eugeneweekly.com (please put “letters” in the subject line), fax to 484-4044, or mail to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401.
