TO THE EDITOR
GIVE GOOD GUYS A CHANCE
The R-G editorial page crew, usually a
progressive bunch in spite of what EW might
think, lost their way in endorsing candidates
in Eugene races. You guys got it right.
Voters interested in a change for the better
will choose Kitty Piercy for mayor, and
Bonny Bettman, Betty Taylor and Andrea
Ortiz for City Council. Their backgrounds
and words offer
promise of city gov-
ernment more at-
tuned to all citizens.
The R-G said
good things about all
four, yet endorsed
only
Bettman.
Whoa!
Listen, Nancy
Nathanson and Scott
Meisner, who the R-
G endorsed, are good
people, deserving of
thanks for years of
service — and a fond
farewell. They have
abysmal voting records on issues important
for working people, the less fortunate, the en-
vironment, sane growth and resistance to
over-zealous developers. EW’s April 8 report
of council votes is clear proof: Nathanson
and Meisner had 17 and 26 percent progres-
sive scores, respectively — flunking grades
— while Bettman scored 98 percent and
Taylor 96.
The R-G’s other endorsee, Maurie
Denner, may be a fine fellow, but like
Nathanson and Meisner, he’s being pushed
by the Chamber of Commerce crowd, who
think they should keep running the city as
they have for 50+ years. Time to give a differ-
ent crowd — more representative of the rest
of us — a chance.
The election of Piercy and Ortiz, and re-
election of Bettman and Taylor, will give the
good guys a working mayor/council majority.
Don Bishoff
Eugene
WHERE’S BETTY?
Big mistake! In your endorsement article
last week (5/6) although you cor-
rectly endorsed Betty Taylor for
all the right reasons, right there,
smack dab in the middle of the
article, was an advertisement for
her opponent. Someone not
reading the whole article would
incorrectly assume you had en-
dorsed Denner. Please put
Betty’s picture on the front page
with a big banner saying “We en-
dorse Betty!” Other than that you
were right on. We (the Oregon
Bus Project) endorsed all the
same candidates, as well. Great
minds think alike. Hopefully
they can win elections, too.
James Mattiace
Co Chair Oregon Bus Project- Lane
Eugene
FEAR-BASED POLITICS
Little in the way of progressive logic is
evidenced in EW’s endorsement of Kerry
over Kucinich. The line of “reasoning” is to
the effect that a vote for Kucinich is really a
vote against Kerry, and therefore a vote for
Bush.
Talk about jumping the gun; Kerry is cer-
tainly not yet the Democratic nominee. While
he most probably will be, anything can hap-
pen. (EW seems to forget what happened to
Democrat ticket front-runner Bobby
Kennedy in 1968, shortly after he departed a
whistle-stop appearance in our town.)
Odds and dire scenarios aside, what about
the idea of a voting democracy? Last I
checked, that’s what we supposedly have. A
primary election is the main opportunity for
the lowly voters to state their preferences!
Long before the national convention, exactly
why should we feel compelled to put all eggs
into Kerry’s basket? This is fear-based poli-
tics, exactly the modus operandi of the
Bushies. It is disempowering to the people,
because it says Democrats should fall into
lockstep on a Kerry vote — to avoid sending
a message of “weakness” to the Republican
camp. This type of thinking, effective per-
haps for belligerent military posturing, turns
democracy on its head.
Proffering the same line, the R-G says that
Oregon’s primary vote won’t be noticed un-
less Kucinich rocks Kerry’s boat. Exactly
why we should vote for the media-marginal-
ized candidate, the only one who’s facing the
real issues with real answers! Voters can send
a message that will be heard, but only if they
use their power at the polls instead of giving
in to fears that may or may not turn out to be
apropos come November.
Vip Short
Eugene
BY MARY O’BRIEN
Snoozing with Nature
Walled bedrooms are overrated.
T
he idea came from backpacking and from our son Zeke, whose biological clock
was permanently set for waking at 4:30 am. My husband, O’B, and I liked sleep-
ing outdoors, and we didn’t like waking before six. So, 20 years ago O’B took the
wall off the north side of the garage and half of both ends. He built a wall down the
length of the garage in the middle, screened the north half of the garage, and we’ve
slept there ever since. I hope I sleep the rest of my life like this.
First of all, the 13 panels of the screen walls are a tapestry of the seasons. Dawn
comes through the eastern two panels at varying times. Every spring morning, the
Indian plum and bigleaf maple leaves have grown larger. In summer, a dark, heavy
canopy rustles in the breeze. Eight screen panels turn maple red in autumn, and all
are starkly etched by branches in winter.
Springtime frogs sing us to sleep, and different bird songs mark different morn-
ings. One summer, bees settled into the bird house under the eaves, and would startle
and buzz loudly when we passed by them on our way to bed. Occasionally some small
being’s last call pierces the night when a predator has found it.
When I’m lucky, I am wakened by the tentative beginnings of a rain. It’s hard to
tell when rain finishes, as it morphs into drippings off the leaves and branches. When
the wind blows, the trees whirl wildly, but the screen sifts the wind into a light breeze
across our faces. One winter night when I stepped outside, every icy blade of grass
was reflecting a full moon.
No winter night has defeated the warmth of down. One time we found that fine
snow had sifted onto the bed through the screen. We shook the cover quilt, the snow
flew away, and we slept warm. Spider webs drape the garage roof beams, but I can’t
recall being bitten by a spider in the 20 years we’ve been sleeping there.
N
ow there was the Time of the Opossums. At first there was just one. She (he?)
would come into the other side of the garage around 3 am, after a night of for-
aging. We would hear her shuffle around a bit, but she’d settle down when we
4 MAY 13, 2004
knocked on the dividing wall. One night when I was out
of town, the opossum was keeping O’B awake, so he
wanted her out. He walked over to the other side of
the garage, lifted the garage door, hollered at the
opossum, and smacked the metal garbage can with a
stick. The opossum shot out, and O’B went back to
sleep.
Twenty minutes later a police officer was shining a
flashlight into his eyes from outside the screen.
“Mr. O’Brien?”
“Hmm?” O’B answered.
“A neighbor has reported an argument and a gun shot from over here.”
“No,” O’B answered tentatively. Then he remembered – sort of. “Oh, yes. There
was a ... you know … one of those animals that get run over by cars.”
“You mean an opossum?” the officer offered.
“Yes!” O’B answered cheerfully, everything coming back.
“Well, have a good night, Mr. O’Brien.”
“You, too.”
Shortly after that, a baby opossum bit O’B’s thumb draped over the edge of the
bed. That was it for the opossums, who were now clearly plural. We borrowed a live
trap, set it up on the other side of the garage, put an apple inside and went to bed.
Ten minutes later, a clank and a bunch of scuffling. O’B put the trap in the car, turned
music on, drove a calm opossum five minutes away near a bridge, and let it go.
Another apple, a few minutes more, and it started all over again. Four opossums that
night; three the next night; two the next; and the last night, O’B carried away a very
large matriarch. Ten opposums had set up home across the wall. None have ever
returned.
I suppose (especially after the opossum stories) I’ll never convince many people
to forsake their walled bedrooms. But the truth remains for me: Every time I walk into
the night to go to bed, it feels like I’m coming home.
Mary O’Brien of Eugene has worked as a public interest scientist since 1981. She can be reached at mob@efn.org