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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 8, 2004)
TO THE EDITOR TRIBAL EDUCATION In “Gambling With the Future” (6/24), Jasmine Pittenger equates the Three Rivers Casino (owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians) with the education necessary to break the vicious cycle of poverty, lack of ed- ucation and unemployment that beset the tribe. According to Bob Garcia, the tribe’s eco- nomic development director, “Right now, every dime the Confederated Tribes has comes from the government.” But, as the arti- cle reports, “funding is tight, and the tribes are not able to pay for as much of their mem- bers’ education as they would like.” Assuming that casino money, in fact, will buy the education that breaks the cycle, the cost to the non-tribal community is simply ignored. Many members of the non-tribal commu- nity, the folks whose dimes and dollars fund those tight government payments, are them- selves feeling the pinch as they try to provide their children with an education. Reputable economists estimate that for every dollar landing in a casino’s till, the community pays out anywhere from $2 to $12 in social costs. Thirty to 50 percent of a casino’s take is mis- ery money drained from addicted gamblers who will commit crimes, file bankruptcy, abuse their children and sometimes commit suicide because of their addiction. The rest is disposable income diverted from tax-paying merchants with whom it would otherwise be spent. As a mother of two small boys and as a teacher, I empathize with the tribe’s special programs director wanting little, 7-year-old Eagle, who is part Coos, to have the opportu- nities that I want for my sons. I also want my sons to take pride in their Choctaw heritage without forgetting that they are part of a larger community to which they owe the responsibilities that the law and social conscience places on its citizens. My husband and I hope to teach our boys that their Indian ancestry should be a venerable guide for earn- ing their place in society, not an entitlement to reparations for historical wrongs done to their ancestors generations ago. Susie Dewberry Florence MAKE ROOM Summer is here, and with it comes hordes of pleasure seekers. As a resident of Cheshire, I see a huge influx of traffic on Highway 36, bound for such destinations as Triangle Lake and the coast. Unfortunately for me, my only access to the trails where I ride my horse are about a mile down the highway. I am constantly amazed at how many people speed past my horse and I, never even hitting their brakes, or worse yet, honking their horns. Please respect the rights of everyone on the road. When you see a horse and rider, slow down, and if cross traffic allows, swing into the other lane a bit to give them room. Be aware of your load — even the most trust- worthy horse can be spooked by large, loud RVs, trucks pulling trailers or boats behind them, flapping plastic tarps, etc. Use com- mon sense — would you ever honk at a bicy- clist? Please help keep me and my fellow riders safe this summer. Every equestrian will ap- preciate the consideration you show them on the road. J. Holmberg Cheshire CRUEL SENTENCE Although Jeffrey Luers admits he made a mistake in burning SUVs to protest global warming, his prison sentence of 23 years is exceedingly cruel punishment, lacking in jus- tice, understanding, and compassion. Mary Jessup San Francisco BY DAN CAROL Tasty New Items At The Regime Change Café W hen the Fahrenheit 9/11 box office is giving Shrek 2 a run for its money, you know something is up. People are fired up and hungry for change. Frankly, it is too bad we can’t have the “han- dover” early like they do over there in Iraq, but the day of reckoning is a-coming on Nov. 2. Amen to that. The good news is that there are so many initiatives and groups out there working to rally the troops, register voters and re-defeat Bush that one can’t help be optimistic (pause to knock on wood). The bad news is that there are so many things going on, that it is sometimes hard to keep track of them all. To address the new reality that politics isn’t just centered inside the work of tradi- tional political parties anymore, a while ago I put together a tongue-in-cheek yet quite serious menu — for a virtual eatery called The Regime Change Café. The menu is still up — you can check it out at www.kumbayadammit.com — and original staples like MoveOn.org, America Votes, and Grassroots Democrats remain customer favorites. But since the first menu was laminated nine months ago, more promising initiatives have been cooked up by political chefs across the country. So here’s a listing of the newest specials you might want to sample and buy. KERRY’S KITCHEN: Down the street from The Regime Change Café there’s a new restaurant open that needs your business called JohnKerry.com According to federal law, you can spend up to $2,000 there. BE A BILLBOARD: 100 million people didn’t vote in 2000 and uh, most of them aren’t big Bush people. So numero uno, we simply need to remind people to vote. Go to November2.org to get the coolest T-shirt out there that is simple, direct and guaranteed to start a conversation about voting, hope and change. November2.org is brought to you by a coalition of about 1,000 voter registration groups, including MoveOn.org HOUSE PARTIES: Sept. 22 is another day to mark down on your calendar. That’s when educators and activists will be holding house parties to highlight Bush’s weak edu- cation report card. See www.greatpublicschools.org for more — and remember to bring an apple for your teacher. HOOK UPS: Still fired up to do more after hitting the house party circuit? ElectionMatch.org is designed to connect groups who need volunteers with folks ready to help. Perfect for anyone who has a week or two to spare and is ready to go anywhere. Think blue states. LET’S GO OHIO: If you can make it or know friends who can, I’d check out The 4 JULY 8, 2004 League of Pissed Off Voter National Conference — happening July 16 in Columbus, Ohio (see www.indyvoter.org). In the words of the organizers: “This is no ordinary boring conference with speakers and panels!!!...” This will be a hands-on voter training effort led by the top talent in the 18- 30-year-old space, designed to empower people to make their own 90- Day Plan to electoral success. Bring a friend when you go and poof — you can form your own League of Pissed Off Voters local chapter. But remember to be nice to ladies from the League of Women Voters if you see them at the mall. They started it all. REPUBLICAN SURVIVOR: It’s down to the home stretch in the six-week, web-ani- mated series brought to you by hungry House Democrats. Check it out at www.dtriptv.org This funny series started out with W, Cheney, Tom Delay, Katherine Harris, Ann Coulter and John Ashcroft trying to outlast each other. Funny yes, but the strategy behind it is deadly serious: Constituency voting patters in key Houses races in Florida, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Oregon could swing the election again (the total margin of Gore vs. Bush in those FOUR states was just under 15,000 votes in 2000). SWAP MEETS: Pained by Kerry’s appeal to the middle but afraid of four more years of Republican rule? Consider strategic vote swapping with Nader voters in Alabama and other red states you can learn more at www.naderkerry.org HERE’S THE BEEF: In answer to that old question “One-two-three, what are we fighting for?” (which too often progressives have just filled in with “Not Bush/Not This”), The New Democracy Project has issued a great new compilation called “What We Stand For: A Program for Progressive Patriotism.” Is Progressive Patriotism a new L–word to rally around? We could do worse. STILL MAD?: If you haven’t had enough after checking out the Michael Moore movie, there’s an excellent mini-documentary about Bush’s hypocritical relationship with the military. Visit www.americanfamilyvoices.org to buy a copy of Honor Betrayed — for a swing voter you know. Or support a great new group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government (CREW) that’s suing right-wing groups who aren’t playing by the rules. For too long, groups like Judicial Watch have been filing friv- olous lawsuits to feed the right-wing scandal machine. Now, thanks to CREW, there’s a new sheriff in town. BORN IN THE USA: Bruce Springsteen, this one’s for you. They stole your anthem of working class America in the 1980s under Reagan, we want it back. Tell The Boss all about it by urging him to play a big concert during the Republican convention at DraftBruce.com Dan Carol is a Democratic political strategist and a founding partner of CTSG (www.ctsg.com), a progressive consulting firm based in Eugene and Washington, D.C.
