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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 2004)
TO THE EDITOR bicycle outside of the wild land around Waldo Lake. Dave Stone Founding member Waldo Wilderness Council try’s slick campaign. Please join me in voting no on 35! Helene Montgomery Eugene CAP CEO SALARIES PREFERRED OPTIONS Instead of considering voting for a candi- date who favors preemptive strikes, or voting for a candidate who says he might invade a nation if the U.N. could be persuaded to ap- prove that invasion, from an ethical if not also economic standpoint, wouldn’t we be better served by a compassionate, fiscally conserva- tive, commander-in-chief willing to make friends of those whose “weapons of mass de- struction” could become as low-tech as that of fleas infected with the bubonic plague? If the U.S. is unwilling to make friends by helping feed the starving children of needy nations, for our own protection from low- tech weapons as well as likely escalating costs of war, shouldn’t the U.S. at least re- frain from dropping bombs upon those starv- ing children? U.S. voters concerned about their vote being wasted could be able, if they might wish, to keep their archaic Electoral College democracy within a preferential voting sys- tem if Democrats and Republicans were will- ing to allow voters the freedom of that instant runoff system. Helen Woodford Eugene TELL THE TRUTH Here Peter DeFazio goes again wanting his constituents to believe what he says in- stead of what he does. Yes, Congressman DeFazio wrote a letter to his opponent Jim Feldkamp stating that in “every election sea- son I have participated in debates with my opponents.” Absolutely false. In fact, Peter did everything he could to avoid being near where I was during the 2002 congressional campaign when I was his opponent. I wish Peter would just tell the truth to the people of the district. Liz VanLeeuwen Linn County State Legislator MORE DOCTORS NOW Insurance companies want us to think that doctors are leaving Oregon to avoid paying high medical malpractice premiums. However, I just read about a study by Public Citizen showing that the number of doctors in Oregon is actually increasing. Measure 35 will not help doctors; instead, it will limit our rights by changing the Constitution. Voters should not be swayed by the insurance indus- The latest grand idea by the Bush admin- istration is to cap liability suits. They claim it is to lower health care costs. I personally find it ironic that the wealthy are always saying we should allow the free market to sort things out, unless of course it is something that af- fects their bottom line (the insurance compa- nies in this case). A better idea to me would be to cap CEO salaries and perks, including their outrageous retirement plans. There is a minimum wage and, to be honest, most of us have jobs that have a ceiling –– in other words a maximum wage for that particular job. But corporate ex- ecutives live in a different world — who sets their salaries? This Labor Day I can’t help but think of all those who labor extremely hard to create all this profit, only to have it skimmed off the top. While most people I know retire with very little for all their sweat, many can never afford to retire, period. Not exactly an equi- table system in my mind. Once again I say cap CEO salaries. Tim Boyden Eugene NO NEED FOR SACRIFICE It’s happened yet again. Several more hill- sides in the Row River Valley containing trees for life, both human and wild, have been scraped clean, otherwise known as com- pletely clearcut. Industrial logging employs huge machinery and only a couple of men, yet it is defended as good for the economy and schools. Who is responsible for the lie that we have to sacrifice the environment for education and jobs? The unemployment in Oregon has re- cently spiked to 7.4 percent. The number of uninsured is up and Oregonians are making on average $3,000 less that they were three years ago. The continued clearcutting and opening up of our forests to industry will make our environment more barren. The en- vironment is the long-term solution to Oregon’s economy. In a country overly wrought with a decimated environment, Oregon still boasts beautiful places for peo- ple to visit, thriving farming communities and wild lands. When people visit Oregon they often remark on the loss of local com- munities and beautiful environment at home that they are able to find here. Do we have to accept ours going the same way? EW Staff EDITORIAL Editor Ted Taylor BUSINESS Director of Sales and Marketing Bill Shreve Associate Editor Melissa Bearns Executive/Arts Editor Lois Wadsworth Contributing Editor Anita Johnson Staff Writers Alan Pittman, Kera Abraham Calendar & Music Editor Ben Fogelson Contributing Writers Brett Campbell, Rachel Foster, Jerry Harris, Kate Rogers Gessert, James Johnston, Sharleen Nelson, Mary O’Brien, Sylvie Pederson, Vanessa Salvia, Sally Sheklow, Lance Sparks, Martha Ulman West Interns Alexandra Arch, E. Anderson Cael, Christine Mathias, Omie Drawhorn Circulation Manager Deena Miller Controller Paula Hoemann Distributors Bob Becker, Peter Dilcher, Kevin Greene, Tim Risch, Jackson Stephens, Carrie Wedmore, Pedalers Express Printing Signature Graphics y ART DEPARTMENT Art Director/Production Manager Kevin Dougherty Graphic Artist/Webmaster James Bateman Graphic Artists Todd Cooper Contributing Photographers Kurt Jensen, Paul Neevel ADVERTISING National Sales Manager Mark Frisbee Display Marketing Consultant Jennifer D’Angelo, Rob Weiss Advertising Traffic Coordinator Geneva Miller Classified Manager Jeffrey Stout Classified Marketing Consultant Molly Templeton HOW TO REACH US BY E-MAIL: (letters): editor@eugeneweekly.com (advertising): ads@eugeneweekly.com (classifieds): classy@eugeneweekly.com (personals): personals@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 Eugene Weekly • 1251 Lincoln Street • Eugene, OR 97401 • 541.484.0519 • fax 541-484-4044 OCTOBER 14, 2004 5
