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