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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 2004)
TO THE EDITOR • Limit contributions from political action committees (PACS) to $500 per two-year election cycle and limit the amount individ- ual contributors can give to $1,000 per elec- tion cycle. • Limit all State Representative cam- paigns to a maximum expenditure of $25,000, including the primary. And limit all Senate campaigns to a maximum expenditure of $50,000, including the primary. • Limit campaigns for statewide office to $500,000, including the primary, for all of- fices other than governor. Limit the gover- nor’s campaign to $1 million, including the primary. • Set limits for all non-partisan races in ac- cordance with a formula that would be in pro- portion to the figures listed above. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Oregon took the lead role in ending the crazy spending that goes with every election cycle for these posi- tions in government? These elected offices were supposed to be designed for a represen- tative form of government by which citizens could get elected, serve a few years and re- turn home and let someone else take their place. Our state legislature was never meant to be solely “the best money can buy.” Let us insist that our new legislature take action to make public service more accessible and possible for those that do not have strong financial resources or friends with deep pock- ets. Isn’t that what representative government should be? Rich Cunningham Eugene BETTER COMPETITION Competition remains paramount in the minds of decision makers the world over. So if that’s the case, let’s compete as nations to see who can feed the hungry, house the homeless, and finance the recovery of AIDS orphans in Africa faster! Let us compete to see who can clean up the environment more efficiently. Let’s com- pete to see who can produce the most thoughtful civil and human rights faster! Let’s compete to see who can provide more affordable health care for our senior citizens and the disabled! Let’s compete to see who can halt homicides and suicides, death and destruction faster! Above all, let’s compete to see who has the will and the courage to produce a better world, where hate gives way to love, igno- rance gives way to knowledge, prejudice gives way to tolerance, and war gives way to peace. Competition is an integral part of human nature, so let’s invent a new human nature and put aside our existing competitive values of military and economic struggles, and move to a more realistic and practical re- solve. There is only one intelligent course. Let’s find it together. If we do, the radiance of our accomplishments will illuminate our world more than a jealous sun could ever dream of. Tom Bush Eugene FEAR RULES Dear President Bush: You have succeeded in getting half of the country to vote for you because of fear, and now the other half of the country is in fear of what you have done and will do. Fear rules. Congratulations! With all due respect, you are my president for the next four years, but I will not let fear be my leader. To paraphrase: Do not go gen- tly into this dark night … rage, rage against the dying of the light. Sarita Lief Eugene IN MOURNING Two dates are linked in history. On 9/11 my brother Bill had just gotten off the com- muter train at the base of the World Trade Center when the first plane hit. He sat in his office across the plaza from the Twin Towers and watched the tragedy unfold. Every image you saw on CNN, he saw live. New Yorkers vowed not to concede their city or their ideals to Osama bin Laden. They returned to their city and offices in defiance. On Nov. 3 I spoke to Bill many times. From the same office window, Bill told me he could now see signs which read, “No Blood for Oil” and “Dissent is Patriotic” posted in the skyscraper windows. He and most New Yorkers were shocked by Bush’s re- election. In Eugene, people worked with tear- streaked faces. One woman said, “I don’t un- derstand why I am so sad. I’ve been crying for hours.” We, “the liberals,” are crying because we are in mourning. For three years, we have re- fused to believe that Osama bin Laden could tear the fabric of our country. We were deter- mined to preserve the America of Sept. 10, 2001. Our goals were to restore civil liberties and American prestige and find a solution to our unjust war. We mourn the loss of those ideals. New Yorkers refuse to allow 9/11 to change them. And we, the liberal faction of this country, stand with New York. When we are done crying, we will take our country back. Kathy Thomas Leaburg EW Staff EDITORIAL Editor Ted Taylor 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 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 BUSINESS Director of Sales and Marketing Bill Shreve 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 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 NOVEMBER 18, 2004 5
