TO THE EDITOR
SMUG ADDICTION
Caroline Cummins exhibits foolish
pride in her article “Fuelish Pride” (12/23).
Smug biodiesel car owners and their sup-
porters are ignoring the real problem: their
addiction to cars.
All cars — hybrid, electric, biodiesel or
gas-guzzling — contribute to urban
sprawl; all cars demand asphalt-paved
roads and parking lots; and all cars require
polluting and resource-depleting industries
for their production and upkeep.
Peter Gelman sums up the situation in
Oregon Cycling Magazine (April 2003):
“Soon we will see traffic jams of automo-
biles that don’t use oil as fuel; so what? A
vision of millions of Americans driving
even solar-powered cars is a vision of peo-
ple disunited, solitary, debt-ridden, obese,
and bleary.”
Robert Simms
Eugene
DISMANTLE BASES
Even many of those who opposed the
war in Iraq from the beginning feel that the
U.S. owes it to the Iraqis to maintain a mili-
tary presence until Iraq is “pacified.” This
argument (sometimes expressed as “we
won’t cut and run”), would have merit if it
were accompanied by plans that would
allow the Iraqis to prepare for real freedom.
Such plans should include an admission
that the contracts giving control over re-
sources and reconstruction to foreign in-
vestors were made illegally and should be
nullified at a specified date (an occupying
power has no right to sell or lease the re-
sources of the occupied country); the plans
should include a deadline for dismantling
the 14 U.S. military bases in Iraq, and they
should include a date for pulling our troops
out.
True, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi
has begged the U.S. to keep its troops in
Iraq. However, there is no evidence that
Allawi represents the will of the Iraqi peo-
ple. More importantly, now that we have
reached a point where neither the Iraqis nor
our young soldiers can tell friend from foe,
the U.S. military in Iraq has itself become a
destabilizing force.
We cannot undo the mess we made in
Iraq, but without plans for reparation as
outlined above, neither the Iraqis nor the
rest of the world will believe that the U.S.
cares about their welfare or about democ-
racy in the Middle East.
Jette Foss
Eugene
thing to say: Without racism, we’d have no
need for diversity trainers.
Jim Johnson
Eugene
JUST ONE THING
After reading the interview with Mark
Harris (12/23), I can only think of one
A FEW MORE THINGS
Mark Harris (12/23), like many black
SUBJECT TO PERSECUTION
Regarding the Viewpoint on wild wolves by Jeff Long (121/4):
As a biologist who appreciates the ecological value of wolves in
their natural habitat, I would like to offer my counterpoint to the
position that wolf populations should be artificially established in
Oregon. My concern has to do with whether this would be in the
best interests of the wolves.
While nature lovers such as Jeff Long and I enjoy hearing and
seeing wolves on our outdoor excursions, the unfortunate reality is
that persistent fear, ignorance and prejudice regarding wolves re-
mains despite efforts to educate the public. Consequently, wolves
will continue to be persecuted.
Much of the wolf’s original habitat in Oregon has been lost to
logging and ranching, limiting the size of the territory in which they
can hunt without encroaching upon lands that have been claimed by
humans. When wolves encounter humans or their livestock, they are
likely to become the victims of hate crimes. Let’s face it. They will
be shot, trapped and poisoned, regardless of any laws that have been
enacted to protect them.
Long gone are the days when the Pacific Northwest was a pris-
tine wilderness and wolves played an important role in the ecosys-
tem. Declining populations of top predators such as wolves, griz-
zly bears and mountain lions parallel the growth of human popula-
tions and the consequent destruction of natural habitats. More
adaptable predators such as coyotes and black bears have not been
as adversely impacted by human population growth. In fact, when
humans alter the environment, they may create new opportunities
for some species such as rodents and the coyotes that prey upon
them. Associating coyotes with widespread livestock predation
does them an injustice similar to what has been inflicted upon
mythologized wolves and sharks.
It is a misrepresentation of facts to state that wolves are impor-
tant to Oregonians. From what I can tell, most Oregonians are per-
fectly happy to limit their experience of wolves to the Discovery
Channel. Armchair naturalists may enjoy the image of wolves
roaming free in Oregon, as long as those wolves don’t end up in
their backyards.
For those of us who desire a more personal encounter with
wolves, hiking and camping in the Canadian Rockies offers that
opportunity. Let’s not perpetuate our anthropocentric tendencies
by thinking only about what we as nature lovers would like.
Instead, let’s focus on what would be best for the wolves.
Mike Skolnick
Veneta
Wellness Centered Dentistry, PC
Darin J. Ward DDS, F.A.G.D.
300 Country Club Rd. Ste. 290 • Eugene, OR 97401
At Wellness Centered Dentistry, we focus on your overall wellness. By taking a holistic approach
and arranging for health rather than merely treating disease, we offer an opportunity to restore your
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We look at the whole picture, consider sys-
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Call today and experience the benefits we
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(541) 868-2008
4 JANUARY 6, 2005
people including Jessie Jackson, is in the
Race Industry. They can only talk about
race and nothing beyond. It is their liveli-
hood. Of course there is racism in Eugene,
but the tiny population of black people in
Eugene blows everything out of proportion.
The black community in Eugene is the
most self-segregated community that I
have ever seen. They don’t participate in
the whole community of Eugene, and they
only get upset when a member of that in-
dustry, e.g. Cortez Jordan, cries about
racial profiling. Black people are being
killed in Portland and Harlem, not Eugene.
Jerry Harris
Portland
PUZZLING
Thank you, EW, for one of my most en-
joyable Christmas presents, though per-
haps not intentional. I love diagramless
crossword puzzles. In the 12/23 issue you
laid out this week’s Jonesin’ Crossword
clues with last week’s grid. It took joyful
hours to guess the answers and reconstruct
the grid. Yes, EW, at least two of the best
things in life are free!
Jim Wood
Eugene
EDITOR’S NOTE: We love messing with our readers’
minds, though this time it was indeed unintended. Did
anyone actually attempt the puzzle? What’s a five-letter
word for “roofing goo”?
THE
WEDDING GUIDE
JANUARY 13, 2005
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