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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2005)
TO THE EDITOR BRAINWASHING? SIZES OF LIES Wow, you managed to insert a particu- larly nasty little barb into your 7/14 Slant section. I’m glad you feel that the popularity of PR courses at the UO is “disturbing.” And how wonderful that you can now label someone as interested in “deception and greed” by a glance at their college major. Grow up. To blindly brand anyone in the field of advertising or PR as a propagandist is narrow-minded and — as so much of EW seems to be lately — just plain rude. I’m majoring in pub- lic relations because I like the creativity aspect, the psychological aspect (oh, right, I suppose that would be the “brain- washing aspect”), of it. Do you honestly think that all corporations spin “media schlock?” Not all businesspeo- ple are soulless, and not all journalists are “voices of truth and justice.” There are plenty of peo- ple who major in journal- ism — not PR or adver- tising — who end up working for companies or in fields that I imagine EW believes are a fast road to hell. All those journalists working for Fox news will be thrilled to hear that liberal- leaning EW sees them as voices of truth. Though you state that the skills in journal- ism and business schools can be used for “en- lightened purposes, or for deception or greed,” you don’t seem to give the same re- spect to PR skills. Let me remind you that it was not a public relations major who headed WorldCom or Enron, as those companies cheated stockholders out of their life savings. There are miserable and redeeming qualities to every profession, though it seems that the Slant writer seems to think that only pure journalists — or maybe just those shrilly sounding off in the pages of a weekly maga- zine — are deserving of any respect. Emily Keizer Eugene One of the things to keep in mind when evaluating the George Bush presidency is that like many despotisms and tyrannies of the past, they all begin and continue with big, medium and little sized lies. Lying is the basic political philosophy of Bush administration. The litany of lies is so long that it has become tiresome to recount or refute them. This episode of one of the Bush retainers outing a CIA agent in direct defiance of the law should surprise no one. It is merely more of the sideshow of the Bush administration designed to distract Americans every- where and every-when. The Bush administra- tion, in a corrupt conspir- acy that would rival the Mafia’s best work, is striv- ing with the “military-in- dustrial complex” to usurp the entirety of human free- dom to work, play, wor- ship, read, write, travel, parent, live and breath as we want. This is the real point of the Bush administration: to control all human enterprise of any mon- etary value on the face of the Earth. All other indicants, including endanger- ing the life of a CIA agent, is secondary to the first. This is the legacy of the Bush ad- ministration: absolute control for the few, misery for the many. Gerry Merritt Eugene ODE TO THE ROAD Please do not run me down/ when I cycle into town./ I’m just an old hippie trying to get by./ I don’t want to die! It’s been said that the old boys own the road,/ and gasoline taxes that I don’t pay/ is the cause of their hormonal overload,/ that makes them want to grab those gears,/ and turn me into a la mode./ No, don’t do it! I don’t want your fucking beer cans/ please don’t throw them at me./ I just want to ride my bicycle./ I don’t bother you, why in hell do you hassle me? Your talk radio that you listen to/ teaches hatred of cycling liberals./ But please under- stand the law./ Murder is never political! Hey, boys and girls in your monster trucks./ It isn’t cool to eradicate me./ No, I don’t want to be the murderee./ Because murder is precisely what that will be. It’s a bad idea to sideswipe cyclists./ No, don’t do it!/ In the end, there will be only your cellie,/ snoring on his belly,/ and there are no trucks at OSP. Lee Norris Cheshire 4 JULY 21, 2005 TEN WAYS TO TRASH Regarding the article “Short, Sweet and Sour” (6/30) by Jef Stout: This article should have been named “Ten Ways to Trash Local Bands.” What a disgusting joke. He either didn’t listen to the music or he was too interested in writing about his mother. His comments were out of place and out of line, especially #2, “Could possi- bly play a children’s cancer ward without getting booed.” If I had a band, I would be proud to play a cancer benefit. I suggest Jef volunteer some time in a cancer ward and give a little to his community instead of making them the butt of his joke. I don’t think Mr. Stout even opened up the CDs to listen to them. I’ve heard groups such as Icelick and Reeble Jar and I’ve thor- oughly enjoyed their music. Just because they aren’t punk or hip hop, they are still ex- cellent bands. He definitely didn’t give good reasons why he didn’t like them. As editor, I think it is up to you to oversee what gets printed in EW to prevent a future faux pas on the part of one of your writers. Brad Boice Veneta DUELING CONCERTS I read Emily Freeman’s article (7/7) about freeing the Cuthbert with interest be- cause last week I went to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo at Music on the Half Shell in Roseburg, and this week I went to see The Chieftains at the Cuthbert. The crowd at the Ladysmith Black Mambazo concert was rowdy and loud. People treated it more like a social event than a concert and it was very hard to con- centrate on the performance, let alone enjoy it. I felt the crowd was incredibly rude to the performers who really gave a great show de- spite that. In contrast, the crowd at Cuthbert last night was really into The Chieftains and was, on the whole, very nice to be with. I’d much rather pay to see an event and be able to really enjoy it, than to see a free event that I can barely hear over the roar of the crowd. Now, I realize free concerts were not all the article was about, but that is what I am ad- dressing here. What a huge difference there was in my experience of the two concerts. If freeing Cuthbert means making it like Music on the Half Shell, then please don’t! Rachel Browne Eugene BAD FOR AMERICA Our mis-directed war has squandered the global sympathy we enjoyed in the immedi- ate aftermath of 9/11, and converted it into almost universal contempt for American foreign policy. History will always remember that this Iraq war was started with a series of lies (WMD, aluminum tubes, yellowcake ura- nium). We now know some of those lies were covered up by felonies committed in the Whitehouse (Karl Rove exposing the of- ficial cover of a CIA operative in retaliation for her husband’s blowing the whistle on the yellowcake lie). Far from accomplishing its objectives, this war will not result in the spread of democracy in the Middle East, nor will it halt the spread of terror, but it will result in an invigorated network of global terrorism that is well trained in urban warfare, and eager to exact revenge on America. Founded on lies and felonies, and with hundreds of thousands of innocent victims, this war is undeniably unjust, and because it is unjust it will cultivate its own opposition. Every bomb we drop and every house we invade converts potential allies into new en- emies of America. In short, this war as cur- rently prosecuted will be ever expanding. That may be good for few war profiteers, and for immoral politicians who want to get re-elected on the “fear platform,” but it is bad for America. It pains me to think of the world my 11- year-old daughter will inherit. I am still trying to figure out how my country got so off course, and how to right it. Some ideas: First, let’s establish a solid political majority from the “reality-based community.” Then we should adapt Afghanistan Plan B for the rest of the world by “bombing them with butter.” That is the only way I can see to win the hearts and minds of the world and secure a peaceful future for our children and the world. Doug Heiken Eugene FEED THE HUNGRY I am asking you to support SB 289 and SB 467. Both of these bills are crucial in maintaining the health of our most vulnera- ble children. Research has definitively shown that lack of access to healthful food in sufficient quan- tities has disastrous effects on children and contributes to many long-term problems in physical health and learning capacity. These factors effect not just the individual but soci- ety in general. Effects are felt on physical, emotional, mental and budgetary levels. Hunger is an income issue. Until in- comes catch up with expenses, we can help alleviate the impact of hunger through nutri- tion programs. Legislators have the opportunity to help protect more children from the harmful ef- fects of hunger by passing two child nutri- tion bills. House representatives need to take action on a bill to expand the successful WIC Farmer’s Market coupons for women and children SB 289 and a bill to support summer meal programs SB 467. Feeding children should not be a partisan issue. House members should take action now to help more children gain access to nutrition programs. Linda Kelley Eugene
