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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 2005)
TO THE EDITOR Are we to have yet another toothless bu- reaucracy investigating itself? The answer re- sides in the outcome of the Nov. 8 vote on Eugene City Measure 20-106. If it passes, as it should, we will, at long last, have a public entity, empowered by us, to punish and pre- vent police misconduct. Having worked to- ward this outcome for almost a decade (some have advocated for it for over 25 years), I say it’s long past time to address the justified mis- trust we have in the city manager’s oversight of the chief and his police department, and es- pecially the secretive and unfair manner in which the department’s internal investiga- tions process is run. It’s sad it took the crimes of Magaña and Lara to bring this issue to a head. Our city should become known as a place where do- mestic violence is always prosecuted and punished, not a place where the vulnerable — the poor, women and the politically unpopu- lar — are victimized by those who take an oath to protect and serve us all. I urge you to vote yes on 20-106, to create a truly external, truly independent police mis- conduct review process, one under the peo- ple’s branch of government, the City Council. Paul Prensky Eugene small, alternative, local paper that’s FREE. I think it’s cool that the staff listens and com- municates with its readers. I think it’s even cooler that EW actually put your negative, EW-bashing letter in their paper. If you want EW to be like The Portland Mercury, maybe you’re in the wrong town. Eugene is smaller than Portland and much more community based. EW, for me, is a direct, affordable, tangi- ble connection to what’s happening in our area. If you don’t like it, maybe you should move to Portland. I fully support EW and thank you again. Lisa Ann Eugene OVERHEARD Overheard in line of the “dining room” — the free dinner place — by some Jerry Springer Types I thank God I’m not related to. They were “raggin’” on a son who wouldn’t get a job: “I’ll put his ass in the Army. That’ll make a man out of him, alright. And, God for- bid, if the worst happens to him, what the hell, it’s $250,000 for us and a monthly stipend be- sides. We’ll be sittin’ pretty. The damn fool. We sure as hell won’t be standing in this line again. The damn fool.” Lori Kasprzak Eugene WRONG TOWN Thank you so much for changing the club listings to the old format! It looks like my two former letters requesting that worked. In re- sponse to “This Paper Sucks” (9/29), I like the Weekly a lot and am thankful to have a BLATANT RACISM I was shocked to see a blatantly anti- Semitic slur in the EW recently. Your Oct. 6 article “Cheap and Choosy” said “Locals de- mand style and substance for their shekel ... Best Beer Selection! A CONNOISSEUR’S DREAM Eugene’s Best Beer Selection! 700 Bottled Beers & Growing 10 Beers On Tap Select Wines Here’s a days worth of tips and tricks for the choosy cheapskate.” The shekel is a Jewish monetary denomi- nation mentioned in the Torah (Bible) and used in ancient and modern Israel. Your use of this term in this context is perpetuating old derogatory anti-Semitic lies about Jews and money. Would you also print something -HI#J+66#'51K+ JUSTIFIED MISTRUST about Blacks loving watermelons? It’s on the same low level. The Nazis were well known for printing this sort of thing in the German media, de- grading Jews and ultimately dehumanizing them in the public’s eyes. We already have trouble in our town with anti-Semitic graffiti and hate literature, but to have something like !"#$ !%$ &' ( ! ')! '*+,')- &'.!)/$0+ Homemade Soups, Salads, & Grilled Panini Sandwiches 345 E. 11 TH AVE . • E UGENE , OR Everything Available On 541-485-BIER Premises or To Go 4 OCTOBER 20, 2005 !"!#$%#&'(#)*+ ,-+'.++/#012#3#4+1567# 89:;<9=& >?@@)A0$BCD)EF$ % C0G
