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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2007)
TO THE EDITOR government, unnecessary war, mass species extinction, religious righteousness, etc., that so many EW readers are fixated on Dan Savage’s column. Is it perhaps be- cause you feel so helpless when it comes to these larger, more life-threatening issues? Sure, there is a letter here and there ad- dressing these topics, but come on — what are we on, three, four weeks of Savage bashing or praising? It seems to me that is past time that we as a community come to- gether to figure out how to really begin ad- dressing how in the days, weeks and years ahead we will even have the luxury of de- bating what is or isn’t appropriate for a free alternative paper. It is time to wake up, people. Our planet is burning. Can you hear the fire alarm? Or are you all so caught up in our protected lives, so full of denial that you do not want to shatter the illusion? We are all living in a coal mine — and the canary ain’t looking too good. Indigo Ronlov Eugene UNWILLING TO LEARN Four years ago, on the eve of the most recent U.S. assault on Iraq, I was part of a small group of alarmed citizens who tried to use our bodies in a last-ditch attempt to block the forward movement of war. Somehow it was clear to us (as it somehow wasn’t to so many policy-makers — Sen. Clinton being just one example — who voted to invade) that the rationales pro- vided by the administration to justify the war were fabricated and baseless. It was clear to us that an immense amount of human suffering, both here and over there, as well as an ungodly amount of precious resources, were about to be expended for no earthly good. Perhaps one lesson there is that our de- cision makers in Washington should get their information from broader sources. And/or get spines. My little group tried to block the entrances to the (old) Federal Building. It was an admittedly Quixotian and symbolic attempt to shut down “busi- ness as usual” on the federal level, to send a message to our leaders that their plan was The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts foolhardy, dangerous and just plain wrong. Ironically, my father had officially opened that same building many years before by cutting the ribbon along with Sen. Mark Hatfield. Some people chose to ridicule and threaten us for our efforts that day. We dis- played large close-up photos of awful human suffering caused by previous U.S. exploits in that part of the world. Americans continue to be insular, arrogant and dangerous. When will we ever learn? Vip B. Short Eugene The Shedd Institute The Gourds AN APOLOGY Recently my letter (2/15) was published chiming in about the “Savage Love” con- troversy. I want to apologize for part of the content of my letter, which may have been inaccurately stated, i.e. my writing that reading “Savage Love” was like being at the “freak show.” This was meant to say that the stories in the column represent what is “unusual” or out of the ordinary, but was in no way meant to suggest that they are particularly “wrong” or negative. I apologize if anyone’s feelings were inad- vertently hurt by the statement. David A. Caruso Eugene Saturday, April 7th Jaqua Concert Hall The Carl Woideck Jazz Heritage Project RFK WRONG Greetings to my favorite weekly news- paper, Eugene Weekly. This letter is an an- gered response to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lies he made in his speech at the UO (Viewpoint, 3/15). While he makes many good, accurate points, he is dead wrong about two things: that compulsory public education was created at the founding of our country and that it was done out of good will for our citizens. Except for a few public schools, compulsory education did not start until 1837 in Massachusetts, and it was so incredibly unpopular that the chil- dren had to be taken from their parents at gunpoint to go to school. It is not a device to level the playing field, but to tip the scales to the industrial and governmental elite by making us obedient and dependent. The fact that school is meant to assimilate Hapa Thursday, April 12th Jaqua Concert Hall The Adventures of Duke Ellington Friday, April 13th Jaqua Concert Hall The Shedd Institute Eugene Ballet Company Tom Sawyer Sat-Sun, May 5-6 Hult Center Tickets: 682-5000 Dr. Tamara A. Stenshoel MD — Visit www.theshedd.org for full schedule — Emmylou Harris Thursday, May 3 - Hult 434-7000 www.theshedd.org MARCH 29, 2007 5
