TO THE EDITOR
PLANT PARADOX
I appreciated Rachel Foster’s piece about
the Native Plants and Permaculture gather-
ing May 11-13 at Lost Valley (“Natives vs.
Non-Natives,” 4/12). Because of what I be-
lieve must have been a copy-editing error,
readers may have been left confused by a
passage in the third paragraph. To clarify: It
is the School Garden Project (not permacul-
ture, as stated in the article) that encourages
gardeners to avoid planting “invasive, non-
native plants.” The School Garden Project
also advocates the use of permaculture. Yet,
as SGP executive director Sharon Blick rec-
ognized, some permaculturalists promote the
planting of non-native plants that the Native
Plant Society warns against. The idea for this
conference was born from that paradox and
apparent conflict.
Behind both permaculture and the native
plant movement lies a sincere desire to undo
some of the ecological damage our civiliza-
tion has done and to restore health to the
ecosystems we inhabit. I believe people in
each movement can both teach and learn
from one another. Permaculturalists have de-
veloped innovative, relatively ecologically
benign methods of feeding ourselves and
meeting other basic needs, while native ecol-
ogists and restorationists have studied the
dynamics of natural ecosystems extensively
and are perhaps better positioned to help us
distinguish true ecological threats from those
non-native plants that may actually benefit a
native ecosystem by contributing to a less
damaging human presence. The Native
Plants and Permaculture conference exists to
bring together these groups for mutual edu-
cation and hopefully to find a “third way” in
which our pooled wisdom, knowledge and
experience lead to new understandings and
approaches. More articles and information
about these topics can be found at www.lost-
valley.org/nature2007may. We hope to see
many Eugeneans there!
Chris Roth
Dexter
DISSENT IS A DUTY
I would like to reply to Mr. Marty Wilde’s
letter, “Dissent is Dangerous,” in the April 5
letters section. I would like to ask him if he
would have said the same thing to the
Germans who served in the military during
WWII. I know for a fact that many
Americans during the aftermath of that war
were asking that very question, “Why didn’t
German soldiers question their superiors or
orders that they were given?” The simple fact
is that Americans were undisposed to mak-
ing allowances for the same arguements that
Mr. Wilde uses as logic for why soldiers
must always obey orders.
I was a Marine during Vietnam, and I am
also directly related to soldiers who served
Germany during WWII. I know the differ-
ence between obeying wrongful and uncon-
scionable governments that wage war for
reasons that are nothing but sheer aggres-
sion. I love this country, and by that I mean
the land and the ideals that we were all taught
meant something. Many of those ideals seem
to have been given short shrift by this coun-
try’s leadership. It disappoints me to realize
that I fought not for those ideals but for the
ambitions of a small group of wealthy elit-
ists. I doubt that the average German soldier
could have defied his government any more
than I could have and for all the same rea-
sons, mostly fear of retribution. Had we
made the decision to refuse an order, we
could very well have wound up dead or gone
to prison at the very least. Some of my fore-
bears did in fact end up in concentration
camps.
I admire Lt. Watada for having a mind of his
own, something that was once considered an
important asset to have as an American. I can
only ask, “What happened to the rest of us?”
Fred Mannheim
Springfield
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models in Europe I dislike, but this one is
standard there. We don’t need more govern-
mental regulation, just more information and
education. How can we recycle and reuse
these plastic buggers?
Donna Carter
Eugene
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COMPETITION NEEDED
To all those who would like EW to drop
“Savage Love”: I’m not going to call you
prudes or suggest you pull your heads out of
certain places; my suggestion is a little more
proactive. Look, what you need is a paper
that doesn’t run “Savage Love” but is edgier
than The Register-Guard. Think about it:
This area is large enough for two alternative
papers, isn’t it? Every place needs a paper
doing risky investigative journalism, and
there are other syndicated columns out there
you could include besides “Savage Love.”
Judging from the letters, there would be a
readership for it. I would read it after reading
Eugene (Savage Love) Weekly.
Wayne Wilson
Eugene
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DIVESTING FROM WAR
It may not be common knowledge that
with Senate Bill 1089, codified as the
Oregon Human Rights and Anti-Genocide
Act of 2005, our state divested its public
funds from Sudan in acknowledgement of
the genocide and humanitarian crisis taking
place there, created and sustained by the gov-
ernment of Omar al Bashir, voted Parade
magazine’s “world’s worst dictator.” In a
January 2007 annual report to the legislative
assembly, it was reported that $38 million
had been reduced to identified companies in
the region since the act was instituted.
Although I am proud that Oregon was one of
the first of fewer than 10 states to divest, and
the impact meaningful, it is not enough!
There is a current movement called
Fidelity Out of Sudan. Fidelity Investments
currently holds $1.2 billion in Petrochina, a
Chinese oil company in the region. Given the
fact that 70 to 80 percent of Sudan’s oil rev-
enues are used to purchase weapons of war,
Americans with investments in Fidelity are
inadvertently funding the war. Please check
with your financial planners to see if your
money is invested in Fidelity and consider
moving it unless the investment company
changes its poilcy. Call or email them to let
them know of your concern. Divestment
from Sudan is critical for applying sufficient
economic pressure on the government to
change their policies. The acceptance of
United Nations Peacekeepers to protect
civilians, access that al Bashir continues to
deny, is crucial. Economic consequences
may be our only hope in a country where
400,000 have already died and 2.5 million
have been displaced.
The situation only worsens. Will you do
what you can?
Marti Berger
Member, Lane County Darfur Coalition
MAY 3, 2007 9