TO THE EDITOR
HUMANITIES 101
Can’t we agree that at least a companion
solution to the problem of global warming
is to stop vitriol emissions because we get
hotter when we weep?
Lori Kasprzak
Eugene
ported him, including me, who visited him
whenever I returned to southern California.
Today the teenager is a married success-
ful businessman with his kids in college.
Jerry Copeland
Florence
GLOATING OVER DEATH
RUMORS
Any truth to the rumor that Halliburton’s
cornered the ski mask market in the Gaza
Strip?
Tom Tracey
Eugene
CONSCIENCE FOR COWARDS
What is that stuff?
MOTOR OIL, CARBON, WATER, ACID, METALS
It doesn’t belong in the air!
First, an admission — United States his-
tory was only my minor in college.
However, I have been unable to recall one
U.S. president who allowed foreign nation-
als to attack the U.S. land mass without
retaliating directly against the government
of that foreign nation. Nor can I recall an
American administration which sacrificed
more of our life, fortune and sacred honor,
all for personal enrichment, family ven-
gence, crony protection and foreign and
domestic advancement. Perhaps some UO
professor can enlighten me. To the mind of
this English major, only Shakespeare’s
Richard III approximates.
M. Clark Wilde
Blachly
MEETING NOTES
Perhaps your readers would be interest-
ed in what the citizens of this area have to
say to the various city councils and the
county commissioners?
All of the city councils and the county
commissioners meetings should be public
information. Perhaps the notes of the secre-
tary/recorder could be downloaded to EW?
And EW could summarize the comments.
Even if your presentation was a couple
of months late, it still might be interesting.
It might even encourage citizens to partici-
pate in their government. Your coverage
would certainly be a lot more than the citi-
zens are currently receiving from the vari-
ous local news media.
Frank Skipton
Springfield
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That a teenager like Kip Kinkel is a vic-
tim of mob mentality is understandable.
Mob mentality has been with us since
humans lived together. So Kip’s prison sen-
tence of 120 years for killing his mother,
father and two high school students and
wounding several others is understandable
if psychophrenic personality goes untreated.
Example: When the friend of our son sud-
denly exhibited periodic bizzare behavior, we
and our neighbors informed the teenager’s
parents, who, like Kinkel’s parents, failed to
face their son’s personality problem.
After a day of surfing with my sons, the
teenager heard voices that told him his
mother was the epitome of evil and a men-
ace to society. While his parents were
watching televison, the teen called his
mother into the kitchen where he stabbed
her; she staggered into the living room and
died in her husband’s lap.
The teenager, judged insane though he
seemed sane to the community, was con-
fined to a state mental hospital for eight
years of treatment. Friends and family sup-
Front page news says: “Bush wins the
battle over timelines.” The deadly game
leaves Bush gloating while the American
people helplessly await a new president.
The commander says August could
prove to be a bloody month in Iraq (more
names for next Memorial Day). To ward off
the death toll, the opportunity for a show-
down of congressional power over the pres-
ident was squandered by the Demorcratic
leadership handing Bush a bill of his liking
while he held the troops in a hostage situa-
tion. Now it’s full speed ahead.
You can put your own meaning on “sup-
port the troops,” be it “Johnny come march-
ing home” or “Go get ’em, tiger!” But the
funding issue is not about the troops; it is
about Bush’s inner circle’s war policy.
Sadly, the pro-war crowd and the
Republican stronghold are supporting the
wasteful death of many good men.
Only peace from withdrawal can relieve
the frustration of beating war drums and
scrambling for exit strategies at the same
time. Saddam might have been a tyrant, but
the Iraqis lived in a functioning society, not
the mess we handed them.
Floyd Hulegaard
Eugene
INTERNATIONAL EW
I think EW did an outstanding job cov-
ering the Vice President’s trip to Saudi
Arabia awhile ago. Who could have possi-
bly imagined that Middle East arms broker-
ing and Lynn Cheney have anything to do
with Eugene? The wonders never cease
around here!
Thomas R. Estes
Corvallis
REALITY CHECK
Who do these illegal immigrants think
they are? Why do they think they should
have the right to live and breathe on
American soil, as if they were as good as a
legal American citizen? Real Americans are
born in this country, and if they aren’t, they
have some fancy paperwork to make up the
difference. These illegals might be nice
people, hard working, honest, willing to do
the work the rest of us are too lazy to do and
of some real value to the survival of our
economy, but come on, let’s face the facts
— they don’t have the right credentials for
us to treat them like real human beings, do
they?
Now let’s get real. When are we going to
stop looking at imaginary boundary lines,
bureaucratic nonsence, useless paperwork
and our own selfish ignorance as a basis for
judging others? It is time to recognize our
responsibilities to fellow human beings, if
for no other reason than they are fellow
human beings.
By the way, if you are worried about
people receiving services who don’t pay
taxes, maybe you should think about the
fact that these people probably could have
paid taxes if we didn’t call them illegals.
Stuart Banister
Eugene