TO THE EDITOR
The Shedd - Tickets 434-7000 - www.theshedd.org
LET’S CHOOSE PEACE
REMODEL FOR HALL
The Student Peace Alliance is currently
campaigning for the establishment of a U.S.
Department of Peace and Nonviolence. In
Oregon we are fortunate that our State
Senators Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden have
a history of working well together. We at the
Student Peace Alliance feel that Oregon has
the potential for leading the nation in estab-
lishing this revolutionary new dimension of
government as a bipartisan movement. It is
unfortunate that many of the citizens of this
great nation have become disenthralled and
have disempowered themselves. As citizens,
we must wake up, reengage and begin to steer
the ship in a new direction.
The Department of Peace and Nonviolence
would act as a compass to guide us. “Conflict
is inevitable, combat is a choice.” This quote
from Marianne Williamson reminds us that
war is a choice. It may seem like an easy solu-
tion. Fight them over there so they can’t come
here — but when we send our soldiers over
there, they are often changed by the experi-
ence and bring the war home with them. One
of the problems with this type of “get them
over there” thinking is that we are all intercon-
nected, and our technology is making it visi-
ble. With the Internet and cell phones you can
now see how connected we are.
Let us seek new ways for resolving con-
flict! Let us create a Department of Peace and
Nonviolence! Please call our state senators
and encourage them to support the
Department of Peace legislation and intro-
duce the bill into the Senate. This is Oregon’s
opportunity to lead the nation. It is up to us,
the citizens, to catalyze the shift. For more in-
formation, please check out our website:
www.peacealliance.org
Paul Simon
State Coordinator,
Student Peace Alliance
Eugene
The city could help stimulate downtown
development and save money on a new city
hall by purchasing either the Symantec/Bon
building or the Centre Court building to be
remodeled and used as City Hall. The city
should avoid the cost of new construction
whenever possible, and not provide huge
public subsidies to developers.
Randy Gicker
Eugene
SOME CALL IT TREASON
Apparently, you can provide your enemy
with 380 tons of high grade plastic explo-
sives, $9 billion in cash and 110,000 AK-47s
and not be tried for treason — if you are the
grandson of Prescot Bush, Hitler’s banker.
Michael T. Hinojosa
Drain
The Shedd Institute
The John G. Shedd
Institute for the Arts
Music
School
A PARTING PINT
I heard about Tommy Makem’s passing
on NPR, and it brought up a memory of the
first time I heard him play. He and the
Clancey Brothers were playing a ’60s Easter
Holiday Concert in San Francisco in honor of
the Easter Uprising which gave Ireland its
freedom. They played to a sold-out concert in
the Masonic Lodge, and they took the audi-
ence by storm with their music such as
“Johnson’s Motor Car.”
Tommy’s wit was also on display when he
asked the audience, “What are all you nuns
and priests doing in the Masonic Lodge?”
Tommy also used his music to keep the issue
of Ulster’s freedom before the Irish public. In
large part due to his efforts, Ireland, in part at
least, is getting freedom for his 4th Green
Field. What more could a man ask of his life
then th help free his country? We will all have
a “Parting Glass” for you, Tommy, my lad!
Dennis Shine
Springfield
COMING WARS
You think the “Oil Wars” have been bad?
Wait ’til we see the “Corn Wars.” In less than
30 years, minus unforeseeable catastrophic
events, the world population will exceed 10
billion people. That means we’ll need a
whole lot of farmland solely for biofuels pro-
duction, the vast majority of which are cer-
tainly going to be located in Third World na-
tions where labor is cheap, human rights and
environmental controls are nonexistent and
Big Business makes all the rules and uses
their private militias (AKA military and
armed forces) to enforce them.
I can almost see the headlines now:
“Chinese troops advance on Kashgar region
in bid to expand ethanol farms.”
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GEORGE
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OCTober
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HULT CENTER
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AUGUST 16, 2007 5