TO THE EDITOR
interested in being part of the commission are
asked to submit an application form before
the end of the day on Friday, Sept. 7. The
application form and supplemental questions
are available on the city website
(www.eugene-or.gov/bcc) or by calling the
city manager’s office at 682-5010.
Eugene’s Sustainability Commission
should be top notch with a high level of
expertise and civic involvement, setting
goals to quickly and effectively make cut-
ting edge advances toward real sustainabil-
ity. Please apply.
Mayor Kitty Piercy
Eugene
SPORTS CAN BE BOTH
I wanted to commend professor Jim Earl
for contributing his excerpted essay (8/16)
on sports in college, and for his courage in
speaking truth to power. The author succeed
in doing what many great teachers do: evok-
ing discussion by presenting points I agree
with while motivating me to respond to the
points to which I respectfully disagree.
I would agree that college athletics,
including American football, have absorbed
and now reflect many of the least redeeming
cultural features of our current times: finan-
cial excess, corruption, violence, celebrity.
The resources being directed to athletics,
including resources that could otherwise be
directed to academics, are at times obscene-
ly disproportionate within the context of the
university mission. If you doubt this, con-
sider for a moment what $100 million in
shoe and apparel profits could accomplish if
spent entirely in the classroom. Pour that
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much money into your lit department, and
I’m guessing we’d see your collective joy.
But can important life lessons be taught
through athletics, including intercollegiate
athletics? Absolutely. Training for the
decathlon taught me how to manage multiple
priorities. I learned teamwork while playing
football, where the offensive game is wholly
reliant upon synchronized execution. And as
much as I’m grateful for my 20-plus years of
formal education, these important life skills
were taught in the context of competitive
sports in ways that cannot be taught in the
classroom. With all due respect for the acade-
my, important learning does occur outside of
the classroom. Sports do teach kids about life.
As one familiar enough with the Greeks
to reference two of them in his essay, Jim
knows better than most that Dionysius, the
Greek god of wine, represents not only the
intoxicating power of wine but also its
social and beneficial influences. In addi-
tion, Dionysius was regarded as the pro-
moter of civilization and peace, as (you
guessed it) many of our universities aspire
to be. Our modern gods, little icons on the
field of play, are similarly complex, at times
reflecting both the deepest and shallowest
values of a culture. Is it possible that colle-
giate athletics offers us some of both?
Jeff Davis
Eugene
BIODIESEL KILLS
We used to look at those cute, clever
bumper stickers that proclaimed “My Car
Runs off Biodiesel” and think, “Wow, that
person cares.” But evidence that biodiesel
demand is running up corn prices and there-
fore forcing poor people all over the world
to compete with the sociopolitical needs of
liberal conscientious consumers leads us to
believe that biodiesel use kills.
Furthermore, the energy needed for the
total process of creating, distributing and using
biodiesel is actually more deleterious to the
environment than nasty and disgusting gas.
So if you have that cute little bumper
sticker proclaiming your consumer con-
sciousness, you are actually advertising
your ignorance. It’s a weird irony that
Hummers are better for the environment
that an old biodiesel Mercedes or VW bee-
tle with a clever bumper sticker. My only
hope is that all the middle class liberal elite
will do what’s right: educate themselves
before patting themselves on the bumper.
William Porter
Eugene
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Oh me, Oh my! There’s a SALE at the PIE!
LABOR DAY SALE! (Fri-Mon)
★ 50% Off Shorts ★ 20% Off Used Clothing
★ 10% Off Storewide
TONS OF NEW ARRIVALS
★ Tapestries, Patches, Stickers & Posters
★ Fabulous PIT BULL Jewelry
★ Hemp Twine and Clothing
★ Kickass GLASS from over 30 Local Artists!
Voted EUGENE’S BEST LOCAL
CLOTHING STORE! (3 Years in a Row, Yo!)
Monday-Saturday 10-7 / Sunday 12-6 ★ Corner of 11th & Willamette
AUGUST 30, 2007 5