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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2007)
TO THE EDITOR downtown dan where humans frequent, the likelihood of at- tack goes up dramatically. Of the 20 fatalities the writer spoke of over the last 100 years, most of the dead were children. The idea of being for or against hunting cougars is moot when you are thinking of your child’s safety. When you are far from the city, and in the woods, the chances of being attacked by a cougar are nil, but when cougar are living near humans, the statistical odds go up. I don’t know about the writer’s concern with his kids in the woods near town, but when it comes to my children and grandchildren hav- ing their throat torn out by a mountain lion, I think his bravado is bullshit and irresponsi- ble. Those who want to advocate protection for cougars should advocate protecting their reputation. Heed the warnings at the Wave Pool in Springfield and at Mount Pisgah. Use common sense and don’t let yourself or a loved one become a statistic, for if they do, you can bet the hunt will be on in this county and many others. H. Patrick Clancy Eugene BODY OF WATER GOOD Did Suzi Steffen see the same play I did? Her version of Body of Water by the Willamette Repertory Theater is not the one I saw and it is certainly not the version seen by Dorothy Velasco, the esteemed playwright and reviewer for The Register-Guard. I saw a compelling and risky production about the tenuous nature of reality. The playwright, ac- tors and director all made what were obvi- ously conscious choices about how best to disorient the audience, examine the layers of personality and explore the limits of memory. Velasco urges thinking theater-goers: “Don’t miss this one.” Like her, I haven’t fin- ished thinking about the play yet. Not many Eugene theater productions leave the audi- ence thinking and talking long after the lights have gone down. My hat is off to Kirk Boyd and his excellent cast. Holly Knight Eugene RESISTANT TO WHAT? MRAPs: The mine-resistant, ambush- protected vehicles. I can only hope they work as well as the IRSS, the insect repulsion sun screen defense. If it is as scary as the connota- tions I get from the acronym IRSS, it might just work. It seems a waste of $50 billion since Bush promises that we will have won by the time they are built and it won’t be nec- essary, to quote Joe Biden, “to send to our front lines.” What front lines? We don’t even have a front circle. Maybe the whole thing is just a front. Vince Loving Eugene CONFUSING THE ISSUES Thanks to EW for co-sponsoring the radio public forum on Oct. 3 debating Ballot Measure 20-134. Fear and loathing have been a constant theme in the public input regarding the West Broadway redevelopment. Several residents and local business people complained that undesirable elements are degrading the neighborhood and forcing out business in the area. The most frequent argument against de- veloping a park or other open space has been that it would only provide more opportunities for the criminals, derelicts and addicts to hang out. Let’s not confuse the issues. Development of new stores, offices, workshops, housing and parks will not make the problems of crime and the homeless disappear. Citizens and city government need to face up to these issues and deal with them directly. David Saul Eugene Dear Dan, All the negative campaigning by opponents of 20-134 is starting to DIIHFWPH,¶P¿OOHGZLWKIHDUDQG PLVLQIRUPDWLRQ6KRXOG,SDQLF RUDUHWKHVH:HDSRQVRI0DVV Distortion? 6HULRXVO\&RQFHUQHG$ERXWWKH5DJH(QJXO¿QJ'RZQWRZQ I agree, SCARED. Slogans like “Carnage!!” and “Vote NO or Else” might apply to the 2008 Presidential election, but not to 20-134. Only in gloriously contrarian Eugene would a bunch of progressives resort to Republican Party fear-mongering. The truth is, a vote for 20-134 does nothing more than extend the life of the Urban Renewal District – by 6 years. If passed, Eugene can move forward with plans to restore our downtown. But the measure doesn’t lock us into one vision, even the tantalizing vision created by your neighbors on the West Broadway Advisory Committee: movies while you eat, beers while you go bowling, and a hotel for when you need a home-away-from-home. Downtown Dan can hardly wait. A new downtown is worth the price tag. Measure 20-134 doesn’t even raise your taxes. So stop the rage. Eat a peach, man. But keep the pits out of my downtown. GOOCH’S FOLLY After reading Chad Gooch’s letter “Attn: Wildlife Lovers” (9/6), I was appalled and saddened at the ignorance of Mr. Gooch’s let- ter. It was written in the true and pathetic fashion of a misinformed individual trying to justify a practice that is morally wrong and unnecessary. To start, is there really such thing as “responsible hunting”? Who is this “responsible hunting” actually safe and healthy for? I can tell you who it’s not safe and healthy for — the beautifully majestic large game and predators we are blessed with in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. The “huge sums of money” generated by hunting, as Gooch claims, do not benefit the wildlife whatsoever but actually go towards preparing these hunting grounds for future slaughter by making many of these areas more accessible and better for the hunters, not the hunted. This includes research to de- termine how many large game animals can be killed before the extinction threshold is breached. I would say that the animals are the last beneficiaries in this kind of research. Hunting does nothing at all to promote or encourage a healthy population but in fact de- teriorates the genetic fitness of the reproduc- YES on 20-134 Pa i d f or by Euge n e Can D o It PAC Web : eugenedo wnto w n . b l o g s pot . c om (P D L O e u ge n e c a n d oi t @ g m a i l . c om ,QYHVWLQJ/RFDOO\ 6LQFH ´5HILQDQFH\RXUFDU ORZHU\RXUUDWH E\DWOHDVWµ 2$& /RDQ5DWHVDV/RZDV3HUFHQW 6RFLDOO\&RQVFLRXV :KHUH&KDUDFWHU6WLOO&RXQWV %ODLU%OYG(XJHQH0RQGD\7XHVGD\7KXUVGD\)ULGD\ OCTOBER 11, 2007 7
