TO THE EDITOR
WE WILL KEEP DRIVING
I’d like to thank all of the elected officials
on the Metropolitan Policy Committee
(MPC) who voted in favor of the Regional
Transportation Plan including the expendi-
ture of funds to expand and improve our vital
highway system (cover story, 12/6). This is
the kind of forward thinking that we should
expect of elected officials. The TransPlan
aligns with the views of the vast majority of
citizens in the Eugene/Springfield area.
Cars are an important part of our lives,
and are they aren’t going away. The notion
that if we do not improve our road system
everyone will start taking the bus or towing a
Burley cart behind their bike is silly. Over
time, what fuels our cars will change (and re-
duce or eliminate the global warming emis-
sions) but the car is going to be the key com-
ponent of transportation for a long time to
come. Get used to it.
And spare me the whining about
“sprawl.” All of the road improvements will
serve areas within the urban growth bound-
ary. The Gateway area is not sprawl. It is a
major economic/health/service center for our
urban area. It happened. Get over it.
And as for Alan Pittman complaining
about the lack of “public input,” please don’t
make me laugh. The only input that he and
the other so-called “progressives” care about
is from folks who agree with them. If the pub-
lic got to vote — the ultimate participation —
the TransPlan would pass overwhelmingly.
Of course, if what you mean by public input
is the usual set of vocal “progressive” ac-
tivists, then that would be a different matter.
Randy Kolb
Eugene
A STEP BACKWARD
The staff of EW has had a wonderful op-
portunity to really listen to the voices of
Latinos and others who are doing important
work in this community around justice for
immigrants and people of color. If you had
opened your ears and your hearts, you would
have realized that your decision to run the
“¡Ask a Mexican!” column — however well
intentioned its author claims to be — is a mis-
take. You would have listened to the people in
this community who have been working the
longest and hardest to turn back the rising
tide of hatred toward immigrant workers and
families, particularly Latino immigrants, that
is threatening to engulf this nation. You
would have trusted their experience when
they told you this column is a step backwards,
away from the “progressive” ideals you claim
to embrace, and you would have dropped it
from your paper.
Not only did you close your ears to re-
spected voices, but you devoted two and a
half pages (that might be the most space
you’ve ever devoted to Latinos in a single
issue!) to tell us, through the words of the au-
thor, how misguided we all are. There must
be something wrong with us if we don’t re-
spond positively to the sophisticated ap-
proach to satire. We should just get over it
and get used to it.
Well, I’m sorry, I can’t get used to it.
Every time I see that racist caricature I feel
like I’m looking at a Disney cartoon from the
1950s and it’s sickening. And it’s not just the
caricature; there seems to be a heart missing
from Gustavo Arellano’s answers. An exam-
ple from the most recent column: A young
woman is concerned about how her tattoos
will be perceived by her husband’s family in
4 DECEMBER 13, 2007
Mexico. When Arellano approvingly re-
sponds that she’s “sensitive enough toward
backward Mexicans” that she doesn’t want to
offend them, he appears to be the one saying
those Mexicans are “backward,” since she
didn’t use that word, or even appear to char-
acterize them as such. A small point perhaps,
but an indicator of a point of view which I
don’t think is helpful in the political climate
we’re faced with.
In this coming election year, the immigra-
tion issue will be the wedge used to divide us.
The wedge issues of the past — abortion, law
and order, homosexual rights, the war —
don’t seem to have the “legs” for the fear
mongers to run with. But the specter of mil-
lions of brown people flooding across our
border (“illegal aliens”!) to take our jobs —
now, that’s an issue to get the good citizens on
edge! If EW is attempting to speak to this
concern, that’s good — and there are many
local voices who could do it — but using
“¡Ask a Mexican!” for that purpose is truly
“backward.”
Will Doolittle
Eugene
MEXICAN-STYLE FEMINISM
Since there seems to be a sharp bifurca-
tion between how a male Latino thinks and
how a Latina thinks, I feel that EW should
add a Latina column to balance the some-
times over-the-top cutting wit of the Arellano
Mexican column.
I think Arellano is doing great and needed
work for Eugene to make us more informed
and more real about the Mexicans among us
who are helping us much more than hurting
us. But balance demands a Latina column
also.
It’s feminism Mexican style.
Bob Saxton
Eugene
DISMISSIVE ATTITUDE
I am writing to say that your tabloid news-
paper has lost a longtime reader.
My mother was born to American-born,
Mexican migrant workers in the 1940s. She,
her brothers and her parents moved to San
Antonio, Texas, and lived on the West Side —
an area comparable to East L.A. — in public
housing, otherwise known as “The Courts.”
They were poor. My mother eventually got out
of that area and moved to a more affluent,
white area. However, she never forgot where
she came from — the racism, discrimination
and economic destitution that plagued her and
her family growing up. Keeping her past in
personal perspective enables her to still con-
nect to her people when she visits the West
Side to visit family. Additionally, it allows her
to do so without putting herself or her race
down — as the apologist author of “¡Ask a
Mexican!” does do.
However, given you and your publica-
tion’s attitude to dismiss readers who, includ-
ing myself, are disgusted by seeing the con-
tinued publication of “Ask a Mexican,” I’m
sure that losing a reader of Mexican
American descent is of little, if any, concern
to you. Your dismissal and egging on of
Mexicans, those of Latino descent and other
individuals who understand where we are
coming from — which is blatantly apparent
from the number of letters your newspaper
continues to print and your refusal to do any-
thing about it — shows that this is true.
It is an incredible disservice to this com-
munity that reads EW to continue to publish
this column in two ways: First, it is a disserv-
ice to me, Mexicans, those of Latino descent
and others who understand where we are
coming from. It is blatantly obvious that the
column does not accurately reflect Mexicans.
Had you had any experience around
Mexicans — other than reading “¡Ask a
Mexican!” — you would understand this.
Secondly, continuing to run the column is a
disservice to the community members who
have little, if any, direct and regular contact
with Mexicans. Perpetuating misrepresenta-
tion does not improve the lives of those al-
ready being targeted in this country with
racism, discrimination and an increasing rate
of hate crime — particularly in an area where
Mexicans are such a minor population per-
centage. Again, continuing to run this column
shows you don’t understand.
It seems that letters to the editor over the
past weeks haven’t done anything to have this
column removed. If targeting your advertis-
ers is the only way your tabloid newspaper
will listen and have it removed, so be it.
Jonathan O. Bowers
Eugene
year in the U.S. Our system is not only de-
structive to life and property, but it also ex-
cludes the poor, the young, the elderly and the
physically or mentally limited.
Would a general strike against our current
system (quit driving cars) increase ridership
in public transit and increase service to bene-
fit the excluded? What effect would giving
the 50 cents a mile we expend on self-trans-
port to collective transport systems have?
Activists, get active with transport choices!
Ed Gunderson
Creswell
OUTSOURCE IT
With Angel Jones declining to seek the
city manager position on a permanent basis, I
think the next step for Eugene is fairly obvi-
ous. We can save much time and effort by di-
rectly contacting human resources at Hynix
and asking them to go ahead and hire for the
position. With our perpetually uncertain and
compromised tax base, this type of outsourc-
ing will only make more and more sense as
time goes on.
Gordon Kenyon
Eugene
JUST CHILL OUT
I must admit to being bemused at all the
hate mail for “¡Ask a Mexican!” I don’t get it.
“Savage Love” plays on stereotypes as
strongly as “¡Ask a Mexican!” and yet no
protests there. I guess we are conditioned to
gay stereotypes so it’s OK. Anyway, I have
learned some things about Latino culture
from the column, and it seems like the dia-
logue it has created is at least healthy. So I
hope you keep it on.
Hard to believe that here in Eugene we
want to actually censor a voice. Everyone
should just chill out and move on.
Janice Sunseri
Eugene
POINTLESS DEATH
Since the tragic, needless death of Lucy
Lahr, I have read many reports about the
mishap and tributes to Lucy. However, no
one seems to be talking about how to prevent
such deaths. I am reminded to question why
we tolerate a transportation system which
causes the death of nearly 50,000 people a
SPORTSPORK FOR NIKE
EW often contains articles referring to it-
self as “watchdog” journalism, and proudly
features news about recent awards. That’s
great. With that in mind, would you please
drop your endless global whining junk sci-
ence hysteria reporting and take a long, de-
tailed, focused look at the largest, porkiest
sports arms race project(s) currently spiraling
out of control?
If your writers aren’t ready or able, then
hire some who are better or more motivated.
These days it really seems EW stands for
“Enablers Weekly” as you ignore annexation
by Nike Corporation of land and properties in
Eugene.
Meanwhile in Salem, Frohnmayer and
Nike are spare-changing the governor and
Legislature for a $200 million loan to prop up
this Trojan Horse “smart growth” project.
EW, stop drinking Nike’s green and yel-
low Kool-Aid and get to work.
Zachary Vishanoff
Eugene