NEWS BRIEFS
encourage the use of contraception and
reduce the number of unintended
pregnancies.” — Shannon Finnell
HUMAN
TRAFFICKING,
A LOCAL ISSUE
The FBI claims more than 100,000
children are sold in the U.S. for sex each
year. “Trafficking these girls has become
the new drug,” says Liz Ness, a past-
president of Eugene’s Zonta International
chapter. “A young girl is a commodity
that they (pimps) can get years and years
of profit from,” says Ness.
Zonta, an organization of professionals
and executives working to advance the
status of women, is hosting three
upcoming events to shed light on human
trafficking, which Zonta calls modern day
slavery, from children forced to work as
prostitutes to people working in factories
for no pay. “We want to help adults
recognize this is not a problem just
overseas,
or
in
impoverished
communities,” says Zonta member Pat
Frishkoff.
Zonta will be hosting its first event, a
discussion of the book Renting Lacy: A
Story of America’s Prostituted Children
with author Linda Smith at 5:30 pm
Thursday, Feb. 24, at Tsunami Books,
2585 Willamette St.
Smith, a former congresswoman, will
be one of four panelists at Zonta’s forum
celebrating the 100th anniversary of
International Women’s Day, at 11:30 am
Tuesday, March 9, at the Eugene Hilton.
Pre-registration is required at 345-7836.
Open to the public, cost is $25, lunch
included. Representatives from the Eugene
and Springfield police departments will
join Smith on the panel to discuss their
experiences working with victims of
human trafficking. “Having panelists from
our local area really drives home the fact
that this is a local issue for all families to
be concerned about,” says Ness.
The City Club of Eugene will host a
speaker, yet to be announced, Friday, March
11, to complement the forum. “There is so
much to share on this issue, we really hope
people can come to all three events as they
are intended to build on one another,” says
Frishkoff. — Heather Cyrus
PESTICIDES VS.
CLEAN WATER,
GOP VS. DEMS
A congressional committee hearing in
Washington, D.C., was called “a transparent
attempt by lawmakers beholden to industrial
agriculture interests to subvert the Clean
Water Act,” by environmental groups.
Activists are concerned the Feb. 16 joint
House committee meeting was an attempt to
undermine rules protecting waterways from
pesticides.
Aquatic pesticide residues and drift from
aerial pesticide spraying are pollutants under
the CWA, according to the conclusion
reached by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals
in 2009. As pollutants they must be regulated
to minimize impacts on human health and
the environment. This conclusion was made
final in February 2010 when the Supreme
Court chose not to review the case National
Cotton Council v. EPA.
Under the ruling virtually all commercial
pesticide application to, over and around
waterways require National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System permits.
NPDES permits allow for citizens to
comment on plans to apply pesticides and to
demand oversight by regulatory agencies,
which must evaluate the effects of individual
pesticide applications on fish and wildlife,
monitor the amount of pesticide that goes
into the water and monitor the cumulative
impact on organisms in the water.
Charlie Tebbutt, Eugene-based lead
attorney on the case, said the decision “was a
clear victory for clean water and human
health.”
But the recent joint public hearing was
conducted “to consider reducing the
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EUGENE WEEKLY FEBRUARY 24, 2011 7