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letters TO THE EDITOR Eugene a better place to live for families and everyone else. Asha Logan Eugene LANDLORD SIGNS Kudos to Chuck Areford for checking up on the West 11th businesses supposedly opposing EmX. I already knew that popular opposition to the West Eugene EmX was a tiny fraction of what the “No Build” loudmouths would have us believe, but Mr. Areford confi rmed something that I suspected: that only a few of the West 11th businesses sporting “No Build” signs actually oppose the EmX project, since it was the landlords, not the businesses, who put up the signs. This handful of opposing businesses and property owners who have been spending their money on frivolous lawsuits and a breathtakingly extravagant disinformation campaign have only one thing on their minds: manipulating public opinion and the democratic process so that they get what they want, and the hell with everybody else. Don’t fall for it. Elizabeth Henning Eugene SO SMUG AND MEAN As a frequent reader and admirer of Dan Savage’s writing, and as a member of no religious group, I was nevertheless struck by the irony of the idiotic, smug and mean-spirited April 28 cover illustration depicting Savage in the classic image of Jesus or maybe a Christian monk. Giggle, giggle. I know it feels clever — in a junior-high, “we’re really gonna piss ‘em off with this” way — to present a cover whose impact relies wholly on its ability to offend and hurt one group of people at the pleasure of another group, but I long for the day when the leadership at the Weekly is able to resist this urge and rely more often on genuine wit and cleverness. Savage’s work succeeds largely because he can be outraged, hilarious and powerfully assertive without being gratuitously mean. One of his core messages seems to be “don’t hurt people for fun, unless they’re into that sort of thing, and even then be sure you have a pre-arranged safety word.” In the insightful and informative piece teased by the cover illustration, writer Shannon Finnell relies heavily on an endorsement of Savage’s ethics by a Lutheran pastor. Yet the honchos at the Weekly still felt it necessary to rely on a particularly tired and brutish illustration technique whose only satirical “oomph” comes from its ability to offend Christians and entertain others who want to laugh at Christians. Dan Savage deserves better. Shannon Finnell deserves better. Although you appear not to know it, you deserve better. I know from a long career of writing and editing for print that it’s much harder to be truly witty and clever than it is to be dully smug and mean, but I think it would be worth your effort. If I knew what my pre- arranged safety word was with the Weekly’s leadership, I would be saying it now. Kevin Miller Eugene HE DESERVES BETTER I was shocked to fi nd in EW only a casual mention of EPD offi cer Chris Kilcullen’s death Friday, April 22, at the hands of a motorist. I read through the April 28 EW several times before fi nally spotting a one-paragraph reference to the shooting of Kilcullen on page 10 in the “Slant.” Even this mention was on the smarmy side. About Offi cer Kilcullen, a 12 year veteran of EPD who had received over 85 commendations among many other awards for distinguished service to our community, EW said: “We hear from many directions that Offi cer Kilcullen was a thoughtful and compassionate public servant with a high degree of personal integrity.” Maybe I’m paranoid, but “we hear” seems to reduce Kilcullen’s positive character to nothing more than rumor. Then, with characteristic opportunism, EW uses Kilcullen’s death to promote gun control and the Million Mom March. Offi cer Chris Kilcullen deserves better than a footnote. This should have been your cover story, and, failing that, at least you should have printed a full-length article honoring him. I hope that in the next issue of EW you will do the right thing. Toni Hanner Eugene The public is invited to attend the F.A. Gilfi llan Memorial Award Lecture Oceans of Life Presented by Dr. Mark Hixon 2010 F.A. Gilfi llan Award Winner Professor, Zoology Thursday May 5, 2011 7:15-8:30 p.m. LaSells Stewart Center Austin Auditorium 875 SW 26th Corvallis science.oregonstate.edu EDITOR’S NOTE: Our mission as an alternative newsweekly is to cover news and culture that the other media are ignoring. We intend no disrespect to the memory of Chris Kilcullen. His story is being well told. SODOM & SANTORUM The April 28 cover story demonstrated that EW will publish its syndicated Karma’s Forest Wholesale Nursery and Organic Gardens Native Trees, Shrubs, and Perennials Consciously Grown Without Chemical Fertilizers or Pesticides Stop by our booth for a great sampling of native plants and more at the Willamette Valley Hardy Plant Sale 2pm at the Lane County Fairgrounds S aturday, May 7th from 9am-2 O r come see our full selection of available plants at our 2nd annual S pring Open House Plant Sale 3pm at the nursery S aturday and Sunday, May 21st & 22nd from 10am-3 Wholesale and Retail Sales by Appointment Phone: 541--998--2436 * 23223 Highway 36, Cheshire * Email: karmasforest@yahoo.com www.karmasforest.com WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 5, 2011 5
