letters
TO THE EDITOR
FUND LCAS
It is very sad that every time govern-
mental budget cutting is mentioned, home-
less people and homeless animals, the most
vulnerable of us, suddenly leap to the top
of the list.
Lane County Animal Services has made
tremendous progress in improving care for
homeless pets. Adoptions, spay/neuter,
foster program, cat program, volunteer
program, vet, behaviorist and vet tech —
to name a few.
It is the responsibility of cities and
counties to protect their animals as well
as their people, and all these improvements
ultimately do both.
We cannot afford to lose what we have
gained from so much effort and ingenuity.
Taking funds from LCAS to give to other
programs makes no sense.
We have, and we need, a caring animal
shelter that helps all adoptable and treatable
animals and that is answerable to the
citizens. We must not “cheap out” or push
the responsibility onto people not directly
answerable to our citizens.
Rita Castillo
Springfi eld
RETHINK THE UGB
I have an occasional ironic LOL
moment while reading EW, and your page
four last week (8/18) was a side-splitter.
Two contrasting pieces told the deeply
confused story of our community. On the
left is Dan Armstrong’s view of how our
society might improve if we localized food
production, while Julie Bonaduce’s letter
on the right describes her awful experience
of the abusive crowd in my neighborhood
(the Whit).
How could it ever be possible for more of
us to grow our food if we are confi ned to tiny
little yards inside the urban growth bound-
ary? Surrounded by large trees, my yard
grows nothing but piles of leaves and spi-
ders, not to mention the tremendous amounts
of cat shit and fl ies. Armstong makes it sound
as if local farmers or consumers are not do-
ing enough, when in fact we fi nd terrifi c or-
ganic produce all year long at every farmer’s
market, in every natural foods store and now
even in conventional supermarkets. Arm-
stong asks the question of how we “relocal-
ize” and his answer is to reverse the trend of
building sprawling suburban neighborhoods.
What a crock of shit.
The obvious answer to both the problem
of more people taking responsibility for
their food and of overcrowding in our dense
urban neighborhoods, is to rethink the
urban growth boundary (UGB). Fifty years
ago, limiting residential construction to the
inside of an artifi cial ring around urban areas
was a good idea. Now however, we have
too many people in too small a space. They
cannot garden; they cannot breathe; they
spend too much of their income on housing
because it is artifi cially limited, and they are
elbowing each other in the face as evidenced
by the social problems and misbehaviors
that continuously wrack my neighborhood.
Stand on the corner of 4th and Blair for
an hour or attend a supercharged public
meeting about something utterly daft if you
really don’t get this.
I want nothing more than to move to a
sprawling suburban neighborhood where
4
SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
I have fewer neighbors and some garden
space to nourish my soul. Obviously, those
who still stand and shout about the UGB
live outside of it, and absolutely do not
want the “burnt-out assholes” Bonaduce
describes as neighbors out in the county
where they live. LOL.
Den Ramsey
Eugene
MAKE IT FREE
Once again, the Eugene Celebration
blocks off a large chunk of downtown
streets and sidewalks to all but those able
and willing to pay $12-$15 per person. I
grew up in a city where we had a similar
downtown festival every summer —
eclectic parade, several stages of music,
vendors, food carts — and it was all free,
open to everyone. It was truly a celebration
of the city and its residents. Whereas the
EC is exclusive rather than inclusive.
It’s not for you if you’re one of the 10
percent who are unemployed, or the much
greater number who are underemployed
or otherwise fi nancially struggling these
days. It’s not much of a celebration for
businesses in the EC zone who see most of
their patrons shut out (apparently without
compensation from the city for lost
revenues). And it’s just a hassle for anyone
trying to get to their downtown workplace,
or the bus station, or the Saturday Market
during this weekend.
There’s a lot of talk these days about
revitalizing downtown; maybe we should
start with a celebration that welcomes
everyone to see what downtown has to
offer, rather than putting up blockades to
keep them away.
Kate Winter
Eugene
ROGUES BOWL
Oregon football will take part in its
fi rst-ever early season Bowl Game it its
opener this Saturday (9/3) against LSU. It
is the “Rogues Bowl” in Dallas, Texas (aka
Cowboys Classic).
Do not confuse it with the traditional
Rose Bowl in Pasadena at season’s end.
Without having played a game, both teams
have the type of players to justify starting
this new Bowl Game. Their rosters are
cluttered with players who have been
arrested in the past year, or who are accused
of having been recruited illegally.
It would have been embarrassing for ei-
ther school to play this game at home. Dal-
las provides a big city venue more consistent
with two teams of lawbreakers, neither of
which can expect to emerge a “winner.”
George Beres
Eugene
NO BOVINE BLISS
As an animal rights advocate, I was
happy to read (cover story, 8/18) of the
good fortune of the cows in Jon Bansen’s
dairy. Their lives are so much better (and
longer) than those of the great majority of
dairy cows. However, I’d like to point out
a few reasons that make it unlikely that
true bliss (bovine, that is) can be achieved
even by dairy farmers willing to go to Jon
Bansen’s lengths.
1) It can hardly be denied that one of
the most pleasurable aspect of a cow’s life
is nurturing her calf. Yet this is a pleasure
denied by the dairy industry (completely
denied, I believe). This must be hard for
cow and calf and leads to my next reason.
2) What is the fate of male calves? I feel
certain that Jon Bansen does not make his
male calves into veal calves, but what does
he do with them? And if they are castrated
to become steers, is this procedure done
with anesthetic? This is not the usual case.
3) Steers are slaughtered and even old
dairy cows who can no longer bear calves
can hardly expect to live to an advanced
age, so perhaps your writer should have
described this aspect of dairy cattle’s lives.
How humanely is the slaughter handled in
Jon Bansen’s dairy?
4) Finally (and not a reason), are
there no organic dairy farms closer than
Monmouth that practice humane treatment
similar to Jon Bansen’s?
We really need to know the whole story
of dairy cattle’s lives.
Alice Pueschner
Eugene
LOCAL DISC GOLF
For years, disc golfers of Eugene
have had only one local nine hole course
where they can play disc golf in town.
Most disc golfers drive a 40-plus mile
round trip journey to golf at Dexter Lake,
causing undue expense, pollution and
time expenditure. Both courses are over
populated due to the popularity of disc
golf. Please see http://wkly.ws/13m for
more information regarding America’s
fastest growing sport.
The city of Eugene currently has a plan
to install an 18-hole disc golf in Alton Baker
Park. After a very successful test period and
feedback process, one elite minority group
of runners has both the city and newspaper
discussing a reconsideration of this des-
perately needed disc golf course. Disc golf
is a sport that is played by the young and
old, males and females, ethnically and eco-
nomically diverse people and beyond. It is
extremely affordable, healthy and great for
the family. The people of Eugene should
not have to spend $8-$10 on gas to drive
and pollute their way to Dexter in order to
put money into their economy when they
could be supporting local and riding our bi-
cycles to play this most wonderful game. If
you support diversity, the environment and
healthy activities for both adults and chil-
dren, I implore you to please write or call
the mayor and your councilor and ask them
to to please support the current plan, as is,
to install this course in Alton Baker Park.
Contact the city’s Parks and Open
Spaces Division and/or the Eugene Disc
Golf Club to get a fair and balanced
opinion regarding this important decision.
Disc golfers have been trying and waiting
for years to get a local 18-hole course and
with your help and support, we may fi nally
be able to realize our dream.
Mat Beecher
Eugene
A LITTLE LOVE
Did everyone see the hundreds of
foreclosures listed in the R-G newspaper
recently? Over half were because of health
care costs and over 80 percent had health
insurance. There will soon be more families
on the street in Eugene and I hope we can fi nd
in our hearts a place for them to stay during
our cold winter rains. Instead, I understand
more cuts in the county and city budgets are
coming for the few services we provide.
Maybe we could understand their
plight by reading the newspaper written
by the homeless, The Oregon Vagabond.
Every month this last year David Gerber,
a UO graduate with a masters in public
administration, has gathered the writings of
Eugene’s homeless to express their hopes
and dreams and gain a better understanding
how they live in our community. I was
interested in Gaylord Otis Dodge’s call for
a “Civil Defense Homeless Day” to prepare
for any disaster. It would have everyone
live at least one day homeless and “would
condition even the most powerful and
wealthy folks to communicate better with
people who routinely cope with poverty.”
Donate a dollar to a homeless vender
downtown at Saturday Market and read
their life stories. All souls need love and
compassion and a lot of understanding and
support during these diffi cult times.
Ruth Duemler
Eugene
THE SELFISH RICH
I praise Hugh Massengill’s lead Aug.
18 letter, “We Struggle On.” It makes me
think that the very rich who spend more
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