letters
TO THE EDITOR
HIRSUTE PURSUIT
Here is a thought after just attending
the Eugene Celebration. What do you all
think about having a beard fashion show
or contest at next year’s community
celebration? For complete disclosure, I
have not shaved or trimmed my beard for
the last 12 years or so.
I am thinking that a little bit of
advertising would bring many hirsute
hippies out of the woodwork and woods.
Not to stereotype beard wearers though,
this is Eugene. I am quite certain that there
are folks from all walks of life with fun,
quirky and amazing facial hair. We could
have categories: beards, moustaches,
sideburns, goatees — even eyebrows (or
eyebrow).
So what do you think, Eugene?
If it sounds good, contact the Eugene
Celebration offi ce, and let’s get this
hairy situation rolling. I ran into famous
TV celebrity Mr. John Fisher at the
celebration, he thought a fundraiser would
be nice. Perhaps a “hairaiser fund raiser,”
a hirsute pursuit? Maybe we could have
a yearlong contest to see who can grow
the longest beard in a calendar year, with
photos before and after and a measuring
day during the Eugene Celebration?
If this doesn’t pan out, maybe us hairy
guys could get together and be a parade
entry? Hirsutes Unite, Running with Scissors
or Running from Scissors — just put on
your marching boots and let the beards fl y!
So what do you say, Barry, Cary, nondairy
Gary, Mary, Perry, Sherry, better head for
Jerry’s, razor blades be wary. PS: Santa
Claus, you are most welcome to join us.
Tim Boyden
Eugene
REPLACE LIGHTS
I agree completely with your Sept. 25
article on Walkability. Another dangerous
intersection is on 1st Avenue in the
Whiteaker. 1st Avenue is unfortunately a
cut-through from River Road to downtown.
There is heavy traffi c at times, and traffi c
speed is pretty fast.
A pedestrian crossing at 1st and
Monroe is marked with a crosswalk and
constantly fl ashing yellow lights. Monroe
is a popular bicycle and pedestrian route,
and many people use it. However, the
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SEPTEMBER 8, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
constantly fl ashing yellow lights are
generally ignored, because usually nobody
is crossing the street. So when somebody
does want to cross the street it is not very
obvious.
Why not replace these lights with
stutter-fl ash lights that only come on when
somebody wants to cross the street? This
would be much safer for both pedestrians
and bicycles.
Duncan Rhodes
The Whiteaker
DUCKING & DODGING
I agree with your article Sept. 25
on walking in Eugene. I’ve walked the
downtown area extensively. And pedestrian
traffi c is certainly a second-class citizen in
this city. I usually walk to work, a bit over
half a mile.
There’s many a plan for bicycle traffi c.
Eugene is a trailblazer in planning for
bikers, maybe too much so. As a walker
I’ve often found myself at odds with
bicyclists. Many bikers feel they have a
pedestrian-type right-of-way: not yielding
at stop signs, riding against traffi c,
traveling wrong directions on one-way
streets, riding without lights after dark.
Eugene might be one of very few cities
where one needs to look both ways while
crossing one-way streets, not for cars, but
bikes! It’s obviously not every biker, not
even most. But you irresponsible bikers
know who you are.
In a city with dedicated bike lanes
throughout it’s a shame the ducking and
dodging you have to do as a walker on our
downtown sidewalks to avoid being run
over by a bicycle. I’m certain I’m not alone
in this experience. And given the city has
put so much into being bicycle-friendly,
isn’t it time the police enforce some simple
rules of the road? Or at least the sidewalk?
DJ Barber
Eugene
AVOIDING REAL ISSUES
In a Viewpoint column in EW Aug. 25,
Bill Tanner and others continue to avoid the
real issues at EPUD by continuing to claim
that the problems that exist is a personality
issue between the general manager and a
board member. Nothing could be further
from the truth.
Tanner claims that fi scally we are in a
better cash position today than 10 years ago.
As a Finance Committee member for 10
years I happen to know that approximately
a dozen years ago the board elected to pay
over $4 million in cash out of our utility
reserves to build a badly needed substation
in Marcola. They did so to avoid interest
and related costs in borrowing the money
for the construction of the substation. This
allowed EPUD to strengthen its fi nancial
position through the years, thus allowing
for a better fi nancial statement today.
Obviously, long-term debt has decreased,
because EPUD makes an annual payment
to retire their outstanding debt. In reality,
there is not much change.
It is wrong to dismiss former employees
(40 out of 78) as disgruntled. Many were
forced out of their positions. They devoted
extra time and effort while they were
employed in building a great utility that we
still have today.
If however, administration and some
board members continue on their trek of
self-serving and continue to disrespect
some board and committee members
(I have personally experienced this)
who do not always agree with them, it
will ultimately affect the progress and
wonderful reputation of our utility. Call
your board director and ask them for
greater transparency and open committee
meetings, including the fi nance, rate and
resource committees.
Vicki Flynn
Eugene
BAILOUT BANDIT
In a recent U.S. Bank statement, I was
charged a new monthly maintenance fee of
$8.95 for my checking account. Though
the tellers were courteous and friendly and
I had unused checks, I moved my account
into a local credit union. Numerous
examples show how U.S. Bank uses
fees to prey on citizens facing fi nancial
diffi culties.
In 2009, U.S. Bank supplied money to
fi ght Measures 66 & 67 that slightly raised
taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
U.S. Bank contracts with the state of
Oregon to handle the “ReliaCard,” a debit
card that stores unemployment and child
support payments. Though unemployment
benefi ts are provided weekly, single
parents and the unemployed can only
access benefi ts from an ATM twice a
month before being charged extra fees.
Cardholders are charged for speaking with
a teller more than twice monthly.
All this is while U.S. Bank paid out
billions in bonuses in 2010 and had huge
corporate earnings in 2011.
U.S. Bank is clearly another one of
Wall Street’s bailout bandits. I urge anyone
who has money invested with any the big
banksters to move your money into a local
credit union and work for the creation of an
Oregon state bank.
Scott Fife
Eugene
UNSUPERVISED
A quick heads up for Eugene parents
who may not be in the know. Your 6-year-
old should never be unsupervised alone
in a public area. Not a park. Not a library.
Especially not in Maurie Jacobs Park
directly across the bridge from the Valley
River mall walking your dog. I don’t care
how you were raised. I don’t care if every
one of your neighbors thinks it’s OK.
I’ll give you a quick update: the
Department of Human Services considers
it neglect. So do I. So should all you other
mandatory reporters out there — even
“helpful” neighbors.
Ian Rapp
Eugene
KEEPING SECRETS
There are some things that should
be kept secret. I really wish that anyone
since Einstein who had an idea about how
to make an atomic bomb had kept it to
themselves.
But I think it’s open season when the
government tries to keep secrets from the
people about their corruptions. It says we
no longer have real democracy because
they’re purposely keeping important facts
from the voters, those who are supposed
to ultimately be in control. Julian Assange
remains my favorite hero. The best ways
to bring peace are to use persuasion
and subsistence assistance as needed.
It’s important to be seen as respectful
rather than manipulating and dominating,
especially of those who try to get the truth
to us.
Dan Robinson
Eugene
PAINFUL TRICKS
This past weekend, I had the pleasure
of joining fellow PETA members along
with more than 100 demonstrators to call
attention to the abuse elephants face at the
hands of Ringling Bros. circus. Holding a
sign that said, “Elephants Never Forget,”
I wore an elephant costume to represent
animals who are abused by the circus.
According to very recent veterinary and
inspection reports, Nicole and Karen, two
elephants who are suffering from arthritis
and have been lame for many years, and
Juliette and Sara, young elephants Ringling
has failed to treat for chronic lameness, are
forced to perform grueling and painful
tricks in the circus’s shows.
We also displayed photos taken inside
Ringling’s training center. The photos
expose how baby elephants are stretched
out, slammed to the ground, gouged with
steel-tipped bullhooks and shocked with
electric prods. These abusive sessions go
on for several hours a day in order to force
the baby elephants to learn to perform
circus tricks out of fear of punishment. As
infants, elephants are torn away from their
mothers and beaten into submission — and
older, arthritic elephants like Nicole and
Karen are still forced to perform painful
contortions despite their ill health.
Not only was it impressive to
see over 100 people speaking up for
the elephants who are beaten, electro-
shocked, and chained up to 100 hours at
a time — but it was great to meet so many
people of all ages who were speaking up
for the fi rst time. Anyone who looks at the
heartbreaking photos and videos will see
with their own eyes how bad Ringling’s
abuse of elephants is. I hope parents will
realize that if their kids love animals,
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