letters
TO THE EDITOR
BYPASS THE OGRES
I’ve been doing some reading about
Occupy Wall Street and the confusion
about “What do they want?” As the
lead imagineer for the Eugene City of
Peace, I can tell you that ending poverty,
homelessness, and battlefi eld trauma are
high on the local list of priorities.
The rapid growth of numbers in the
Occupy movement indicates the degree
of frustration and anger felt among us
all. Although it seems that there will be
blaming and demanding, the conversation
is also about the need to localize economic
and political power. The general assembly
method of decision-making the occupiers
are using is an opportunity to create a new
culture of connection. Sustainable change
will then come from formation of teams
to make an “end run” around the rich and
powerful ogres of the current system, to
not oppose them but rise above them.
I believe this movement will empower
individuals to participate in proactive politics,
affi nity groups, social entrepreneurship
or nonprofi t activism; and the service
performed for the sake of the common good
will create an even larger network of friends.
It will make occupation understandable to
the mainstream, attractive, fun, simple, and
productive of measurable results.
After all, as Jane Barry has said, what’s
the point of the revolution if we can’t
dance?
David Hazen
Eugene
ON THE NEW KLCC
Make no mistake, my music-loving
brothers and sisters, the KLCC we have
grown to cherish is — well, they are
zipping up the body bag as you read this.
We are in danger of losing something
increasingly rare and truly precious: the
fi nest public radio station for music lovers
on planet Earth! Really, this station had no
equal. Not even close. Then the station was
taken over by aliens who thought it should
sound more … commercial, right about the
time Don Hines took over.
The next thing we knew, Tom Krumm
and Liz Wise were having to say, “Hey!
You’re listening to Fresh Tracks on
KLCC” after every other song, all day
long, as if we were all going senile and
had to be reminded a couple of hundred
times a day what station and program
we were listening to. Then Earth Songs
mysteriously disappeared. Then, out of
the blue, less jazz. And then (hey!) the
incredibly stupid Wait Wait. Don’t Tell
Me! began airing twice per week, and so
on. And once Fresh Tracks became too
annoying to listen to seriously anymore,
they just killed it and replaced it with talk,
and then more talk.
As hard as it is for me to imagine
Downtown Deb saying, “Hey! You’re
listening to Dead Air on KLCC” after
every other song, or Cina Kroft having
to say, “Hey! Welcome to the Heartwood
Hotel on KLCC” every few minutes, you
might want to at least entertain the idea
that this is the direction KLCC seems to
be heading.
Save our station, or let it sink into
oblivion. And don’t take the passive route.
Sending emails or leaving a message on the
4
OCTOBER 27, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
Dozens of lawn signs had sprouted
overnight like poison autumn mushrooms.
The signs say “Wrong Project, Wrong
Place.” What they mean is “Peasants Keep
Out!” I’m not religious but even I know
Jesus will judge us by how we treat the
least of his brethren.
Ramona McCall
Eugene
ECONOMIC RIGHTS
alien’s voice mail does no good.The only
way to save the KLCC we so dearly love
is to call during pledge week and tell them
that you will never support commercial-
sounding radio, and either get back to the
way things used to be, when music really
mattered, or you won’t send them a dime.
That might work.
David Kennedy
Florence
REFORM TAKES MONEY
All the reform in the world isn’t going
to solve the basic problem of our state’s
schools (cover story, 10/20). They have
to have more money. It won’t come from
real estate taxes and it won’t come from
income tax. We’ve maxed out on those
sources, either fi nancially or politically.
We have an opportunity in this state to
solve the problem with a sales tax that is
dedicated only to education. It can solve
education problems and other money
matters in the state. Yes, it is a regressive
tax and it is hard on the poor. So is an
inadequate education. We will never
solve the poverty problem as long as our
education problem is lacking in money.
Once there is money, we can do all sorts
of reform in education. Talk to me about it.
bcassidy@efn.org
Bob Cassidy
Eugene
LAMBE NEEDS TO GO
As a former member and president of
the Emerald People’s Utility District Board
of Directors between 1981 and 1994, I
continue to be disappointed as to what has
happened in the last 10 years. The latest
was pointed out in Claire Miller’s letter
Sept. 10 in The Register-Guard regarding
our manager Frank Lambe’s disregard for
public meetings laws.
Our board President Patti Chappel
had an ethics violation fi led against her.
The Ethics Commission could not fi nd
Chappel in violation due to a lack of board
minutes; however, they indicated that open
meetings laws had been violated. Later
Miller’s letter indicates that she was able to
get a copy of some recorded board minutes
where Lambe said, “The problem is we
didn’t get rid of them (the recordings)
soon enough.” This is reminding me of the
Nixon tapes, which might have lead to his
impeachment. What else is being hidden?
We the people have a need to know
what is happening with our vital electrical
power resource. It is basically a monopoly
and what they charge we must pay. The
board was elected to watch out after our
best interests, and to hire a general manager
who will serve us. If in doubt, the majority
of the board has the power to change the
management. I believe the time is way
past due. Act now before more irreparable
damage is done! Contact your board
director and request that they demand the
resignation of the general manager.
Ron Davis
Cottage Grove
SPEEDING DUCKS
Speed is a prime commodity for Ducks
football backs this fall. Trouble is, some
don’t seen to know how to harness it for use
on the gridiron instead of the highway. An
all-American defensive back was arrested for
driving 118 mph. Now a runningback who is
counted on to fi ll in for the injured LaMichael
James is arrested for driving 85 mph.
In both cases, the arrests revealed the
players turn out to be quite slow in a related
area. Neither had paid fi nes for a series of
previous traffi c arrests. In the fi rst case,
the player was suspended from playing in
one game, the opener — a small price for
a crime that could have endangered lives
of any of us who might have been on the
roadway at the same time. If the second
does not get a suspension, the reason will
be clear. The Ducks feel they cannot afford
to be without him when he is needed to
play in place of James.
The public needs protection from such
dangerous, habitual behavior. High-speed
arrests that climaxed the traffi c law-
breaking for both should have resulted
in both players being suspended for the
season. It is clear that arbitrariness is what
governs Oregon football’s meaningless
sense of justice and punishment.
George Beres
Eugene
NO PEASANTS
The other day I was riding my
bicycle through my northeast Eugene
neighborhood as I often do.
I participated in the Occupy Eugene
march recently and with my own eyes could
clearly see that people from every walk of
life make up the 99 percent. These patriotic
citizens want what one of our greatest
presidents wanted. Franklin Roosevelt felt
that a second “economic” bill of rights was
necessary to meet the needs of a rapidly
growing nation and “to assure us equality
in the pursuit of happiness.” He believed
that freedom cannot exist without economic
security and independence and stated that
“Necessitous men are not free men. People
who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff
of which dictatorships are made.”
Most of these rights are those which
the 99 percent are asking for all our
citizens, such as the right to: a useful and
remunerative job; earn enough to provide
adequate food and clothing and recreation;
adequate medical care and the opportunity
to achieve and enjoy good health; adequate
protection from the economic fears of old
age, sickness, accident and unemployment;
a good education; and the right of every
family to a decent home.
So for those who seek to dismiss these
occupiers, marchers and protesters, think
about what Roosevelt said: “All of these
rights spell security. America’s own rightful
place in the world depends in large part upon
how fully these and similar rights have been
carried into practice for all our citizens. For
unless there is security here at home there
cannot be lasting peace in the world.”
Christopher Michaels
Eugene
REVERSE GROWTH
Eugene’s City Council should vote
to maintain the existing urban growth
boundary and to not spend heavily on
freeways, instead focusing on making the
city more bikeable and walkable. The goal
of reducing fossil fuel use 50 percent by
2030 will achieve itself. The U.S. peaked
in oil extraction in 1970, natural gas in
1973, and producible energy from coal
in 1998. According to the IEA, world oil
production peaked in 2006, and oil use is
now down 10 percent in OECD nations.
According to the Export Land Model, our
oil imports will be cut off by 2020.
“Shale gas” is a chimera; its EROEI
(energy returned on energy invested)
and fl ow rate are lower than tar sands.
According to David Huges, one of
Canada’s top geologists, “there may be 100
years of methane, but it may take 800 years
to produce.” We’ll be lucky if we’re using
half the fossil fuels in 2030.
“Renewables” are an absolute economic
and engineering disaster. Even hydro,
which provides Eugene with 70 percent
of its electricity, is declining due to global
warming and silt. According to a new MIT
study on the future of nuclear power after
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