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EVEN MORE CONCRETE
EUGENE BALLET COMPANY PRESENTS
The Nutcracker
Friday, December 16 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, December 17 at 2:00 & 7:30 PM
Sunday, December 18 at 2:00 PM
This
Weekend!
SILVA— Tix: $48-$22; Student & youth discounts available
Holiday magic is in the air as The Nutcracker returns with its
colorful sets, stunning choreography and dazzling costumes.
EUGENE OPERA PRESENTS
Carmen
Wednesday, December 28 at 7:30 PM
Friday, December 30 at 5:00 PM
Saturday, December 31 at 7:30 PM
SILVA— Tix: $94-$20; Student & youth discounts available
A gypsy seductress, a love-struck soldier, a famous toreador
and some of the most famous music ever sung! Join us as we
revisit the work that started it all, Bizet’s immortal Carmen.
Eugene Opera Gala
Saturday, December 31 at 10:00 PM —CONCOURSE— Tix: $45
After the evening performance of Carmen, toast the New Year at a glamorous
post-performance gala at Café Too on the Hult Center Concourse.
OREGON MOZART PLAYERS PRESENTS
Passing the Baton: Kelly Kuo Conducts
Saturday, January 7 at 7:30 PM
SORENG— Tix: $39–$18; Student & youth discounts available
Mr. Kuo is a successful pianist as well as conductor, who impresses
reviewers with his “considerable verve, and idiomatic delicacy.”
WELLS FARGO BROADWAY IN EUGENE PRESENTS
My Fair Lady
Saturday, January 7 at 8:00 PM
Sunday, January 8 at 2:00 PM
SILVA— Tix: $52.50–$32.50; Student discounts available
Eugene Opera:
Katherine Goeldner
My Fair Lady is triumphant! It’s no wonder everyone—not
just Henry Higgins—falls in love with Eliza Doolittle.
TICKET OFFICE INFORMATION
BUY TICKETS ONLINE: HultCenter.org
OR CALL: 541 .682. 5000
HULT CENTER TICKET OFFICE HOURS:
Tue-Fri, 12-5 PM ; Sat, 11 AM –3 PM
ONE HOUR BEFORE PERFORMANCE MON-SAT, TWO HOURS BEFORE ON SUN.
UO TICKET OUTLET IN THE EMU—WINTER BREAK:
Mon-Fri, 10 AM –3 PM ; CLOSED DECEMBER 18–JANUARY 2
4
DECEMBER 15, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
On Dec. 8, Mayor Kitty Piercy and
Councilor Alan Zelenka joined County
Commissioners Sid Leiken and Jay
Bozievich and the rest of the Lane Council
of Governments (LCOG) to vote for the
latest version of the billion dollar Regional
Transportation Plan.
RTP is the wish list for road projects
through the rest of the oil era, including
further expansion of the California-style
I-5/Beltline interchange and widening of
I-5, Beltline and 126 in Springfi eld.
In 2007, when Piercy voted for the pre-
vious RTP she told me the following day,
“You know those roads won’t be built.” But
in the past four years we’ve seen several
major freeway expansion projects built and
the Dec. 8 vote ensures further construction.
The RTP assumes traffi c levels will
continue to increase, yet LCOG’s website
admits traffi c levels have peaked in Eugene
and Springfi eld, just as they have peaked in
Oregon and the rest of the country. Rising
oil prices ended traffi c growth and we
need transportation triage for the energy
downslope.
In 2004, LCOG predicted oil prices
would increase to $2.50 per gallon by 2025,
which was wrong by 19 and a half years.
We have reached the limits to growth and
need to plan for the downslope.
Piercy probably will not face a political
backlash for voting with Bozevich and
Leiken to widen metro area freeways, just as
Rep. Peter DeFazio didn’t suffer politically
for championing massive expansion of
federal highway funds. Maybe if only
Republicans pushed highway expansion
the progressives might object.
Mark Robinowitz
sustaineugene.org
USE AND ABUSE OF POWER
Since Andy Stahl (letters, 12/1) self-
identifi es with Chicago power politics,
whose latest apotheosis is Rod “This is
Golden” Blagojevich, it might be appropri-
ate to refl ect on the historical lineage of this
school of thought. A small sample: Machia-
velli: “Since love and fear can hardly exist
together, if we must choose between them,
it is far safer to be feared than loved.” Otto
von Bismarck: “The great questions of the
time are not decided by speeches and ma-
jority decisions … but by iron and blood.”
Mao Zedong: “Political power grows out
of the barrel of a gun.” Henry Kissinger:
“Power is the great aphrodisiac.”
Fear, blood, guns, aphrodisiacs —
signposts along the road of power politics
which point the way to the excesses (in the
last 75 years alone) of the Nixon White
House, sectarian violence in Iraq (pre-
and post-Saddam Hussein), the Cultural
Revolution, genocide in Rwanda, the
horrors of Nazi Germany and the killing
fi elds of Cambodia. Governing by means of
a “spoils systems” undermines all the hard
work involved in creating a climate of trust,
understanding, tolerance and a respect for
the human and political rights of everyone.
Political segregation is as abhorrent as
racial segregation and should be rejected
by the Lane County Commission in the
best interests of the county it serves.
John Tietjen
Corvallis
FOURTH DOWN SANCTIONS?
It could be premature for Duck fans to
order tickets to the Jan. 2 Rose Bowl game.
They were enthusiastic for getting to play
lowly UCLA for the so-called league title
instead of powerful USC again — NCAA
sanctions made USC ineligible for post-
season games. But such sanctions might
be a double-edged sword. Oregon could be
punished the same way if it is found that, as
alleged, it is guilty of cheating to get Texas
players (including a Heisman candidate)
through an illegal Houston recruiter. We
should not forget that. It remains part of the
slow-moving NCAA agenda.
If Oregon is found guilty before the
January game, it would mean UCLA would
have to replace a sanctioned Oregon in the
Rose Bowl. If a decision against the Ducks
comes later in the new year, Oregon would
have to give up the league title. It ironically
would go to UCLA, which combines its
losing record with honest behavior.
Adding to the confusion is the post-game
comment made by Oregon coach Chip
Kelly on national TV. He blurted out: “UPS
and Dr. Pepper,” in effect a free commercial
before millions of viewers around the
country. He is paid so well ($300,000 a
year) that he surely did not do it to get fees
from both. So what is the explanation?
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