letters
TO THE EDITOR
STEPPING UP
GREAT GIFT IDEAS
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Dave Taube (letters, 12/8) questions
whether supporters of the unsuccessful
Measure 20-182 — which would have
provided much-needed supplemental
funding to the Eugene public schools —
have really stepped up and contributed to
the Eugene Education Fund (EEF).
While I can’t speak for everyone
who voted to support our schoolchildren
and teachers, I can offer my personal
perspective. Yes, my wife and I have
donated a sum more than equal to what
our additional income tax share would
have been if the measure had passed. And
yes, we fully intend to make a similar
contribution each of the next four years
(and, most likely, beyond), given our
commitment to public education. I realize
not everyone can do this, but I hope those
able to do so will continue to use EEF to
donate to the Eugene schools.
Moreover, the fact that EEF — for the
fi rst time in its history — went over the
$1 million mark in receipts after Measure
20-182 failed suggests that we were not
alone in increasing our contribution. And I
know the donations made to my daughter’s
school via EEF saved at least one teaching
position. Not much, admittedly, when you
consider the scores of other 4J teachers and
staff who lost their jobs due to the draconian
budget cuts that were forced upon our
students and our schools. But at least those
of us who supported public education in
May have the satisfaction of knowing that
we tried to address the ever-worsening
budget reductions our schoolchildren face.
Keith A. Eddins
Eugene
SHOCKING DISCREPANCY
FOLLOW YOUR FEET TO FOOTWISE FOR LAST MINUTE GIFTS
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IS THE TIME
FOR FEET
NEW TO SHOES
YOUR
COMFORT
4
DECEMBER 22, 2011
Downtown Eugene
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EUGENE WEEKLY
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This is about the “class war” that we lost.
The economist David Cay Johnston in his
book The Fine Print has a great deal to say
about how inequitable our economy is. We
all know there is a wide discrepancy between
incomes now, but few know just how wide
that is. David’s description is really shocking.
He says that for every $1 that the 99 percent
of us earn, the top 1 percent earns $7,500. He
didn’t tell what the 1 percent just below them
earns, but he did have a nice graph to show
the earning curve. These are the people that
the GOP says are the ones who create jobs. I
wonder why they are not doing that. I think the
government ought to take some of that money
away from them and create jobs by building
bridges and funding other worthwhile projects.
Bob Cassidy
Eugene
UNSAFE TRAPS
In August, Maggie, the beloved dog
of the McCurtain family died a horrible
and unnecessary death just feet from her
yard in Gresham. Maggie was strangled to
death, her neck broken in a lethal conibear
trap. The trap was set with our tax dollars
by the USDA’s Wildlife Services Division
to kill nutria. See predatordefense.org for
more information on Maggie’s story. It
could have happened here.
In January 2010, EWEB used the same
lethal traps to kill nutria along the canal at the
Walterville Pond, a popular dog-walking spot
and an area with several homes with children
and pets (see EW 1/21/2010). According
to Predator Defense, “nationally, Wildlife
Services reports killing approximately 500
dogs and 1,325 cats in 2010, but claims
these animals are unowned and feral.”
Predator Defense believes the number of
pets killed by Wildlife Services is grossly
underreported. Conibear traps are inhumane
and indiscriminate and should be outlawed.
Lyllian Breitenstein
Springfi eld
FORGOTTEN PIZZA
Any self-respecting pizza debate must
include Mezza Luna. Best crust, creative
toppings, nicest staff. Plus, customers don’t
give you dirty looks for bringing your kids.
PRI tries too hard and for me, La Perla will
always be overshadowed by the memories
of ice cream sundaes, a bass drum and a
whole room of strangers singing “Happy
Birthday.” RIP Farrell’s.
Kevin O’Brien
Eugene
IMAGINE IF YOU CAN
Imagine: A market for all, regulation
as protection, corporations are not people,
real food and sustainable agriculture, the
moral and social role of unions, offsetting
global climate change, protecting and
preserving nature, more funding for ending
hunger and homelessness and for all levels
of education, rebuilding infrastructure
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