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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (March 22, 2012)
letters TO THE EDITOR TRUST THE TRUST? Help for timber counties being bundled in a backward solution? I’m referring to the timber trust bill presently being promoted by Reps. Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader and Greg Walden that proposes placing consoli- dated BLM and Forest Service forestland into a timber trust that would be divided into forest to be protected and forest to be more intensively managed for the benefi t of O&C counties. In their bill, half of the managed portion would feel the pressure of being cut in shorter than 100-year rotations. A seven- member board appointed by the governor would govern the trust. Question: Is this trust a dodge around federal environmental regulations and safeguards under the pressure of trying to help rural economies? The proposed makeup of the trust board does look purposefully oriented toward out-voting objections to getting out the cut. And what happens when the heav- ily managed part of the state trust begins to resemble our overcut state private for- ests? Would we cut the trust in half again? And then again? Is always having half the remaining forest left becoming the new sustainable? Like Commissioner Pete So- renson, I question the wisdom of going backward to depend heavily on intensive logging to fund the O&C counties. OK, some consolidation of federal lands to manage them thoughtfully and produc- tively as forests, not tree farms. Restoring severance taxes on public trees to provide needed county revenue. And keeping pri- vate and public timber in our U.S. mills as a patriotic way to serve and save ourselves. Jerry Diethelm Eugene RE-THINK STUDENT HOUSING Why rush to judgment on the Capstone student housing project proposed for 13th and Olive? First of all, is this the best use of a prime piece of downtown real estate? For starters, wouldn’t a McKenzie-Willamette medical facility be the optimal choice for all cen- tral, south and west Eugene? Why don’t we dream our dreams and embolden city offi - cials to be proactive in advancing only those projects that will stand the test of time? Other factors should make us look more carefully before giving an enormous tax break to a project that benefi ts a small, non-permanent segment of our population. For the last two years the community has watched private student housing sprout up all over the area of 18th and Alder. Next, UO’s new dorm near the Matt Arena opens soon. When does critical mass intersect with overbuild? And when demand for housing declines, Capstone’s apartments designed as student modules will not appeal, nor be suitable for nonstudent renters. Second, student housing becomes a ghost town in the summer. Third, if we’re looking only at housing, downtown Eugene needs a mixture of low-and mid- income housing to bring commerce and stability all year round. Such an outcome would benefi t our Envision Eugene plan to provide for permanent population growth. Working together we can do better. Vincenza Scarpaci Eugene 4 MARCH 22, 2012 EUGENE WEEKLY individual at a time, regardless of race, gender, sex — and only “if the shoe fi ts.” Your writer next reveals she/he is an advocate for “educating the next generations” as an antidote to the existence of “intractable bigots among us ... who are not likely to change,” and invites us to join in “wish(ing) the old farts well in the afterlife.” Well, I am a 72-year-old older white male American old fart and I hope to be as careful, balanced and just in the afterlife as I try to be in this life. It is down here where the standards and, mostly, examples, set by would-be wordsmith “educators,” I’ll still be a bit worried about. Richard Reitz Pleasant Hill TOUGH ROAD HOME TRANCEND THE ARCHAIC With rising fuel costs driven by speculation, greed and depletion, what do you think our transportation future will look like? Do you think we will be driving the heavy SUV’s and multi-passenger vehicles we use today? With gas at $4 now, what will it cost in 10 years? Our transportation planning is currently projections based on historical vehicle use. But that projection fails to consider the now obvious trends of smaller, lighter and more effi cient vehicles. Yes, we will be using more mass transportation, provided it is timely and convenient. Many of us will drive hybrid and elec- tric vehicles and commerce will rely on more effi cient hybrid vehicles as well. (The military is leading this trend.) With all vehicles becoming lighter, we will also be safer since the reduced mass will help di- minish impact forces. A growing percent- age of us will be riding bicycles, including velomobiles that are gaining popularity in Europe and now here in the USA. With our growing local network of bike paths and lanes, these new HPVs (human-powered vehicles)are an increasingly viable option. They offer stability, wind and rain protec- tion as well as comfort. Some are made right here in Oregon. See www.Veloci- tyvelos.com and www.BlueSkyDSN.com With our climate and bicycle infrastruc- ture, the future is here. Mark Murphey Creswell SALEM DISCONNECT There must be a disconnect between the people of Lane County and Salem politicians. Active in local politics, I stand with my head cocked like a confused dog wondering why these Salem politicians have endorsed Andy Stahl for county commissioner when the people of Lane County overwhelmingly support Pete Sorenson. One such legislator told me it’s because Sorenson didn’t apologize for consulting with others about ideas to help our county in the absence of the Republicans (something done regularly in Salem, in Congress, and in real life). Our villagers and local community orga- nizations have spoken: Pete has the endorse- ment of our fi refi ghters, our transit workers, our public employees, our teachers, The Or- egon League of Conservation Voters, Oregon Wild Conservation Leaders, Sierra Club, Lane County Young Democrats, Mayor Kitty Piercy, and the Democratic Party of Lane County, just to name a few (www.petesoren- son.com/endorsements). I am baffl ed as to why the Salem bunch has weighed in against Pete when their constituents here in Lane County so clearly support him. It seems our Salem folks have forgotten the sage wisdom of that age-old adage: “There go my people. I must fi nd out where they are going so that I can lead them.” (We, your people, are heading to polling locations and mailboxes to re-elect Pete Sorenson.) Steve Coatsworth Eugene MORE IDIOTIC RHETORIC Gosh, EW staff and Editor Ted Taylor, I was left feeling a bit fl abbergasted by y’all’s little Slant article last week on Rush Limbaugh. Your writer purports to address the problem of bigotry in our society but launches into exactly the same kind of “idi- otic rhetoric” he criticizes Rush for. Slant, or editorial opinion, is one thing; slinging out full blown sarcasm coupled with facile delight in parroting old tried and tested ste- reotypes and scapegoating is another. “The disturbing thing ... is not what (Rush) says but that millions of Americans listen to him.” Well, Eugene, guess who these “millions” turn out to be. Yep! They’re “mostly older, white, male Americans who are racist and misogynistic at their core.” Does anybody read this stuff before publishing? Rhetoric that condemns or stigmatizes, by, say, in this case, illegitimate and infl ammatory word association, what are merely factual external traits such as race or sex or age, can cut any ol’ way you want and is always demeaning and harmful, whatever side it comes from. “Older,” “white,” “male,” “American” are perfectly neutral descriptive terms for routine reference, and have absolutely nothing defi nitive to say about the internal character of any member of a so-described class. “Racist” and “’misogynistic” are a class of words that have a very marked “slant” and, in this case, seriously pejorative and negative attributions, and should be applied with much care and justness, one Your last paragraph (in Slant, 3/15) lists only some of the costs of the wars in the Middle East. Please go to the Jan. 14 issue of The Week newsmagazine and read the article, “A Tough Homecoming for Veterans.” It notes that 900,000 vets of these wars have fi led for disability and a veterans’ organization estimates more than 720,000 head injuries. John Attig Eugene EDITOR’S NOTE: See our War Dead column online, and periodically in the paper for statistics on the ongoing cost of war. NAIL THE BASICS I read your story (3/15) on “Pimping Your Grow Room” and thought I might approach the subject from a different angle, as I think the real point of “pimping” a room is to get faster growth and bigger/ better yields. Spending lots of coin on expensive equipment does not, in and of itself, produce these results. Eugene is full of garages and closets that contain CO2 equipment and the associated climate controllers that are gathering dust despite the common promise of 30 percent greater yields. It takes more than a fancy controller to produce results; the grow in- dustry is full of products that promise a lot without being able to deliver on those prom- ises, and is also a great re-inventor of the wheel through slick marketing. I can say this with some objectivity because besides having started growing indoors 22 years ago, I own a store that sells this equipment. So before you fall for a sales pitch that empties your pockets on the advice of a someone who may not actually have any ex- perience in their own secret garden (and may not be an indoor garden expert at all), check into the basics of gardening, and get those things dialed. Advice is one of the most dan- gerous things one person can give another, but some grow store employees give it out like candy. People should consider dealing with a store who has real experience or, at worst, has the integrity to admit when they haven’t extensively used a given product. Happy gardening. Daniel Shea, owner Emerald Valley Gardens JOHNNY’S BACK The battle cry of the chickenhawk is “When Johnny goes marching off to war, hurrah, hurrah!” When the Bush neocons sent all those Johnnys off to war with the WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
