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
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