letters TO THE EDITOR NUCLEAR BLACKOUT Fukushima nuclear power plants pose a real and imminent danger to all of the northern hemisphere and urgently in Oregon and on the West Coast. Last week, we saw the fi rst of a large piece of debris hit the shores of Oregon. The tsunami debris in the Pacifi c is the size of Texas. The media blackout on this worldwide catastrophe is complete. Go to www. enenews.com or to YouTube to get the truth. As a sample of withheld information: Plants 1, 2 and 3 have already had full meltdowns. Number 2 power plant has only 2 feet of water over its spent fuel rods and is continuing to leak nuclear waste into the ocean and environment. Number 1 is so hot they can’t get a robot near it to determine its threat. Number 4 is on exposed stilts and concrete bulging, very unstable. Number 3 is so volatile and the rods are in such an insecure placement, that if there is any rumbling, it may cause a “criticality” involving at least Number 4 if not all six plants (i.e., disaster) and cause a catastrophe at least 85 times greater than Chernobyl. Sen. Ron Wyden toured Fukushima and was so alarmed he asked the U.S. government to get involved. His requests have been summarily ignored because of the power of the nuclear energy industry. The threat to humanity will not go away if we continue to stick our heads down the radioactive hole in the sand. Lonnie Clark Eugene EWEB’S OMISSIONS Thank you for your piece in Slant May 31 on safety concerns for smart meters. I have been attending recent EWEB meetings that are open to the public. These were commissioner meetings that were concerned with smart meters and electric and water rate hikes, plus all three of EWEB’s smart meter information sessions in the community. I learned from these meetings that EWEB plans to deploy a wireless smart meter system in Eugene. After the meetings I went to Google and looked up World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer. The website says 4 JUNE 21, 2012 EUGENE WEEKLY the agency has “categorized radiofrequency electromagnetic fi elds as possibly carcinogenic to humans.” The website www. smartmeterdangers.org says the type of radiation emitted “by both cell phones and smart meters has been linked to cancer by the World Health Organization, reversing its previous stance” on May 31, 2011. Also went to www.aaemonline.org to see the Board of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine opposes the installation of wireless smart meters in homes and schools based on scientifi c assessment of the current medical literature. Chronic exposure to wireless radiofrequency radiation is a preventable environmental hazard that is suffi ciently well documented to warrant immediate preventative public health action. You can read EWEB’s website information on their smart meter pilot program currently under way in Eugene. Unfortunately they do not list information from the World Health Organization or American Academy of Environmental Medicine. Bob Becker Eugene POLITICS AS USUAL Mayor Piercy, your response [“Mutual Benefi t” Viewpoint, 6/7] was in depth to the likes of which I cannot offer due to the format, but I thank you for your response. However, reading it only left me more frustrated. You praised students’ work and contributions to the city, calling our impact large and important, while encouraging participation on city boards and commissions, or in neighborhood associations. While I know I gripe, I expected a less-typical politician response than discussing what has been done and what I can voluntarily do. You mentioned visiting campus every month, attending classes and events, yet nothing about wandering through campus or around the neighborhoods besides an “annual community welcome.” If these planned events and photo-ops are your only interactions with the campus and general student population then you’ve only furthered my feeling of disconnect. WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM