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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2012)
letters TO THE EDITOR been renamed the 1st Avenue Shelter. I began volunteering at LCAS as a dog walker last year, and have continued to volunteer several days a week through the Greenhill transition. LCAS volunteer retention through the transition has been low and Greenhill volunteers have not come to 1st Avenue in the hoped-for numbers. This letter is an open call — a desperate plea, really — for former LCAS volunteers to return to, and Greenhill volunteers to come to, 1st Avenue. I also encourage anyone who cares about companion animals to volunteer. The situation is most desperate for the 1st Avenue dogs that are often confi ned to kennels for 17-plus hour stretches, depending on availability of staff and volunteers. For older/house-trained dogs, this is particularly troubling, as a lack of regular potty breaks can cause physical and psychological problems including urinary tract infections, house-training reversal and anxiety. Volunteer dog walkers make a real difference in shelter dogs’ lives, all the while reaping their own health benefi ts of fresh air, exercise and fun! Readers should also know that 1st Avenue is still a great place to adopt an animal, and that there are many beautiful, friendly and personable dogs and cats just waiting for their forever homes. I hope to see you there! Misha Dunlap English Eugene 4J FANTASY PLAN Mark Gillem [cover story, 7/19] provided an excellent analysis of the 4J facilities fantasy plan. But he left a few key points out. It seems that neither the district leadership, the board, nor the consultant can do simple addition. Last year, there were 328 students at Edison and 416 at Camas Ridge, so a merger of these two schools would result in 744 students. The Edison building really does have major defi ciencies and it is unlikely that it can be successfully remodeled to support the more ideal number of students: 400 to 450. But this challenge has been known for a very long time. It was insanely stupid to have closed Parker last year — which added so many students to Camas Ridge. The other insanely stupid idea in 4J’s facilities fantasy plan is to move Yugin Gakeun from the North region to Jefferson. This would cause horrifi c loss in the Kelly/North region. If the district is really truly interested in supporting equity, then the very obvious choice would be to move Charlemagne to Jefferson, with this program continuing on at Churchill. Nancy Willard Eugene SELF-DEFENSE DRONES Whereas Camilla Mortensen’s cover story on drone warfare [7/5] concerned itself primarily with the U.S. tactics in Afghanistan, it was quickly twisted around [in Letters, 7/12] to attack Israel’s Gaza politics, rather skewed, considering the last bombing tragedy in Bulgaria. Even the movie Death in Gaza, which deals with Israel’s use of drones as a matter of self-defense, opens on the following text insert: “Israeli Citizens have been subjected to wave after wave of deadly terror attacks by Palestinian militants.” Anyone looking at a map and realizing the tiny area Israel covers in the face of the vast amounts of land of its mostly hostile neighbors, would concern itself for its survival. In addition, one should not forget that anti-Israel Islamic hatred is often fueled by extremist politicos, not necessarily the general Arabic public. Lioba Multer, Ph.D. Yachats DISC GOLF QUANDARY In 2007 the city of Eugene issued an RFP to operate Laurelwood Golf Course with a preference for an operator willing to include disc golf. The current operators SANDAL SALE agreed to do so and for several weeks in the dead of winter disc golf was very popular there. Contract in hand and lip service paid, they then removed the city-funded disc golf baskets. Today, those operators haven’t even paid the $5,000 annual rent, and the cash-strapped city of Eugene has paid $60,000 of their water bills. Disc golf fees would have paid that rent many times over. There are dozens of disc golf courses in the U.S. that play alongside ball golf courses, bringing needed revenue in a time when ball golf is not as popular. The disc golf baskets are in city storage somewhere. The city can pay exorbitant water bills for ball golf at Laurelwood, but it has “limited resources” and cannot even issue an RFP to operate the proposed pay- to-play disc golf course at Alton Baker 11 months after fi nal approval. Disc golf courses require no watering, no fertilizers, no herbicides and they only need to be mowed a few times a year. It is the real blue-collar golf and the eco-friendliest of sports. Last month Charlotte, N.C., hosted more than 1,000 disc golfers competing on its 12 disc golf courses in the World Championships, with estimated revenue of over $1 million to the community. Why are we teeing up to throw more of our money down holes at Laurelwood instead of putting up baskets to throw discs in? Bring the baskets back to Laurelwood and issue the RFP for Alton Baker! Matt Benotsch Eugene A RIGHT TO HOUSING? Lynn Porter [Letters, 8/2] asserts that “Housing is a human right and Eugene must provide it to the homeless.” Would Porter be so kind as to point out where in the U.S. Constitution, the Code of Federal Regulations, Oregon Revised Statutes or Eugene City Code these decrees appear? Jerry Ritter Springfi eld HUGE MISTAKE Laura Israel’s important new fi lm Windfall is now available on DVD. Israel visits the scenic town of Meredith, New York, and documents how government- subsidized wind power corporations used unscrupulous tactics to turn that peaceful rural area into a nightmare. The windmills are over 400 feet tall, Godzilla-sized and can be seen from 3 miles away. They emit health-damaging low frequency noise, which one resident compared to trying to sleep with a loud vacuum cleaner next to his bed. The blades destroy television reception and create a horrifi c stroboscopic fl ickering effect when the sun gets behind them. Wind turbines also create pressure zones that instantly kill birds and bats, turning vast areas of America into kill zones. Israel used graphics to explain that wind power can never be more than costly energy policy window dressing because of its inherently intermittent nature. Wind power has not reduced greenhouse gas release because of the natural gas power plants required to back them up when the wind stops blowing and because of the large amounts of CO2 released in manufacturing the monster-sized windmills themselves, which are mainly constructed from imported parts. We spend huge amounts of taxpayer money subsidizing wind power, yet it satisfi es less than 3 percent of our national electricity needs. Wind power schemes have made Americans poorer and have not reduced our dependence on fossil fuels. Even famous windmill entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens now admits that his investment in wind energy was a huge mistake. Christopher Calder Eugene LETTERS POLICY: We welcome letters on all topics and will print as many as space allows, with priority given to timely local issues. Please limit length to 200 words, keep submissions to once a month, and include your address and phone number for our files. Email to letters@eugeneweekly.com fax to 484-4044, or mail to 1251 Lincoln, Eugene 97401. The Shedd Institute www.theshedd.org - 541-434-7000 SUPER-DUPER, EXTRA SPECIAL, END-OF-SEASON SANDAL SPECTACULAR SAVE 30 % Siri Vik ON ALMOST EVERY SANDAL IN THE STORE. THIS SALE WILL BE A DOOZY! Rosanne Tuesday Cash Aug 28 Where Or When Mike & Nancy Oft Rose W FOLLOW IS THE TIME FOR FEET NEW TO SHOES YOUR COMFORT WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM Downtown Eugene &#SPBEXBZt 'BDFCPPLDPNGPPUXJTFFVHFOF .PO4BU4VO Downtown Corvallis 48.BEJTPOt 'BDFCPPLDPNGPPUXJTFDPSWBMMJT .PO4BU4VO The Life & Lyrics of Lorenz Hart Fri, May 18 Sun, May 20 Natalie MacMaster Oct 22 Dr. James J. Knackstedt EUGENE WEEKLY AUGUST 16, 2012 5
