Host an Exchange
Student Today !
RALLY TO BEE-AWARE
OF TOXIC NEONICS
(for 3, 5 or 10 months)
Make a lifelong
friend from abroad.
Beekeepers have been saying for years that they see a link between neonicotinoid pesti-
cides and bee die-offs, but the recent deaths of 50,000 bees near Portland are fi nally giving
pesticide foes some traction: A federal bill, the “Save America’s Pollinators Act of 2013”
was introduced on July 16. A “Nix the Neonics” rally is planned for noon July 20 at the
Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza in downtown Eugene. The 30-minute rally will be fol-
lowed by a carpool to an as-of-yet unnamed garden store that has refused to stop selling
neonicotinoid pesticides, organizers say.
The rally will include a funeral march for the “Wilsonville Bumblebee Massacre of
2013,” information on the toxics, a neonicotinoid scavenger hunt and a sing-along includ-
ing a rousing rendition of an anti-neonicotinoid song, sung to the tune of Schoolhouse
Rock’s “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here.” Bee costumes and beekeeper suits are
“heartily encouraged.”
Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s new bill would “suspend registration for certain neo-
nicotinoid pesticides and perform a new evaluation of their impacts on pollinators.” Josh
Vincent of the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, one of the groups supporting
the bill, says NCAP will provide postcards at Saturday’s rally for people to encourage their
legislators to co-sponsor the bill.
Vincent says that given how long people have known the dangers of neonics, “It’s sur-
prising it’s taken this long to have folks moving on it,” and he also encourages people to
thank Blumenauer for his bill.
Beekeepers Philip Smith and Doug Hornaday, who are among the organizers of the rally,
say the problem with neonics is that it’s not a single exposure that affects the bees, it’s that
the chemical builds up in their system over time. They say the EPA’s way of approving
pesticides is based on the older organophosphates and doesn’t refl ect the cumulative effects
of the neonics.
Incidents such as Wilsonville where the bees fell dead out of the sky are rare, but as
bee advocates Scotty Perey and Jennifer Frenzer point out, while it’s tragic for bees, it also
calls attention to the massive loss of bees across the world. After the Oregon bee die-offs,
the Oregon Department of Agriculture announced a temporary restriction on the use of 18
pesticides containing the neonicotinoid dinotefuran while it investigates the Portland bee
deaths earlier this month.
Frenzer says the public is ready to ban the neonics. She handed out fl yers while dressed
as a bee at the recent Oregon Country Fair and says people were coming up to her to get the
information and fi nd out more.
The July 20 rally will feature members of Oregon Sustainable Beekeepers, Beyond Tox-
ics, Healthy Bees = Healthy Gardens and the Occupy Eugene Library. For more info go to
wkly.ws/1ij or search “Nix the Neonics” on Facebook. — Camilla Mortensen
Enrich your family with
another culture. Now you
can host a high school
exchange student (girl or
boy) from France, Germany,
Scandinavia, Spain,
Australia, Japan, Brazil, Italy
Victoria from Australia, 17 yrs. or other countries. Single
Giorgio from Italy, 16 yrs.
parents, as well as couples Loves to play baseball and spend
Enjoys spending time with her
family and younger siblings.
with or without children, time with his dogs. Giorgio also
Victoria plays volleyball and is
may host. Contact us ASAP plays the guitar, and his dream
excited to learn new sports
for more information or to is to join a drama club at his
while in America.
American high school.
select your student.
Amy 1-800-733-2773
(toll free) / Bonnie (Toll
541-514-4565
Amy at 1-800-733-2773
Free)
host.asse.com
info@asse.com
host.asse.com or
or email
email info@asse.com
INTERNATIONAL STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAMS
Founded in 1976
ASSE International Student Exchange Program is a Public Benefi t, Non-Profi t Organization.
For privacy reasons, photos above are not photos of actual students
PETITION TO BAN
GM CROPS IN LANE COUNTY
The local fi ght against genetically modifi ed crops is on. Citizens’ group Support Local
Food Rights (SLFR) submitted a local food system ordinance to the Lane County clerk. The
initiative would ban the planting of genetically modifi ed (GM) crops and establish the right
to a local food system.
Opponents of GM crops are concerned with a host of issues: increased pesticide use, the
lack of a long-term study of their safety for consumption and unwanted cross-pollination
ruining local organic crops and causing unintentional patent infringement.
Attorney Ann Kneeland of SLFR says that communities should have the right to protect
local agriculture, which GM crops endanger fi nancially and legally. “They are a technol-
ogy that contaminates other crops, and without protections to keep those crops out of areas
where conventional and organic crops are being grown, those other crops are not safe,”
she says. After contamination with GM varieties, organic crops are no longer vendible as
organic, and all farms can be sued for growing patented crops.
Perhaps the best-known GM crops are Monsanto’s Roundup Ready varieties of soy-
beans, alfalfa, corn, canola, cotton and sugar beets. These crops are engineered to tolerate
Monsanto’s Roundup pesticide, which GM opponents say results in more pesticide use.
Increased pesticide usage on GM crops in the Corn Belt has killed off the weaker variet-
ies of pests and weeds, leaving only the pesticide-resistant organisms to breed, which leads
to more usage of pesticides like Roundup. “What’s happened is that pests and weeds are
becoming increasingly resistant to pesticides because of the repeated use of the very same
BUY / SELL / TRADE
LESSONS
LARGEST SELECTION OF
NEW, USED& VINTAGE,
DRUMS, CYMBALS,
HARDWARE, HEADS,
STICKS & PARTS.
REPAIRS AND ALWAYS
FREE TUNING AND
T-SHIRTS!!!
8&455)&6(&/&t
eugeneweekly.com • july 18, 2013
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