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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2013)
LET TERS So, how about including more about Bethel? We do not even live in Bethel but in Santa Clara. Many of the newer neighborhoods are in the Bethel School District. A. Gilchrist Eugene I WANT MY UO BACK In years past I have taken great pride in claiming the UO as my alma mater. Sadly, as the UO has morphed into the University of Nike, I am no longer proud. This last gross expenditure of funds on the amenities for the so-called “student- athletes” is merely the latest in a long list of misspent money. Some folks are making a huge, huge amount of money on the backs of these student-athletes. However, sad to say, neither the university nor the student- athletes are doing so well. The student- athletes arrive from out of state and often unprepared for university study. Their graduation rates are dismal, and if they are removed from the team, their scholarships evaporate; and if injured, there is no workers compensation for them. After all, they’re not employees, they’re students — right? Many of them believe a professional sports career awaits them; however, my reading indicates less than 1 percent will reach this goal. According to my reading of The Register-Guard, once in Eugene, these student-athletes smoke pot, drive drunk, break and enter, sexually abuse and batter women and generally act like the young princes their handlers/ coaches have convinced them they are. As a rule, when they are busted for their misdeeds, there are few if any repercussions for their behavior. I’m disgusted with Nike U! I want my UO back; I want to be proud again. Susan M. Connolly Eugene Evil shit, eh? Why, you may ask? Because I was taught as a very young child that if you donate more money to the church than everyone else has donated, you get sweet rewards. If you bring people to the church you get a giant sweet reward. That is a kind of textbook pyramid scam. Except, you know — with children. Charles Echols Springfi eld REVIEW HER HATCHET JOBS COUNTY TAKEOVER The taxpayers of Lane County owe a heartfelt thank-you to the EW for Camilla Mortensen’s ongoing coverage of what former county administrator Liane Richardson cost Lane County. An open- minded second look is absolutely critical when you can’t trust the source of the information. I hope the commissioners do the right thing now and re-examine her hatchet jobs on all the employees and activists whom she and her minions threatened, bullied and mauled during her gory tenure. At least, thanks in part to the EW, that tenure was blessedly short. Rita Castillo Springfi eld While the public was looking the wrong way, a cabal of right-leaning elements (some would say Tea Party) managed a takeover of county government. Starting with a strong offensive move –– a “citizen” (but read corporate) lawsuit designed to take out the two environmentally conscious commissioners — we began to see that, just as on the national level, there would be no time wasted on silly notions like cooperation for the good of the whole, getting actual business done for the public, etc. Then came the usual maneuvers: unnecessary and expensive voter redistricting to ensure a board supermajority; needless but expensive purchase of alternative voting software, lining a friend’s pockets; rubber-stamped mountaintop removal; attempts to buy up local water rights. My list is abbreviated, but unless you have just recently tuned in, you get the picture. But hubris eventually takes care of its own. Government by vendetta is neither effective nor sane. We should be outraged that our supposedly scarce and precious public money has been squandered by arrogant employees –– elected and fast- track selected –– who were ostensibly there to direct the best use of our resources. Administrator Liane Richardson is gone, and everybody but Sorenson should go. We should not wait for the rest to irremediably slip up before turning them out. Kevin Matthews will make an excellent new commissioner. Vip Short Eugene EVIL CANDY BAR SHIT Junkie parents used to send me to the Church of the Calvary Assembly of God every Sunday so they could get high and do whatever. So I was indoctrinated. We got a 3-foot Baby Ruth candy bar if we brought three children to church who had never been to the church. LOL, they used to send a bus just to pick up us poor welfare kids. They had this “Scale of Faith” thing — a balanced bar of wood with two buckets attached, one pink bucket, one blue. Whichever group (boys or girls) that donated the most weight in coins was given those little individually wrapped Baby Ruth candy bars. I think I was 6 to 8 years old. I guess the church thinks Baby Ruth candy bars are the quickest way to win hearts and minds of children. Personally I prefer Skor candy bars, but what the hey. 4 RENOVATE CIVIC STADIUM I was disappointed to learn that the American Legion regional baseball tournament was being held at Swede Johnson Stadium instead of Civic Stadium. Civic Stadium was built just for such an event, but sits abandoned and for sale by School District 4J. It is hard to understand the district’s listing of this historic stadium as surplus when this tournament is just one of many such events that could be held here if the district would only make it available. Rather than sell this stadium for short-term fi nancial gain, the district should renovate it and manage it for the ongoing revenue it can produce. Lonnie McCulloch Eugene A ugust 15, 2013 • eugeneweekly.com CROSSING THE LINE BAD ANALOGY I’m no football fan, but that doesn’t mean I begrudge those having a little fun. What I do begrudge, however, is the enormous expense of the new football center that the UO has recently opened. Yes, the money was given privately, and why shouldn’t someone be able to spend their money on whatever they want to? Perhaps because there comes a point when that spending crosses the line from generous to obscene. To be honest, I am less concerned about what Phil Knight chooses to throw his fortune at, although like many others I feel we have more than enough memorials to Knight. I am more troubled by the university’s willingness to accept these gifts while academics — the true purpose of a university — seem to suffer. Whether it’s classroom buildings, programs and curriculum, class size, faculty or the enormous cost of education to students, there are better things for the UO to focus on. I fi rmly believe it’s time the university made a stand in favor of its core responsibility — education. Stop taking money for these ridiculous and excessive projects and put the energy expended to acquire it toward funding truly important things. And, Phil Knight: If you really want to help Eugene, how about investing some of that money in our schools, in health programs or in endeavors that will help those who can’t even think of affording attendance at the UO to obtain further education — even those who can’t play football. Jake Gariepy Eugene Smart meter opponents fear adverse health impacts from radio emissions largely based on studies (some persuasive) linking cell phones and cell towers to increased headaches, nausea and even cancer. But the technology EWEB is considering installing on our homes and businesses emit radio signals for a microsecond each time they communicate. Over the course of a year it adds up to less than two minutes per meter! Comparing cell phones to smart meters is not very instructive. Cell phones emit so many more watts, are held right up to your head and can expose you to hundreds of hours of radio emissions per year. So what might be a better comparison? Garage door openers. You hit the remote control button twice a day and for a fraction of a second its radio switches on to communicate with the motor in the garage. Smart meters create options that EWEB ratepayers want. And let’s be clear: Smart meters will also create new challenges. We haven’t yet decided which path to take. Let’s use the right analogies to understand the impacts. It makes all the difference. Steve Mital EWEB commissioner, Wards 1 & 8 BETHEL IGNORED Maybe I missed something, but it seems like every time I pick up a EW there are articles about School District 4J. I rarely even see anything about Bethel School District. Bethel is not just for trailer homes and tweakers anymore. It is a great school district that is run responsibly and better than 4J. I have experienced both 4J and Bethel as a parent, and Bethel is better without question. GEOGRAPHY LESSONS Wow, the new football building is sure getting a lot of attention, and rightfully so. Foosball tables from Spain, barber tools from Italy, hand-woven rugs from Nepal. Gotta hand it to the UO athletic department. What an innovative way to teach young football players about geography. And the new water features outside are spectacular. Cascades of bubbling Perrier amidst a new forest of trees imported from the Ardennes. Much more inspiring than the buckets sitting in the middle of the math classrooms. And how about those lockers? German- engineered air conditioning in each one takes out all the foul odors so the air inside stays fresh and cool. It prompted one English professor to exclaim, “Air conditioning? What’s that?”
