LET TERS
SPLICE OF LIFE
In response to Jeff Holiday’s letter
[8/15] about the destruction of a plot of
GMO Golden Rice, I have to say that yes,
Golden Rice may be an answer to Vitamin
A defi ciency in poor countries. But people
are scared of the GMO industry because
of the Frankenstein tactics of companies
like Monsanto, which have used genetic
modifi cation to make corn and soybeans
resistant to herbicides so they can spray
Roundup over their entire acreage so that
it kills everything except the crop. Or how
about splicing the gene from Bt, a soil
fungus, into corn so that anything that eats
the corn dies? Sorry, but I really don’t like
having poisons introduced into my food.
GMO labeling and a little integrity in the
scientifi c fi eld would go a long way in using
genetic modifi cation to save lives instead of
just making unscrupulous companies like
Monsanto richer.
Cenya Eichengreen
Eugene
BAN THEM ALL
I think that banning Native American
mascots on the grounds that they’re not
politically correct is ridiculous considering
the fact that we’re not banning all other
racially themed mascots. If you look around
Eugene alone, we have The Highlanders,
and Sheldon High School is “The Home
of the Fighting Irish.” Can we just take a
second to recognize that the term “Fighting
Irish” is actually a slur that was used against
Catholic immigrants in the 19th century?
I don’t see anything blatantly offensive
about a sports team being called “The
Braves.” If we’re going to ban one group of
mascots for being rooted in the culture of
others, let’s ban all of them.
Kati Dawalt
Eugene
AREA BEAUTIFICATION
Kudos to the Eugene city workers who
keep the downtown planters looking so
beautiful!
Beverley Mowery
Eugene
GIVE THE COP A BREAK
I just fi nished reading the news [8/15]
about the EPD offi cer who allegedly
“slapped” this 10-year-old boy in the face
as he was escorting the child to the custody
of another parent by court order. Curious, I
checked out the entire YouTube video and
noticed that while the offi cer was leading
the child by the wrist, the boy bit the offi cer.
The offi cer responded by tapping the child
on the forehead in a reactive effort to stop
the boy from continuing to bite him. I saw
nothing that would indicate that the offi cer
slapped this child in the face. He apparently
didn’t hurt the boy, and I doubt he will suffer
any damaging issues from this alleged “slap
in the face.”
I am not one who generally sides with
authority, as it is oftentimes misused and
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abused, but could this have been handled
in another fashion? Maybe! After all,
according to defense attorney, Laura Fine
Moro, police receive hours and hours of
training about restraining and subduing
individuals. She also blamed the offi cer
for creating the circumstance that led to
the offi cer being bitten by the boy. I see
this as a lawyer’s tactic to incriminate this
offi cer by making a huge mountain out of
a molehill. This slant also fuels the already
strained relations between the public and
law enforcement.
The boy bit the offi cer, the offi cer reacted
to the stinging surprise of a bite and stopped
the biting by lightly tapping the boy in the
forehead. How many of you would have
used discussion, active listening or tapped
in to your inner peace to advise and counsel
this boy while his teeth were sinking into
your fi nger?
The sad part remains with the emotionally
common and sad fact that another family is
in crisis, but in this instance, I don’t think
the EPD is at fault.
Jay Greenspan
Corvallis
best and safest car, his all-electric cars have
paved the way to make gasoline powered
transportation obsolete. Anyone who buys
his cars will never have to pay for charging
at his solar-powered, nationwide network of
super-fast charging stations.
Big Prison and Big Pharma had their
world threatened by glimpses of sanity
against the “reefer madness” status quo.
A.G. Eric Holder proposed letting low-level
drug offenders out of the prison since they
pose no risk to the public and crowd the
overfl owing prisons.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Gov. Chris Christie,
thanks to the ground breaking marijuana
research of the Israeli government, are now
proposing allowing [sick] children to receive
the proven healing benefi ts of marijuana.
Research is now progressing on using
marijuana to cure cancer and Alzheimer’s
disease. The only thing holding back these
brave new world innovations is the paid-for
infl uence that Big Oil, Big Prison and Big
Pharma has upon our elected leaders. Rip
back the curtain and let the light of the brave
new future shine through.
Michael T. Hinojosa
Drain
LIFT THE CURTAIN
In a world clouded by the doom and
gloom naysayers of newspapers and TV,
it was refreshing to see a few rays of hope
this month. “Ironman” Elon Musk, CEO of
Paypal, Space X, Tesla motors, Solar City,
Hyperloop, and his brilliant engineering
skills have not only produced the world’s
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.
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eugeneweekly.com • A ugust 29, 2013
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