The Shedd Institute
www.theshedd.org - 541.434.7000
The Magical Moombah!
It Could Always Be Worse!
Saturday, January 25th at 10 am & 1 pm!!
ings to move two blocks away? I suppose it’s
just consistent with our all-American tear-
down and throw-away society.
Civic Stadium could have been
protected by placing a conservation
easement on the property. It can still be
done with willing owners.
Jan Nelson, board member,
Northwest Land Conservation Trust,
nwlct.org
BAIT AND SWITCH
Peter
Bauer’s
refl ections
on
Oregon’s public education system in
“Unrecognizable Schools” [Viewpoint,
1/9] were right on the mark. Measure
5 has scuttled our public schools! The
only thing he failed to mention was the
unstated purpose behind Measure 5.
Measure 5 sponsor Don McIntire and his
lobbyist Bill Sizemore, who has since been
convicted for racketeering for promising
property-tax salvation for fi xed-income
seniors to naive voters. After all, Measure
5 promised full state funding for public
education, and homeowners would pay
less. The hidden agenda was the transfer
of tax responsibility. Before Measure 5,
homeowners and Oregon businesses each
paid 50 percent of the tax burden. After
Measure 5, homeowners were saddled
with 60 percent of the tax burden.
It was a real “bait-and-switch” con game
that, unfortunately, Oregon’s students have
been suffering from since 1990.
Hal Huestis
Eugene
ROLES IGNORED
I wonder if Anna Grace saw the same
play at Oregon Contemporary Theatre
last week that I saw this evening [review,
1/16]. The play I saw, Tribes, had roles for
six actors, each expertly portrayed. I was
especially intrigued by the interactions
between Billy (Karsten Topelmann) and
his brother Daniel (Colin Gray) as they
were pivotal to the play’s heart-wrenching
ending scene. Interestingly, Anna Grace
ignored Colin Gray’s role entirely. She also
failed to mention Daniel and Billy’s sister
Ruth (Melanie Moser). It makes me wonder
if Anna Grace really saw Tribes at all.
Kathleen Gray
Eugene
Mamo
A NEED FOR VIGILANCE
Nathan Aweau - Jeff Peterson
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Of all
the forms of inequality, injustice in health
care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
There seems no better time to remember
this than during the 41st anniversary of one
of the greatest strides in women’s health
care in the U.S.
Roe v. Wade granted women freedom from
infringement by the state in matters of their
reproductive health. Its anniversary reminds
us to look back with gratitude, and to look
forward with vigilance. We need vigilance
to protect against the politicians who want
to inject themselves into a woman’s personal
and complicated medical decisions.
We need vigilance to put an end to
the “pro-life vs. pro-choice” debate and
admit that these labels do not refl ect the
complexity of the issue of abortion. And
we n eed vigilance to continue to make
strides against those pushing back on the
rights affi rmed by Roe.
Our incredible allies in Albuquerque,
N.M., who defeated a 20-week abortion
ban, and the Texans who came together to
support Sen. Wendy Davis during her 11-
hour fi libuster are prime examples. But we
can all do something. We can all be vigilant.
Roe v. Wade is more than a court case.
It’s a landmark turn in U.S. history. Let us
never forget this as we move forward with
an ever-greater sense of vigilance.
Kiran Varani-Edwards
Eugene
Saturday February 1
SALEM DOES POOP RIGHT
I recently moved back to Eugene after a
job stint in Salem. Took my two dogs to the
South Eugene dog park — awful experience.
Here is why. At the Keizer dog park, the only
one fenced in the Salem/Keizer area, people
pick up after their dogs, every time!
Yes, there is much social gathering,
chatting, trail walking or running, but there
is always poop being picked up. If you were
eugeneweekly.com • January 23, 2014
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