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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2014)
LET TERS INHUMANE INDUSTRY Diana Huntington’s May 29 letter “Blood In The Water” is spot on. Anyone who claims to be an environmentalist and/or “animal lover” can no longer in good conscience continue to support the single industry responsible for such unspeakable levels of animal cruelty and major contributions toward the demise of the planet. Cowspiracy, a new documentary slated to be released this month, delves into the destructive world of animal agriculture, an industry that most environmental groups have remarkably chosen to ignore despite the fact it is, as Cowspiracy indicates, the leading cause of global warming, water depletion, deforestation, species extinction and ocean dead zones. The time to acknowledge the inconvenient truth surrounding animal agribusiness is now. No matter how much greenwashing is attempted, it’s an inhumane, unsustainable industry. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever for each of us to make positive changes by weaning ourselves off of animal-based products. Animal-free alternatives are plentiful, and VIEWPOINT more appear in the marketplace all the time. It’s the wave of the future — it has to be in order for the planet to survive — and there’s no time like the present to jump onto the bandwagon. To view a trailer of Cowspiracy, see cowspiracy.com. Barb Lomow Eugene EW SWIMSUIT ISSUE Years ago, when asked about the acting ability of football-great-turned-thespian Jim Brown, Academy Award winner Lee Marvin replied, “Well, he’s a better actor than Laurence Olivier would be a fullback for the Cleveland Browns.” By the same token, I am pleased to note that EW does covers for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue (May 29) a lot better than SI would do liberal rag political commentary. You are to be commended. Mike Kopf Eugene 90 GUN DEATHS A DAY I stand by Richard Martinez, the father of a 20-year-old UC Santa Barbara student who was one of six people killed by a gunman in Isla Vista, Calif. He got it exactly right. Americans are dying every day because of the corporate gun lobby and the politicians it has in its pocket. Real solutions exist that are supported by the overwhelming majority of Americans — solutions that would prevent many of the 90 gun deaths that happen in our nation every day. And yet the gun lobby relentlessly blocks progress toward every commonsense solution. It gives substantial sums of money to buy politicians to ignore the will and well being of the American people — by opposing expanded background checks and calling research into gun violence “unethical.” These politicians don’t care who is buying guns — convicted felons, domestic abusers, rapists — just as long as the gun lobby is happily making the biggest possible profi t. It’s time for the American public to know the truth about why people are dying every day and, thanks to Americans like Martinez, that truth is starting to be heard. Tragically, it becomes more essential every day that we Americans rise up and show the courage and rage that Mr. Martinez has, and call out the gun lobby and the ‘craven’ politicians who do their bidding. We must be committed to making the voice of the American public heard and preventing every act of gun violence until we make this the safer nation we all want. Ken Barnhart Springfi eld BIOLOGICAL DISASTER I found Kara Huntermoon’s letter (“The Power of Sexism,” 5/29) a great example of why these sexual incidents between adolescent young adults continue generation after generation without resolve. Men and women are different animals. The fi rst decade after puberty consists of very different developments in boys and girls. Two areas that belie these striking differences are sexuality and communications. Boys have a hormone spike in late adolescence that amplifi es sexuality and aggression. Girls have a more steady development, peaking in the late 20s, with no equivalent testosterone- driven aggression. While boys have earlier BY CHRIS TOPHER EIDEMILL ER Prowess vs. Integrity RECRUITING PRACTICES DIMINISH OUR COMMUNITY F or almost 20 years now I have been participating in a personal boycott of professional spectator sports, electing to watch only amateur college sporting events, particularly those that represent the school from which I graduated. But recently, I have decided to refrain from viewing some of the university-based athletic team sports that represent even my own alma mater, specifi cally the sports that offer multiple scholarships to out-of-state recruits in order to potentially win championships rather than educate our local youth. The UO is one of the few schools nationwide whose athletic department is self-suffi cient due to sizeable contributions from a regional benefactor that produces overpriced athletic shoes in third-world countries for poverty-stricken urban youth, but I must discontinue my support as a spectator of university athletic events if this behavior, which takes scholarships from deserving students who have worked hard to prove themselves in the prescribed academic formula, does not cease and desist immediately. The recruitment of students based upon physical prowess rather than academic integrity appears to be a good fi nancial investment on the surface considering the popularity of college sports, as it apparently draws more students to the university through national recognition. But on the other hand, recruitment generates a poor return for the community that lends its support from all sides. The social impact of a successful athletic department on a local community gives the impression of being a positive infl uence on the surface, bringing pride to a small city like ours. But truthfully, from a perspective founded in formal education and many years of classroom teaching experience, the result of putting athletics before academics demonstrates not only the deterioration of the intellectual objectives we have for our nation, but also our social commitment to the advancement of civilization through education rather than combat. The current formula for signing students to short-term “contracts” is a recurring theme that nobody cares to acknowledge, although it has moved me to assert my contradictory position in light of recent events involving three out-of-state university basketball players allegedly sexually violating a female student. From my point of view, in order to preserve the sanctity of the institution of formal academics, colleges and universities must refrain from recruiting out-of-state athletes and reconsider to whom they offer full-ride scholarships. Through this practice of recruiting players for their god-given athletic talents rather than their proven capacity for contributing to the 4 June 5, 2014 • eugeneweekly.com intellectuality of a community, university representatives and their staff treat players as a commodity, initiating a pattern of superiority that recruited out-of-state athletes ride into our healthy communities. The student-athletes arrive having little to no attachment to the place, other than the fact that they are covertly paid to play their respective games with little objection to the atrocity by school supporters. The 18- to 22-year-old transplants are far from home and live like they are on vacation, and other than contributing to the success of our sports teams, they invest very little into the communities they are visiting. Oftentimes they accept scholarship money and leave before graduating, taking scholarships away from more worthy candidates. And rather than augmenting the wealth of a single individual athlete from out-of-town who leaves school before completing their supposed academic objectives by investing in local students who are innately committed to the communities in which they live, institutions of formal education can refocus their energies on enhancing the well-being of the very people that support their cause. Considering the unjust social disparity that neglects the impoverished yet self- motivated student-athletes in the high school classroom where I teach, who complete nearly every course with up to a 100 percent effi ciency rating, in exchange for signing a future student-athlete who completes less than 60 percent of his passes, I make my stand, though it pains me to do so. As a soon-to-be disenfranchised alum, I will be forced to discontinue any further support of the commercialized sports at the college level (beginning with men’s football and basketball), if the UO does not commit to the true purpose of formal education as its primary concern, thus contributing to the social well-being of the community it serves. I must also insist that the UO requires that all student-athletes who are drafted by professional sports teams and accept substantial professional sports contracts before they graduate repay their scholarship monies in full, plus interest, in order to fund the education of more viable students. In addition, the UO must curtail its out-of-state recruitment of student-athletes who are obviously committed only to their own success and unattached to our local community. Christopher Eidemiller is a local public school educator and freelance writer focused on the ineffi cacy of public education. He has a bachelor's degree from UO (1999) and a master’s in secondary education from Pacifi c University (2001).
