“WHERE IS GOD WHEN I NEED HIM?”
Or…maybe you don’t even think He exists at all. Or that you don’t
need him in YOUR life. If He does exist, why does He allow suff ering?
COME JOIN US AS WE EXPLORE THESE QUESTIONS AND MORE:
• We expect a public announcement about Phil Knight’s big gift to UO will be made
at a breakfast meeting Friday, Oct. 17, somewhere on campus, and to which 300 are
invited. We broke the story last week about the Knight family preparing to make a
rumored $1 billion gift, with strings attached, but the amount could be more or less,
according to UOmatters.com. The gift could be the largest ever made to a university
anywhere, and if it goes to academic programs and scholarships, as anticipated, it
would give UO a tremendous boost where it’s really needed. The stark contrast between
UO athletic and academic standing is getting the UO some embarrassing attention
nationwide.
Meanwhile, neighborhood organizations and businesses ringing the UO have been
invited to meetings this month looking at possible sites around the campus for three
big building projects: a 500-bed residence hall, a 1,500-seat softball stadium and a
100,000-square -foot research lab building. Hold onto your green and yellow visors. Big
changes are ahead for that part of town.
• Thumbs up for the selection of the UO Foundation and its partners to develop the
EWEB site along the Willamette River. It has a huge stake in what happens to Eugene
beyond the borders of the campus, a stake historically not appreciated except for
athletic facilities. With any development along the river we need to be concerned
about protection of the riverbank, maintaining open spaces and making connections to
our wonderfully reviving downtown. Who, please, will be the planners in charge?
WTF?
This big diesel truck with custom exhaust pipes was spotted in a Eugene
parking lot last week making a statement among the mostly compact cars. Along
with “He’s a Criminal,” the stickers included “Infowars.com,” the Alex Jones right-
wing conspiracy website that claims Obamacare is spreading ebola. And no, the
license plate is from Oregon, not Texas.
• Random thoughts about First Lady Cylvia Hayes and Gov. John Kitzhaber: What
happened in her life 17 years ago is between Cylvia and John. During the last four
years, whether she has unethically or illegally used her role as first lady to help her
private consulting business is an open question, muddy in the Willamette Week story
that opened this discussion. We’re reminded of the Antoinette Hatfield story when she
was selling big-time real estate in Washington, D.C., perhaps using her role as Sen. Mark
Hatfield’s wife to help her lucrative private business. Is Cylvia Hayes as first lady too
powerful? We’re reminded of Bill Clinton’s appointment of his first lady Hillary Clinton to
head his important, but failed, drive for reforming our health care system. And, of
course, we can’t forget Eleanor Roosevelt. We are impressed that Hayes stood alone at
her press conference, unlike shamed political men Eliot Spitzer, Gary Hart, etc., who
were joined at the podium by their dutiful spouses. She told the press that she asked
John not to appear with her. We like Hayes’ main issues, climate change and energy
policy, and we hope she and Kitzhaber have four more years to work on them.
• The city and Eugene Police Department are once again cracking down on those
who ride their bikes or skateboards on sidewalks downtown. This time around they are
getting all innovative and creative in their efforts to notify errant bikers of the wrongs of
sidewalk-cycling: They are using signs. OK, we are being sarcastic. Signs aren’t
innovative, even when they look like mutant smiley faces. But the last two times EPD
went on a no-wheels-on-the-sidewalks kick, the cops went around spray-painting
warning signs on the sidewalk itself. Sadly, they painted them the wrong direction so
that you only saw the warning right-side up if you were already on the sidewalk and
breaking the law. Kudos to the city and EPD for moving from graffiti to actual signs.
Unfortunately the signs don’t solve two big issues: We need better bike lanes
downtown so that cyclists don’t feel they need to be on the sidewalk to be safe. And
skateboarders have nowhere they can safely and legally ride downtown except
apparently crosswalks. We built them a great skatepark but made it hard to get there.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17
Does God Exist? Can we trust what the Bible says about him?
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18 AT 11:00AM
Why does God allow suff ering?
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18
What happens when you die?
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19
Would a loving God really burn people in hell for eternity?
Join us for a series of free discussions about the
character of God, on October 17-18-19, 2014.
All meetings are at 6:00pm except where noted above.
Eugene Seventh-day Adventist Church
1275 Polk Street • Eugene • 541-683-4169
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• Great to see Rep. Peter DeFazio taking a strong stand against escalating U.S.
military action in the Middle East. The hounds of war are snarling and drooling and Pete
is trying to keep them in chains. DeFazio is distinctly a minority voice, as was Wayne
Morse, one of the few in Congress who clearly envisioned the bloody quagmire of U.S.
military intervention in Vietnam’s civil war.
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SLANT INCLUDES SHORT OPINION PIECES, OBSERVATIONS AND RUMOR-CHASING NOTES COMPILED BY THE EW STAFF.
HEARD ANY GOOD RUMORS LATELY? CONTACT TED TAYLOR AT 484-0519, EDITOR@EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
Banking | Mortgages | Insurance | Retirement | Business Lending
eugeneweekly.com • October 16, 2014
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