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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2015)
A brave couple let them know that they were very displeased with their behavior. Doyle’s letter was right that “they change day to day.” Perhaps they have been rebuilt by now. Marvin Davis Eugene NO THROWING BOOKS I had never entertained the notion that I would fi nd one of your covers bothersome until the Aug. 13 edition. The idea that books should be thrown is something I object to on an almost daily basis. As a volunteer in a preschool and, during the school year, kindergarten classes, I spend a fair amount of time teaching respect for books. A repeated mantra is, “We do not throw books!” Not being privy to what percentage of your readership is between 3 and 6 years of age, I won’t even guess at how many times I will now hear, “But I saw them throw books in the newspaper.” Kenner McAlister Cottage Grove PLAGUED WITH DRIVERS Apparently there’s more than one Riverview Street in east Eugene. The Riverview I walk end to end almost every day (which, coincidentally, is also getting speed cushions) is plagued with drivers traveling far above the posted 25 miles- per-hour limit, endangering other drivers, pedestrians, playing children, pets and wildlife. Locals have erected handmade signs imploring drivers to “drive like you live here!” I welcome the traffi c calming speed cushions, and I imagine so do the majority of Riverview residents. David Stambaugh Eugene ALTERNATIVE TRAJECTORY Having followed the exchange between Dillon Thomson (7/23 and 8/6) and Karl Stout (7/30) for several weeks now, I submit that they’re both offering very important and not necessarily antagonistic insights. No force since the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs has been as ecologically destructive as the industrial extraction system Thomson condemns, and his call to fi ght to bring it to an end makes sound sense. But to dismiss Stout’s view overlooks the fact that bringing down the prevailing global order with nothing but apocalyptic- dystopian-anarchic nightmares or technotopian-space colonization-divine salvationist fantasies to fi ll the void will almost certainly make things far worse than they are now if for no other reason than the meltdowns of the 443 (soon to be 503) nuclear reactors Ted Taylor cites in his interview with McPherson (7/16). Yet, to uphold the industrial infrastructure on which we depend in order to prevent these meltdowns requires all the other industrially facilitated (and ultimately suicidal) forms of planetary destruction to continue. Thus, with regard to nuclear reactors alone, neither an immediate industrial collapse nor the effort to maintain the present global trajectory have any real chance of leading to a healthier future. Instead, a much more imaginative, challenging and collaborative approach is needed: seeking a personal or cultural trajectory that leads toward positive, ecologically sound alternatives to industrial modernity out of which the gradual, conscious and noncatastrophic phase-out of such artifacts as nuclear reactors will naturally fl ow. The efforts to uphold this alternative trajectory both individually and collectively will then bring about the very dissolution of the industrial order advocated by Thomson and in a way that avoids the calamitous societal meltdown feared by Stout. The dinosaurs didn’t have a choice. We still do. Tim Fox McKenzie Bridge Ride on bike paths and lanes. Quiet, easy cycling and pennies a day to charge. No license, registration or insurance required. We carry a wide selection of E-bikes for all tastes easy motion cross Rediscover the joy of cycling Commute without getting exhausted or sweaty Steep hills and wind will no longer intimidate you Ride more with those you can’t keep up with now Age, weight gain, injuries or conditions preventing you from riding a regular bicycle? Reduce your carbon footprint 545 High St. • (541) 735-3137 • eugeneelectricbicycles.com • Open Wed-Sun 10am-6pm School Staff Follow Appreciation Special your August 17 - September 6 feet to Show us your School Staff ID and Footwise purchase*. Save 10 % on one entire *not valid with other offers %PXOUPXO&VHFOFt&#SPBEXBZt 'BDFCPPLDPNGPPUXJTFFVHFOFt.PO4BU4VO EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • A UGUST 20, 2015 5
