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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2016)
too afraid to stay, so we went for a walk and looked at some pretty Christmas lights, but then she got too cold. All the donated coats had already been taken. We went back inside but there she was nervous around so many people. Another volunteer went to her own house and returned with her own coat to give to this woman. Later she calmed down enough to lie down on her mat and go to sleep. The volunteers were all great, caring and patient, but a vulnerable woman like her should not have to depend on random kindness to help her. This is insanity and this is one reason why I am supporting Bernie Sanders. Our current government is saturated in greed and fraud and it has to stop. There are enough resources to take care of people and our needs if we get rid of the corruption. Bernie is the one to do it; he is not beholden to the rich and greedy, but only to us, the people. Ellen Furstner, Marcola Jan. 7 A small group of armed white Christian militiamen take over a federal building in southeast Oregon. The sheriff claims these men have intentions to overthrow the county and federal governments. These men, some of whom crossed state lines to get here, claim they have no intentions of leaving, have stocked up food and have a generator. This isn’t the first time. A similar scenario occurred at the Nevada ranch of Cliven Bundy in 2014. Even though the “protestors” ignored lawful orders given to them by local and federal law enforcement officials and pointed their weapons at federal law enforcement officials, the government backed down and left them alone. As far as I know, the government has yet to collect any of the grazing fees (over $1 million) owed by the Bundy family for grazing their cattle on our public lands. If these “protesters” had been of some other religion, race or foreign nationality, would they have been dealt with the same way? Recent events would suggest otherwise. This country is governed by the rule of law, which does allow some latitude. However, if the government were to correctly recognize these people as terrorists, as their actions clearly indicate, there would be no latitude given, and law enforcement would meet the threat with overwhelming force. If these people think they are protestors and not terrorists, we should refer to them with appropriately less severe names such as Yocal Haram, Ya’ll Quada or Vanilla ISIS. Jay Schwartz, Eugene Jan. 7 EASY TARGET Capstone [see “Tax Exempt, Design Optional: A review of MUPTE design requirements past and present” story Jan. 7] got the scent of ignorant hillbillies and took full advantage. Duh? Marilyn Mantini, Eugene Jan. 14 ILLUSTR AT ION BY JEFF DRE W CHRISTIAN MILITIAMEN DR. FRANKENSTEIN When Montana State paleontologist Jack Horner recently spoke at the University of Oregon, it was as though Dr. Frankenstein himself had arrived on campus. Horner spoke of his efforts to “reverse engineer” a dinosaur. That is, to genetically manipulate a chicken — an evolutionary descendant of dinosaurs — so that the resulting animal will, in some way, physically resemble a dinosaur. This may involve attempting to add a long tail, altering the shape of the skull, changing the skeletal structure of the limbs and on and on. The guiding idea is that if evolution could trace a path from velociraptor to modern chicken, then humanity should be able to chart a course in the reverse direction from chicken back to raptor. Of course, the great sin of Dr. Frankenstein was hubris and an unexamined assumption that, for him, nothing is off limits or could ever be prohibited. But Horner’s macabre endeavors transgress on the sacred; they are an insult to the living world. If nothing else, respect for animals must bar treating them as a mere assemblage of component parts and desirable features to be rearranged and manipulated for one’s amusement or curiosity. Ian Smith, Eugene April 21 DECISION ALREADY MADE? Raise your hand if, public input aside, you fear that the city of Eugene has already decided to privatize Kesey Square. Walker T. Ryan, Eugene Feb. 4 ART COMMUNITY OF EXILE Through the symbolic fabric of local art and life, EW Arts Editor Alex V. Cipolle’s writings about the closing of the Jacobs Gallery Feb. 4 [“Art - It Could Happen Here: With the Jacobs Gallery closure, the visual arts community needs help, but who’s going to pay for it?”] describes an art community of exile and vulnerability as one after another local gallery closes. I’ve presented two solo installations at the Jacobs, been in 10 Mayor’s Art Shows, as well as serving twice on the Mayor’s Art Show jury. The Mayor’s Art Show, as well at New Zone’s version of the Salon des Refuses, were serious endeavors, important to many local artists whose selected or rejected artworks are showcased in these not-for-profit organizations. How important are these shows to artists? Most artists in Lane County are less concerned about fame or making it into the latest version of Janson’s History of Art than they are about living here in relative comfort. So what if the city has only a few commercial galleries, no significant art market and a small group of critical reviewers to help create a dialogue and build an informed audience? If an artist is lucky, his or her work would be accepted in the annual Mayor’s Show, and if rejected, shown in the Salon. And if an artist is really lucky, he or she will be invited to show at Maude Kerns Art Center, LCC Art Department Gallery, UO Adell McMillan Gallery or UO Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. If an artist is really, really lucky, his or her next exhibit might be reviewed or previewed in EW or The Register-Guard. There has to be more, a dialogue that creates an informed audience that is buying art for more than decorative elements to enhance a blank wall. We need a community that views art as an investment fostering further growth and an understanding of contemporary visual art. In many ways Eugene is sliding backwards with the closing of the Jacobs Gallery and the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts (DIVA) as well as the Gallery at the Watershed. We need, desperately, a stronger sense of our own artistic history as a city. We need a sense that art made in Lane County can emerge from the sphere of private lives and take on a meaningfully public, historical dimension. This means commitment to ongoing preservation and re-examination of art exhibits, particularly those in the nonprofit and commercial sectors, to mount analytical and historical exhibits like, say, those presented at the Schnitzer Museum and Karin Clark Gallery. Finally, an excellent start toward preservation of local art history would be informative catalogs of exhibitions presented in our own community. Mike E. Walsh, Eugene Feb. 11 eugeneweekly.com • December 1, 2016 13
