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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 2017)
LET TERS The Shedd Institute www.theshedd.org - 541.434.7000 ht! Free Jazz Tickets for Students ig Ton Tierney Sutton Thu, Jan 12 The Sting Variations The Magical Moombah! RENAME SKINNER’S BUTTE I live next to Skinner’s Butte and propose that we restore its name to what it was called by the Native Americans who lived here be- fore us: Ya-Po-Ah, meaning “the high point” in their Kalapuya language. We’d be follow- ing Alaska’s example in its name change of Mount McKinley to Denali, the mountain’s Native American name meaning “big” for the highest mountain in the country. As local history tells us, Eugene Skin- ner was one of the first white settlers here, arriving in the summer of 1846. Soon after his arrival he began to build a cabin near the river when the water was low, until local Kalapuyas advised him to build his cabin on higher ground above the winter flood plain — hence the name Skinner’s Butte. How sad that, five years later, all the friendly Kalapuyas were wiped out by dis- eases brought by white settlers. I’m pleased to live next to the butte at Ya-Po-Ah Terrace, 18 stories tall. As our name suggests, we are certainly the high point among buildings in Eugene. Through our name we also keep one word of the Ka- lalpuyas’ language in current use, honoring the Native Americans whose land this used to be. Would the city of Eugene be willing to honor them as well by restoring their love- ly descriptive name for the butte? Mariette Wickes Eugene DECRIMINALIZE SEX WORK Regarding “Rapistitution” [Letters, 12/22]: No, sex work is not rape. Unco- erced sex work is consensual and transac- tional; rape is neither. Even if you feel sex work is exploit- ative and degrading, uncoerced sex work is still a personal choice, made for personal or economic reasons; rape is not. Attempt- ing to elicit a purely emotional response by using the shocking nomenclature “rapisti- tution” is transparent in its intent to arouse all the repulsive and criminal associations inherent in its root. But it’s inaccurate. Sex workers erect boundaries; rapists don’t. Yes, those boundaries can be crossed and, yes, sex workers can be raped. That’s the perilous reality. A sex worker who is raped will hesitate to report the crime, be- cause if she or he explains the context of the assault truthfully, she self-incriminates due to present laws. Decriminalize. Then you can follow the example of no-means-no laws, which Germa- ny recently passed to protect sex workers from the inherent risk of disease, abuse and rape. Erin Davis Eugene Saturday, Jan 21 Asunder 10 am Down Under! & 1 pm at The Shedd! Your ticket includes a special Music Box playshop at 11:15 am! featuring Corky Seigel Duke Robillard Jason Ricci Son of Dave Howard Levy Mark Hummel & GOOD KITTY I have never agreed with outgoing Eu- gene Mayor Kitty Piercy on much of any- thing in the political arena. But there was one memorable occasion when she was serving in the Oregon House of Represen- tatives back in the 1999 session. As she leaves office, I recall that incident fondly. A two-term representative, who will remain unnamed, became a champion for the Oregon Building Industry Association (now the Oregon Homebuilders Asso- ciation). He sponsored their bill to revoke long-held annexation voting rights in more than 30 Oregon communities. It was some- thing the Homebuilders had been trying to do for several years. They did not want those pesky citizens interfering with devel- opment plans. I found myself sitting next to then- Rep. Piercy at an evening function where land use issues were being discussed. The Homebuilders’ bill and its sponsor came up. She leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I’d like to wring his little neck!” Our minds had melded. Piercy then helped us kill the bill. We’ve had to do the same with its clones in subse- quent sessions. Unfortunately, the latest re- incarnation of the legislation, Senator Lee Beyer’s Senate Bill 1573 in the 2016 ses- sion, succeeded in granting the developers’ wishes. That issue is now in court. Thank you, Mayor Piercy, for making my day that evening and for your many years of public service — live long and prosper! Jerry Ritter Springfield The Blues Survivors Mark Hummel’s Wednesday, Jan 25 Ultimate Harmonica Blowout Herb Alpert Lani Hall Fri Jan 27 Coming up next at The Shedd 2.1 Chico Schwall: The American String Band 2.9-12 Jazz Kings: Clarinet Marmalade 2.17 Tony Glausi Sextet 2.22 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.9 Bill Mays Villalobos Brothers Tommy Casto & The Painkillers Jake Shimabukuro Chuck Redd eugeneweekly.com • January 12, 2017 5
