LET TERS
INCONVENIENT TRUTHS
I appreciated Shawn Boles’ clear-eyed
viewpoint on the Nancy Shurtz Halloween
party flap [12/29].
The professor was, perhaps unwisely, in-
jecting her professorial role into a party en-
vironment, which seemed to get everybody
confused. Seems she surprised her guests
with an unscheduled pop quiz on a book
regarding white privilege that she hadn’t as-
signed them to recognize, much less read.
A costume party is not a book discussion
group. Without enough clarifying conversa-
tion, her costume was doomed to become a
projective test for the whole campus, stam-
peding the administration into hysterical
and unprofessional reactions.
The UO is now a national embarrass-
ment as a bastion of academic repression,
having attracted the attention of The Wash-
ington Post for punishing speech that “of-
fends” numbers of people beyond some
unspecified threshold by some unspecified
standard of measurement.
But when did speech interpreted as of-
fensive, disturbing or “harassing” bysome
students and/or faculty in a university en-
vironment become prohibited and worthy
of sanction? When did subjective reactions
to perfectly legal behavior become a stan-
VIEWPOINT
dard for sanctions? When did elemental le-
gal mechanisms such as hearings and me-
diation disappear, and in a law school of all
places? More importantly, why?
Privatization of higher education fund-
ing is undoubtedly a key factor. Under the
unelected tyranny of neoliberal capitalism,
colleges and universities live in terror of
alienating large donors.
In UO classes I have had the depressing
experience of observing that truths incon-
venient to influential outside powers are
assiduously avoided. Faculty subservience
to the hidden sources of their paychecks
often deprives our students of knowledge
crucial to their eventual functioning as ef-
fective citizens of our deeply troubled and
dysfunctional republic.
The UO president and provost may
well discover in court whose actions in this
matter were and were not “indefensible.”
Jack Dresser, Ph.D.
Co-director of Al-Nakba Awareness
Project
National vice-chair of Palestine and
Middle East Working Group
Member of Veterans for Peace and Int'l
Society of Political Psychology
Springfield
HIGH-TECH HURT
As concerns climate change, your
grandchildren will be dealing with natural
disaster as a way of life.
They will also be so high-tech they’ll be
able to trace their parents voting for Don-
ald Trump.
Your grandchildren will look you in the
eyes, hurt you were the people of their trust.
God bless us.
Philip Byron Renow
U.S. Army Medical Corps ’67-‘70
Cheshire
DO SOMETHING
I have a suggestion for Chris Percival
and anyone else who is planning to “sit
back and enjoy the ride; it’s going to be a
doozy” during the next four years [Letters,
“Lessons Learned,” 1/5]. Get off your butt
and do something.
Volunteer, contact members of Con-
gress, make donations to causes you be-
lieve in, join 350Eugene, get trained in
peaceful civil disobedience (which is of-
fered throughout the year in Eugene), and
join others in peaceful rallies standing up
for women, equal pay, the environment,
LGBTQ community, public education and/
or whatever policy you believe is impor-
tant in the United States and locally.
Finally, please read the book just re-
leased in August 2016 entitled Trump
Revealed by Michael Kranish and Marc
Fisher. You will learn the history from
childhood to the present of the president-
elect — learn how he makes deals, the re-
lations he has with his past and present cor-
porate circle, his relationship with leaders
and citizens of countries around the world
and how he plans to use those techniques
to “Make America Great Again.”
It will help you make plans for the next
four years rather than sitting and watching
it all unfold around us.
David Babcock
Elmira
HEADSCARF POWER
We are kicking off the “Year of the
Head Scarf” as a continual visible sign of
protest against the misogynistic and anti-
American policies voiced by the incoming
Trump administration.
The headscarf is used as a unique en-
hancement of female beauty. It can be a
fashion trend or a religious garment. It’s
a lifesaver for a bad-hair day too. As an
evocative emblem of overarching women’s
matters, it is the perfect icon for a coalition
of like-minded women — a sisterhood.
BY PE TE SORENSON
Don't Call It Retirement
PETE SORENSON ANNOUNCED JAN. 9 THAT WE'LL HAVE A NEW COUNTY COMMISSIONER IN
FOUR YEARS
H
arriet Beecher Stowe said, “Never give up, for that is just the
place and time that the tide will turn.” I’ve always lived by that
view. Today is no different.
And today is the sixth time I’ve been sworn in to a four year
term as Lane County commissioner for the South Eugene Dis-
trict. I’ve also been sworn in twice as Oregon state senator and sworn in three
times as Lane Community College board member. I’ve been privileged and hon-
ored to be called to public service.
But let’s face it: even by today’s low standards, that’s a lot of swearing.
Today, as with the other five times here at Harris Hall, this is an opportunity
to thank the people of our district who've entered into a partnership with me:
If I wanted to be the commissioner and they wanted me to be the commission-
er, then it would be a good match.
Today is a day of celebration at the fact that the people of Lane County
have elected several people, me included, to terms in elective office. In a sense,
it’s a celebration of representative democracy, something that too many people
take for granted.
Today is the ceremonial first day of these terms of office. I’m fortunate
to be elected and look forward with enthusiasm to serving the people of the
South Eugene District for four more years.
Today, however, is a bit different for me: at the end of this term, I’ll have
served 24 years as commissioner. That’s a long time: In 2014 the National Cen-
ter for Health Statistics said the average American had a life expectancy of 78.8
years. So 24 years is 30 per cent of that average. As my 95 year old mom knows,
it’s a about a quarter of her life, and I hope a quarter of my life.
By the way, I wouldn’t be here without my Mom, Jean Sorenson. She’s the
mother who helped to give me the support and give me the confidence to serve in
public office. Please stand mom.
We all owe a lot to our families — the families that make a sacrifice for us
to serve as elected officials. I have a whole slew of family members who’ve
sacrificed.
4
January 19, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
Another one is my wife, Kim Leval. Thanks and please stand, Kim!
By the way, I also wanted to thank my kids. They are taxpayers now and they
are both South Eugene High School graduates, both college graduates, both mar-
ried, both breadwinners, both homeowners and wonderful young adults. I know
they aren’t here but I still want to thank them, for their sacrifices, too.
Does this sound like I’m retiring? Here’s what Nobel Prize winner Er-
nest Hemmingway said straight out: “Retirement is the ugliest word in the lan-
guage.” He should know: he won his Nobel Prize for literature.
So, no, I’m not retiring.
As George Burns said, “Retire? I’m going to stay in show business until I’m
the only one left.”
For a while, I think the other commissioners thought I’d try to stay here for-
ever, but today is the day — not that I’m retiring — but the day I say I’m work-
ing hard for four more years as a commissioner and giving the progressive and
practical viewpoint — and that today is the day that there will be another com-
missioner from the South Eugene District here in four years.
Anthropologist Margaret Mead said it best: “Sooner or later I’m going to die,
but I’m not going to retire.”
So, no, I’m not going to retire but I won’t be a commissioner in four years.
I’m moving on to a different adventure, maybe in public service, mostly likely
law practice.
Someone else will be elected and will be entrusted with the responsibility and
honor to serve the people of the South Eugene District.
Finally, I want to say that I enjoy my work as a commissioner. It’s not always
easy, but I think it’s important to help people, help with the board’s work and
help as a leader in this community. That’s what I do.
I live by simple ideals, recent expressed by First Lady Michelle Obama:
Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. Build
a country — and for those of us here today I’ll add build a county — worthy of
your boundless promise. Lead by example with hope, never fear.
Thanks for giving me this opportunity.
Remarks given by Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson Jan. 9 at the State of the County address