LET TERS
HONORING ED COLEMAN
public access television station to expose
me as a bigoted idiot.
Joe Tyndall
Eugene
The Black Student Union and the con-
tingent that supported it during the recent
process to consider renaming Deady Hall
at the University of Oregon now has the
opportunity to put its own stamp on history
and the UO campus.
The new Black Student Center will
need a name. I propose that the person
most deserving of that honor would be the
late Dr. Edwin L. Coleman II.
Coleman’s list of achievements is far
too long to list here, so please research his
lifetime contributions to our university,
city, state and country. It would be difficult
to find anyone who is more deserving than
Edwin Coleman.
Mary Lou Vignola
Eugene
FASCIST PIMP
SINGLE PAYER OREGON
After years of promising to do away
with President Obama’s Affordable Care
Act, Republicans have their chance. Their
attempts will create a different set of win-
ners and losers as big insurance crafts a
for-profit business plan that will have little
to do with health and much to do with the
corporate bottom line.
Inevitably the model fails because of
the large segments of the population that
will be left to fend for themselves. Insur-
ance corporations’ insistence to keep their
hands in the health care money pot will be
the downfall of the GOP attempt.
You might be surprised to learn that
the answer is waiting in the wings in Or-
egon in 2020. A dedicated array of doctors,
nurses, health professionals, business men
and women, and thousands of citizens of
all ages have been tirelessly organizing for
a health care system that serves everyone
in Oregon — that is equitable, affordable
and able to provide high-quality universal
health care, all while saving millions of
dollars by employing a Medicare for All
(single payer) system.
Please get used to the concept of single
payer and research the success of countries
that have employed it for decades. Visit
the Health Care for All Oregon website at
hcao.org and get involved.
When the time comes we will need ev-
ery enlightened vote to overcome the vest-
ed interests and misleading advertisements
authorized by Big Insurance and their cor-
porate and political allies like those that
helped defeat a similar measure in Colo-
rado this year.
Stuart Henderson
Florence
PRINCIPAL APOLOGIZES
I would like to take this opportunity to
address the recent events that have been
prevalent in our local media this past
week. I know there is likely nothing I can
say which will alleviate this situation;
however, I would like to offer a full public
apology for my recent behavior.
People are completely justified to feel
outraged, saddened and dismayed by my
disrespectful and inappropriate conduct.
While I never intended my words to be
heard publicly, they should have never
been said in the first place.
I take full responsibility and make no
excuse for my actions, other than to say I
4
am a human being, flawed and not infal-
lible. I must become a better person mov-
ing forward.
I am deeply ashamed that I have hurt
students and the people who trusted me to
lead, and failed to serve in the capacity that
was expected of me. I am deeply sorry to
everyone who has been affected by what
I’ve done.
This has also been a valuable lesson for
me, and I hope also for others, that nothing
is really private, and all words and actions
can have consequences, sometimes severe.
Now, the healing process begins. Cre-
swell and Pleasant Hill high schools each
have a great team of adults whose strengths
will be needed to bring students and fami-
lies together to rise above this and move
on. I must also work on rebuilding my life
with my own family, as we are greatly af-
fected by this situation as well.
Thank you for allowing me to share
these thoughts with you and for helping
each other work through this difficult time.
Andy Bracco
Eugene
SUPPORT WATER
PROTECTORS
We can all do one small thing to help
stop the DAPL. We have until Feb. 20 to
respond to the Army Corps of Engineers’
EIS Notice of Intent, which will establish
the scope of the EIS.
Send public comments to: Mr. Gib
Owen at gib.a.owen.civ@mailmil, and on
the subject line put “NOI Comments, Da-
kota Access Pipeline Crossing.”
Points to make: The “no-action” alter-
native is not realistic; it should assume that
the oil is not extracted.
Federal agencies have been directed to
evaluate the direct and indirect, the long-
and the short-term climate change impacts
through the EIS process. Please do so.
Evaluate all oil spill effects, including
the likelihood of those that will happen
during the entire lifetime of the pipeline.
Stopping the DAPL is a long shot,
given Trump’s determination, but this is
February 2, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
the least we can do to support the valiant
water protectors. For more information,
see ecowatch.com for 1.27.17 or Yesmaga-
zine.org/people-power/Dont-let-Trump-
Distract-you. Public comment on DAPL is
now open.
Jere C. Rosemeyer
Eugene
SJW WHINERS
Amid fear mongering by the social jus-
tice warrior (SJW) colonized media claim-
ing Trump is Hitler, some good news has
been largely overlooked.
As promised, Trump has killed the
Trans Pacific Partnership. TPP was a trade
deal negotiated by President Obama that
would destroy American jobs and transfer
power to corporations by allowing them to
sue governments to force changes in poli-
cies that interfere with the extraction of
profit.
Like Trump, Bernie Sanders opposed
TPP. In contrast, Hillary Clinton supported
it. Given that TPP would have increased
homelessness, could it be that Trump ac-
tually did something good for working
people?
As I add it up, killing TPP more than
compensates for all the other things Trump
has done that I wish had gone otherwise.
Stopping TPP makes Trump’s first week in
office a net positive.
In 2018, 23 Democratic Senators and
two Independents are up for election, ver-
sus only eight Republicans. If SJW behav-
ior does not change, conservatives will
achieve a filibuster-proof Senate.
SJWs need to stop whining about imag-
ined evils. Instead of shouting people
down and trying to restrict the speech of
folks who disagree, SJWs need to engage
in open and respectful debate.
If the SJW narrative cannot survive
scrutiny in the marketplace of ideas, who
cares how many people march in the
streets? Let’s pick a topic, set a date, set
the rules and see if you can kick my butt
using evidence and logic.
Here’s your chance to use Eugene’s
It was with great interest (and relief)
that I read the anti-fascist letter by Lola
Bravo (EW, Jan. 12). I wholeheartedly
agree with her that Trump is an unquali-
fied bozo with alarmingly fascist warning
signs.
In these post-literate times not many
citizens use books anymore, so that large-
ly eclipses the use of dictionaries. Let an
old retired English instructor define the
F-word … Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate
Dictionary defines fascism as “a political
philosophy, movement or regime that ex-
alts nation and race above the individual
and that stands for a centralized autocratic
government headed by a dictatorial lead-
er…”
Surely this nation does not need a pimp,
but a brilliant, compassionate public ser-
vant. My 1970s radical is reawakening. Is
yours?
Stanley Rosenzweig
Eugene
DUMBED DOWN AND
TRUMPED
As a veteran, I’ve taken “the oath,”
which certifies my care for this country —
the richest country in the world, the most
powerful, the leader.
Conservative views for education vs.
business have produced second-rate edu-
cation for the general population — em-
barrassingly low-ranking in the world.
As a result: Donald Trump.
Philip Byron Renow
U.S. Army Med. Corps 1967-70
Cheshire
WHEN WOMEN MARCH
Thousands of protesters were seen
marching on Facebook this week, confused
and angered that the women’s march had
something to say about anything particular.
“My friend told me there was going to
be women there, so I was all, like, ‘Hell
ya, I’m in!’” said Wayne Brewski. “But I
just thought it was about workin’ out and
staying fit.”
Upon finding out the march was about
more than an international physical fitness
campaign, Wayne says, “I was so pissed,
and all like, ‘Pfffft, this is ridiculous.’ I
mean, damn, what a scandal.”
Millions of people around the world,
primarily male, are still recovering from
the shock. A hotline has been set up by
Trump Tower for emotional support to
those still reeling from the awful decep-
tion.
Steven Coatsworth
Eugene
RESIST DOMINANT PARADIGM
The peaceful way should be tried first
when resolving conflicts. Non-violence
should always be the default strategy.
Former slave and abolitionist Frederick
Douglass pointed out that “if there is no
struggle, there is no progress ... power con-
cedes nothing without a demand; it never
has and it never will.”