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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 27, 2017)
LET TERS EW FAILS TO SAVE PLANET Earth Day has become something of a joke, an ineffective gesture now pretty much forgotten. But nobody told Eugene Weekly. Last week’s “Sustainabilty Issue” (4/20) is about consumer choices and an overall acceptance of environmental disas- ter – really nothing at all in terms of stop- ping it. Tiny moves like collecting rainwa- ter and a new fiber-optic internet system for downtown. The only thing this orientation “sus- tains” is the basic set-up that drives the continuing disaster. Global warming is caused by industrialization. And mass production produces mass society, which becomes ever more un- healthy; the daily gunfire, waves of opioid ODs, chronic disease, a cyber landscape of isolation, loneliness, depression, anxiety – community and even friendship markedly on the wane. A superficial approach, which accepts the basics of techno-industrial modernity, guarantees the catastrophic result. Every civilization has failed, now there’s only one left, with everything at stake. Let’s look deeper and challenge the deep-seated course of ruin. John Zerzan Eugene LCC BOARD NEEDS LGBT PROTECTORS Since the inauguration of Donald Trump, LGBT protections have come un- der fire from all branches of government. Nowhere is this more blatant than at the departments of education. As a college student and a member of the queer community, this is deeply per- sonal. No student should have to worry about encountering discrimination or in- tolerance on campus. As a community, we have an obligation to fight back on a grass- roots level, and school boards are the first line of defense. I support Matt Keating and Melanie Muenzer for Lane Community College’s Board of Education because they are both proven advocates for LGBT rights and protections. By returning Keating and Muenzer to the board, we send a strong message that Eugene will not allow bigotry and intolerance to take root. Jordan Golder Eugene KEEP EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AT LCC I am truly disturbed by the Board of Ed- ucation’s decision to close the Early Child- hood Education program at Lane Commu- nity College. This should not happen for a numer of HOT AIR SOCIETY reasons, including: Oregon State’s “Quality Rating and Im- provement System” raises the bar for those working in Early Education. The only way to get 4 or 5 stars is through higher education. Portland State’s Oregon Center for Ca- reer Development has also been working for years to increase the education level of those working in the field of Early Educa- tion. To rise to higher levels in the “Oregon Registry,” college credit course work and/ or degree is a must. To be an assistant or aide in a Head Start classroom now, you are required to have college coursework or a degree in Early Education. Our students go into the community for practicum experience, which benefits the community. Childcare programs will no longer have this opportunity. We need educated professionals work- ing with our children. Parents need to know that professionals are caring for their children. Please join me in supporting the Early Childhood Education Program and contact the Board of Education at Lane Commu- nity College with your concerns. Pamela DuVall Eugene SUPPORT SCIENCE AT LCC told me, “there are no ‘alt-facts.’ Thorough investigation produces hard evidence.” President Obama’s administration in- vested in science education. Conversely, Donald Trump treats science as opinions and “alternative facts.” Since science is not a priority to the GOP in Washington, D.C., we must rely on local leaders to support Science, Technol- ogy, Engineering and Math (STEM) pro- grams. Lane Community College board candidate Melanie Muenzer fought for STEM programs during her seven years in Obama’s Department of Education. Matt Keating has done the same in his years of service on the LCC Board. With the Geographic Information Sci- ence (GIS) program on the cut list, LCC’s recent budget woes are another example of science education under fire. I hope Muen- zer, Keating and their board of education colleagues continue to support science at LCC; that’s one of the many reasons why they have earned my vote. It was nice to see Muenzer and Ke- ating march with Rep. Julie Fahey and Congressman Peter DeFazio in support of science last weekend at the UO. It will be even nicer to return Muenzer and Keating to the LCC Board of Education this May. Michael Tobin Eugene “In science,” my chemistry professor BY TON Y CORCOR A N Farr right? Farr left? Farr gone? AND YOU THOUGHT THE EUGENE CITY COUNCIL WAS GOOFY? C ultural diversity stood at center stage when our Lane County commission- ers bypassed conservative and liberal women and struck a blow for civil liberty. At this rate, we may have to change the name of Martin Luther King Jr. Boule- vard to Pat Farr Way … or Farr Away. You see, Pat helped orchestrate Faye Stewart’s replacement on the commission. Twenty-seven peo- ple applied, including women from both sides of the aisle. Being the past master of cultural sensitivity — remember his role in Replacing Chris Edwards? Farr stood up for Lane County’s under-represented citizens and sided with two other white guys in a 3-1 vote. The nay vote was a white guy, too, for the re- cord. Farr and commissioners Sid Leiken and Jay Bozievich voted to replace the former white guy with a new white guy, Gary Williams. Talk about your profiles in courage! You can never have enough white guys makin’ decisions for everyone else here in Lane County! Just ask Jim Torrey. Now, Gary’s not a bad guy; after all he’s the for- mer mayor of Cottage Grove. But let’s face it; he’s a known conservative commodity. He’ll be a terrible vote on land use or herbicides or tax policy; anath- ema to progressives. And he’s already announced he’s going to run for the seat again in 2018. Can you imagine those five white guys and how much they 4 A pril 27, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com could accomplish in the next six years? Me neither. The list of 27 included candidates of every persuasion; from lefty environmentalists to Cre- swell’s Betsy Schultz, the current chief of staff for state Rep. Bill Post, a right-wing radio talk show host. What the commissioners ended up with were two Democrats and one Republican as the finalists. Guess who won? So now, progressives in east Lane County will have the task of defeating an “incumbent” with a poor record on everything from land use and zon- ing to public safety. And this district has changed politically due to the 2010 gerrymandered redistrict- ing. We long-time residents called it the “Churchill- ization” of east Lane District 5. Now I realize that Democrats can do a great job of sacrificing the “good” on the altar of the “perfect.” We have a long history of it. As much fun as we had watching the Republican presidential circular firing squad last year, Democrats also have a long tradi- tion of dysfunction between the left and the center of the party. Remember Faye Stewart’s last race? A landslide. I can only hope Democrats look beyond Kevin Matthews as they search for a candidate in 2018. I like what I’ve heard about Heather Buch. Both Jay Bozievich and Pete Sorenson agreed to nominate her as one of the finalists (in the name of cultural diver- sity). And she deserved the nomination. She appears to be an intelligent centrist who could defeat Wil- liams if he’s the candidate in 2018. Speaking of Jim Torrey, it looks like we’ll be able to memorialize him in Oregon history. Rep. Mitch Greenlick is sponsoring a non-profit Community Care Organizations (CCO) bill that would make ille- gal the villainous behavior of Torrey and other mem- bers of the Trillium board of directors who made off like bandits at the expense of benefits denied to Or- egon’s poorest Medicaid recipients. Last year, the R-G reported that a small group of insiders in a private Eugene company, Agate, that managed medical services for low-income Lane County residents made about $34 million when the company sold last year to a large out-of-state buyer. Stock options that had been selling for $100 to $300 a share escalated to $1,800 a share according to Agate financial records included in the sales docu- ments. Torrey’s take was estimated at over $2 mil- lion in stock options. Keep your eyes on House Bill 2122 as it moves to the House floor for a vote. As reported by the R-G, the bill seeks serious reforms to the remaining state CCO’s and requires new ones to be non-profit. The “Jim Torrey Memorial Bill” has such a nice ring to it. Stay tuned. Former state Sen. Tony Corcoran of Cottage Grove is a retired state employee.
