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.