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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 11, 2017)
Take the lane! LET TERS society that local community colleges en- courage students to be ethical and think critically. Elimination of philosophy courses will make the local population more ignorant and the local community less safe in the long run, which is the last thing a commu- nity college should do. Educational institutions have a moral obligation to fight against anti-intellectu- alism. Naoto Iwashita, Student President of National Society of Leadership and Success LCC Chapter READING VERSUS WEED Word on the street is that the Tsunami bookstore is destined to become a dispen- sary of mellow. Well, it’s about time the Southland got a weed store of its very own — I mean, there are only around 40 mari- juana shops in our fair metropolitan statis- tical area! Do you realize that that’s only around one for every 6,000 people! I mean, we might as well be living in Iowa! But wait, reader-dudes, it’s way worse than that: Did you know that there are only two doobie supply depots south of South Eugene High School! Talk about living in a desert man! Oooo, I just noticed my hands typing. Cool! Uh, where was I … Oh yeah, I mean … talk about wasting gas! Don’t you folks realize that we would have to drive ten blocks to feed our need for weed if we for- get to stock up? Support the environment, people! Besides, there’s like, what, ten pizza places down here … shouldn’t we be sup- porting local enterprises by giving them our munchies money? Mmmm … pizza. Hold on, I’ll be right back … So, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, pizza … No, no, not pizza … Umm … Tsunami Books? Yeah, that was it. So, look, our presidunce has proven that ya don’t need no book learnin’ to achieve great heights. (Ha! Great heights!) So it’s up to the owner to decide: Do we want a “book” store where the warm southern breezes blow, or should we heed the “need for weed?” The ball’s in your court, Mr. Landlord sir. Jamie Selko Eugene NO NUCLEAR OREGON On April 26, the Oregon State Senate passed by a vote of 26-3-1 SB 990, which “exempts small modular reactors from cer- tain siting restrictions that apply to nucle- ar-fueled thermal power plants.” I could find no notice of this in any Or- egon newspaper or TV news. This is a very important and dangerous moment. This bill would bypass mandatory Oregon voter ap- proval of nuclear reactors smaller that 300 megawatts and allow placement within any city or county that has adopted an ordi- nance so allowing. Apparently SMRs (small modular [nu- clear] reactors) are to resuscitate the nu- clear power industry. NuScale Power, the OSU-housed company R&D effort funded by a DOE grant of $226 million, and like- ly benefactor of this legislation, declares in their documentation that the “nuclear waste problem” is a political stalemate, not a technical issue. Oh, really... like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima? SMR mini- nukes can be transported on city streets by flatbed. SMR’s little clusters “subdivid- ing” “capacity” and “hazard” “into smaller units” minimizing “severe event’s like “Fukushima.” The Sierra Club, Taxpayers for Com- mon Sense, UCR, Bernie and most others outside the nuclear industry are opposed. Big Energy has blocked doable, free, clean solar energy. Contact your State Senator and House Member and tell ‘em no SMRs! Sandy Sanders Mapleton Bicyclist Occupy more of the travel lane when it is narrow or when in slow moving traffic. M–F 11-7pm Sundays It’s the safe and lawful thing to do. Sat. in Dec. When there is no shoulder or bike lane, and 12–4pm the travel lane is narrow, ride closer 10–6pm to the center of the lane. This will prevent motorists from attempting to pass you when there isn’t room to do so safely. Also take the lane when you’re moving at the same speed as traffic which will keep you out of motorists’ blind spots and re- duce right turn conflicts. Examples? Willamette St., Olive and Broadway downtown plus Crest Dr. in South Hills. Need life-biking gear, advice or service? Visit us. 380 city, touring & kids’ bikes in stock! Save at May Daze sale May 19th to 29th 2705 Willamette St • 541.484.5410 Mon–Fri 11–7, Sat 10–6, Sun 12–5 • Pick up the Oregon Bicyclist Manual (ODOT) at our store. Also Eugene/Springfield and Lane County bike maps! • WHILE ROME BURNS I recently started playing co-ed vol- leyball for Eugene City League. My team will probably not win a single game. We do have a great time however. One thing that has come to my attention is the city’s “gender equality” rule. This is where, if there are more than two strikes in a volley, one female must hit the ball for each volley before the ball goes over, oth- erwise it counts as a fault. Men have been making rules to pro- tect women since the beginning of time as a means to oppress them. As a feminist, I cannot stand for this. Some examples are: Can’t go outside at night because it’s not safe. Can’t go on birth control without your husbands consent because we don’t want you to be a “loose” woman. Can’t wear a shirt that shows your shoulders because boys can’t control them- selves. The list goes on and on. I love Eugene because it stands for liberalism and equal- ity. I feel as though changing this rule would greatly benefit women so that they will be respected as equals. Chad Anderson Eugene TEENAGE WASTELAND It really is a crying shame that the homeless in Eugene are lumped right in with the burnout teenage wasteland that is the LTD station. People with legitimate mental issues barring them from employment or house application, people who got screwed by the legal system and are now left out to rot, and teens who spend every waking second dropping acid and who call themselves homeless when their oft-not-abusive par- ents haven’t seen them in weeks after they up and left, are not the same social groups. Calling these deadbeats homeless is not only a misnomer but also a scapegoat to enable abuse of the legitimate homeless. Gene Smith-James Springfield READY TO RUN IT ON SUN? MORE POWER TO YOU. State-of-the-art solar electric systems from Neil Kelly are reliable, efficient, and economical. They increase the value of your home or business, and generate clean solar energy for decades. Check out the annual savings and incentives for an average size house and residential solar system: Energy savings: Up to 50% Cash incentives and tax credits up to: $12,000 Feel good factor: Exponential Contact us before state tax credits expire! Schedule a COMPLIMENTARY SOLAR CONSULTATION neilkelly.com/solar 541.683.6085 OR CCB # 1663 | WA L&I # NEILKCI 180 eugeneweekly.com • May 11, 2017 7
