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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 27, 2017)
The Shedd Institute www.theshedd.org - 541.434.7000 She dd T heat rical Eugene has a massive budget that no one knows anything about. It’s time to add more value to our unique form of govern- ment by electing an independent auditor to look at everything. Robin Bloomgarden Eugene WYDEN VS. FREEDOM OF SPEECH Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden has co-spon- sored a bill to criminalize advocating a boycott of Israel, with “a maximum crimi- nal penalty of $1 million and 20 years in prison” [see The Intercept, July 19]. That would include thousands of Wyden’s Or- egon constituents, the entire Pacific Green Party and, for that matter, the entire U.S. Green Party. The danger of the bill passing is real: 43 sponsors in the Senate and a majority in the House. Criminalizing a rival political party is the worst-case scenario of violating free- dom of speech, an attack on democracy itself. The only Oregon representatives co- sponsoring this travesty are Greg Walden of eastern Oregon and Kurt Schrader of the 5th District. The ACLU has issued a letter condemning the bill in the strongest terms. This completely destroys Wyden’s cre- dentials as a defender of civil liberties. It’s the most outrageous attack on freedom of speech, at the federal level, in many years, and openly un-constitutional. The Intercept article suggests that some senators had no idea what’s in the bill, possibly including Wyden, which is, if anything, even worse. It would be shock- ing carelessness — and blind obedience to AIPAC, an agent of a foreign government. Charles Newlin Corvallis NORMALIZE THE BREASTS “This is a co-ed sauna,” the woman at River Road Park & Recreation told me. “Yes, I know!” I replied. “We require that you cover your top and bottom,” the lifeguard insisted. “Oh,” I said turning to my partner, who was also topless, “so he has to cover up as well?” “No, this is only for females,” she said, indicating that it was my gender — specifi- cally my breasts — that was the problem. “Isn’t that gender discrimination?” I re- torted. That is definitionally gender discrimination. Females aren’t permitted to be topless. Males are permitted to be topless. Why am I not permitted to bare my chest in a space where men are? Why is it acceptable to tell women they’re doing something wrong when they do the exact same thing as men? Is it because female breasts are only in- tended only for the sexual pleasure of oth- ers? Are they only for feeding babies? Is it because they’ll incite excitement in men’s pants? No one says anything when a man goes topless at a sauna, so why is it differ- ent for women? We’re supposed to be equal, right? And even if most women choose to cover their breasts, why not allow the breast-carrying members of our community to exercise their right to fair and equal treatment. I don’t want to be discriminated against for having breasts. I’d like to see policy changes that reflect the modern times we’re living in. And I want to encourage the normalization, not sexualization, of fe- male breasts. Ingrid Stevens Eugene s ‘17 d! n ke ee w al Fin July 28, 29, 30 - The Shedd X MARKS THE SPOT Congratulations to the non-binary com- munity for scoring an “X” designation for their driver’s licenses. However, with 22 other letters to chose from, why did the legislature choose X, which designates the male chromosome? Youth wants to know. Fred McCord Eugene Editor's note: In our recall of high school biology, males have XY chromosomes and females have XX. Oregon Festival of American Music 2017 The Sweetest Melody Giants of the Classic Songbook August 2-12 - The Shedd eugeneweekly.com • July 27, 2017 5
