LET TERS
DICKLESS DOLLS
Kari Johnson (“Rejecting Barbie,” Let-
ters, Aug. 24) gives us a very old feminist
lecture I’ve heard years ago, taking on
what seems to be some of her old toy Ken
and Barbie dolls.
See if I remember this right: It’s moms
who give their daughters Barbie dolls and
it’s the desire of those dolls’ owners that
they choose and get Ken dolls. Moms like
that because, as everyone knows, the Ken
dolls have no dicks.
Factory emasculated males.
So I hereby give a necessary social cor-
rection with this simple statement: Men are
from Earth, male feminists are from Uranus.
It’s 50-50 dear, live with it because men
are screwed over, too.
Just ask the Vietnam War draftees: You
can find a lot of their names on a wall or in
a pit, and you need to know that most of
them were virgins.
Dan Moore
Springfield
CLEARCUT MOUNTAIN
I can’t help but notice that the size, se-
verity and scope of the recent clearcuts vis-
ible from the road seem to have grown and
are alarming to me.
For as long as I have lived in Oregon, I
will never get used to this egregious practice
that forsakes the local community, wildlife
and the general ecology of the area. I cannot
accept that these lovely forested hills exist
for the sake of a chief executive officer or
for shareholders who live far away.
The clearcutting along the McKenzie
River Valley and the Row River Valley is
so extensive that entire mountain ranges
are bald, entire mountains completely cut!
It baffles me that, in an area as progres-
sive and politically active as Oregon, these
practices continue unabated.
What’s holding us back, Oregon? A
clear answer comes to mind: the forest in-
dustry and the entrenched ties to the politi-
cal and economic systems in this state.
Corporations make large sums of mon-
ey from the timber industry, and they are
not going down without a fight. But there
are more of us than there are of them, and
the time is nigh to address the ways this
industry is encroaching on life more and
more.
As the unsustainable nature and short-
term vision of this industry becomes ap-
parent, our recreational spaces and agri-
cultural land are compromised. And these
clearcuts are directly related to the unstop-
pable fires raging at this moment.
All who live here, new and old resi-
dents, love this land. It is time for us to
deconstruct this practice and finally stop it.
Kerstin Britz
Cottage Grove
TAKING ON HOMELESSNESS
There is not enough recognition of the
efforts by Mayor Lucy Vinis that are actu-
ally working towards under-attended and
long-needed reforms.
I have attended two meetings since
July, with officers and homeless persons
present, speaking on concerns and issues
at the request of the mayor.
As a member of the Poverty and Home-
lessness Board, and participant in the shel-
ter task force discussion, I have seen Vinis
speak on the topic, listen and have staff tak-
ing action on the testimony of our attending
homeless. Her motion established an advi-
sory group consisting of 100 percent home-
less persons, for the very reason of being in-
terested in hearing directly from those who
are experiencing homelessness, with the
ability to give feedback on proposed action,
and generate materials for the board tasked
with addressing homelessness issues.
After I collected definitions for data on
homeless and police interactions, I found
that even the police are trying to find better
ways to engage and help, versus ignoring
or increasing the issues.
Kris McAlister
Springfield
GRITS AND BEAR IT
The Oregon Bach Festival fires Mat-
thew Halls for making a private joke (to a
black artist friend) about the “antebellum”
setting of some event and then, in a South-
ern (not Southern black) accent, asking if
he’d like some grits.
Halls’ friend is not interviewed by the
festival board; his firing hinged on hearsay.
What can a person say except, “Did
you never see My Cousin Vinnie?” Grits
are colorblind!
S. Lea Jones
Eugene
WELCOME TO OREGON
Dear newly arrived folks from other states:
If it wasn’t a job that brought you here,
then it was probably the beauty of Oregon
and all the outdoor activities it offers. Liv-
ing here is truly a throwback to another era.
This does not come without a price.
The clean air, water and seemingly endless
pristine coastline and trails are costly: It is
your time, your donations, your effort and
your volunteer hours that keep our state’s
environment as healthy as possible.
There are many entities already in place
where you can do everything listed above:
Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Beyond
Toxics, Sierra Club. Many of these non-
profits offer outings and hikes. So — go,
do, see. Then please get involved in volun-
teering to keep Oregon beautiful.
We need all hands on deck to fight
polluters, and you are the newly arrived
hands. We need you. Your involvement
will pay you back handsomely in more
ways than you can imagine.
Kim Kelly
Eugene
THE ZIG-ZAG PATH
Last week, as my lungs struggled to
breathe and the sun was an alien orange
blob in the sky, the Hopi prophecies en-
tered my thoughts: “When earthquakes,
floods, hailstorms, drought and famine will
be the life of every day, the time will then
come for either the return to the true path
or going the zig-zag way,” said Hopi Elder
David Monogue.
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September 14, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com