Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2018)
• We’re all searching for ways to control guns and stop this senseless violence in America. Here are five organizations you can plug into today: Indivisible Eugene, Moms Demand Gun Sense, Courage to End Gun Violence, Everytown and the Brady Campaign. • How hard is it to buy an AR-15 in Oregon? Depressingly easy. AR-15s were used in the mass shootings in Las Vegas, Orlando and Parkland, to name a few horrible attacks. Oregon doesn’t have a wait- ing period for purchasing a gun. Minors under 18 can’t buy a rifle, but their parents can give them one. Oregon has no law regulating assault weapons, and in fact many argue the semi-automatic AR-15 is not an assault rifle (and AR doesn’t stand for assault rifle, it refers to Armalite, which developed the AR-15). Back in 1994, President Bill Clinton’s assault-weapons ban outlawed the AR-15, but gun manufacturers circumvented it by modifying the guns. That ban expired in 2004. Let’s bring the ban back, in Oregon and across the country. Economic, Political, Historical Debts: The Case of Puerto Rico Featuring Rocío Zambrana, University of Oregon Philosophy Dept. This event is part of Democracy under Pressure, the Wayne Morse Center 2017-18 Public Affairs Speaker Series. This event is free and open to the public. February 28, 2018 - 6:30 pm 175 Knight Law Center, 1515 Agate St. • One of the most moving stories in the Feb. 18 Register-Guard was the long obituary of Kavous Seyed-Emami, who died this month in a Tehran prison. He received his doctorate in sociology from the Uni- versity of Oregon in 1991, before returning to his native Iran to teach and fight for the amazing environment of that country, a fight that the obit says resulted in his death in prison. His many friends in Eugene are holding a celebration of life 2-4 pm Feb. 24 in the Gerlinger Alumni Lounge at the UO. • The fight over cleaner air in Oregon in this short session of the Legislature is especially troublesome, in part because the public seems to know so little about such an important issue. The City Club of Eugene offered a program on Feb. 16 to give Lisa Arkin, executive director of Beyond Toxics, and Merlyn Hough, director of the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency, time to tell the story. The Oregonian in Portland also recently laid out the ugly details, including Koch brothers money coming into this state to influence the quality of the air we breathe. Oregon, of all places, should be a leader in air quality, but it will take stronger leadership than we have in the Legislature, especially the Senate. • What we’re reading: Make Trouble by John Wa- ters is his 2017 address to graduates of the Rhode Island School of Design. It’s a quick read, a perfect little escape from the news of the day. • The White House should be called the “West Wing Boys Choir,” our political junkie friend observing the Mueller investigation tells us. Why? Because they’re all going to sing like canaries. We hope so. SL ANT INCLUDES SHORT OPINION PIECES, OBSERVATIONS AND RUMOR-CHASING NOTES COMPILED BY THE EW STAFF. HE ARD ANY GOOD RUMORS L ATELY? CONTAC T EDITOR@EUGENEWEEKLY.COM waynemorsecenter.uoregon.edu UO INSIGHT SEMINARS Led by experts, surrounded by motivated peers, UO Insight Seminars offer the community access to a dynamic, noncredit university experience. Bach’s Passions: Judaism and Christianity in Musical Dialogue The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Jim Earl, UO English Mondays, March 5, 12, 19, and 26 7:00–9:00 p.m., fee: $120 Bob Dylan, Poet Jim Earl, UO English and Jeff Harrison, LCC Language, Literature, and Communication Saturday, March 17 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m., fee: $75 Shakespeare’s Henry V Jim Earl, UO English Saturdays, April 7, 14, 21, and 28 9:30 a.m.–noon, fee: $120 Steven Shankman, with Anne Kreps, Marc Vanscheeuwijck, Robert Kyr (UO faculty) and Richard Danielpour (OBF Guest Composer) Sundays, April 29, May 6, 20, and June 3 1:00–3:30 p.m., fee: $120 Public Lecture Series: Each month- long seminar is preceded by a free evening lecture by the professor. Preregistration is required. For more information on the 2017–2018 seminar and public lecture schedules, locations, and registration, visit: uoinsight.uoregon.edu or 541-346-4231 EO/AA/ADA institution committed to cultural diversity. © 2018 University of Oregon. AE18599 eugeneweekly.com • February 22, 2018 9
