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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2018)
LET TERS UNIVERSITY OF NIKE REGARDING PHIL Bob Keefer’s masterful review of Joshua Hunt’s University of Nike (“Who Owns the UO?” Oct. 18) demonstrates how the University of Oregon has become corporate and out of touch with ordinary students’ needs and more in service of the Nike Corporation. Keefer explains how Hunt’s research has torn aside the veil of secrecy behind the real purpose of the donations: a quid pro quo for the UO abandoning support for Nike workers rights, both here and inter- nationally. The revelation about the huge public relations operation was new but stands to reason. My own recent experience with this corporate amorality came when my grand- daughter enrolled and moved into the dorms on campus. Campus construction equipment began moving about and mak- ing noise around 6 am each day, making it impossible for her to get a full night’s sleep. When we complained to housing about the issue we got the cold corporate shoul- der. Persons who were responsible never called back or were continually unavail- able. She has since transferred to Lane Community College, which has its own set of problems — but none of which is own- ership by Phil and Penny Knight, at least so far and the last time I checked. But who knows how long that will last? Jerry Ross Eugene What is this rag’s problem with a suc- cessful Oregon resident contributing lots of his hard-earned cash to the University of Oregon? I have yet to read any positive articles in this weekly rag regarding Phil Knight. Is all the negativity about jealousy? Knight isn’t asking to be chancellor or president or have his face on every build- ing, some of which would not have been built if not him. Or maybe you are smoking too much pot. Jan Gardner Eugene right is not a right if we can’t access it. Can we get to a place as a society where we no longer have to argue about whether women have the right to be in charge of their own bodies? We don’t want to inherit a world that’s moving backwards. We need you to vote no on Measure 106 because we can’t. We need your help to protect our future. Serena Orsinger Eugene OVER-TAXED TRUCKER No one I know likes to pay taxes, but they are a basic fact of life. As a trucker based here in Eugene who travels up and down the West Coast, I spend an enormous amount on direct and indirect taxes. Some but not all of this money goes to transportation infrastruc- ture. The remainder disappears into the general fund. So when I see there are local bond measures for repairs to roads I ask myself: Where is the money going? I’m not a conservative — in fact, my politics are slightly left-of-center — but it would seem, to this simple tax-paying trucker, that we pay for a legislature, both local and state, to distribute tax income to schools and roads, etc., as the law requires, and that the remainder goes to “those other projects.” Well, why are there measures to fund roads when they should already be covered. I’m just an over-taxed trucker, but I’m gen- uinely puzzled. I’ve always thought I was YOUTH AGAINST 106 I am a representative of my peers in REV, the youth leadership program from Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Or- egon. Youth have largely been left out of the conversation about Measure 106, even though it directly affects us. Here’s what we have to say: Voting “yes” on Measure 106 means saying no to our ability to make our own decisions about our own bodies. M106 takes away a person’s ability to make medical decisions based on their income or health care cover- age. For young folks, medical decisions are already hard to make. How many already cannot afford medical care? How many al- ready struggle to travel long distances to find health care? How many already lack safe, stable homes of our own? How many already feel unable to access our rights? A HOT AIR SOCIETY keeping the economy moving. Seems all taxpayers are just cash cows. Peter Tildesley Eugene AN IMPORTANT VOTE This November is an important election at the national and local levels. We need to elect Heather Buch for East Lane County Commissioner, which would give those who care about the future of Oregon and our planet a majority of county commis- sioners. The current majority of the board is working to log our last and best public forests in Lane County. Last spring at a candidate forum, Gary Williams said he didn’t believe in human caused global warming! Our forests are important carbon sequestering forests — one of the best in the world. Let’s vote out Gary Williams and elect Heather Buch. Also important is voting yes on the STAR voting measure 20-290 in Lane County. This will help make elec- tions more democratic as you can pick your candidates without fear and choose whom you really want to win rather than the “lesser of two evils.” Pamela Driscoll Dexter ALARMED INTO ACTION On Oct. 3 in Eugene, the first words out of Chris Hedges’ mouth were: “Well, this is where hope is, right here in this room, it’s with us.” As a father, author, professor BY TOM BOWERMAN Of Climate Change and Campaign Donations A REPUBLICAN DECIDES TO VOTE FOR KATE BROWN I am a registered Republican who has worked with both Kate Brown and Knute Buehler. Based on this personal experience, although I wish Gov. Brown were more out front on issues, I will vote for her. I was excited for Buehler when he ran for secretary of state in 2012 because one of his top three promises was campaign finance reform. Oregon is one of only four states in the U.S. to not have campaign limits. On a per-capita basis, our political campaigns are expensive, with big money donors having a disproportionate say in election outcomes. This disenfranchises voters and threatens our democracy. Knute lost that campaign to Brown in 2012. But in 2014 he won a seat in the Oregon Legislature, and based on his prior campaign I asked Knute to be a supporter of Senate Joint Resolution 5 in 2015 to refer campaign finance reform to the voters. But “no,” he told me he’d changed his mind, saying he’d come to see campaign money “like hydraulics. If you stop it one place it just flows through another hole.” Of course, that waffle logic could be applied to just about anything worth solving. Buehler once promised to reform campaign donations, but given the chance re- versed course while at the same time Brown officially endorsed and testified during legislative hearings in favor of campaign finance limits. That bill failed because not a single Republican would join, including Buehler. I’ve also worked on several Oregon legislative climate change measures. Hoping again for a “moderate” Republican, I asked Knute for his support. His “no” logic shocked me. He said he wasn’t worried about climate change, that if the snow loss shut down the skiing in Central Oregon, people could instead play golf, and if the snowmelt that supplied irrigation went away, then Central Oregon 4 October 25, 2018 • eugeneweekly.com could draw on a massive underground aquifer. This matches his dismal record on environmental protection. It is the legislature that writes law, not the governor. But in her quiet way, Brown has been a steady hand at encouraging climate resilience, emission reductions and other critical reforms; she can be counted on to sign reforms into law. I wasn’t going to write this but was prompted by Buehler’s highly negative and misleading campaign advertising. Buehler’s portrayal of Gov. Brown is not the Brown I know. Buehler’s toxic campaign rhetoric may be protected speech — but it also cultivates division and diminishes our shared sense of common purpose. Now he’s received $2.5 million from just one donor; how many votes will this negative campaign money buy? As someone who studies the political culture of Oregon, I can report with confi- dence that a strong majority of Oregonians, including a sizable percentage of Repub- lican voters, supports limiting campaign contributions and reducing our statewide greenhouse gas emissions. The problem in the legislature is the current rigid tribalism combined with closed Republican primaries — and unlimited campaign donations. So is Buehler really a moderate? His sad legislative record on critical issues, as well as his current campaign negativity, says otherwise. Someday we may get another progressive Republican like Tom McCall, but Knute has not distinguished himself as the one. Gov. Brown is clearly the better choice. Let her have a second term in office. Tom Bowerman is a fifth-generation Oregonian, a graduate of UO in architecture, a retired designer-builder and the director of PolicyInteractive Research. He writes this viewpoint as private citizen.
