letters
DON’T FORGET THE WHIT
Your summer guide of events (EW,
6/6) missed a crucial community event:
the Whiteaker Community Market.
The Whiteaker Community Market
is 11 am to 4 pm every Sunday in Scobert
Park (4th and Blair). With a mission to cul-
tivate a gathering place that is inclusive,
diverse and vibrant, the market supports
emerging local makers and growers, with
a different theme every week, musical
guests and free yoga at 11 am!
This is my first year at the White-
aker Community Market and it is truly
unique. With more than 80 vendors
(but only 30 booths per week), no week
is the same; the array of vendors is ever
changing, but it stays small enough to
build community.
I’ve learned so much sharing my art,
Oregon Alphabet Soup Maps, with the
community, and it is lovely to see kids
playing in the park, musicians playing mu-
sic and people getting to know each other.
The Whiteaker Community Market
should have been front and center in
your guide to the summer.
Alex Dreher
Eugene
EAT YOUR VEGGIES
With summer upon us, I wanted to
call attention to, and thank you for,
printing the April 18 article written by
Camilla Mortensen titled “Earth Day
Cometh.” I am a single mother of a very
hyper four-year-old girl, and getting her
to eat fruits and veggies isn’t the easi-
est. When we can go to the gardens and
she gets to work and see the food grow-
ing herself, getting her to eat healthy is
a breeze.
Thank you for getting the word out so
other parents of picky eaters can have a
chance to teach and show their children
that gardening and having fruits and
veggies can be fun.
Jordan Hubbard
Eugene
BLM MANDATE
hear ye,
hear ye !!
LEGAL
NOTICES
Place your legal notices
in the Eugene Weekly!
FAST, EFFICIENT SERVICE
call: 541.484.0519
email: offi ce@eugeneweekly.com
fax: 541.484.4044
Eugene Weekly qualifi es for posting legal ads
4
J U N E
1 3 ,
2 0 1 9
The Bureau of Land Management is
proposing a timber sale in the Shotgun
area northeast of Eugene. Right now
we all have the opportunity to tell them
which of their alternatives we prefer.
A few of my concerns: The BLM
claims to harvest trees at a sustainable
rate, but many of their tree plantations
are lagging behind the growth rate pre-
dicted by their sustainability model. In
these times of climate change, optimis-
tic predictions of growth are foolish.
The BLM’s sustainability model does
not address carbon sequestration. As
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in-
creases it traps heat around the earth’s
surface. The value of our forests comes
from the capacity of trees to keep car-
bon out of the atmosphere. When a
stand of mature trees is cut, the amount
of carbon sequestration it had been
providing is lost totally. The immature
trees that replace it will not store as
much carbon for many years to come.
Not including carbon sequestration in
any model of sustainability is outmoded
and irresponsible.
Every year we anxiously watch the
news as millions of acres of forest are
destroyed by wildfires. Today our woods
are full of fuels: fallen trees, branches
on the ground, dead branches on lower
tree trunks. Part of the BLM’s job is to
protect the forest. Failure to remove
fuels and thin dense stands of trees is
indefensible.
The BLM is mandated to do more
than sell timber. We must encourage
them to update their sustainability
model and manage the forest for health
and fire prevention.
Jean Guidry
Springfield
GETTING KIDS ENGAGED
I would like to call attention to the
lack of public attendance to communi-
ty meetings. It is a social dilemma that
needs to be resolved.
The current youth already pay little
to no attention to the happenings in the
community, which no one seems to be
distressed by. If children grow up not
caring about what goes on in their com-
munity, our future begins to look very
bleak.
The city and state need to put some
kind of effort in addressing this issue.
The solution may be incorporating so-
cial media to a larger degree and/or
creating programs to implement in K-12
schools. Getting children interested in
social issues at a young age could make
them carry that intrigue into adulthood,
when it really matters. I have two teen-
age sisters who completely glaze over if
I try to bring up politics or social issues,
even when it directly affects them and
their lives.
It may seem ludicrous, but if we can
manage to make getting involved in the
community fun, people would actually
begin to pay more attention.
We need to change this dynamic
where people run from the word “legis-
lature.”
Mayor Lucy Vinis, Mayor Christine
Lundberg and Gov. Kate Brown, please
do something about this. It may resem-
ble a small issue now, but down the road
it could be a catastrophic problem.
Andrea McIntyre
Springfield
SHARE THE WEED
Cannabis: Some oppose it, but most
support it. It’s something that most are
familiar with, but only in recent years
has cannabis gained any admirable rec-
ognition from legislators.
The state of Oregon has one of the
best climates for growing weed in the
country; isn’t it only right to share it
with others? While cannabis hasn’t been
recreationally legal for long, it seems
like something such as exporting it to
other states where it’s legal should al-
ready be in place.
Oregon has an abundant amount of
weed, with the supply surpassing the
demand. This ultimately leads to the
guaranteed destruction of unused can-
nabis, valuable revenue and perhaps
even much needed jobs.
Allowing the exportation of cannabis
would create more jobs and generate
more revenue, both of which every state
could benefit from. Don’t forget the fa-
mous childhood saying: “Sharing is car-
ing.”
Trenton Taylor
Eugene
EDUCATING EMPATHY
In 2008, President Obama described
the state of the world: “I’m talking about
a moral deficit. I’m talking about an
empathy deficit. I’m talking about an
inability to recognize ourselves in one
another; to understand that we are our
brother’s keeper; we are our sister’s
keeper; that, in the words of Dr. King, we
are all tied together in a single garment
of destiny.”
The present looks much worse.
Local educator Paul Bodin has spo-
ken eloquently about an empathy core
curriculum and how we can help foster
not only an empathic national culture
but a planetary one as well. As preschool
educators, my wife and I have fostered
an empathy curriculum for our in home
preschool since 1990.
The early years enable educators to
give children a solid foundation of see-
ing things from another point view, de-
veloping problem solving skills along
with independent thinking, and most
importantly nurturing a “kind heart.”
Our emerging global culture hungers
for creative thinkers who are inspired
by compassion and love for all peoples.
Further progress for our planet will
not come from dazzling technologies
or threatening, bullying behaviors. The
true superheroes of the present and the
future are and will be the empathic serv-
ers of humanity.
Christopher & Deb Michaels
Eugene
THANKS, BUT YOU DROVE?
At Tacovore on Sunday, I had a mar-
garita — a really good margarita. I’m not
much of a drinker, so after bussing my
glass I walked off, leaving my wallet on
the table. My gal friend dropped me off
to walk the couple blocks to my home
near Morse Ranch.
At home, I discovered my wal-
let was missing. I called and gin-
gerly drove to Tacovore. No wallet.
I went home and called to cancel my
debit cards.
An hour later, I got a call that my wal-
let was at Friendly Foods. I walked down
and wondered what I would find. Every-
thing was there: money ($50) cards —
everything!
Whoever found it and took it to my
favorite grocery: Thank you.
That’s Eugene!
Sarah Adkison
Eugene
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M