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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2020)
letters WE DON’T EVICT EVERYONE IN THE BUILDING I read your letter with interest, Mr. Don French (Letters, 5/14). You said, “Until there is a distinction between the homeless criminals/drug ad- dicts and homeless needing a hand... the general public will not be supportive of as- sistance.” Conveniently, there is a distinc- tion, and it isn't difficult to find. However, it requires the sacrifice of time spent get- ting to know homeless people to under- stand who they are — not as a group, but as individuals. This would be a good com- munity project for Eugene. Perhaps then, local community mem- bers and police would stop assuming that when a crime is done, it is an entire camp that is the culprit. If there is a criminal in an apartment building, do we evict every- one in the building? If there is a business that runs a chop shop, are all the businesses in the block shut down? Yes, criminals can certainly be in camps. But it creates harm to all of our city when a social group is treated like the worst of that group. When everyone is arrested, evicted, ticketed or banned because of the actions of one or two. Perhaps EW understands and appreci- ates that. Steve Kimes Eugene WE’RE FAILING THE TEST(ING) I’m a trucker. Have been for a few months short of 40 years. I haven’t seen it all, trust me. Something new will surprise me almost every day. Since the shutdown in Oregon, Wash- ington and California began some two months ago I’ve traveled close to 25,000 miles on I-5 from the other side of L.A. to the Seattle area. Sounds a lot but many of my colleagues have done more. I’ve never been tested. Not once. I’ve never been offered a test. Not once. I’ve never seen a testing place for truckers. Not once. I’ve traveled to and from the most heavily infected areas in the west. I expect many of my friends have had it and never known. I don’t think I have, but then again, how would I know? I’ve never been tested. I’m supposed to be on the front line in this battle, but I don’t have any clue what’s going on mainly because no one in this en- tire country with any sense is in charge. In 1943 this country produced three Liberty ships a day on this coast. Think of it. Three big ships a day! If we are at war, as everyone in authority is keen on telling us, then please will you use that authority to build the quick testing machines. I don’t care if you take over empty ware- houses. I don’t care if you contract out to every small machine shop in the state, but it seems to me if you intend to contact trace our good citizens, then a good place to start would be by finding out how big the problem is in the first place. Otherwise, well, welcome to “Whack a Victim. It’s fun but deadly.” E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M I’m thinking around 1.5 million tests a week should determine where the virus is in this state alone. Should be easy for me. Turns out there are only a little over 50 mil- lion people living on the West Coast. I have no idea how many I see on a daily basis. Good luck to us all. Peter Tildesley Brownsville BAN SINGLE-USE PLASTIC CONTAINERS While I was in Taiwan, I volunteered for a plastics cleanup at a local beach near- by. Since Taiwan is a small island that is far away from other countries, I was sur- prised at the amount of plastic waste that washed up on the shores. Instead of seeing little kids frolicking in the water and peo- ple sunbathing, the beach was littered with plastic bags, bottles and even tire wheels. It was a devastating site that opened my eyes to the problem of plastic pollution. Everyone is guilty of using plastic forks, bags and styrofoam cups. In fact, every minute one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into our oceans. The amount of plastic has accumulated so much that it is killing wildlife, infecting coral reefs, pol- luting beaches and causing havoc on our environment. The solution is simple: a ban on the most harmful plastic items like polysty- rene foam cups and takeout containers. By implementing a ban, people will naturally transition to a more biodegradable alterna- tive. Florence, Eugene, Portland and Ash- land have already carried out a ban on polystyrene foam containers. Now we just need a statewide ban to protect our envi- ronment. In order to win change at the state level, we need to convince key decision-makers in the state legislature to carry out a ban. We can do so by showing them the over- whelming public support for the issue. Let’s make sure we never have to clean up the beaches anymore since it’ll already be clean. WE’RE STILL HERE TO SERVE YOU! 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They were designed in a way that encroaches upon and angers every- one through a lack of consideration. This simply makes for unhappiness for the resi- dents as well as the surrounding neighbors. It is short-sighted inconsideration that has no place in a society on the verge of en- We got you. Call (541) 342-8666 to place orders for pickup or delivery. 10am-6pm, daily Seaweed, rice, noodles, frozen products, deli, snacks, drinks, sauces, spices, produce, housewares, and more. We carry groceries from Holland, India, Pakistan and Polynesia Sushi & Asian deli take-out MOTHER’S DAY SPECIAL OPEN MOTHER’S DAY 10% OFF EVERYTHING IN THE STORE! *Excluding rice over 10lbs. and case prices. Offer expires 5/27/20 www.sunriseasianfood.com M - Sa 9am - 6pm • Sun 10am - 6pm 70 W. 29th Ave. Eugene • 541-343-3295 M A Y 2 1 , 2 0 2 0 3
