LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.Byline: The Register-Guard Save priceless Wildish land The recent offer by the Arlie-Musumeci Foundation to help cement a sale by the Wildish family of its 1,400 acres abutting Mount Pisgah Mount Pisgah is the name of several mountains and places: Mountains
Using a Measure 37 claim to assert a $21 million valuation of this Willamette riverfront acreage, the Wildish family has started a 180-day clock ticking toward a development debacle and desecration. Each Thanksgiving afternoon, I look forward to the annual Wildish-sponsored Oregon nature documentary "Hasn't God Been Good to Oregon?" - complete with panoramic footage of sweeping vistas and wildlife. Yes, God has been good to Oregon, but has Oregon been good to God? One thing's certain: Both God and Oregon (especially Lane County) have been good to the Wildish family. Hundreds of millions of dollars of gravel extraction, highway contracts, airport and Autzen Stadium The stadium is tucked between the Willamette River and Coburg Hills. The uniquely shaped bowl blends in with the wooded Eugene landscape. The shape also allows for unique acoustics, making it one of the loudest stadiums in NCAA Football for its capacity. construction - on and on. Now is the time for the true leaders of this community, regardless of party and philosophy, to join forces to permanently save this priceless land for future generations in perpetuity Of endless duration; not subject to termination. The phrase in perpetuity is often used in the grant of an Easement to a utility company. in perpetuity adj. forever, as in one's right to keep the profits from the land in perpetuity. . The Wildish family, working with local business and civic leaders, can receive both a sizable monetary compensation for its previously extracted gravel/riparian area and reap massive federal tax benefits available for discounting any purchase price via permanent conservation restrictions. Wildish-Buford Park? You bet! Before it's too late. SCOTT BARTLETT Eugene Churchill seniors save the day On a recent camping trip, three friends and I unfortunately encountered car difficulties. As we drove the perimeter of Dorena Lake searching for a swimming spot, the right back tire of my friend's 1988 Aries blew out. A group of young women, my friends and I were embarrassingly uncertain of how to put on a spare tire. We were not receiving cell phone reception. Flailing our arms about in desperation for some assistance, we began to lose hope as cars sped past us, disregarding our predicament. Then our luck turned around. Three gentlemen - seniors at Churchill High School - were kindhearted kind·heart·ed adj. Having or proceeding from a kind heart. See Synonyms at kind1. kind and stopped to render aid. One of the young men was able to use our weathered jack to put on our spare tire. He and his friends gave up nearly 30 minutes of their day - they were on their way to swim at the lake - to help us out. Regrettably, I did not catch the names of these guys to properly thank them and praise their kindness. My friends and I had no cash to offer as a tip and didn't think to invite them over for s'mores that evening. Despite this, I would like to recognize and offer my heartfelt gratitude to the young men who helped us out. My friends and I feel extremely lucky that our distressing scenario worked out as it did. L. KISLINGBURY ANDERSON Albany Courtesy can change opinions As a bicyclist and a driver, I have come to emotional composure regarding the tragedy surrounding the death of bicyclist Jane Higdon. Like many people, I mentally took sides upon reading the available details surrounding the accident. Then a number of "us vs. them" letters began appearing in the newspaper, which increased my sense of one against the other. Since the accident, I have had several drivers attempt to point out where they think I should be riding as they pass, which only further increased my sense of victimization victimization Social medicine The abuse of the disenfranchised–eg, those underage, elderly, ♀, mentally retarded, illegal aliens, or other, by coercing them into illegal activities–eg, drug trade, pornography, prostitution. . Pretty soon I was angry at every car going through a red light and every rude driver. I was endlessly upset. As a driver, I have passed innumerable pickups stopped on country roads while the occupants visited with their neighbors. I didn't impolitely im·po·lite adj. Not polite; discourteous. [Latin impol honk for them to get out of the way, but drove around and waved hello. Then something nice happened recently. Two drivers were especially courteous to me while I was riding, and I asked myself what I could do to help my community. In answer I have decided, as a Eugene resident, to vote for the Lane County policing levy to show my support for those who happen to live in the county. I know they desperately need better policing. And, as a bicyclist and as a driver, I vow to be friendlier to traffic around me - including thank-you waves. You know, most bicyclists are drivers, too, and hopefully, someday, most drivers will also bicycle. RON SMITH Ron Smith may refer to:
Eugene Enforce noise laws uniformly So the city of Eugene is considering what to do about excess noise generated by leaf and mulch blower machines, "Blowers and mowers? What? I can't hear you!" (Register-Guard, Aug. 6). Seems like a waste of time considering that they don't take the time to enforce existing state and local laws pertaining to excessive noise and apply it to loud vehicles (Eugene City code 4.080 and Oregon Revised Statutes The Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) is the codified body of statutory law governing the U.S. state of Oregon, as enacted by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, and occasionally by citizen initiative. The statutes are subordinate to the Oregon Constitution. 815.025). Since there isn't any vehicle inspection in Oregon, the enforcement is left to the local police, if it's done it at all. Noise is higher than ever in our cities now. Cars with modified loud mufflers and trucks with noisy diesel engines roar up and down the streets. Many, even idling, are louder than an average lawn mower mower, farm machine used for cutting grasses and other hay crops. Mowers, drawn by or attached to tractors, or self-propelled, have superseded scythes. The mower is essentially an adaptation of the much earlier reaper. The first commercial mower was patented in 1847. , and at street speed their loudness nears 120 decibels, which is about 15 times louder than a leaf blower A leaf blower is gardening tool that propels air out of a nozzle to move yard debris such as leaves. Leaf blowers are usually powered by two-stroke engine or an electric motor, but four-stroke engines were recently introduced to partially address air pollution concerns. . It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to do something about all these forms of noise pollution. The noise laws already exist, and low-cost technology is available that allows municipalities to determine acceptable noise levels. The final part of the solution is to see, hear and take the time to enforce the standards. MIKE MILES Eugene Media parrot administration lies I recently read in The Register-Guard that fully half of Americans still believe that there are weapons of mass destruction Weapons that are capable of a high order of destruction and/or of being used in such a manner as to destroy large numbers of people. Weapons of mass destruction can be high explosives or nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons, but exclude the means of transporting or in Iraq. This on top of recent stories of horrifying crimes against Iraqi civilians. I do not judge our American soldiers for killing Iraqi civilians. It is tragic that they are in an intolerable position, where the people they are fighting blend in Verb 1. blend in - blend or harmonize; "This flavor will blend with those in your dish"; "This sofa won't go with the chairs" blend, go fit, go - be the right size or shape; fit correctly or as desired; "This piece won't fit into the puzzle" with innocent civilians and they cannot tell the difference. They haven't been trained in urban warfare Urban warfare is a modern warfare conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. As a distinction, warfare conducted in population centers before the 20th century is generally considered siege warfare. and are stressed to the breaking point. I hold our leaders accountable for this nightmare, which shouldn't be happening. We have no business in Iraq. We aren't fighting terrorists. There weren't any in Iraq until the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. showed up. We're fighting insurgents Insurgents, in U.S. history, the Republican Senators and Representatives who in 1909–10 rose against the Republican standpatters controlling Congress, to oppose the Payne-Aldrich tariff and the dictatorial power of House speaker Joseph G. Cannon. , and they simply want us out. The power vacuum A power vacuum is an expression for a political situation that can occur when a government has no identifiable central authority. The metaphor implies that, like a physical vacuum, other forces will tend to "rush in" to fill the vacuum as soon as it is created, perhaps in the form created by the removal of Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (born April 28, 1937, Tikrit, Iraq—died Dec. 30, 2006, Baghdad) President of Iraq (1979–2003). He joined the Ba'th Party in 1957. Following participation in a failed attempt to assassinate Iraqi Pres. has evolved into a civil war - perhaps unavoidable, but exacerbated by the U.S. attempts to control the future governance of Iraq. I charge the U.S. media with complicity in this disaster for parroting the lies and distortions of the Bush administration without even checking for accuracy - repeating things such as "weapons of mass destruction" and "Saddam threw the inspectors out so we had to go in." People tend to believe the first thing they hear and keep reverting to it regardless of the facts - a reality well known by Karl Rove  The external links in this article or section may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies. .
Another reality is that we will reap what we sow. KATHLEEN JONES Eugene Bush is wrong on immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. The Register-Guard chose to portray me as a passing, loudmouthed loud·mouth n. Informal One given to loud, irritating, or indiscreet talk. loud  mouthed racist (Register-Guard, July 21).
I tried to pass a reasonable message to the group of Latinos gathered in front of the Springfield City Hall. Their demand was that illegal aliens be welcomed to this country and given a path to citizenship. Those who disagree were branded racists and haters. This is not true. I have worked for many years side by side with Latinos as both a tree planter and contractor. I would not be called names by any of these people. The truth is that every day, people are illegally in this country and using forged Social Security cards in order to work, so they are committing a felony. Do these people who are demanding the pathway to citizenship also expect amnesty for the crimes of identity theft and federal document fraud? There are hundreds of thousands of people waiting patiently to come to this country. They are law-abiding people who should be welcomed as potential citizens long before people who perpetrate per·pe·trate tr.v. per·pe·trat·ed, per·pe·trat·ing, per·pe·trates To be responsible for; commit: perpetrate a crime; perpetrate a practical joke. fraud in order to be here should be given a path to citizenship. Although I support them on most issues, President Bush and Oregon's Republican senator are completely wrong on this issue. I hope they don't sacrifice our congressional majority or the Republican majority in the Oregon House with their stubborn lack of attention to the vast majority of people in their own party. JAMES H. PETERSON Springfield Whitfield raises important issue I appreciate Cynthia Whitfield's refreshingly sane glimpse (Commentary, Aug. 6) at one of the most challenging topics affecting young families and much of American society today: How to blend employment with the nurturing of children. Indeed, many workplace changes are definitely needed. The options currently available to parents are terribly and embarrassingly limited. Far too often, the decision must be made between several bad choices. Oregon could be a leader in changing this sad situation. I found it interesting that Whitfield's article was published during World Breastfeeding Week (Aug. 1-7 annually), the first part of the state of Oregon's Breastfeeding Awareness Month. Local employers please take note: You can access information about the excellent "Becoming a Breastfeeding Mother-Friendly Employer" program at www.dhs.state.or.us/policy/admin/ safety/breastfeeding.htm. All readers please take note: Check out the above Web site to see who has already applied for certification as a breastfeeding mother-friendly employer in Oregon (not very many). Be the first on your block. Employees and other interested folks: Consider having a chat with your favorite local human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. department. This would be one step in the right direction, and a simple step at that. I am grateful to Whitfield for opening the dialogue. JUDY MIEGER Cottage Grove Cottage Grove, village (1990 pop. 22,935), Washington co., SE Minn., near the St. Croix River; inc. 1965. There is farming (cattle, sheep, corn, and soybeans) and manufacturing (chemicals and machinery). |
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