LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Textbook costs hurt high schools

Re the Feb. 1 article, "Costs of books takes toll on students": We oversee the purchase and circulation of textbooks at Churchill High School and are sympathetic when it comes to the hardships brought on by textbook costs. Textbook costs have taken a toll at the high school level as well.

In 2002-03, we purchased $23,470.65 in textbooks. At the end of the school year, the value of textbooks not returned was $20,302. The same thing happens at most high schools. Some loss is due to students who just don't return textbooks until they receive a letter asking them to pay for the books or return them. We include the price of the books in the letter, and that gets them returned (sometimes two or three years later).

However, the biggest loss is with transient students. They are here one day and gone the next, leaving no forwarding address. Three years ago the loss was $47,822. Last year the loss was less than half that amount. But that is because huge amounts of staff time (an indirect cost) go into writing and sending letters to students reminding them to return textbooks.

With the pervasive funding crisis in public schools, we would suggest a couple alternatives. One would be for students to purchase textbooks. They would keep track of them so they could sell them at the end of the year. A second would be to have students pay a refundable deposit. With the average cost of a textbook at $47.54, students and parents need to develop an appreciation for the cost of textbooks.

DEBBIE PARKER

NICKI MAXWELL

Churchill High School library

Eugene

EWEB land could be steam park

Eugene's planning folks sponsored a visioning workshop in June 2000 to consider developing the city's "Downtown to the River" idea. The closure of Agripac and Eugene Water & Electric Board's review of its long-term need for its riverfront property resulted in a big chunk of potentially developable riverfront land.

The new federal courthouse will likely use up most of the Agripac parcel. The EWEB parcel includes the utility's corporate offices and shops, the old steam plant, the new steam plant and the power substation, with much of this land compromised by contaminated soil. This 20-plus acres holds the true potential for a Eugene-flavored river presence.

Try this as a vision: A unique set of circumstances has resulted in the strong potential of converting the EWEB steam plant into a world-class Eugene Live Steam Museum. The surrounding riverfront can host the return to the river for a daylighted millrace as part of a Steam Plaza, complete with steam-powered machinery standing like statues except during Eugene's Live Steam Days, when the annual steam fair brings visitors from all over the world.

The McKenzie-Willamette/Triad Hospital proposal to locate a new hospital on the EWEB land steals the "city to the river" concept with yet another move in the Eugene-Springfield "hospital-on-the-river" wars. While I appreciate the importance of health care, it seems inappropriate to cede this potential jewel to yet another battle of big money and corporate power structures.

TOM SNYDER 

Eugene

Criticism of Willard missed point

I read with some dismay the letters from readers pillorying Nancy Willard and her even-handed Feb. 15 Commentary article about Eugene School District's two-tier school system. In my mind was an image of separate-but-equal segregationists writing letters to the editor in Gov. George Wallace's Alabama, circa 1963. What breeds such a sense of entitlement and selfishness?

One amusing quote from a letter writer suggested that "nothing prevents parents of neighborhood school students" from giving money to their schools just as alternative parents give to their schools. Did this letter writer not bother to read Nancy Willard's article? The whole issue is about socioeconomic segregation. In simpler words, this means that the families of neighborhood school students tend to be much poorer than the families of alternative school parents, and therefore have fewer resources to spare.

One silver lining to keeping the rich and poor segregated is that most of the neighborhood schools qualify for Title 1 funding. You have to give the Eugene School District credit for creative funding in economically trying times.

CHRIS HAMILTON 

Eugene

Diversity issues hamper process

On Feb. 18, Latinos and Latinas turned out to support naming Eugene's "Southside" elementary school in honor of Cesar Chavez. Latino educators, students, parents and non-Latino groups showed their support. This process has been eye-opening for me, not because of the participation - it has always been there - but because it illustrates how a lack of diversity on the school board can marginalize community members.

The Eugene School Board is 100 percent white. Although the superintendent is black, he is held accountable by white board members, which excludes him from truly wielding power for all children. There are no Latinos, Latinas or Asians, which makes the power imbalance worse.

When power is most exercised by one group, issues are framed around white criteria. The criteria for naming the school is a perfect example, which excluded names that required non-Anglo pronunciation. "The failure to initially consider Chavez - and a guideline suggesting that the committee (more than 95 percent white) choose a name that's easy to pronounce - raised red flags among some Latino leaders" (Register-Guard, Feb. 12).

The school board will decide on March 18 whether it will include Cesar Chavez in its final decision. Given similar power dynamics on the school board and the Eugene City Council, chances are that last year's controversy over re-naming Centennial Boulevard to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could bubble over again. The Latino community will be prepared for the worst.

JAVIER AYALA

Eugene

Bush is a divider, not a uniter

On Feb. 24, President Bush officially endorsed a federal constitutional amendment that would require discrimination against same-sex couples and their families. Bush's announcement was nothing more or less than I expected - the proposal of a divisive and radical scheme couched in misleading rhetoric about compassion and respect.

This is done while he is slipping in the polls and to take our attention off his misguided war, the lies about weapons of mass destruction, the lies leading us to war.

He can't talk about jobs, he doesn't have a plan. He can't talk about the rising cost of education, he doesn't have a plan. He can't talk about health care - again, he doesn't have a plan.

He's a war president - that's what his plans are for: to strip Iraq of its resources and give the country next to nothing in return.

To divert our attention from him being AWOL from military duty, he'll be a divider, not a uniter, to gain him just four more years misleading this nation.

Let's not give it to him. Let's send him home and then bring him up on charges.

KARLA D. HURST

Oakridge

Toxics law gets strong support

Testimony at the Feb. 23 Eugene City Council meeting showed strong support for Eugene's Toxics Right-to-Know program. The council heard testimony from 15 people about the fee that hazardous substance users would pay this year.

Thirteen people (including myself) spoke in favor of the proposed fee schedule and suggested ways to expand the program. Two people spoke against the fees (one business owner who complained the program is unfair and advocated for expanding the program; and a representative of the Chamber of Commerce). Once again, people in Eugene demonstrated strong support for their right to know about toxic chemicals.

The law as originally adopted ensured that the financial burden on local businesses would be fair. At the hearing, right-to-know advocates explained that this year, small businesses would have to pay more than their share. A few companies created this shift by lobbying the Legislature to pass a $2,000 cap on fees. This cap creates a situation where small businesses will need to pay more than their share of the fees this year.

The city should take this opportunity to fix the problem by expanding the program to include other hazardous substance users. This would spread fees out and generate a more comprehensive picture of hazardous substances in our community.

JENNIFER GLEASON

Eugene

Blame everything on liberals

I have received so many e-mails from conservative relatives and ex-Air Force buddies blaming all the ills of the Western world on the Clintons, left-wingers and the liberal media, that, in the spirit of our "war president" regarding gay marriage, we need an amendment to the U.S. Constitution for Americans oppressed by the left officially assigning blame to liberals for all ills since, and including, the crucifixion. Jews are liberal, right? I mean, correct?

The amendment would have a number easy to remember - say, 666. Then, instead of hearing the same old mantra "the liberals did it!" over and over - just like the old joke where people tired of hearing the same old jokes over and over gave them numbers and laughed simply at the number being called out - "righties" could simply yell out "Amendment 666' and then we'd all get heartburn - or laugh.

KEN MOLLY

Eugene

Use better judgment with photos

The Register-Guard generally does a good job with its photojournalism, but with two recent exceptions.

Pedophiles in the community don't need to see photos and names of dancing underaged girls and boys (Register-Guard, Feb. 23), especially given the revealing attire that kids wear these days. Certainly the paper could have used an image featuring another after-school activity with less suggestive overtones.

Frankly, the Feb. 24 front page picture isn't about protecting the so-called rights of a convict - who disrupted other people's lives and killed another. What sense is it to show such a morbid photo in a newspaper, regardless of who the bloody and dying person is?

The issue at hand is what is appropriate and not appropriate to post in a newspaper, despite the bottom line and award nominations. It is possible to unnecessarily show more than what is reasonable to tell a story. The above photos in question were not suitable for all potential readers.

The editors and photographers of The Register-Guard should exercise better judgment when taking and publishing pictures for their stories.

G. S. WARREN

Springfield

LETTERS LOG

Letters received in past week: 250

Letters published: 60

What's on readers' minds: The debate over gay marriage and President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage were the most popular letters topics this past week. In close second was reader reaction to the domestic violence tragedy in Springfield in which Tomas Ortega-Benitez murdered his ex-wife, Paula, then killed himself. A number of readers wrote letters criticizing the newspaper's decision to publish a front-page photograph of the dying Ortega-Benitez being loaded into a ambulance. Other hot topics included Mel Gibson's new movie "The Passion of the Christ," a proposal to build a gas-fired power plant in Coburg and Ralph Nader's announcement that he will enter the presidential race as an Independent.