LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Oregon needs timber industry

When God gives one lemons, one should make lemonade. When God gives one trees, one should make lumber. That is, unless you happen to worship trees, as Russell Sadler appears to.

In his Feb. 28 column, Sadler leaps out of his wooden director's chair to defend the holy spotted owl and its alleged non-role in declining Oregon timber harvests. The spotted owl may have been innocent in the 1970s, but it isn't today. Sadler then gives the impression that our state forests are in dire straits. That is hardly the case.

Oregon is the top lumber-producing state in America. Forty-six percent of Oregon's 62-million-acre land mass is forested, of which 37 percent is privately owned. That means only 17 percent of the state produces 85 percent of the total annual timber harvest.

Simple math then reveals that 63 percent of all the state forests are publicly owned, strictly regulated by government agencies and account for only 15 percent of the annual harvest.

Furthermore, over a million acres of old growth forest in Oregon is immune from the timber industry by way of wilderness designation or because of, you guessed it, the spotted owl. On top of all that, nearly 50 million new seedlings are planted each year in Oregon.

Timber is a sustainable industry in Oregon, and God knows this state needs some industry other than gambling. To the misfortune of our public schools and our state coffers, Sadler and others who share in his alternate reality disagree.

DON RICHEY

Eugene

LTD workers want too much

I am surprised by the letters being written in support of the Lane Transit District workers. The logic runs something like this: Every worker deserves a high salary, a nice benefit package and a great retirement program, so we should give these to the LTD workers.

The fact is, we cannot afford the high salaries and the great benefit packages that the LTD drivers are asking for. No one in the private sector gets these sorts of benefits. No one in the private sector gets even half the salary paid to an LTD driver. To be honest, with most routes losing money and with many buses running empty, it is questionable whether we can even afford LTD.

It is silly, in these times of economic uncertainty, to even be discussing pay raises and benefit increases for any government institution. The discussion should be focused on closing down money-losing routes, getting rid of excess LTD workers and saving money.

MIKE BROOKS 

Coburg

State prisoners don't leave jail

There is public outrage at the continuing saga of criminals being released from the Lane County Jail due to a lack of space, but perhaps people would be more shocked if they heard who is not being released.

My fiance committed a crime as a teenager - arson, no person involved, only property damage. He was sentenced as an adult and received three years' prison, three years' parole. The three ended up being six.

During this time, he kept getting thrown in Lane County Jail for several weeks at a time for such things as not finding a job (in a state where unemployment is higher than anywhere else in the country, and with a criminal record!), and other minor things. To this day he has no other crimes on his record, does not have so much as a speeding ticket and is doing very well in college. Yet was he ever released early from jail because of a shortage of beds? No, because he was a state prisoner and the state pays Lane County money for every night they keep a state prisoner in jail.

Next time a dangerous person is released from jail, remember this: Your safety is being endangered not out of necessity but for a few extra dollars.

CLAIRE VAN DEN BROEK

Eugene

Eugene prefers sustainability

The voice of local big development, The Register-Guard editorial board, is trumpeting some new poll stating economic issues are of primary importance for Eugene's citizens.

Wow, that's news.

However, I fail to recognize how a government-supported convention center and hotel downtown, tax subsidies for corporations such as the departed Sony plant or slick speculation such as that proposed for Eugene Water & Electric Board's property are supposed to ease my mind.

I didn't know boondoggles were so good for the average citizen's economic welfare. But I'm just an economic knucklehead. After all, I had thought that my financial insecurity might be more related to what is happening in Washington, D.C., such as this new personal social insecurity program.

I am sure that those and their friends who make their fortunes off of big development in this town are good people. But obviously self-serving rationalizations for such projects, when the citizens of this community have stated time and again that they prefer sustainable development, are outra- geous.

The mantra of more jobs is make-believe. As is that of an economy of scale. The motive is for more dollars for the John Musumecis and Arlie & Companies of this town.

I won't be surprised, if a little mindboggled, by the millions in windfalls this EWEB deal and others like it are going to make for a few editorial staff cronies in the big development business. That should make us all feel better about the economy.

JOANNA S. ENMAGOODS

Eugene

Teach science in science class

I appreciate The Register-Guard for taking a clear editorial position on intelligent design (Register-Guard, Feb. 28) as being a faith-based, nonscientific explanation of the evolution of species with no place in public school science classes. As the editorial said, unless "ID" proponents are willing to submit their interpretations to rigid, scientific investigation, they ought to be taught somewhere in the humanities or philosophy classes, etc.

Being bombarded with daily media accounts of bats in belfries, ghosts in the Bijou, astrological charts, Roswellian aliens, cinematic robots, gobots and a gaggle of healers and shamans, the newspaper makes a strong contribution to educating its readership to look for explanations of the natural world to science-based, rational methodologies, not something disguised as "ID" or "creation science." The rightful place for faith-based, theist explanations of the natural world is under the rubric of religion, the paranormal and personal opinion.

The editorial would have been enhanced with a reference to Carl Sagan's baloney-detection kit, from his 1995 book "The Demon-Haunted World."

FRANK BERTRAND

Eugene

Editorial was entirely random

On the Feb. 28 editorial page, I found an arbitrary arrangement of letters that spelled out the words, "Separate faith, science." What followed was another randomly generated series of letters that appeared to convey the message that it is an unscientific, and therefore illegitimate, act of faith to assume that intelligent design is behind the existence of complex life on this planet.

This line of reasoning, when taken to its logical conclusion, supports my authoritative and biased opinion that the editorial itself is nothing more than the product of random chance. There is no form of intelligence responsible for the existence of the piece. Therefore, I have also concluded that the author of this article does not actually exist.

Ignore the fact that the letters appear to form intelligible words and sentences in only one specific human language. An objective scientific examination of the physical properties of the paper and ink yields "no logical proof or convincing evidence" that the editorial is the product of intelligent design.

Any other consideration would require the element of faith, which, as we all know, has no place in the scientific investigation of a universe that all scientists believe to be both ordered and intelligible.

DENNIS JOHNSON 

Eugene

Don't dismiss intelligent design

I admit it, I don't take condescension very well. It's meted out quite liberally by The Register-Guard's semi-annual lectures on why secular scientists are more highly evolved than nonsecular scientists (editorial, Feb. 28).

To be clear, microevolution - or evolution within a species - is uncontroversial. Its study has and will continue to bring the medical miracles we long for. It should be taught and funded liberally.

It is quite disingenuous to allow macroevolution - evolution from one species to another - to piggyback on the well-heeled scholarship of microevolution. It is this practice that brings the controversy.

Macroevolution is given a green light it has not earned and does not deserve. As long as it is taught as de facto science, all bets are off and all theories should be taught in the interest of a well-informed society.

By far the most discouraging thing about the newspaper's editorials is their blatant prejudice.

Without any proof, the editors have chosen macroevolution as their belief system. And with the power they hold, they routinely categorize and dismiss any other plausible belief system.

A little personal reflection is in order - no condescension intended.

PHARES GILCHRIST

Eugene

Deputy's assistance appreciated

On the night of Feb. 27, I was driving down River Road in Eugene with only one headlight.

The other had gone out the week before, and I hadn't been able to figure out how to change the bulb yet. Needless to say, when I saw the telltale flashing lights in my rearview mirror, I was a bit dismayed.

Imagine my surprise when the deputy in the Lane County sheriff's office car pulled out his flashlight, asked me to pop the hood and proceeded to show me, step by step, how to change the bulb, in the process getting his hands covered with engine grime.

Before leaving, he made sure I understood fully what I had to do to get my car in working order once again. Then he wished me a pleasant evening and sent me on my way.

I didn't catch the deputy's name, but I saw that he was driving a canine unit and his dog's name was Jabar.

I want to commend the sheriff's deputy I encountered who did his job keeping the streets safer while at the same time providing evidence that service to the community is still at the heart of law enforcement.

JULIE ALONZO

Eugene