LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Santa Clara still needs park plan

The words of Margaret Mead are ringing in my ears: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

The grass-roots group known as the Santa Clara Committee for Sensible Parks and Open Spaces has been working for the past nine months to stop the proposed land swap deal that ultimately would have benefited only the developers and negatively affected the community and the way in which the city does its business.

At a May 18, Eugene City Council work session, Councilor Bonny Bettman made a motion for the city to cease all action on the land swap proposal and to look at purchasing an appropriate parcel or parcels for park development in Santa Clara. The 4-4 tie was broken by Mayor Kitty Piercy.

Those of us who have worked diligently to realize this moment want to commend the mayor and those councilors who supported the motion for making a truly difficult decision.

We also want to express our desire to work with, not in opposition to, the city Parks and Open Spaces staff, the River Road/Santa Clara Transition Team Task Force and the River Road and Santa Clara community organizations to develop a viable parks and open spaces plan for our community.

We have an opportunity here to collectively create the best possible scenario for this part of the city. We are looking forward to being a part of that effort.

ELLEN HYMAN, member

Santa Clara Committee

for Sensible Parks

and Open Spaces

Eugene

Put seat belts on school buses

Recently, I caught a news flash about a school bus loaded with children ranging in age from kindergarten to sixth grade that crashed head-on into two cars.

The majority of those children were injured. The report stated that the major cause of injuries was the children being propelled forward into the back of the seat in front of them.

My heart goes out to those children and their families. The point I want to make is that most of those injuries could have been prevented, or had the severity greatly lessened, if the children had been wearing seat belts.

I am required by law to wear a seat belt, but children on school buses do not have seat belts. I firmly believe there should be a law requiring all school buses to have seat belts and making their use mandatory. I'm sure it would reduce injuries and even prevent some deaths.

Let's urge our lawmakers to seriously address this issue. Let's try to make it safer for our kids to ride school buses.

WILLIAM WILSON 

Cottage Grove 

Land swap deserved attention

I believe Ed King's May 18 letter criticizing The Register-Guard's coverage of the Western Oregon land deal misrepresents several key aspects. King argues that the coverage was slanted and selective, using a hypothetical nonprofit land deal to make his point.

First, there is a big difference between a nonprofit - which is legally prohibited from making campaign contributions - engaging in a public interest swap and the region's top political donor - Aaron Jones - using his considerable political influence to facilitate a land swap in which he could be the principal for-profit beneficiary.

Second, nonprofits are not exempt from media scrutiny, as King imagines. Several years ago, the Nature Conservancy received considerable unwanted press attention over land deals in which board members purchased donated land at fair market value - even though it wasn't a local deal.

As for King's frivolous lawsuit concern, the courts are adept at dispensing with frivolity even if timber operators don't share the courts' definition of frivolous.

The land swap involves millions of acres of public lands and millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Three letter writers who have extensive timber interests have criticized the newspaper article by innuendo but did not challenge the extensive facts and figures contained in the article.

Investigative reporting may not always be comfortable to the recipients of attention or even the newspaper's owners. But a healthy democracy benefits from such reporting.

TOM BOWERMAN

Eugene

Advertising for a crime spree

Congratulations on the dynamic piece by Bill Bishop "DA ceases to go after low-level criminals" (Register-Guard, May 11). I'm sure the police and all the other enforcement agencies in the area - including the ACLU and the NAACP - are more than pleased to know that The Register-Guard has now informed all the adult and child abusers and petty crooks that they will no longer face punishment for being a bit less than outstanding citizens.

Bishop should be out on the street waving a sign saying, "Come on, ya'll, if it feels good, do it." The Register-Guard surely approves.

If Bishop feels like he is waving a banner to get better funding help for these agencies - and I doubt that he's that concerned - have him wake up. On the other hand, perhaps he would do better monitoring the obituary columns.

While I might grant that Bishop's intent was in the interest of constitutional freedom of expression, I doubt the newspaper's effort to print the problem did anything but encourage the trash who thrive on this kind of freedom. Seems like it's time for journalists to wake up and smell the roses.

As you might suspect, I am not one of the bleeding-heart liberals the newspaper seems to be so fond of supporting.

FOREST COOPER

Florence

Newsweek story was believable

Newsweek published, then retracted, an article mentioning how interrogators desecrated the Quran. The usual fracas ensued with all sides foaming at their rhetorical mouths, arguing about what it means and who is to blame.

Even Register-Guard reporter Jeff Wright covered some of the moral prizefight in his article "Quran's place in Muslim life is kindling for firestorm" (Register-Guard, May 18). This is what we have come to expect, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

Muslims have come to expect something far different. Our military has tortured, beaten (sometimes to death), raped and humiliated prisoners - some innocent of wrongdoing - in our detention facilities in Iraq and at other legally ambiguous facilities such as those in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In other words, it's not surprising that Newsweek's article was so believable. We've done far worse.

That the bitter irony in all of this is missed by so many is tragic. No wonder some Muslims hold a jaded opinion of the United States. Too often we ignore our own role and prefer instead to indulge in idealist fantasies. We even ignore that Gen. Rich- ard Meyers said that the commander in Afghanistan informed him that the riots there were "not at all tied to the (Newsweek) article." Sadly, we also ignore how we got into Iraq in the first place.

As a former interrogator, I am alarmed, although not surprised, at most of what we have seen come out of this war. However, what alarms me more is our mental indolence, obloquy and hubris.

CHRIS HOLMAN

Eugene

Older drivers need more tests

Vehicles operated by persons with diminished physical and cognitive skills are a threat to us all. Two recent stories of tragic deaths prompt this letter.

No driver wants to surrender the freedom and independence associated with driving. As a retired man in my early 60s, I am not looking forward to the day when I will lose that privilege. When that day arrives, however, I would prefer that it be brought about by my failure to pass a skills test rather than by an injury accident.

The number and speed of vehicles on our roads go up steadily. With them goes the danger posed by impaired operators. It may be politically unpopular, but Oregon must do more to protect its citizens from those who can no longer safely operate their vehicles.

My current driver's license, issued in when I was 57, will not expire until my 66th birthday. At that point, my physical and cognitive skills should be carefully tested by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

That test should be repeated again on my 68th and 70th birthdays. After 70, I should be tested annually.

This might cost the state more money than it currently charges for renewals, but it's the only way to keep valid licenses out of the wallets and purses of people who cannot operate safely.

I would gladly pay higher license fees and testing fees to make the roads safer.

STEPHEN M. ROBERTS

Eugene

Don't speed up at passing lane

Now that business is requiring me to frequently travel Highway 126 from Eugene to Florence, I have observed that my fellow travelers on the route have some really scary driving habits. The one that appears to be the most dangerous and prone to setting the stage for accidents is as follows:

A driver will drive under the speed limit and create a backup of several vehicles. Then, when the slower driver arrives at the passing lane, he speeds up - exceeding the speed limit by several miles per hour in some cases. Consequently, the vehicles attempting to pass will not be able to get around, or will accelerate to a dangerous speed to pass. When the passing lane ends the driver who was previously driving slowly will then slow down again, and so on it goes.

Frustrated and angry drivers on the road are not good for anyone concerned. Please, drivers of Highway 126, be aware of what is happening and help make the roads safe for everyone.

GLENDA JONES

Springfield