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WHOLE FOODS' RECORD I am a former Whole Foods Market employee and Alan Pittman's article on the chain's plan to build in Eugene was of great interest to me. During my sophomore year at Eastern Michigan University I worked as a cashier at the chain's Ann Arbor store. Whole Foods was a great place to work! I was paid fairly, had affordable benefits available to me and a great work atmosphere. The population of Ann Arbor is similar to that of Eugene and the Area has supported WFM as well as a co-op and numerous small natural foods markets and restaurants for several years. Wild Oats, who owned the former Oasis Market, is WFM's biggest competitor and our local markets managed to stay afloat while they were in town. While WFM is a corporation, they are very involved in the communities where their stores are located. They provide a great deal of education on the benefits of organic and natural foods, sell lots of local products and even pay their employees for time spent volunteering for non profits. While I can't say I agree with the need for a $9 million subsidy, especially to provide more parking (I never have a problem parking downtown) I don't pay taxes in Eugene so I don't get a say in the matter. However, people need to look beyond the fact that Whole Foods is a for-profit corporation and look at their track record in the communities where they are already in business. Myndi Pierceall, Springfield
CRANK IT DOWN Attention Eugene band members, club owners and promoters. If you want more support for our fantastic local music scene, I have two suggestions. 1) Turn the music down and invest in good sound guys; and 2) Start your shows earlier and on time. I wake up at 6 am (OK, 6:30 after hitting the snooze button twice) and work a hard, physical and noisy job all day long. The last thing I want to do at night is pay money to go to a show at 9 pm that actually starts at 9:45 or later (I guess I'm not the only one hitting the snooze button). And then I end up yelling at my friends in order to have a conversation. Obviously, each venue and band is different. But in general, the overwhelming volume and disregard for punctuality end up turning some people away. Maybe you are OK losing that business; you can't (and shouldn't try to) please all the people all of the time. But if you want more support for your business and your craft, consider some simple changes: turn it down, and start on time. Nic Porter, Eugene
DEVELOP NATURE "Shoot, shovel, and shut up." This is the ridiculous premise that conservatives use to justify the gutting of the Endangered Species Act. The argument goes that if we pay developers to do what they would like to do, then they are simply going to shoot an endangered species, bury it, and then keep the whole thing a secret. Please, let's provide developers with a reward just so that they won't break a cardinal law. If you are in fact one of those wonderful people who would do such a thing, then I can only say that justice will eventually catch up with you, and I hope the punishment is just as swift and ruthless as your action. Just because you think you own the land and that provides you with the right to do what you damn-well please to it doesn't mean that this is, in fact, true. In fact, one never owns the land, and no, we cannot do what we damn-well please to it. These people don't seem to understand that every action we do has some kind of consequence, and sometimes those consequences are severe. Why don't we just take away the last place on Earth that this species can survive, let alone prosper. No wait! I'll solve the problem: Let's just tell this hapless toad that it can and should move someplace else. We need this land to build one more house, bridge or mall. Scott Peterson,, Eugene
WHOLE-HEARTED FOODS Whole Foods is one of the finest corporate citizens on the planet. They are even the nation's largest investor in wind energy credits, an undeniably green company. While I favor patronizing locally owned businesses as much as possible, Whole Foods would be a tremendous addition to our community. I think the council should proceed with the project. Harry Norman, Eugene
CHOCOLO-HOLIC Earlier today I went to a Campfire Girls' benefit called "A Chocolate Affair." I really didn't think I would go, mainly because of the $15 fee just to get in the door. However, I knew that it was for a good cause and there was CHOCOLATE. Yes, I admit it — I am a chocoloholic. I forked out the $15 and, even though it was a fairly small event, I still had a very enjoyable time. I had a few samples of chocolate treats, including some strawberries I dipped under the chocolate fondue fountain — absolutely delicious! Thanks to Euphoria, as they had donated the chocolate for that. I could have had 10 (or more) dipped strawberries or angel food cake, but luckily my willpower is strong enough to not embarrass myself. The event had a few tables of items going for silent auction that had been donated by local businesses. They also had a chocolate carving contest between local media. I was really impressed by the Eugene Weekly's impression of Stonehenge. You did an amazing job and, from what I could tell, you did it from memory. I didn't see any pictures or replicas you could have been copying from. However, I would say that my most enjoyable moment of the event was when this 7-year-old little girl played the harp. She was absolutely adorable. I was really impressed by how well she played from memory, without even looking at any music sheets. It was nice to hear such beautiful music from such a young person. I had the honor of speaking with her afterward and her personality and charm was just as grand as her talent. She turned 8 on Valentine's Day, so "Happy Birthday" to you, and may your love of music stay with you and bring joy to many in the future. Jen Hutchings, Eugene
ACCESSORIES TO WAR Starting about three years ago, Americans went on a psychotic rampage and began killing Iraqis in order to steal their oil and use their land for military bases. Since then, our troops have slaughtered more than 30,000 Iraqis. This puts our politicians, both Democrats and Republicans, in the awkward position, every time they vote to fund the war, of being accessories to murder. Our whole Oregon congressional delegation is guilty. They must be punished in the next election, by our voting for their opponents. Lynn Porter, Eugene
HOUSE CLEANING TIME Texas Billionaires find Oregon as a cheap way to set a trend of bad government. Since Oregon let its public utilities be sold to the thieves of Enron, Texas money has swung Oregon voters. Initiatives from "Citizens for a Sound Economy" have convinced Oregon citizens to work against their own interests. Texas money was used to collect initiative signatures and to influence voters. The results, proudly proclaimed by the Texan forced out of Congress by his bad ethics, Dick Army, "We did our best in Oregon." (Reducing government.) Oregon's injuries include: badly damaged public education; hundreds of thousands of needy disabled persons without care; big increases in hunger and homelessness; and public safety infrastructure ruined. Furthermore, Enron apparently stole more than $700 million collected for state taxes due and never delivered. The state doesn't appear to have charged anyone with this massive theft. Gov. Kulongoski could have confronted all this. He is now condemning the Bush administration for similar malfeasance. Like Bush, he says one thing and does another. Kulongoski's corruption of his position seems to be connected to his massive corporate support. Meanwhile, he divorces himself from any loyalty to Oregon government, grassroots public interest or to the Democratic party platform, purposes or personnel. Here in Lane County, Kulongoski's staff has raised nearly $50,000 for Republican corporate crony Jim Torrey to be used against the Democratic favorite State Sen. Vicki Walker. National and state voters must correct government failure and corruption starting with Oregon's May primary election. Replace Kulongoski with a real democrat, Pete Sorenson. Replace the Republican majority in Oregon's state house with Democrats. Replace the corruption-ridden national Republicans with Democrats and independents. Jerry Smith, Eugene
THE OUTRAGE Giving the city away to a faceless corporation, Whole Foods, that had over $4 billion in sales in 2005, is outrageous! Giving millions in subsidies which takes away from our school children, downtown library, and new City Hall to build a parking garage is even more outrageous! We don't need the Whole Foods market in Eugene because we have many locally owned natural food stores in addition to hundreds of farmers, which provide both organic and conventional foods. Can someone please explain to me how any parking garage is sustainable? Economics must be built on efficiency where pollution prevention and renewable energy exists. Downtown can be revitalized without a Whole Foods market or other faceless corporations. We must remove the hundreds of billions of dollars of public subsidies for corporations, cars, highways, fossil fuels and nuclear power that corrupt the democratic process and public policy. Without a virtuous public that cares deeply about the protection and enhancement of life, there will be no constituency for hard choices ahead, and for the policy changes necessary for sustainability. Planet Glassberg , Eugene
PLAYBOY'S BEST My favorite channel is the Playboy Channel. On that channel, you won't see any wars, murders, kidnappings, robberies, assaults or political arguments. You won't see people eating bugs or trying to find their way out of the Amazon rainforest. You won't see anyone spinning a big wheel or trying to answer stupid questions to win money. You won't see a bunch of morons knocking each other down in the process of chasing a football around. The only thing you will see is lots of naked people fucking each other, 24 hours a day. I rest my case. Michael Hansen, Eugene
CARS MAKE MONEY Do local, state and federal government really want to promote alternative transportation such as public transit and bicycles, save resources and the environment by reducing the numbers of cars on the road? No. Why? Because cars make money. The government and businesses want you to drive your car as much as possible. That's why we have the West Eugene Parkway project instead of a light rail system using the train tracks that parallel the route of the parkway. That's why there are concerns about parking at the library despite the presence of a bus depot across the street. That's why the City Council is giving the new Whole Foods store a parking lot next to the new rapid transit route which will go right by the property — a parking lot paid for by taxpayers. Local government makes money from your car's registration fees, parking and road tax. The police love cars with tickets and violations for every petty thing, as well as towing and recovery of stolen vehicles. When was the last time the police ever cared about a stolen bike or property thief? Let's face it, automobiles are big business. The sad and frustrating reality of urban planning is that it is geared to the needs of cars, not to the needs of people, and will continue to be as long as the focus of our economy is on cars. Alisa McLaughlin, Eugene
WIRETAP DANCING President Bush recently admitted to approving a secret program for wiretapping foreign calls by or to Americans, who he believes may be linked to al Qaeda. This program, through the NSA, has been conducted without any judicial oversight, without express congressional approval, and against the constitutional right of all Americans, protecting us against unlawful search and seizure. Attorney General Gonzales claims this program is justified because we need to be speedy in getting intelligence, that the say-so of an NSA intelligence employee is as good as a judicial review, and that the president has supreme authority over such matters in a time of war. But he seems to ignore that getting a search warrant is already a very speedy process, that an intelligence agent does not have an unbiased view of the issue, and that the president is subject to necessary checks and balances that insure a fair democracy, even in times of war. Further, there is no way for Americans, or even our congressmen, to find out if the right people have been targeted, since the NSA and the Bush administration will not release that information due to "confidentiality reasons." Clearly, this wiretapping program is unconstitutional. We must demand of our elected officials on Capitol Hill that they call for an immediate halt to the program, that a special prosecutor be appointed to look into the legality of the matter, and that the investigation go as far as it needs to in order to hold the responsible parties accountable, no matter where it leads. Jason A. Kilgore , Junction City
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