World Down Syndrome Day
Thank you for the wonderful viewpoint celebrating World Down Syndrome Day. The author has been a great blessing to her brother, rescuing him from a life of dreary institutionalization.
That said, it’s ironic that the Eugene Weekly would print this, as you also champion and celebrate a woman’s “right” to kill her unborn child through abortion, for any reason whatsoever, including a diagnosis of Down syndrome.
Would you also support the efforts of a country like Iceland, who has reduced their Down syndrome population to near-zero? Contrary to claims that Iceland has “cured” this condition, they have achieved this dystopian result through extensive prenatal testing and then abortion of nearly 100% of Down syndrome pregnancies.
And before you cry “her body, her choice”, bear in mind that a baby in the womb is not, in fact, a part of the woman’s body. The choice lies in the act resulting in pregnancy. The result may be planned or unplanned by the woman and her partner or in much more rare cases, from the choice of a rapist. No matter the circumstances of conception, the resulting life is a unique and distinct human being. Any claim to the contrary is intellectually dishonest and morally blind.
Brent Heller
Eugene
Change Name of Cesar Chavez Elementary
Given the recent revelations, as investigated and reported by the New York Times, regarding Cesar Chavez as a child molester and rapist, the 4J School Board should move quickly and decisively to change the name of the Cesar Chavez Elementary School. The most appropriate name for this school would be Dolores Huerta, Chavez’s equal partner in the United Farm Workers movement and, incidentally, one of his victims. Now is not the time to equivocate.
Elizabeth Southworth
Eugene
Palm Sunday Action
On the weekend of March 28-29, Eugene will have both No Kings and Palm Sunday Action events. Arguably, both events do the same cultural work: express opposition to the actions of the current administration in Washington DC. But the Palm Sunday Action frames that critique in the ritual calendar and mythic imagination of a particular faith tradition. And it explicitly opposes White Christian Nationalism.
March 29 is Palm Sunday, observed every year the week before Easter. On this day, observant Christians recall Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem as the living antithesis of cruel, rapacious, authoritarian rule. Throughout his ministry, Jesus’s actions and teachings were in distinct contrast to the violent oppression of the Roman Empire. Eugene’s Palm Sunday Action is an opportunity to align with Jesus’s consistent message of caring for the vulnerable and loving one’s neighbor, whoever they happen to be.
All are welcome to participate, gathering at 2 pm on March 29 at First Christian Church (1166 Oak Street), then marching a short distance to the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza (8th and Oak) for singing and brief speeches. If you identify as Christian, you will be giving public witness to a faith aligned with Jesus’s clear teachings. If you are not Christian, you will be standing in solidarity with those committed to a Christianity that acts in the public sphere in a form consistent with Jesus’s command to love one’s neighbor.
Nancy Menning
Eugene
Trash Haulers
What if Lane County voters approved a fee on trash haulers so that residents could enjoy the latest programs for safely handling recycling and hazardous waste, fund rural transfer stations and provide waste reduction education and resources? We did in 1999.
What if a hauler decided to withhold that fee and drove their waste to Southern Oregon to a landfill owned by its parent corporation? I guess that would enrich its parent company’s CEO and shareholders. But it also takes funding out of our community and Lane County’s Waste Management program, one of the few remaining publicly owned systems in the state, one that excels in waste reduction and low customer rates.
SaniPac is owned by Waste Connections Inc., a nearly $10 billion multinational corporation based in Texas, and has refused to pay this fee, despite repeated efforts by county officials to negotiate an agreement.
I am confident we will make the progress we need and get back to fully funding Lane County Waste Management. Special kudos to County Administrator Steve Mokrohisky and his staff for their analysis and plan to bring SaniPac to the negotiation table.
If you ever doubted the difference it makes to have solid, non-partisan, professional staff running our county, you should listen to Mokrohisky at the beginning of the 9 am Board of Commissioners meeting, March 3, on YouTube. I am proud to live in Lane County and know we have some of the finest staff anywhere.
Patricia Hine
Eugene
ONLINE EXTRA LETTERS
Is a River Alive?
Is a river alive? Should a river have a right to fulfill its natural functions? What has a watershed done for us lately? Cooling, fire protection, health, nutrition, recreation, jobs, income, quality of life and cultural identity are functions fulfilled by a living river. A corporation is not alive, yet corporations have more rights than breathing humans. If a corporation has “rights” why shouldn’t a watershed have legal “rights” to be clean and safe and provide for our needs? Rivers are the source from which we all develop our lives! Isn’t it time we protected clean safe water for our community? Vote “yes for clean water!” on ballot measure 20-373.
Debra McGee
Eugene
End the DHS standoff
It’s sad that so many TSA employees and the traveling public are caught in the crossfire between DHS and Congress, which is causing headaches and financial anguish for everyone. The long lines in airports make good nightly news fodder, for sure. But I don’t think ending the standoff by ignoring the truth that this situation was brought on entirely by ICE’s illegality, their violation of immigrants’ rights and the suppression of public protest, including the murder of protesters, is the answer.
If TSA employees really want to get back their paychecks, and travelers want shorter lines, the best way is for them to stand in solidarity with our friends, neighbors and co-workers who have been living this past year in deathly fear of the knock on the door in the middle of the night by armed, masked DHS officers and the subsequent deportations without judicial process. Those human lives and livelihoods, with horrible economic and personal tragedies and loss of basic freedoms, are much more at risk than for any TSA agent who is forced to work without pay or any college student on spring break. They all need to advocate at this critical moment for everyone’s families, not just their own interests and let their representatives know that DHS needs to be reined in so that everyone is freed from this nightmare. Only then will this problem move towards a resolution.
John Tietjen
Corvallis
Trump’s Comments on Mueller’s Death
President Trump should realize that his quote about Robert Mueller’s death will be used when he dies. Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer grift innocent people.