We've got issues.
The academic school year has begun and as a graduate student in clinical psychology, I am reminded of the many roles I have played over the years: researcher of sexual violence victimization and other traumas, teaching assistant, instructor, mentor, and therapist. Amidst these responsibilities, social justice advocate is the most unexpected role I have had. Continue reading
DON’T PUNISH LIBRARY Voting “no” on the library levy is no way to correct the problem of misguided tax policies and benefits to special interests. It would not convince our politicians to mend their ways nor would it improve the current funding mechanism. Instead, it would punish library users, including students, computer users and residents who need expanded access to a local branch. Clean up the bathwater, but don’t throw the baby out. Sara van Dyck, Eugene Continue reading
Was the Great Willamette Clean Up Oct. 3 just a short-lived fix in Eugene? Local river advocate John Brown sent a note to Mayor Kitty Piercy Oct. Continue reading
Before Oct. 1, I was in the habit of introducing my hometown with a bit of apologetic nonchalance. “I’m from Roseburg. It’s an hour and a half south of Eugene. Pretty small. You’ve probably passed through on I-5.” I now envision a future where I introduce my hometown, and a bell of recognition dings in people’s minds — Roseburg, a place where one mass shooting among far too many shootings has devastated a community. Continue reading
Hello everyone. Attention please. Important announcement: In honor of Sunday, Oct. 11, being the 27th annual National Coming Out Day, I’d like to inform you that I am — hold onto your hat — definitely a lesbian. Continue reading
DO NOTHING? Accusing someone of insensitivity by “having a political agenda” when they ask for better gun laws is an easy way out of contributing to real solutions, and is actually a case of having one’s own political agenda. Asking for better laws is a huge sign of being nothing but sensitive to the victims. Continue reading
• We’re all looking for answers after yet another terrible tragic shooting in our country, again in our state. Are Americans so gripped with fear that they turn to guns to protect them from everything? Have we become a mean-spirited people, putting too many people in prison, offering meager social services and diminished public education, shrinking our mental health programs, including school counseling? Do we glorify violence all the way from endless wars, games and entertainment, to amped-up cheap crime coverage in the media? Are the arms merchants selling us out? Continue reading
You don’t have to be a fundamentalist, evangelical, Catholic Christian or an ancient Jew to wonder whether we’re in a “culture of death,” “the sixth extinction” or some kind of universal cataclysm. Continue reading
A SYSTEM THAT WORKS The media generally goes for the sensational on any topic, but there was a good balance in the EW articles on mental health in Lane County as far as the articles went. However, mental health is much more than schizophrenia and commitment in psychiatric hospitals, and mental health is not just an adult issue. Continue reading
• It’s party time for the “kayaktivists,” some from Eugene, and “#ShellNo” protesters who delayed Royal Dutch Shell’s push into the Arctic from Seattle last summer, perhaps contributing to Shell’s decision Sept. 28 to indefinitely suspend drilling in that fragile region. Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley also cheered, saying “This is tremendous news, and a credit to the many people who made clear that offshore Arctic drilling in unacceptable.” In July, Merkley introduced the Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling Act of 2015. Continue reading