Letters to the Editor scanned image of "Gray Wolf, Upper Peninsula Michigan" photo © Carl R. Sams,II/Dembinsky Photo Associates, from Greenpeace Calendar, 1995 Voters' Alert REMEMBER TO VOTE! The Natural World Needs You! The Kids Need Your Vote, Too! Look at the effect of Ballot Measures on our schools: http://www.4j.lane.edu/pa/ballot.html Open Letter to the Chancellor of Higher Education Dr. Joseph W. Cox Chancellor's Office Oregon University System P O Box 3175 Eugene OR 97403 Dear Dr. Cox: Over two decades ago a friend and I, both single women with children just leaving home, started on our second career paths. I had completed a B.S. at Portland State and went out into the business world. My friend went on to complete her PhD. I interrupted my business world career to join Peace Corps for a couple of years. My friend and I, about 12 years ago, both returned to Portland, she to teach in the university system and me to find work as an administrative assistant in a manufacturing company. Our experiences have been very different. I've just retired having had an hourly wage, health insurance mostly company paid, a 401(k) retirement plan (contributed to by my employer) -- sick leave that I was able to cash out on my retirement, workers compensation which I thankfully never needed to use and a three month hiatus under the Family Leave Act to care for my elderly mother. My friend, who is a few years younger than I has not been treated so well. She works for the State of Oregon; for the State Board of Higher Education to be more precise. My friend teaches classes at Portland State University. They have not offered her full-time employment nor a faculty position, so she works part-time. She teaches students at the university level who probably have no idea that her remuneration is so dismal as to be a shame to the State. My friend's part time work has always sounded to me like a pretty full schedule. I know she met with students and guided them in their class work, she graded papers after class hours, she spent time planning her classes before the start of the term, and she attended meetings with colleagues. But her pay was not in line with what one would believe a faculty professor with a Ph.D. should receive. And benefits? No, no health insurance, no sick leave, no generous retirement plan and no assurance of a job if she had wanted to take advantage of the Family Leave Act.. At PSU a flat rate is offered based on the credit hours taught. A part-timer may teach 8 credit hours in a term and receive for that three-month obligation little over $4,000. This is without the health insurance that we all need and without the retirement benefits that should be a part of anyone's pay package. My impression is that our last State Legislative Assembly voted money to raise faculty salaries and that Portland State received 25 million dollars. I'm not aware that this money has been spent for raising salaries. According to a newspaper article in the Willamette Week (8/16/00), one-third of Portland State's faculty members are part-timers. The union for these part-time faculty members is negotiating with the PSU administration for a more just wage at this time. I would like to see my university and my State be in the front of the line to pay part-time faculty both a fair and equitable wage. It needs to be done now. Sincerely yours, Alma J. Cunningham cc: PSU Alumni Association; PSU President Bernstine; State Rep. Beck; State Rep. Rosenbaum; State Senator Burdick; U.S. Rep. Wu; U.S. Senator Wyden; Vice President Gore; President Clinton; Editor; Oregonian, Editor; West by Northwest Open Letter to the President of the United States Kids helped design this mural in Belfast. President Bill and Hilary Clinton The White House Washington, DC Dear President and Hilary Clinton, I write to you because I wish very much for you to discuss this together and try to reach a decision together. I respect the intelligent, caring and committed work you both have done, as evidenced by your long public records over many years. You, the Clintons, have worked hard to heals wounds, world wide, promoting peace and democracy in many places. Here at home you have faced up to the painful needs in education, health, racism, and poverty left behind by twelve years of Republic administration. While facing that legacy, you have had to wrangle with our present Republicans for every success, large or small. Even the compromises have been hard worn. But there is a GAPING TEAR in the fabric of our democracy that makes our country look like a sham, a moral wreckage which you, president Clinton, could shift into reverse with the stroke of a pen. The Republicans could not stop your Executive Order. It would be a final noble deed in the "finest hour" of your presidency. Too, it would honor Chelsea, an idealistic young woman and all her contemporaries. Legal efforts over 24 years have been exhausted but you, Bill Clinton, could free Leonard Peltier -- symbol of all we have done wrong to the people from whom this land was stolen. Our long, ugly history of terror, death, deception and theft wrought upon the first Americans is all brought into focus in the caging of this fine and innocent man. He is our Nelson Mendela .... In a desperate attempt to correct this national disgrace, I am enclosing Prison Writings by Peltier ... which revels his story, absolute innocence, spiritual grace and moral courage that dwarf his tormentors. I implore you to take swift and decisive action. He is suffering and many of us are suffering with him ... For peace and justice, respectfully, Barbara Kelley, Director of Save Our eco-Systems, Eugene, Oregon Resources for the reader: http://www.noparolepeltier.com/ An interesting anti-Peltier site with eagle, "God Bless America" :and animated US flag. Do they have any point? You decide. http://www.freepeltier.org/ The official International Office of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee that has mural from Hillman St. Neighborhood Center, Belfast, Ireland. http://www.lpsg-co.org/ A good resource site that has e & snail contact info. Also letters from prison from Mr. Peltier himself. http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=leonard+peltier Speakes for itself. -Editor Can We Afford Ju$tice? Dear Editor, You recently published an article about "The Battle of Fire Road" of the goings-on, and my neighbor, the author Norm Maxwell, said that you wanted another person's viewpoint. I don't know the details nearly as well as he does, and I am not as fluent as he is, but I certainly have a viewpoint. I live on Fire Road, though not as close to the proposed development as Norm does. We moved here 28 years ago, and there are now double the number of homes on the road that there were then. As well as more homes, there are more yard lights, (which make the stars less visible on our evening walks) and of course more traffic. But it's still a pretty nice place to live. The thought of six more houses, with the resultant increase of light and noise pollution, traffic, and just general crowding, gives me an unpleasant sinking feeling. We all have to make adjustments to progress (or at least change) in life. But to face these unpleasant changes because a developer has managed to twist and break the rules that the rest of us must follow is a bitter pill to swallow. Having the county back him up adds to the distress. A hearing was held on the matter on January 27, 2000. According to the Lane County Hearings Official, in one of the property line adjustments that was made, "(E)essentially, the common boundary line was pushed to the north, rotated to a north-south alignment and pushed east." Not your common, everyday lot line adjustment. This is an example of the sort of trickery going on out here. We are once again appealing the decision to let Mr. Gorham continue with his 'development'. But legal fights are not cheap. I hope we can afford Justice. Barbara Dare Fire Road Lorane, OR See Fire Road Article Some Positive Responses -- Your E-Mail Dear Editor, It was great to read Kimball Lewis' article in your 'zine. Give 'em hell, Kimball ! Jerry Frost Hello Editor, I finally got to see the magazine. Congratulations on a wonderful job! I also got to see the story by Elisabeth Engstrom. I want to give her a compliment. I also loved the midwife story by Lois Barton. Great job. I will want to read everything. Monika Hi! I just finally took a look a the newest issue of WxNW. It looks great! And it looks _huge_! Fantastic job! Best wishes, Woody Castle Rock, California, in the Siskiyous Mts. at 70 mph from freeway I-5 Photo © 2000 WxNW Webmaster © Spencer Creek Press, West By Northwest 2000-2002 All Rights Reserved unless otherwise noted. The opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily the opinions of the publisher and/or sponsors. publisher@westbynorthwest.org webmaster@westbynorthwest.org West by Northwest Spencer Creek Press PO Box 51251 Eugene OR 97405 West By Northwest Voices of Peace, Volume V Dr. Andreas Toupadakis' Notebook W.H. Auden's poem September 1, 1939 Sam Smith of the Progressive Review writes Nobody Left But Us Robert Jenson explains why extraordinary Corporate Power Is the Enemy of Our Democracy DynCorp is Something to Watch Norman Solomon on New Media Heights For A Remarkable Pundit, Pentagon's Silver Lining May Be Bigger Than Cloud, and Six Months Later, The Basic Tool Is Language Patrick Morris, actor and director writing on the theatre's Hourglass Challenge Marvelous Margaret Mead Traveling Film & Video Festival World Choral Music Photographer and web designer Stephen Voss Stephanie Korschun's Insect Drawings, a class apart. That Photo Guy, Barbara S. Thompson's My Life chronicles a journey of courage by a real story teller, Chapter 3. Mary Zemke of Stop Cogentrix says "Standing tall - Opposition floods the proposed Grizzly Power Plant." Norman Maxwell writes to the Editor - a Summary of the Fire Road Preservation Struggle. Patricia Frank tackles Spring Cleaning the Closet. Lois Barton's Sunnyside of Spencer Butte finds the Heron Rookery. M.G. Hudson's Spencer Creek Journal remembers Laddie and the baby goats as the war on terrorism affects Spencer Creek Valley Ryan Ramon's Life on the 45th Parallel, Rain & Ramallah. WxNW.org Web-Wise Links DEN, from Defenders of Wildlife. Archive Early Spring 2002 Winter 2001-2002 Fall 2001 Late Summer 2001 Summer 2001 Late Spring 2001 Early Spring 2001 Winter 2000-01 Fall 2000 Late Summer 2000 Summer 2000 Spring 2000