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Letters to the editor: She went it alone on fish protest I loved your cover story June 4 about the many fish who are dying in the Schneider Museum art exhibit. However, there's one error. The article said Dave and I failed to find others to protest with us. I basically chose to go it alone, and made very little effort to get help. You wrote that Shawn Busse is vowing more "humane" efforts because he puts the fish in an oxygenated tank weekly. This just tells me that Busse knows the animals lack oxygen the rest of the week. To keep animals where they can't breathe adequately, then repeatedly replace them as they die, is sheer cruelty. Busse's boss, Miles Inada, excuses the killing as "unintentional." But Busse knows fish repeatedly die in those containers. So when he puts more fish in, he's knowingly sending these animals to their deaths, and that is intentional. Almost 200 people have signed our petition demanding that the university release the fish and prohibit live-animal art exhibits. Yet SOU still won't budge. Barbara Rosen, Ashland What's logical? Regarding the protest by students at Southern Oregon University over the Red Cross refusal to take blood from homosexual males, it seems to me the students need to spend more time in logic class. If not accepting blood from certain groups of people with a propensity for blood-borne viruses is discrimination then this is a case in favor of discrimination. We don't look for ovarian cancer in men, we don't look for sickle cell disease in whites, we don't look for prostate cancer in women. I for one, am glad that blood is carefully screened. To do otherwise would be chancing to spread an incurable disease. Why don't these students use logic? I wonder what else is being taught - it sure isn't common sense. I think we are all in trouble if these future leaders cannot sort out what is good and what is bad for themselves. Dennis Carmody, Sheridan Guest forum: Sense of urgency lacking in Siskiyou redesign work By Don Stone Ashland Since the beginning of the year, Ashland has had to put up with the mess on Siskiyou Boulevard. The congestion and delay surrounding the construction are understandable up to a point. However, for the past few weeks, minimal work has been done and to drive the length of Siskiyou from Ashland Street to Gresham takes anywhere up to 20 minutes. A bus driving down the boulevard will cause four block long backups. The street is restricted to one lane each way for the full length of the boulevard, Yet you'll see only 5 to 10 hard-hats at work. An e-mail to the mayor's office got sympathy and deference to Public Works Director Paula Brown. Ms. Brown advised that the project is being held up by lack of approval of a couple of signal poles. She also cited safety concerns to excuse the blocking of lanes the full length of the street. It's certain that workers need to be protected from traffic. But when the only work being done is within a block or two of Gresham, why is the street blocked for the full length except maybe for the exclusive convenience of the contractor? No plausible reason was given for the fact that curb replacement on the east side of the street hasn't even started yet so the paving is nowhere in sight and that nobody seems to working on it. This is not due to light poles. It is due to an apparent lack of urgency on the part of everyone connected with the project including the city. If full crews were working as the city should insist on, this project should take no more than 6 months or should be done by now. It certainly should not take until next December. I've heard gags about construction workers being unemployed when technology allows shovels to stand up by themselves. I suggest some of the shovel-leaning here might be on the city side of this project. Send homeless, trailer tenants to Talent Wal-Mart By Thomas C. Howser Ashland Hallelujah! A couple of problems solved in one fell swoop! In tonight's Tidings (June 5) there are a couple of front page headlines that give hope to us all. First, there is a big headline that Wal-Mart is leaving Talent. I remember all the anti-business folks throwing a fit about Wal-Mart being in or even near Ashland. Nasty profit mongers! Now Wal-Mart will be moving to Medford, but leaving a perfectly good building and a huge parking lot behind. On the left of the front page is a headline: "Ashland: Homeless Destination". What a great confluence of events! The City either has, or has access to seemingly unending amounts of money. It can support the AFN to the tune of a few million a year, it can pay and borrow to do 66 and Siskiyou for a few million, it can buy the Shriner's building and remodel it for a few more. As for attitude, we have continuous homeless pitying. We had a nice campout in the Plaza and lots of sympathy for the trailer park on 66 that was a damn disgrace and eyesore. However, it was a politically correct thing to cry out about the unfair treatment of these people. By the way, did any of the supporters live in the same neighborhood? The Talent Wal-Mart situation is perfect. The City obviously has or can get the money to buy it � at least the council spends like it does. Then, the trailer owners can place their units in the parking lots. There can also be lots of tents put up where there is space. The building itself can be remodeled into spacious living quarters. All of Ashland's homeless can then be bused over to Talent to live in the Wal-Mart building. As Ashland already provides free bus service within the city, it can just be extended to Wal-Mart as a constitutional right to something. I truly hope that the city will get after this as soon as possible. It is a really good, politically correct means of showing our concern without having all of these folks in our neighborhood. A perfect "Peoples Republic" solution.. No 'easy' answer to this art exhibit By Shawn Busse Ashland As an educator and artist, I frequently face the challenge of students who want concrete answers. What makes for "good" art? What defines "bad" art? Is a work bad because it deals with ugly themes? Isn't art just an opinion? These are all valid questions. However, much to my students' chagrin, few have easy answers. While Einstein formulated that energy equals mass multiplied by the speed of light squared, no one has yet come up with the formula separating good art from bad. You see, the nature of art is inherently cloudy. Poets, sculptors, authors, musicians, playwrights, and filmmakers all know this. They work in the gray areas that defy easy answers; we spend our time positing questions, allowing our audience to respond to the work, formulating their own conclusions and ideas. We guide our audience down certain paths, but seldom force anyone to a set conclusion. I sometimes tell my students that propaganda tells you what you should think; good art encourages you to think for yourself. Recently, one of my pieces entitled "Heaven and Earth" has enjoyed a degree of celebrity. Currently on display at the Schneider Museum of Art, this piece was featured as the cover story in the Ashland Daily Tidings (Finding Nemo, belly up, Thursday, June 5). The following day, an abbreviated version of the article appeared in the Medford Mail Tribune (Dead Goldfish Spark Art Museum Protests). A couple of concerned citizens have even protested the work, asking that the exhibit be "taken down." So what's it all about? What does this work of art MEAN? Why are people protesting? Well, to understand any work of art, the best place to start is with the work itself. Visit the museum. Spend some time alone or with other people looking at the piece. Participate in a guided tour of the exhibition. Talk to a friend. Ask questions both about the piece and the emotions that arise from it. Realize that perhaps there is no "easy" answer. Consider that maybe, just maybe, there's more to things than meets the eye. "But what if I still don't get it?" OK, so you've tried everything and you're still looking for some help. To aid those in need, I've created this brief guide. It goes something like this� Like most artwork, the motivation to create "Heaven and Earth" evolved slowly, an idea germinating through a process of sketching, contemplating, and critical thought. A few of the thoughts that went into the piece include: the tenuousness of life; unforeseeable catastrophe; the war in Iraq; "Shock and Awe"; constant threat; subdivisions; cubicles; civilian casualties; our bubble-like lifestyle; single-car drivers; "feeder" fish; hellfire and brimstone; sermons; weapons of mass destruction; alienation; isolation; life in captivity. In short, a collection of thoughts and influences that helped form the sculpture now on display at the museum. And which answer is right for you? Maybe all, maybe none. After all, looking at artwork isn't about finding the "right" answer or being told what something means. There is no E=MC2 for sculpture. No, looking at art in any form - literature, film, painting - is about asking your own questions. It's a process of taking the time to think critically, creating a dialogue between yourself and the work. And while we may not have a formula for understanding the meaning behind the art, author Andrew Lam offers this sage observation: "there are no wrong answers � only well-argued propositions." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -