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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate NEWS NOW Ashland will allow winter use of Daniel Meyer Pool ... UPDATED: Thousands still without power after Sunday snow ... Mt. Ashland is open and the skiers couldn't be happier ... Ashland will allow winter use of Daniel Meyer Pool ... UPDATED: Thousands still without power after Sunday snow ... Mt. Ashland is open and the skiers couldn't be happier ... LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the Editor, Dec. 2 Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Dec. 2, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Dec. 2, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News Utter disappointment At Monday night’s study session, the City Council gave every indication that in two weeks it will near unanimously approve the selection of “Gather” by the Public Arts Commission for installation on the Gateway Island at the eastern end of Ashland’s historic downtown core. Nobody from outside the arts community spoke and the PAC and its friends were out in force. They admirably presented their process, steadfastly ignoring or deflecting any question (with the help of staff and the mayor) as to how things might have even been considered to proceed differently. The five people, all professional artists, that make up the PAC were treated with admiration and kid gloves by a council that clearly is going to defer to assumed expertise rather than acknowledge there are problems with this process, no matter the long-term implications for town. As a result, my read is that Ashland will install an out-sized work that very few people see as appropriate or worthwhile and which will soon become an “icon” for Ashland, but not in the positive way intended. The PAC actually indicated that the controversy is a sign of “good art” (and in the process lambasted the community process that has created beloved art in other communities as if by definition such works miss the mark). “Gather” will become just another example of the unfortunate choices Ashland’s leadership has made over the past few years in our once well-managed public realm. I will attend the Dec. 15 decision vote by the council and, if nothing else, voice my utter disappointment. I hope you will consider doing the same if you share my sentiments. George Kramer Ashland Marketing vs. science The triumph of amoral marketing over science is profitable but dangerous. Four decades ago, tobacco corporations launched a marketing campaign to discredit the science linking tobacco to health diseases. That campaign brought millions in profits to tobacco executives and shareholders and millions of deaths to an unaware and accepting pubic. The same triumph of amoral marketing over science now prevents us from addressing global warming. Just as the tobacco scientists did, Exxon scientists alerted the fossil fuel industry long ago to the negative impact their product would have on the world. But again, just like the tobacco executives before them, fossil-fuel corporations responded by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a marketing campaign to discredit their own scientists and climate science generally. Because science denial suits those who only care about greed and power and thus promote it, the energy corporation misinformation campaign has been successful at thwarting meaningful action to reverse global warming. But now that we know the corrupt nature of the entire science denial campaign, it is time for those who once accepted the misinformation of climate science denial to reject that mistaken position, accept the science, and support efforts to address the problem. Paula Perez Costas Ashland DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Dec. 2, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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