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Letters to the editor: Our peaceful congressional representatives Dear Readers: In a world seemingly gone amuck with violence as the modus operandi, a wonderful opportunity for all of us to promote peace has blossomed. Zen Buddhist Master, Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh is scheduled to speak to U.S. congressional members Wednesday evening Sept. 10, on the theme,"Leading with Courage and Compassion." He will also offer a two-day mindfulness retreat exclusively for congressional members and their families Sept.12-14, 2003. Details about the talk and retreat and information about how to contact your congressional representatives to urge them to participate can be found at http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/grassroots.html. The Dalai Lama will also be in Washington, D.C. at this time to seek audience with members of Congress to support a congressional resolution for a nonviolent negotiated solution to the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Please contact your congressional leaders and urge them to participate in these worthy efforts. Peg Murray, Ashland Guest forum: Stop the new Lawn Chair Brigade By Jeff Jones Ashland Several years ago, the Ashland Fourth of July parade included a creative entry, popular among the spectators, the Lawn Chair Brigade. The energetic marchers performed dance steps and routines with their chairs to entertain the crowds. In recent years, there has been a new Lawn Chair Brigade that starts their act days before the parade. I refer to the throngs of over-zealous spectators that leave lawn chairs, blankets and tarps on the sidewalks to reserve their prime spots. It seems that the Lawn Chair Brigades has been getting their marching orders earlier and earlier. Last year, I saw spots reserved as early as July 2nd. It used to be that the hardiest of us got up in the early hours of July 4th and with our cups filled with coffee and wandered to Main Street to find places taken only by others that were willing to brave the early morning. Last year I arrived at 5 a.m. only to find that empty blankets and chairs were set in nearly every good spot, including the spot that my family, friends and neighbors go to every year to enjoy a morning of chatting, laughing, coffee and cookies. I'm sorry to bring up such an awful subject in our town what with the world in the trouble that it's in, but I do have a solution. Why don't we collect any unattended chairs, blankets and tarps that have been placed prior to the parade and give them to the homeless in our region. What fine camps could be made for people who could really use the shelter and comforts. The Lawn Chair Brigade would be doing something good for others in the community, instead of just benefiting themselves. Consider it a donation to a worthy cause. I understand that I am not the only one who has seen this Lawn Chair phenomena take place in recent years. The City of Ashland has recently decided to collect these unattended remnants of a picnicking society prior to the parade. An announcement and details of this decision will be forthcoming. So let's all get together to stop the Lawn Chair Brigade! See you at the parade. The 'facts' about ski area expansion By Paul Copeland Ashland Mt. Ashland Association director Pat Acklin's May 22nd commentary advocated for the proposed ski area expansion. But some of the "facts" presented to support that position do not tell the whole story. First, the commentary stated that Mt. Ashland will have a "modest 200 ski acres" after the expansion, compared to 3,686 acres at Mt. Bachelor. This makes it sound like the Bachelor ski area is 30 times larger than Mt. Ashland (which supposedly has only 120 acres of ski terrain now). However, information derived from the 1991 EIS shows that Mt. Ashland already has around 500 acres available to skiers. This would be increased to over 800 acres after the expansion. These figures are an apples-to-apples comparison counting all of the area skiers and boarders actually using Mt. Ashland, including the south side of the mountain and tree areas outside marked ski runs (actually preferred by many snow boarders). The comparable Bachelor ski area number is nearly 6 square miles (3,686 acres) clearly counting much of Bachelor mountain beyond just designated ski runs. Mt. Ashland Association understates the comparable size of the local ski area by 400 percent. Secondly, the May 22nd commentary states that Mt. Ashland has the highest density of skiers and boarders in the state. I'm sure this figure must come from some industry source, but something is amiss with this calculation. Anybody who has been to Bachelor or Mt. Hood Meadows recently knows that Mt. Ashland is far less crowded than these other ski areas. As one who skied at both Mt. Ashland and Mt. Bachelor multiple times last winter, there is no question that Mt. Bachelor ski runs are far more crowded than Mt. Ashland's. Closer to home, Mt. Shasta is also usually more crowded than Mt. Ashland. In fact, there are fewer than 10 holiday and prime weekend days during the winter that are even remotely crowded at Mt. Ashland. Most other days the slopes at Mt. Ashland are virtually deserted. Take a drive up there and see for yourself. The proposed expansion will bulldoze, clear-cut, and road build through an area on Mt. Ashland that is a pristine natural area with crystal clear springs, rushing streams, and rare stands of old growth Engleman Spruce. If the expansion plan proceeds, the erosion and environmental devastation within and downstream from the existing ski area bodes ill for this untouched natural treasure that is the source of Ashland's water supply. Shame on all of us as a community if we stand by and let this happen. Environmentally conscious skiers agree that the ski area is in need of improvements and possibly even "modest" expansion. But Mt. Ashland Association is refusing to consider less destructive options and instead is issuing distorted public relations factoids, while attempting to portray environmentalists as extremists. The opposite is the truth. Watch what happens at summit By Shelley Elkovich Ashland The poet Wendall Barry said, "every bite is an agricultural act." Yet, most of us have no idea where our food comes from, or what company owns it. In the United States, corporate agribusiness produces and markets more than 95 percent of the country's food. From June 23-25, the Ministers of Trade, Agriculture and Environment from countries around the world will meet in Sacramento, at a summit and biotechnology expo hosted by the US Department of Agriculture, USAID and the US State Department. This summit promotes industrial models of agriculture that enrich big business while undermining food security and welfare of the poor in the developing world. The goal for the summit is to reach an agricultural agreement in time for the next WTO meeting in Cancun scheduled for September. Through this forum, multinational corporations will angle to expand the use of untested and unlabeled genetically modified food, which poses extraordinary risks to public health, farmer independence and the environment. Thousands of concerned people will demonstrate in Sacramento to educate the public and protest the U.S. government-backed agribusiness agenda. We will support small farmers, environmentalists and indigenous people's groups who have issued this call to action and participate in teach-ins, rallies and non-violent direct action June 20-25. Reasons to support (and join) the demonstrations in Sacramento: Agribusiness destroys small farms. "Global free trade in food and agriculture is the biggest refugee creation program in the world. It is equivalent to ethnic cleansing of the poor, the peasantry, and small farmers of the Third World." Vandana Shiva, PhD. An estimated 70 percent of food in the U.S. contains genetically modified ingredients. Biotech supporters state that GMOs will help feed the hungry in the Third World, but the vast majority of transgenic produce is produced for consumption by people in wealthy First World countries. The "United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act" ties U.S. international medical assistance for HIV/AIDS victims to countries acceptance of US food aid containing GMOs. TRIPS: Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights enable corporations to use genetic identification to patent the properties of plants and then claim intellectual property rights on the plants and forbid farmers and growers (even indigenous tribes that may have used medicinal plants throughout history) from using or profiting from cultivation of the patented plant material. The case of Saskatchewan canola farmer Percy Schmeiser is a perfect example of the absurd injustice of TRIPS. Schmeiser was labeled a criminal for using his own canola seeds. He had spent much of his farming life perfecting a pure strain of canola ideally suited to his bioregion. That strain was ruined, likely by windblown genetically modified pollen. Ironically, even though his crop has been destroyed by genetic pollution, the Canadian federal court has ordered Schmeiser to pay tens of thousands of dollars in penalties to Monsanto for "using" a patented technology without paying a licensing fee. What you can do: Find out where your food comes from. Get to know your local farmers. Shop at the farmers market. Buy organic when possible. Support efforts to label foods containing GMOs. Don't eliminate the 'aw, shucks' By Susan Marsden Ashland On the matter of home sizes in the historic districts of Ashland, let me first say I don't live in one. I live in a 1940's-50's neighborhood of very small homes on nice-sized lots. Because the folks that buy into my neighborhood are not the well heeled, we have not had a problem with people building out-sized mini-mansions. For this I am grateful. It is a charming neighborhood, and reflects the best of what remains of Ashland's small town character. On a more mundane level, though, my family's livelihood - like many families in this town that depends heavily on tourism - is reliant on people visiting Ashland to soak up its purely unique combination of quaintness, historical ambiance, fine theater, charming shopping opportunities, and good restaurants. A huge part of Ashland's appeal to residents and visitors alike is its human scale, its nostalgic aesthetics, and its natural beauty. My understanding is that as a community we felt the scale and aesthetic of the historic districts was worthy of protecting. Protection is there in the first place so that the pressure of greed or ego or personal indulgence doesn't chip away at a crucial aspect of this town - an irreplaceable one - that we all love, and that many of us rely on for our livings directly or indirectly. Passing clearer guidelines to protect the scale of the old neighborhoods would only serve the interests of the whole community in perpetuity. If more flexibility is necessary in some cases perhaps it makes more sense to look at making modest changes in the boundaries of the districts themselves. Perhaps those areas of some of the historic districts that are well off the beaten track, out of visual range or access to visitors generally, or well beyond impacting the architectural character of the town could be modified. Perhaps a buffer zone would be useful in those situations where some limitations are in place but they are somewhat more flexible than those closer in. There was an unpleasant developer on the local news a few weeks ago talking about his new upscale development in town. He said, "Ashland isn't an 'aw, shucks' town anymore." Apart from being arrogant and condescending, he was a useful picture of the direction we seem to be going. If that's the case, then we ought to kiss good-bye much of the brilliant mix of 'aw, shucks' and gentility that makes Ashland the charming home it is to all of us, and the magical escape it is to the many visitors who come and spend their money here. 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 -