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August 29. 2015 12:01AM Letters to the Editor, Aug. 29 Artificial worlds Human beings are strange creatures. We love to create artificial worlds and live in them as much as possible. Look at the electronic games that capture the attention of so many people (for example Dota 2, featured in recent MT front page stories). Another example is the financial world, where money now exists primarily in electronic form. Those who live mostly in that world would have us believe that it is the great creator (and destroyer) of wealth and jobs — like the titan Kronos from ancient Greek mythology, who devoured his own children. Our studies in such areas as physics, chemistry, biology, psychology and so on are also human-created. Using words, numbers and pictures, we work to develop models that explain and predict events in the real world. The fundamental test in any science is how well a model corresponds with those events. We are now faced with growing instability in our markets — not just the financial ones but also the physical, chemical, biological, etc. markets where we purchase real goods and services for use in our busy lives. I think that this instability results from an unhealthy combination of financial and real-world effects. More later. Dean Ayers Medford Medford's solid decisions The Medford City Council has been making solid policy-making decisions lately. Under their guidance, the Medford utility department just reclassified duplexes as multiple units, thereby reducing sewer fees 25 percent for duplexes. This action was equitable and justified. Last year, the City Council put the library bond measure before the voters , in conjunction with county commissioner approval. This was risky, as the bond could have failed. The voters' voice resonated in favor by a wide margin. Our county libraries are again vibrant and healthy. Downtown west Medford is enjoying a 21st \century transformation. The new fire and police stations are needed improvements. Our professional police and firemen deserve no less. Utility fees have increased in order to pay for these improvements, but we will all make the sacrifice. Our city currently enjoys responsible government; and many of us support increases when tangible results come about, those which benefit our city. Jim Work, Medford rental owner Central Point Trails can restore us When I moved to Southern Oregon in 2005, struggling with leukemia, I found refuge in the quiet woods of the Little Applegate Valley. Hiking nearby trails I also found healing, eventually regaining enough strength to help clear the Sterling Mine Ditch Trail. In 2009 I moved to Talent, where I envision a hiking trail linking Talent to the mountains that mean so much to me. The benefits to our communities from hiking and other outdoor activities are manifold. According to a recent report, outdoor recreation contributes more than $5.8 billion annually to Oregon’s economy and supports 73,000 jobs across the state. With numbers like these, I was disappointed to see the Bureau of Land Management's new plan to manage 2.6 million acres of public land in Western Oregon prioritized streamside logging over recreation. I want to continue to find healing and solace among these hills and to share the ancient forests and wild rivers with my grandchildren as a legacy that we are preserving for future generations. It's time to adopt forest management practices that protect clean water and a growing recreation economy. Elizabeth Zwick Talent Pleased with shelter We recently had a great experience adopting an adult dog from the Jackson County Animal Shelter. Though we came in to look at one dog listed on their website, the shelter volunteer staff suggested another dog they thought would be a better fit for us, and we decided to adopt her. The shelter staff was extremely knowledgeable and helpful throughout the entire adoption process. I found the facility clean and relatively pleasant considering the number of animals present on site. I was impressed with recent upgrades to the facility including a beautiful enclosed outdoor cat patio that caught the afternoon shade. The adoption fee seemed like an incredible bargain in our case as it included spay/neuter, vaccines, an initial vet visit, and a session with a dog trainer. I am pleased to say that we ended up with a wonderful addition to our family. If you are thinking about getting a new dog or cat, please consider rescue, and be proud of your local animal shelter. Karen Basin Talent Defund Planned Parenthood On Saturday, Aug. 22, about 200 people gathered downtown to express outrage at the continued government funding of Planned Parenthood. With the curtains pulled back on PP’s heinous acts of indifference, cruelty and barbarity towards the unborn, the issue of taxpayer funding of abortion providers demands redress. Watch PP’s own people unedited at www.centerformedicalprogress.org. PP’s mantra of their critical importance implodes when it is revealed there are 20 times (13,540) more health clinics in the U.S., offering the same services — minus abortion — than PP has (665). ( http://bit.ly/1JC4pAO ) PP’s claim that the protestors represent the ‘radical fringe’ collapses when viewing the pictures of your neighbors at Saturday’s event. ( www.jacksoncountyprolife.org ) For those readers who believe they hold the intellectual high ground, I challenge you to visit the above websites. If you do not, you join the very group you disparage — the ignorant, unenlightened. At the end of the day, you and I may still have disagreements about the necessity of abortion, but it ought to be clear that taxpayers should not be required to be complicit in these acts, and that any business which makes a claim of the criticality of their services should stand on their own financial feet. Bryan Platt Eagle Point Tent camps a fire hazard Regarding the tent camps for the homeless, I can't believe that any municipality would want to encourage this type of camp simply on the basis of the fire danger. Viewing the photos in the article as a fire protection engineer, I saw a great deal of readily combustible fuel and not much to slow down a hot fast fire once it starts. Certainly there are no smoke detectors or fire extinguishers, nor would they do much good in such conditions. When they are burned, the plastic and synthetic materials in the pictures produce dripping molten plastic that clings to skin and causes horrible burns. The flimsy and closely-spaced structures offer no protection against a fast-moving fire, and a fenced enclosure limits the available escape paths. With winter coming on, it is a certainty that open fires (or, worse yet, fires inside a tent) would be used to provide warmth, and that could lead to a tragedy. It would be neither prudent nor compassionate to permit such a tent camp to be put in the city, and many codes and ordinances would have to be suspended or ignored for such a plan to even see the light of day. Oscar Zuniga Medford http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150829/OPINION/150829617 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->