Posted: Thursday, April 12, 2007 12:00 am
Wrapped up in driving
Sadly, neither the state-sponsored construction and maintenance of roadside shrines nor the passage of toothless "driver-etiquette" laws will benefit pedestrians or cyclists in our car-addicted society. Realistically, people today are too wrapped up in their own trips to be impacted by roadside shrines other than being further distracted by them. Has anyone considered today's multi-tasking driver, his or her attention drawn to such incongruous road furniture as flowerpots and waving balloons long enough to drift into the bike lane at the wrong time?
Also, rumble strips won't keep people from fiddling with communication devices and otherwise misbehaving while driving.
Perhaps we should de-romanticize motor vehicles, create more efficient and timely mass transit (and humbly use it), and design towns that incorporate multiple-use zoning so that people can function on a daily basis without having to drive everywhere.
Lastly, let's put the roadside memorial funds to sensible work through the construction of dedicated multi-use lanes separate from roads and highways. There cyclists and pedestrians can easily travel free of concern that some driver behind them might be answering the phone, eating lunch, or wondering who died off to the left where those flowerpots have been placed and those waving heart-shaped balloons are flapping about.
After all, memorials belong in graveyards, not on street corners.
Don Saleski,Albany
Shrewsbury draws a crowd
For the past 10 years, we have spent the second weekend in September at the Shrewsbury Renaissance Faire. It was a surprise to read in your paper that there are no Renaissance faires in the Northwest.
Since I worked in the ticket booth, and the head count is over 21,000 per weekend, I have to wonder about that statement. Not only are we alive and well, there are people from across the United States and world who come to our faire every year. Faire folk are a great group of people and it is a family friendly and educational event.
So, remember there is a Renaissance faire in the Northwest, and it is right in your backyard in Kings Valley. Huzzah.
Richard and Loleta Munts, Lebanon
What's in our pet food?
Hat's off to Mary Brock for her letter, "The price of China trade." Pet food companies have convinced our government that a self-regulating industry has the capability of producing healthy and nutritious food while using remnants of human food production and mixing them with stabilizing chemicals that we would never eat, yet on the advice of a $25 billion a year pet food industry have turned our pet food into a toxic mix of complex chemical chains that do not represent the natural pet food.
Dog food is the world's most synthetic, edible food product on earth. In the constant battle of quality vs. profit, profit wins every time. It's a big business just like the tobacco industry. Pet food companies are looking to foreign trade to boost their sales to higher levels.
Commercial pet food manufacturers will cut costs and increase profits by using only the minimum content required to match the label. A meat product listed first does not mean that it is the primary ingredient. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) regulations permit dog food manufacturers today to use a variable formula diet, which means the contents will vary from batch to batch. Whichever ingredients are the cheapest and most available that day will be the ones that will be used. They permit pet food manufacturers to wait up to six months before changing their labels.
The average size dog eats 26 pounds of chemical preservative a year while on commercial pet foods, and then we're surprised when she has kidney failure. Up to 99 percent of pet diseases are caused by processed pet foods.
All essential vitamins and minerals for dogs have never been researched or scientifically validated. Not even by AAFCO. By depending on our pets' medical advisers to say that a home-cooked or raw meal may not meet their health requirements - who are they to say, when they don't know themselves? The best pet owner is the one who asks, "What is best for my pet?" and then chooses for themselves.
Damiana Smith, Lebanon
In Leadership at Calapooia
I am a student at Calapooia Middle School and I am in Leadership. I would just like to say that when I read letters of negativity towards our read-a-thon, I am personally hurt. Because for at least three weeks I worked in my classroom trying to make this event fun. Some people have called this blackmail. Well, the students that didn't participate did enjoy some luxuries. They didn't have their normal schedules. They stayed in their seventh-period class and read.
Last year I did not participate and I thought it was fun. As a student, anytime I don't have to do homework I love. So if a parent or student has a problem they can come to PTSA meetings every second Monday of each month to voice their opinion.
Tyra Barawis, CMS Leadership
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