Obama effigy incident at George Fox was no prank

My reaction to the Sept. 25 "effigy" article on page one, "Obama effigy found at George Fox," was that of profound anger, sorrow and fear.

Hopefully this will not be excused as a college student's prank. Those of us who have been on this planet for 60 years, more or less, know better. Regardless of anyone's choice for presidency of the United States of America, we have to recognize the horror and seriousness of the intended messages targeting the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and the "Act Six" participants.

Thousands of good people have worked diligently to right the wrongs of our past in relation to slavery and prejudice. Right now, however, we owe those who have gone before us making the world a better place our renewed support and care. As human beings we should all be shocked by this outrageous act and take action in any way that we can, large or small.

Jenny Buselt, Corvallis

It's long past time to rebuild Senior Center and the park

The time is now. In response to the Gazette-Times' Sept. 22 editorial on Corvallis Bond Measure 02-65:

I appreciate your putting out the facts for consideration by your readers, but not with your conclusion. Your editorial staff says "we all need to wait to make these needed improvements." Times are uncertain, but the needs of the center and the city parks and playgrounds are vital.

Your editorial headline "Consider timing on Senior Center tax" suggests that the measure refers only to the proposed improvements to the senior and community center and to Chintimini Park, just one part (somewhat more than half) of the $13.6 million bond measure.

The rest (as you pointed out) would go toward making our city park playgrounds more fun and safer for our children, more accessible to our handicapped citizens, and also equip one softball field with lights so that it could be used in the evening. We are proud of our Corvallis parks and recreation opportunities. We need to renew or replace equipment as it ages, as well as remodel the center.

We hope Gazette-Times editors will join community voters at the senior and community center for the open house organized to share information on the bond measure from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night, Sept. 30.

Nancy Leman, Corvallis

Wild turkeys not a problem; they can be excuse for party

Not too many years ago, Philomath's turkey problem would have been easily solved, especially as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday. Now it seems there are a few newcomers who are fretting about the turkeys adding some organic fertilizer to their yards.

Puzzling even more is that the birds are getting to their vegetables before the ravenous deer. Even more alarming is the belief that government needs to be called out to terminate our plump, free-range friends. I wonder how much taxpayers will have to pay to hire a Government Turkey Terminator?

I propose our community leaders consider "The Benton County 1st Annual Turkey Roundup,Shoot and Cook-off Fais Do Do (aka Cajun hoedown)," with proceeds to benefit something like Oregon State University rapidly growing College of Veterinarian Medicine.

Do not fret, animal lovers; I do not propose to shoot and cook up these birds. I simply propose to use some creativity to solve this problem without getting government involved, possibly generating some charitable proceeds, maybe getting some national publicity, and all of us "passing a good time."

Imagine our local schools organizing teams to design ways to humanely trap these birds, having an old-fashioned turkey shoot to win live caged turkeys of choice, politicians pardoning their favorites to assure a small bounty for next year's 2nd Annual Roundup and BBQ, and maybe timing this fais do do with the Civil War Game, where we have a wild game cookoff specializing in creative ways to cook Duck.

Larry Henderson, Corvallis

It's time to reflect on plight, pain of 'food' animals

Oct. 2 is World Farm Animals Day. This day is dedicated to exposing the suffering endured by the 55 billion land animals raised yearly for meat, eggs and dairy. (This doesn't include the huge number of sea animals.) 150 million land animals are killed daily to satisfy our appetites. These appetites are culturally conditioned habits - not necessity. Tragically, the victims of our cravings are subjected to abuse that violates all standards of decency.

Recently undercover investigators documented workers in an Iowa slaughterhouse torturing pigs. Workers were videotaped slamming piglets onto the concrete floor, spraying paint into eyes and up nostrils, ramming rods into anuses and vaginas. (See PETA's Web site.) Don't dismiss this as an isolated incident. Whenever the hidden world of animal agriculture is exposed, severe cruelty is revealed. Although these are the deeds of sadists, standard practices are exceedingly cruel.

We are constantly encouraged to consume animals. However, we are never shown how the animals live and die. Imagine a cooking show with a chef preparing a typical animal-based meal. Then imagine seeing footage of the animals in factory farms and slaughterhouses during the commercials. Now that would be fair and accurate coverage!

We are told that the suffering of "food" animals doesn't matter. It does. Inflicting and tolerating such pain speaks volumes about us. It is how we treat those who are helpless that says it all. However, each of us can make a difference every time we sit down to eat. Please eat kindly.

Nettie Schwager, Corvallis

Jaramillo's leadership serves Benton County well

Randy Rasmussen's letter of Sept. 19, "Let's not forget the race for Congress," points out the importance of local elections, whose outcome is critical for the environmental issues that Mr. Rasmussen highlights. Benton County is currently poised at a crossroads for our natural resources, especially our native habitats and water.

County Commissioner Annabelle Jaramillo has worked for years to develop sound environmental policies, reaching across the rural/urban divide to partner with willing land owners to jointly protect our land, our native flora and fauna, and our incredibly valuable water resources.

Currently, our commissioners are working with stakeholders across the county to create a water policy. It's comforting to know that we have such forward-looking, capable environmental leadership at the local government level.

As the Gazette-Times recently pointed out, we also need to create a wildlands fire protection plan for the rural/urban interface. (Benton is far ahead of most other counties in dealing with water resource issues.)

Benton County cannot afford to lose Annabelle's considerable expertise as we deal with these important issues.

We urge all county residents to vote in November to retain this proven leader, who will listen and can work with us to maintain our county's beauty and livability.

Barry and Ella May Wulff, Philomath

Where is the apology from bankers, mortgage brokers?

Before one nickel goes to bail out Wall Street, we need a public apology from those who got us into this mess. That includes the bankers, mortgage brokers and rating agencies who deemed those mortgage bundles as "investment grade."

Philip Scott, Corvallis

Smith acted too quickly to back Bush's giveaway

I read about Sen. Gordon Smith's rapid support for President Bush's $700 billion give-away to Wall Street bankers. It seems as if Smith has learned nothing about following this president's precipitous actions in quick lock-step, just as Smith did in supporting the war in Iraq.

Gordon Smith's support for deregulation was instrumental in causing this crisis. In 1999, he supported the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which removed restrictions on the activities of banks, investment firms and insurance companies and allowed the proliferation of new and unregulated banking practices that led to this crisis. Now he wants to throw our money to those who created this mess with no oversight or accountability. What's the rush? Let's think this through for a moment. Surely Congress can come up a better plan than this one.

It could even be better if he tried to solve the problem as the president did in Iraq: Load pallets of cash onto airplanes and sprinkle it over the country from the skies. At least that might do some good for taxpayers; some might actually find its way to needy homebuyers. The only place that the excesses of the investment bankers have trickled down to is Cayman Island bank accounts.

In short, Sen. Smith has voted with President Bush 90 percent of the time. We should not re-elect this sycophant.

Jim Birken, Corvallis

We're a United States that has forgotten its unity

Unity: This is a small word but one of great power. The word means being of one accord, agreement or harmony.

We also use the word unite, meaning to join or come together for a common cause. We all united over the 9/11 tragedy. We call ourselves the United States, but are we really?

We all label ourselves Democrats, Republicans or Independents. We call ourselves Christians, and yet we label ourselves through differences in scriptures. So we are a very divided nation.

We see the biased media and the negative campaigning that goes on with the politics from all parties. We see ministers using the pulpit to bring vindictive sermons to the congregations which, in turn, keeps the house divided.

It's not amazing that some people view the Christian church with skepticism as we show the world we are not always united.

Each of us will not always agree with others' opinion, but we can respect their views and the right of free speech as long as people are not hurt by it. No one should have the right of censorship or try to that that right away. In this we should or do stand UNITED.

Clyde Buckner, Lebanon