Protesting for the sake

of protesting
When I chose to attend the University, a major factor in my choice was the inherent liberalism of the school — a liberalism that I now see as a simple facade. Those of you protesting in front of Johnson Hall, those of you squatting on public land, those of you wasting taxpayers’ money (who else is paying overtime bills to our county’s finest?), those of you disrupting the educational process … why are you going to school here? Are you here just to protest? You are championing a cause that was already in the process of being resolved, even before you started camping out in front of the administration building. Now, by making unreasonable demands (such as forgoing the democratic process by attempting to bypass the University Senate and asking University President Dave Frohnmayer for full decision-making power) you’re simply wasting everybody else’s time.
Perhaps it is time to stop protesting simply for the sake of protesting. We’re not our parents, and we don’t need to live up to their activist legacies. Don’t get me wrong — even I think that the Worker Rights Consortium is a valid group. But I do not condone the wanton disregard for the democratic process you’ve exhibited in your demands, and like much of the student body, I’m getting tired of the constant disruptions… so I will leave you with a final suggestion: Don’t search for a cause simply for the sake of having one.

Jesse Wendel

English

CAHOOTS deserves funding
I appreciated Jonathan Gruber’s story about CAHOOTS, Whitebird Clinic’s mobile crisis van (ODE, April 4). I think it is indeed one of the more unique, valuable and cost-effective social services available in Eugene. They complement and support nicely what many other local service agencies, including Lane County Mental Health, do. Many of our clients, most of whom are low-income, are also served at various times by Whitebird generally and CAHOOTS specifically. (Of course, Whitebird also serves a lot of people who choose not to have anything to do with us.)
It’s unfortunate, however, that CAHOOTS is available only in Eugene because Springfield has for years declined to participate in funding this much needed service — a service that is needed in Springfield as much as in Eugene and would be better provided by CAHOOTS than by the Springfield Police.
Social services generally, and services to psychiatrically disabled adults specifically, increasingly fail to meet the need. This, even though the need grows significantly because of the closure of state psychiatric hospitals, the increasing needs of aging, disabled baby boomers, growth in population and other reasons. This means that compassionate, cost-effective help like that provided by CAHOOTS will play an increasingly important role in responding to the needs of one of our more vulnerable populations — a population that exists in all of Lane County, not just in Eugene.

Gary Cornelius

Program Services Coordinator

Lane County Mental Health