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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: Eugene's
Answer Happening Person: Karen Perkins UNCANDID CAMERAS Eugene Police Officer Roger Magaña was convicted last year of sexually assaulting, raping and/or harassing a dozen women, often while in his patrol car. Would plans for a new patrol car video system have discouraged the police officer's sex crime spree had it been in place? Apparently not, according to a draft video policy now under consideration by the Eugene Police Commission. Video technology has been available in convenience stores for decades to document robberies, and catch clerks raiding the till, but the EPD is just getting around to a plan to install video cameras in patrol cars by next year. This is the police department's second attempt. A decade ago the department installed VHS cameras in 23 patrol cars at a cost of thousands of dollars to taxpayers. But the video program collapsed amid suspicions that officers were intentionally destroying or disabling the equipment to avoid incriminating evidence against themselves. Now, with the police department embroiled in sex crime and racial profiling scandals, the EPD is again looking to install cameras in patrol cars. The new digital cameras would cost $7,000 a car to install in 41 patrol cars for a total of about $287,000 in taxpayer money. But it's unclear whether the expensive cameras will be useful in reigning in abusive cops or end up being destroyed by officers. A draft camera policy before the Eugene Police Commission does not explicitly forbid officers from destroying or disabling the equipment. Other apparent shortcomings in the policy include: Not leaving the cameras continuously on as some departments do, but rather allowing officers to turn the cameras off and on, with few strict rules. Not pointing the camera at the front seat, where Magaña abused many of his victims. Not requiring supervisors and internal affairs officers to randomly check up on all officers by reviewing tapes. Not requiring discipline and charges against officers if tapes reviewed for prosecuting criminals also reveal officer misconduct. Not including an available GPS system to allow supervisors and investigators to verify that officers such as Magaña aren't lying about their whereabouts to conceal crimes or misconduct. Instead of focusing on protecting the public, the new video policy appears designed more to help police convict people they arrest and help police absolve themselves of misconduct allegations. The policy makes little mention of using the new cameras to prevent officer misconduct by nabbing rogue officers and preventing officer misconduct in the first place by letting police know that they're being watched. — Alan Pittman
HEEERE'S JAN A TV-style talk show with a live studio audience is brewing in Eugene starting in February. The local seminar series "Global Trends — Local Choices" will take on a new format from 7 to 8 pm Tuesdays, Feb. 1, Feb. 15 and March 1 at Cozmic Pizza. The show is a collaboration between Jan Spencer and Cozmic Pizza, and will feature Spencer as host and commentator. Guests will address trends relating to the environment, civic issues, culture and much more. Following each show will be open discussion circles. Spencer's first guest Feb. 1 will be Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy talking about how Eugene can evolve more towards the "green" ideals so many in this community would like to see. Enemy Combatants, a Eugene based duo who protested at the Bush inauguration, will also be on the bill. Feb. 15 guests will be federal farm policy expert Kim Leval and LCC political science instructor Stan Taylor. March 1 guests will be UO Environmental Studies director John H. Baldwin and permaculture expert Jude Hobbs. For more information, call 686-6761.
STUDENTS GO SOLAR The UO is going solar, again! The Student Recreaction Center is going "online" this month with its new array of solar modules expected to produce about 40 kilowatt hours of electricity each day or about 14,500 kilowatt hours each year. A ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of the new solar array was held Jan. 14. The array uses 84 solar modules installed above the basketball courts at the Rec Center. The production of power will offset a portion of the Rec Center's utility bills and serve as a model for future energy-conscious campus development. "The project, initiated and funded by UO students, demonstrates their desire for a sunnier future and shows their commitment to address problems facing this nation and the world in a positive manner," says Frank Vignola, director of the UO Solar Energy Center. This is the second phase of a three-part project that started In the spring of 2001, when the Ecological Design Center (EDC) was awarded a $100,000 grant by the student government to install a grid-tied photovoltaic system on university rooftops. The grant's goal was to fund enduring and environmentally responsible projects that benefit the entire student body.
SALEM WATCH Below are some highlights from the past week in Salem, as provided by the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV) and other sources: The Oregon Environmental Council (OEC) is working with legislative counsel on draft legislation, and working to find additional sponsors for their bill on Biodiesel Solutions for Oregon's Farmers and Children. Key sponsors are Reps. Dingfelder and Kropf. Action Network is working with Oregon cities, including Eugene, on legislation to "close the toxic pollution loophole to restore safe and healthy rivers." Their website is http://actionnetwork.org A subcommittee of the Oregon Conservation Network Common Agenda Project is closely tracking all activities relating to protecting Oregon's land use laws. The Senate held two hearings last week dealing with the effects of Measure 37. Neither hearing resulted in any substantive proposals for legislation or action on the part of the Legislature. The governor's proposed budget includes funding for Oregon's Pesticide Use Reporting System. The OEC, the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides and others are working with members of the Joint Ways and Means Committee to make sure the funding is secure through the state's budgeting process. With support from the governor, Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) is asking the 2005 Legislature to enact a statewide non-discrimination law that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, public accommodation, housing, education and public services. BRO is collecting stories about discrimination. Visit www.basicrights.org/issues/story.asp
Taking
the War to Bush
Three activists from Eugene — Carol Melia, Willow Rose and Peter Chabarek — traveled to Washington, D.C., to take part in protests of the Jan. 20 inauguration of President George W. Bush. "We could not sit on the sidelines for the coronation of mad King George, so off we went," Chabarek says. "We are just ordinary folks with draft age kids who are extremely upset with what this administration is doing. We planned a little surprise for Mr. Bush and his guests." Last fall, Melia and Chabarek protested at the Republican National Convention and disrupted Bush and Cheney campaign rallies in Oregon with dramatic anti-war messages. Although Chabarek initially hesitated over the prospect of another grueling protest mission, unpaid time off work, and the threat of attack or arrest, he finally packed up his heavy winter gear and guitar and headed to D.C. "This was a chance to shame and embarrass the administration in their moment of supposed triumph," he says.
The activists nabbed seats about 60 yards from the podium for the swearing-in ceremony on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building. Just as Supreme Court Justice Renquist was about to deliver the oath of office, they stepped into the aisle and started screaming, "Stop the war! Bring home the troops!" Melia had a video camera rolling. The activists could hear their voices echoing off the Capitol Building, so they felt sure they were being heard. Although military ushers guarded the aisles, Chabarek describes a slow response from security personnel. "The military ushers next to us were stunned," he says. "They didn't seem to know what to do. They decided not to do anything."
More daunting were the Bush supporters in the crowd. One man doused the protesters with water and pushed each to the ground. Melia got into a wrestling match with a woman who tried to steal the camera from her. "But we all popped up and just kept screaming," Chabarek says. After about a minute, the capitol police showed up. "You can't be doing that here," one officer told the protesters. "I'll have to ask you to leave for your own protection." Melia, Chabarek and Rose felt they had completed the mission successfully and didn't wish to be arrested, so they complied with police and were escorted out. "They did not charge us with anything and seemed to go out of their way to be courteous to us," Chabarek says. As they were being led out, Melia told people in the crowd, "Let's bring home all our troops alive!" and got many thumbs-up. Chabarek said, "Defend the Constitution! Defend the First Amendment!" and people booed and threw snowballs at him. Rose said, "Democracy means we have the right to dissent. Don't be afraid to speak out the truth," and elicited some positive responses.
The activists called local radio news producer Amy Pincus Merwin, who aired the report on KWVA and KBOO and contacted Democracy Now!, an independent news show that broadcasts on more than 300 stations nationwide. Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman interviewed Melia for the Jan. 21 broadcast of the show. MSNBC questioned Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge about the "protesters that interrupted the inaguration," and NPR reportedly mentioned the protest. The activists' shouts were also recorded on the raw footage of Reuters News Service, which provides film/audio to news outlets around the world. The protesters did interviews with NBC affiliate KMTR in Eugene, The Oregonian and The Register-Guard. On Jan. 21, the activists protested in front of the offices of powerful America neo-conservative think tanks such as the American Enterprise Institute and Project for New American Century. Other protest activities abounded. Chabarek describes the gaudy inauguration balls with people in tuxedos and full length furs, the clash of protesters and Bush supporters along the parade route and other events surrounding Inauguration Day. Melia and Chabarek's political folk band, Enemy Combatants, will play their music and tell stories of their adventures at 7:30 pm Friday, Jan. 28, at Fool's Paradise on 5th and Willamette.
Eugene's
Answer Eugene's Jan. 20th counter-inauguration celebration and peace protest was a great success. Hundreds turned out at the Federal Building for an event that included activist speakers, a line of drummers, a sidewalk filled with protesters petitioning passing drivers, and a candle-lit walk around the Federal Building. Probably the largest contingent present was the campus group, UO Students for Change. They sponsored a parallel event on campus from 12 to 4 pm, and at its conclusion hundreds of singing and shouting students marched en masse downtown to join the older generation of protesters. As a result of their incredibly ambitious goals, Students for Change is now receiving support and mentorship from MIT professor Noam Chomsky as well as an array of other activists and visionaries. Exhausted after the event, student organizers collapsed together at Cozmic Pizza, ruefully glancing around at the crammed restaurant as political theater played loudly in the background. When I asked them what was next, a shrug passed around the table. One member of the group answered, "Come to the planning meeting on Sunday night. We can talk about that." High school-aged youth were present throughout the protest, some of them picketing with hand-made signs as others gathered on street-corners, dancing to their friends' drumming. A number of religious denominations were represented, as well as nonprofits such as Justice Not War and the Pacific Green Party of Lane County. A convergence of Eugene's secular and religious liberal activist groups seems inevitable in the growing extremity of general opposition. And there was opposition. Young Republicans materialized in force, protesting the protest both at the university events and at the federal building. At the university, they stood above the protesters on the balcony of the Erb Memorial Union, heckling speakers who presented information and read political poetry. Banner-bearing peace protesters moved up to join them, filling in the spaces around and between the hecklers, still showing their support and clapping for the UO speakers. A trio of hecklers followed the tail-end of the protest, yelling at an older activist who walked slowly with a bicycle and occasionally stopped to look over his shoulder and yell back at his pursuers. Later, just as the candlelight march around the federal
building began, marchers heard a recording of the national anthem. A
huge-wheeled pick-up truck came into sight, replete with a megaphone
audio system, several young Republicans, and a cardboard cut-out of
George Bush the Second. The truck drove around the block as protesters
turned to stare. "Well, isn't that something," commented a middle-aged
man. His daughter gripped him with her left hand, a small, burning candle
in her right. A few banner-bearing young men walked up to one of the street corners. They stood near the front of the picketers and unveiled their sign: "These People Hate America," in big, bold letters. A moment later, four young women moved up resolutely to stand in front of them. They held smaller signs emblazoned with "Peace," which they held up in front of the banner-bearers. Both messages were visible to passing cars. Police forces were apparent throughout the day. At first, officers seemed nervous with the growing crowds. But the police at the Federal Building were appreciative of the peacefulness and solemnity of the demonstration. "Everything's fine," one officer said. Another officer stood at the street corner where the banner-bearing Republicans were now chatting with their peace-picketing counterparts. He looked out of place, sandwiched in a tight crowd of activists. When asked if he was enjoying himself, he laughed. Then his face sobered. "Tell everyone to be careful crossing the street," he said, nodding to show he was serious. "The cars come around there really fast, and the drivers don't look."
KAREN PERKINS
She never thought of herself as an artist while growing up in Menlo Park, Calif., but Karen Perkins was always making something. "I sold my weaving in high school," she recounts. She also taught arts and crafts at a boarding school as a senior project: "They invited me back — I worked there for a year." Perkins moved to Eugene for the trees and rivers in 1973, studied ceramics and art education, and worked four years as head of the Ceramics Department at Maude Kerns Art Center. She has taught art since 1984, first at Springfield Middle School, and since 1998 at Springfield High. "Springfield is incredibly supportive of arts," says Perkins. "I've been working for years to get kids involved in the community." Her glass classes are currently working on three murals for specific locations at the school, while her latest project sends experienced SHS artists out to teach classes in nearby elementary and middle schools. "Karen gives up her lunch every day because kids just want to be there," notes Art Department chair Dana Demant. "It's a place where they can do good work and feel successful. It's home base for a lot of kids." - BY PAUL NEEVEL
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