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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes Questioning Race: News: News: Shades of Green: CAL YOUNG SEES COUP In a rare display of power politics for a neighborhood group, conservatives packed a meeting of the Cal Young Neighborhood Association (CYNA) Jan. 27 to vote out the association's current president. Former Mayor Jim Torrey and conservative Councilors Gary Papé and George Poling and more than 100 other people packed the meeting to overwhelmingly vote out Charles Biggs and install John Brown as the new CYNA president. The Cal Young coup could have citywide impact. Neighborhood associations often meet infrequently, only advise the city and are often ignored. But new Mayor Kitty Piercy and other councilors have discussed giving the neighborhood groups real power. But what if that power is taken simply by whoever can best pack a meeting? Biggs had angered Torrey last summer when he wrote an opinion piece in the neighborhood newsletter critical of the lack of citizen involvement in the downtown visioning process. Torrey championed building a new police station as the central part of a downtown vision. Voters rejected the police station proposal by a 20 percent margin last November, including a heavy "no" vote in the Cal Young area. Brown, a Torrey supporter, was a leading backer of the new police station. "I have no problem with losing an election" as neighborhood president, Biggs said, but he said he did have concerns about what happened last week. Biggs said the roughly 100 Brown supporters who showed up pressed to move the election to first on the agenda and then promptly left after the vote, skipping items on neighborhood history, tire slashings and hate fliers and commercial signs at Sheldon High School. "It was very disrespectful of the association and the guest speakers." Such power politics are unusual for neighborhood associations, Biggs said, "I don't see the neighborhood associations as playing politics in that regard." Most of the quarterly Cal Young meetings are attended by about 30 to 40 people, including many regulars. When he was first elected two years ago, "I was asked to take the position and I said I would. It wasn't like I ran an election." Biggs said he heard some concerns from meeting regulars that they "didn't like the impression that an outside force was coming in and imposing their will on the neighborhood." Many of those who voted were not neighborhood residents, but representatives of businesses in the neighborhood including the Arlie development company and Wildish Sand and Gravel, Biggs said. Such business representatives are allowed to vote, but have rarely done so in the past, he said. Biggs said before the ouster he was a "vocal voice" around city and neighborhood concerns. "Maybe it's a way of silencing those concerns." Biggs is co-chair of the city Neighborhood Leaders Council, a group which often takes progressive stands. He said it's so far unclear whether or not he will have to give up his two-year appointment to that official city group. Brown said he sent out letters to draw supporters to the meeting, but sees nothing wrong with what happened. Torrey was "unhappy" with Biggs' criticism of his civic center vision process, but he said Torrey did not put him up to throwing Biggs out. "That's absolutely wrong." It's not unusual or disrespectful for people to leave a city meeting when items they are interested in are over, Brown said. Brown said he'd like to look at splitting up the neighborhood, which he said is too large to draw active interest in meetings. "There hasn't been a lot of involvement in the past," Brown said. "Nobody goes to a meeting unless they have a dog in the fight." Biggs agrees with Brown's goal of getting more people to meetings. "I just hope this transition strengthens the Cal Young Neighborhood Association and increases participation over all." — Alan Pittman
PEACEHEALTH PANS FEAR OF FLOODING A Springfield resident and longtime river pollution watchdog is calling PeaceHealth's plans to build a huge medical center along the McKenzie River "absolutely insane." David Rodriguez lives along the McKenzie and says the natural meandering nature of the river will likely eat away at the setbacks proposed for the hospital. "Any setbacks set today only apply to the present river configuration," Rodriguez wrote to Springfield city officials. "What can be 100 feet today can easily become 20 feet or less after bank failure due to river realignment tomorrow. All of the trees and buffer would be gone." PeaceHealth spokesman Brian Terrett says he has read the Rodriguez letter and, "We will be submitting documentation — based on studies and research, not opinion — that contradicts everything David Rodriguez is claiming." Terrett says the hospital has spent "nearly $2 million prepping for the master plan submittal last year, and that included a double peer-reviewed study of the flooding and the river." He says that after an independent civil engineering firm completed their study, the results were sent off to another independent firm to review the work. "After that review was done, we submitted it to the city of Springfield and they sent it off to yet another independent firm for review. The results indicate that there are no flooding threats on the site of the hospital and that we met the statewide planning goals for flooding." Rodriguez wrote that he has observed massive erosion of McKenzie river banks during times of high water. "When this erosion is under way, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to stop it until after the floods recede," he wrote, and he predicts that Springfield will face enormous costs to "fully armor" the banks if the river threatens the hospital. Terrett says erosion today is actually occurring on the opposite bank from the hospital site. "And as far as the setbacks established today vaporizing, the reality is that the area proximate to the hospital has not moved even one foot in almost 80 years," he says, "as is evidenced by the stability of the tree grove adjacent to the hospital site." — TJT
BENEFIT BAGS BOUCOUP BUCKS Hundreds of Eugeneans gathered at the Lane County Fairgrounds last Friday night to eat gourmet food donated by local restaurants, enjoy performances donated by local bands, singers, and dancers, and contribute to efforts to aid the millions of families affected by the devastating Asian tsunami. About $30,000 was raised at the Hand to Hand event itself, and still to be counted are pre-event ticket sales and a final tally on silent auction sales. The total could reach $50,000, says musician Sat Pavan Kaur Khalsa, one of the event planners. The money will go to Direct Relief International. "We picked this charity because of their extremely low administrative costs, very inclusive way of taking care of people and the countries involved," says Kaur Khalsa. "Their main objective is to give medical aid and supplies." She says the charity manages to leverage $30 in benefits for every dollar donated (see www.directrelief.org)."The event itself was great in the fact that we were able to bring people together from all over Oregon to work together to make it successful and prosperous," she says. Community and political leaders (Kitty Piercy, Peter DeFazio, Anna Morrison and others) turned out to help, along with UO football players. MC was Rick Dancer of KEZI and stage manager was the flu-ridden Paul Biondi. Following the Friday night fund-raiser was the Healing Hands of Eugene benefit Sunday combining healing arts and music at the Hult Center Lobby. No word yet on the money raised by that event for the Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (www.amurt.net),which provides international disaster relief, sustainable development and community programs.
SEWING SEEDS FOR PEACE At his core Peter Hwosch believes that one person can make a difference, that something as seemingly small as listening can ultimately lead to world peace. This weekend he'll be in Eugene as he travels across the country raising money for the Seedlings of Peace Summer Camp, a project that brings together youth from the three sides of pre-war Yugoslavia and teaches them how to talk to each other. A longtime member of the Compassionate Listening Project, Hwosch stumbled across the camp in 2002, the camp's first summer, and participated as a trainer. Founded by Branka Drabek Milekic in Latinovac, Croatia, the camp operates on a shoestring budget and doesn't receive government funding. Despite that, they've been extremely successful in changing the lives and communication patterns of the kids who participate by teaching them reflective listening, meditation, creative problem solving and cultural awareness in a safe space. A talented musician and documentary filmmaker, Hwosch will perform at 7 pm Thursday, Feb. 3 at Cozmic Pizza. Mixing rock and blues, he sounds a little bit like an early Sting. With lyrics poignant, tender and brutal in their honesty, Hwosch takes on deeply personal, social and global issues with heart. At 7 pm Friday, Feb. 4 at Cozmic Pizza, he'll show Beyond These Narrow Borders, the documentary he made during his first summer at the camp. "The shooting has stopped," he says, "but the trauma is immense and there is little understanding for the work we are doing or its need." — Melissa Bearns
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS The wrong name was listed in a Slant item last week on the RideShare Alliance. The author and webmaster of the RideShare Alliance website at www.rideshare.us is Joshua Kielas, a Eugene resident and LCC student. A wrong photo of solar panels was used in our News Briefs last week. The panel shown is actually a non-functioning unit on the roof of the Science-Math Building at LCC, erected as part of a classroom project and later disassembled. Due to state regulations, only licensed electricians are allowed to install on-line electrical panels.
Creating
Stereotypes
Debra Merskin is an associate professor at the UO School of Journalism and Communication. Her teaching and research focus on (mis)representations of race, ethnicity and gender in the media. This is the third part of an ongoing Q&A series about race. Tell me about your background studying stereotypes. My mother was Cherokee, and that may have led me to an affinity for learning about portrayals of different groups of people. It seemed to me that before Sept. 11th, one of the last permissible stereotypes was of Native Americans. There are still images at the grocery store — like Rastis, a black servant, on Cream of Wheat, and the Aunt Jemima bottle, which is sort of a mammy. But African Americans have been very organized and effective in making changes. And Latinos have done it; we don't have the Frito Bandito like we used to. But these groups also have significant buying power, and this hasn't been the case with Native Americans. You can drive a Jeep Cherokee, but you would never drive a Jeep Jew. What makes this OK? How does advertising contribute to stereotypes? Having worked in advertising, I've had an awareness of branding and product images. And I was appalled by the appropriation of an individual — in the case of Crazy Horse malt liquor — into a caricature. Indians become almost fictional because of lack of other representation. And then listening to George Bush's post-Sept. 11 speeches, I realized that the amount of stereotyping of Arab Americans fit this model that I was looking at, so I had to write about that. It's a careful path to walk, looking at these things intellectually when people are faced with poverty and lack of medical care. Do these portrayals really matter? But to me they really do, because how did we end up in a situation when people, on the basis of race, are only living in certain parts of town and facing lack of medical coverage and suffering disproportionate amounts of psychological stresses? Stereotypes accumulate in a way that affects public policy and law. Is there a profitability in perpetuating stereotypes? I think so. It resulted in the creation of a whole FOX network at one time, which segregated programming rather than integrating it. What's the difference between target marketing and stereotyping? Race is one of those demographic markers. The media and advertisers try to play it safe. They don't want to risk losing their clients or their audience, and everything is pitched to the real mainstream sensibility for fear of generating controversy. You give 'em what you've been giving 'em because it's safe. Programming has become so banal because it exists to attract advertisers. It's about getting the eyeballs in front of the screen. The advertisers will run if there's any hint of controversy. Are some stereotypes 'safer' than others? The one that comes to mind is the model minority Asian stereotype. That would appear to be positive, because it's success-based. It's about being good at math and hard-working, cooperative and obedient. It seems positive, but the pressure it puts on a young person who is artful and creative and maybe isn't very good at math, and who is trying to understand where they fit in the world, would be very difficult. How do media create stereotypes? I use something called "accumulation theory." One ad, one movie, one cartoon is not going to create or encourage stereotypes. But take an entire collection of media portrayals over time, and that can fuel a particular point of view about a group of people. The Arab stereotypes were ready to be accessed right after Sept. 11th, but they had been prepared by decades of film stereotypes and cartoons. After the Cold War, America needed a new global bad guy, so the terrorist became this monolithic Arab. You can see that in film, from the days of the James Bond communist plot to the Bruce Willis Die-Hard. The "other" became Arab. So that group was ripe for targeting. I think of it as the revolving door of racism. The seeds have been planted a long time ago for thinking about a group of people in a certain way, and circumstances are just so that it triggers something, and that group becomes a target. You don't necessarily ask why, because the portrayals don't seem unusual to you. The idea of "us-ing" and "them-ing" is very basic and fundamental. We're a society of labelers, and group identities are very important. Group identity can be complicated for people of mixed-race backgrounds. How do you identify ethnically? I realize that I am biracial, but it's just something I have to know in my heart, because I don't look like an Indian. It's a really lonely, odd situation to be in. On the one hand, I know that I have privilege because I don't look like my mother. On the other hand, I don't want to deny or forget those parts of myself. People bring assumptions about what "one" should look like, whatever that is. The lingo on campus is of "visible minorities," and in hiring situations, of being a "hot property." These are very narrow definitions of what a human being is. And there are a lot of multi-racial people since the anti-miscegenation laws [against interracial marriage] broke down in the '60s. Do you think media are at the root of racism? It's that chicken-or-egg thing: Does media reflect society or does society reflect media? I think that the media both reflects and leads. It's a paradox. Media support the status quo enough not to create controversy. And of course, the media are owned by five or six corporations, and their CEOs are all white men. The advertisers feel comfortable signing long-term contracts and buying time and space in a way that these media industries can survive. There's the saying, "Give the people what they want," and apparently it's a diet of the same things they've always had. Once in awhile you'll get a program with an African American, a Latino or a Latina, a one-of-each cast. But it always ends up being by itself out there. You don't see a sudden surge of programs with people from a variety of backgrounds. If there's a cycle of media feeding society feeding media, how can we change stereotypes? At a community level, we need media literacy — children learning to expose themselves to different forms of media and look at the messages they receive. People can speak most loudly with their dollars, and if you don't buy something, that'll get the attention of the companies. And there's something missing in our educational system. History is told by the winner. Ask who's missing from the textbooks and other sources. If the word "assume" ever comes up in your language, be willing to stop yourself at that point. We need to think about our assumptions and how we may have learned them.
Classrooms
Sans Borders
Eugene resident Matthew Rutman was working as a volunteer in rural Guatemala in 2000 when a local invited him to a meeting of parents and teachers who were trying to build a new community school. They showed Rutman their current facility — made of cinder blocks and wood planks — and told him about their dream of setting up a well-equipped school for their children. That's no easy task for the poorest people in one of the world's poorest countries, where few children receive more than elementary educations and indigenous kids often lag behind urban ladinos (Guatemalans of Spanish descent) in terms of education and technological skills. In 2001, Rutman set up Partners in Solidarity (PS), a nonprofit with bases in Eugene, Portland and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. With the help of local computer techie Michael Board and other volunteers, Rutman sends annual shipments of computers, classroom furniture and medical supplies to rural Guatemalan communities. Rutman, now 30 years old and a teacher at Elizabeth Page Elementary School in Springfield, and Board, 27, salvage damaged or surplus classroom furniture from the Eugene school district for the project. "We're just redistributing things phased out by 4J, like metal chairs and desks and chalkboards," Board says. MacRenewal, a Eugene nonprofit that refurbishes and recycles computers, has donated more than 400 machines to PS in the past three years. "We're dedicated to empowering people who don't have access to technology," MacRenewal Administrative Coordinator Lorraine Kerwood says. Once a year, PS volunteers pack palettes full of computers, medical equipment, chalkboards, chairs, desks, wheelchairs, bicycles and filing cabinets into 8' X 8' X 40' containers for shipment to Guatemala. To date, the project has provided computer labs for more than two dozen Guatemalan schools and nonprofits. To pay for shipping and other costs, PS raises funds through grants, donations and benefit events. Rutman and Board work for free, without an office, while maintaining their 9-to-5 jobs. Rutman emphasizes that the donations are not an outright gift to the Guatamalan communities; rather, they are part of a cooperative effort. "There's an association sometimes of the indigenous people looking for handouts from the patrón (boss)," he says. "Basically, we're just providing requested materials and putting them in the hands of indigenous leaders. If you're not letting them have ownership of the project, nothing's ever going to get better." Teachers in participating communities are required to attend workshops on computer use and troubleshooting. And, because computer theft has been a problem, community leaders sign a legally-binding contract to protect the donated equipment and never to sell it. If the equipment is neglected or stolen, the community becomes ineligible to receive donations in the future. "To accept these materials, the community has to invest in their protection," Board says. There is also an incentive for taking good care of the equipment: more computers the following year. Most schools receive five computers and one printer the first year, but one school that has participated for three years now has 15 computers. Some people question PS's intentions in bringing technology to rural communities that have gotten by for years without computers. But Rutman says that a lack of modern education allows companies and governments to exploit the region's native peoples. "The indigenous population has always provided the sweat for Guatemalan goods," Rutman says. "Whether it's pickin' beans or makin' Levi's jeans, they're doing it. Giving them access to a better education is going to help them in the situations that they're already facing." Based on the project's success to far, Rutman and Board plan to expand PS. As the organization gains funds and momentum, Board hopes to establish a local office and work for the project full-time. PS has sent 80-100 computers to Guatemala per year, but this year Rutman and Board are aiming for 400-500 computers, and they hope to eventually deliver the materials to rural communities as far as Nicaragua. "This project is my life's joy," Board says. "Once you get down south and see people's faces light up, it makes this so worthwhile." PS needs donated storage space and medical supplies for the next shipment ofmaterials to Guatemala. For more information, visit www.partnersinsolidarity.com. To donate a computer to MacRenewal, visit www.lanecrrc.org
Undercovered
#41 The 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990. According to Dr. Rajandra Pachaun, chairman of the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Earth's atmosphere already contains "dangerous levels" of CO2. He urges "very deep" cuts in pollution to help humanity survive. Sudden leaps in atmospheric CO2 the past two years suggest global warming is accelerating as the atmosphere, slow to react, responds now to 1960s pollution. British researchers using computer models predict global temperature rises of up to 19 F, twice previous estimates, in a study that finds Earth's climate alarmingly sensitive to greenhouse gases (Independent). China, India, and the U.S. plan to construct up to 850 new coal-fired plants by 2012. These plants will belch 2.7 billion additional tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, overwhelming the Kyoto countries' projected reduction of 483 million tons (Christian Science Monitor). A hopeful sign in the U.S. Congress is the Climate Stewardship Act, a bipartisan bill to put a modest limit on greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA has yet to approve the strong Clean Air Interstate Rule. In contrast, the Bush administration's "Clear Skies" bill would weaken clean air regulations (Environmental Defense). The first global study on effects of climate change on animal and plant species predicts extinction of 15 to 37 percent of species by 2050 (Washington Post). More than 15,500 species face extinction, mostly from human-related causes, according to the World Conservation Union's threatened species list. This includes 23 percent of mammals, 32 percent of amphibians, and 34 percent of conifers and cycads (bellaciao.org). Audubon Society's "State of the Birds" report finds almost 30 percent of U.S. bird species in significant decline, including 70 percent of grassland species. "Birds signal that we are at risk next," says Audubon President John Flicker (www.audubon.org). For the crucial U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, with jurisdiction over nine Western states and 75 percent of federal lands, Bush will re-nominate William Myers, rejected last year by the Senate. Myers has never been a judge. He worked for the National Mining Association until he became chief attorney for Bush's Interior Department, where he weakened both the Endangered Species Act and federal protection to prevent destructive overgrazing and mining on public lands (www.bushgreenwatch.org). The REAL ID Act, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, includes provisions that place refugees at an increased risk of persecution and erode this country's historic commitment to protect those seeking safe haven. The bill resurrects several controversial anti-immigrant and anti-refugee provisions dropped from the final version of the "Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004" in December 2004 due to widespread opposition. If enacted, the bill's anti-refugee provisions would fundamentally change U.S. asylum law. Many refugees who have fled brutal human rights abuses — including torture, rape and other horrific violence — will be barred from receiving asylum under these provisions (www.humanrightsfirst.org).Reservist Charles Graner's court marshal for abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib was "a show trial" to prove that "a few rotten apples — not U.S. policy or those who created it — are to blame" (L.A. Times). A recent Justice Department memo prohibiting torture contains a footnote that allows techniques previously approved by the department to remain lawful, so Alberto Gonzales's notorious "torture memos" remain in effect (NY Times). New revelations of torture at U.S.-run lockups include allegations that guards sodomized a disabled man and killed his brother, then tossed the body onto his sister in a cell at Adhamiya, one of Saddam Hussein's palaces (L.A. Times). In Fallujah, Iraq, site of U.S. attacks in November, American troops have power-washed streets and trucked away bombed-out houses and soil — not everywhere, but on a highly selective basis. Fallujah refugees attribute this cleanliness to removing traces of November's "weird bombs," which exploded to burn people's skins with inextinguishable fire — characteristic of both phosphorus weapons and napalm (www.dahrjamailiraq.com).Removing soil and buildings may also mark efforts to clean up sites of uranium weapons strikes. U.S. military deaths have risen from 17 per month in May 2003 to 82 per month currently; troops wounded from 142 per month to 808, with Iraqi casualties far higher. Attacks on coalition troops have soared from 735 per month in November 2003 to 2,400; mass-casualty bombings from zero to 13 per month (Knight-Ridder). U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey introduced a resolution calling on Bush to begin immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops. It was co-sponsored by 24 representatives, but not DeFazio. "We got ourselves into this mess," Woolsey says. "Now it's time to support our troops by bringing them home" (http://woolsey.house.gov). To contact members of Congress: (800) 839-5276, congress.org, U.S. Senate, Washington D.C. 20510 and House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515. Undercovered is a synopsis of culturally and environmentally significant news stories that receive inadequate attention from the mainstream media.
Here
Comes the Sun Dissolving icebergs, lethal heat waves, Inuit and Maldives natives abandoning their soggy homelands — it's a frightening picture as we head into four more years of oil-soaked U.S. presidency. Above the surface of a polluted, melting planet shines the sun, presenting both danger and hope. We can help protect the world from global warming in our own homes. Using more solar energy also lessens the need for foreign oil and criminal wars.
Thirty-eight percent of Oregon's electricity use is residential. Our state's electricity is powered by 38 percent hydroelectric dams, 39 percent coal, 15 percent natural gas (with more plants opening), and 4 percent renewable sources: biomass, wind, solar, and geothermal. Though many Oregonians assume their electricity comes from water, a growing population and prolonged Western drought have meant heavier reliance on other sources. Natural gas, an alternative to electric heat, emits 45 percent less carbon than coal, with fewer particulates. The solar energy industry in the U.S. has been nurtured by the Carter administration in the '70s, squashed by Reagan in the '80s, and marked by uneven quality in its early days. Now it's coming into its own, sponsored by green marketers, big oil companies who bought up clean-energy patents, and solar pioneers who endured. Yet the U.S. lags far behind Japan and Germany, where Green Party participation in government has made sustainability a priority. Our Western states are taking renewable energy and conservation into their own hands, crafting a regional plan to combat global warming. Solar energy is a crucial component. Surprisingly, solar radiation in watery western Oregon is average for the U.S. Even on cloudy winter days, there's enough light for useful solar work, and our long clear summer days are ideal. Locally, the most practical solar technologies are passive solar design and hot-water heaters. Basically, passive solar heating is south-facing windows plus thermal mass. Large windows along the unshaded south wall of a building welcome the low-angled winter sun. Warmth is stored in floors and sometimes walls of concrete, stone or tile. Other important factors include shading windows at night to prevent heat loss and reducing the size and number of windows on north, east and west walls. Jere and Lorgia Mitchell built a well-insulated solar house in Veneta. A living area several steps down from the rest of the house has south windows and a tile floor underlaid by concrete slab, with a wood stove tucked against a low stone wall. "Sunlight and wood heat the whole house," Jere says. Solar water heaters are popular because system costs are relatively low — about $4,000 minus state tax credits and utility rebates — and household hot-water costs are cut from a yearly average of $450 to $225. Solar water heaters lie on unshaded south-facing roofs. Reliable and low-maintenance, they last 20 to 40 years. As Tom Scott, solar energy teacher, says, "You'll pay for the energy in 10 years whether you get a solar hot-water heater or not." Depending on who you listen to, photovoltaic (PV) cells are either the wave of the future or a system reserved for homesteaders and committed people with plenty of money. PV cells are expensive to install; a starter set of 1,000 watts costs about $8,000 and supplies a fraction of household electricity. Even after credits and rebates, a PV system would pay for itself only after a couple of decades at current electricity rates. But these rates would soar if costs to environment and human health were included. And experts foresee a fossil-fuel peak within 10 years, with declining fuel reserves and steeply rising prices thereafter. Fortunately, Oregon gives $1,500 income tax credits for passive solar systems, solar water heaters and PV systems in new and remodeled buildings. Local utilities add incentives. For example, EWEB and EPUD give zero-interest loans and cash rebates of up to $600 for solar water heaters. Christopher Dymond of the Oregon Department of Energy advises, "Eat your conservation vegetables before your solar cookies." Reducing the amount of energy a home requires is a helpful, cost-effective beginning. To lessen summer heat absorption and winter heat loss, seal ducts, caulk drafty spots, and insulate walls, ceilings, floors, and water pipes. You can also install energy-efficient appliances, windows, and lights. In winter, you can turn down the thermostat. Deciduous trees and vines can shade west walls in summer. Growing numbers of solar gadgets are available. Greater Goods sells solar-panel/wind-up radios, and Greater Goods and EPUD carry small solar panels for recharging batteries. Solar technology can be as simple as a retractable 40-foot clothesline that stretches between two trees, posts, or walls (Plow and Hearth 800-627-1712). Drying frames are sold at Down to Earth and Bed, Bath and Beyond. Small and large solar steps bring us closer to sustainable energy use, to heal the earth and make oil wars obsolete. For more information on solar heating for your home, check out solaror.org, energy.state.or.us/renew/solar, the Energy Outlet at 683-5060, and your local utility. Comments? Contact shadesofgreen@eugeneweekly.com
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