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Bounce: An occasional rant by a mixed bag of local Duck nuts Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: News: News: Food Group Takes Lead on School Lunch In a recent cover story ("Rethinking Lunch," 9/1), EW reported that Eugene School District 4J is serving its students meat- and cheese-heavy meals, processed and shipped from factories across the nation. Now, a local nonprofit is stepping up its efforts to do something about it. The Lane County Food Coalition recently hired Meredith Whitten to lead its Food-On Farm to Cafeteria initiative to bring local, organic foods to public schools and other institutions. In the year since its launch, Food-On has hosted parent nights to discuss healthy food choices, showed the documentary Super Size Me at César Chávez Elementary School and worked with the district's food services manager, Sodexho, to pilot an organic salad bar at Sheldon High School. Whitten's hire signals an expansion of the project to involve more members of the community. Whitten says that she hopes to work with the district on its federally mandated Wellness Policy, a student health and nutrition plan that all schools must implement by fall 2006. She sees the policy as an opportunity to connect school gardens and nutrition education with locally-produced meals to give kids the tools they need to make healthy choices. Whitten notes that healthier cafeteria offerings can help combat childhood obesity and diabetes while improving student performance and behavior. Finances and other details are tricky, Whitten says, but other school districts have proven that farm-to-cafeteria plans can work. "Luckily, we don't have to reinvent the wheel," she says. "There are so many pieces to this puzzle, but it is being done successfully in so many places across the country that there's no reason we couldn't do it here. Eugene is the right town for this project." The LCFC is a community-based nonprofit that supports local food production. For more information on the Farm to Cafeteria Initiative, contact Whitten: meredith@lanefood.org or 913-5576. — Kera Abraham
Northwest of Normality The Eugene-based nonprofit MindFreedom Support Coalition International will be screening people at the Eugene Celebration for "normality." The street theater this weekend is inspired by President Bush's announced plans for nationwide mental health screenings for all adults and children. "More than 1,000 people were screened at this year's Oregon Country Fair with no normality detected," says MindFreedom Director David Oaks. "Every rumor of normality has thankfully always been a false alarm." Watch for clowns in white coats and red noses screening the public with rubber chicken wands to try to spot any normality, says Oaks, "which has still not been discovered." Regarding the White House screening plan, Oaks says, "Watching for troubled people sounds good. But the public should know these plans are heavily influenced and promoted by the psychiatric drug industry. We want better advocacy and alternatives first, before mental health corporations use schools to recruit more customers for psychiatric drugs." MindFreedom is a U.N.-recognized NGO promoting human rights for mental health consumers and psychiatric survivors. For more information or to help, stop by booth #55 at the Celebration, call 345-9106, visit www.MindFreedom.orgor e-mail oaks@MindFreedom.org
Hurricane Relief Drive Jefferson Middle School students are holding a money and clothing drive for Hurricane Katrina victims from Sept. 23 through Oct. 11. Community members can drop off almost-new clothing, new hygiene items including sealed toothbrushes, and monetary donations from 9 am to 3 pm weekdays at the school's office at 1650 W 22nd Ave. For more information, call Assistant Principal Tasha Katsuda at 687-3221.
Tisserand Tale Goes On For those following "Submerged," the adventures and travails of Michael Tisserand and his family in Louisiana, the series continues online at www.AltWeeklies.com and includes earlier dispatches. EW started off printing the series with a cover story Sept. 8 following Hurricane Katrina. Tisserand is the displaced editor of Gambit Weekly, New Orleans' alternative newspaper. This week, in his fourth installment, Tisserand and his MD wife return to New Orleans to inspect his now dry but moldy office, and look for missing pets.
Make Levees Not War Chanting "Drive out the Bush machine, the world can't wait," upward of 300,000 war protesters joined United for Peace and Justice's (UPJ) massive peace parade in Washington, D.C., Saturday, Sept. 24, shutting down the city. "People of the world, do what we do, stand up, fight back," shouted people and organizations from all over the country as they wove their way through the streets, encircling the White House. Approximately 30 people were in the Oregon contingent, which included at least 12 people from Eugene, five of whom also marched representing Lane County WAND. In front of the White House, marchers were engulfed in a frenzy as media swarmed around Cindy Sheehan, Jesse Jackson, Jim Hightower and Fernando Suarez del Solar, accompanied by Code Pink women and a preacher who led them in a prayer to remember the victims of the Iraq War, including Sheehan's and Solar's own sons. The rally included the culmination of Sheehan's Camp Casey, on its last leg from New York. Tents strewn along the mall spoke to the numbers of anti-war supporters. As the march ended, participants gathered at the ellipse to hear Joan Baez and Steve Earle, as well as speakers who included Al Sharpton and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, who pointed to Hurricane Katrina as a shameful example of how the Bush administration has misplaced its human and environmental priorities. "The war in Iraq has as much to do with terrorism as the Bush administration has to do with compassion," said Bond. Next, Jim Hightower took the stage. "The force of a hurricane is nothing compared to the storm of protest happening around America," he said. On Sunday, UPJ held trainings in nonviolent civil disobedience and lobbying, followed Monday by actions at the Pentagon and White House and congressional lobbying. Approximately 650 people registered for the demonstrations at the White House and 300 to 400 people were arrested for tying themselves to the White House fence. They were charged with demonstrating without a permit and fined $50. Also on Sunday, WAND kicked off its biennial national conference, focusing on creating a plan to withdraw from Iraq and how to redirect excessive military funding. Tuesday, WAND went to Capitol Hill, where Lane County WAND women met with Sen. Wyden and aides to Sen. Smith, Rep. Blumenauer and Rep. DeFazio. Lane County WAND member Aria Seligmann said the group's lobby efforts focused on encouraging DeFazio to join the "Out of Iraq Caucus" and to have Smith vote against $4 million in Bunker Buster research funding now before the Senate. "It's very clear Congress has no clue how to get out of Iraq, and the representatives are asking for input from their constituents," she said. Seligmann also said Wyden told her and the other Lane County WAND representatives that he has not signed onto Sen. Feingold's SR 171, which calls for imminent withdrawal from Iraq because he thinks "only 20 people will sign it," and instead is "considering crafting his own proposal that he may have ready in 90 to 120 days." Meanwhile, DeFazio aide Tom Vinson says DeFazio has not joined the Out of Iraq caucus because he doesn't know if he agrees with all of the solutions being examined. Likewise, says Seligmann, Blumenauer has not signed onto House Resolution 55, sponsored by Rep. Abercrombie, which simply calls for the president to develop and implement a plan for the U.S to withdraw from Iraq because he is unconvinced of the nature of the timelines regarding withdrawal from Iraq. DeFazio has co-sponsored HR 55. "The situation in Iraq is an absolute mess and the fear is that withdrawal will create an even messier situation," says Seligmann. But she adds, "Cindy Sheehan and the other Gold Star Mothers, who spoke at the rally and at the WAND conference, would probably agree that it's best not to continue killing people just because we're afraid stopping the war might cause problems." Seligmann added that "WAND and other members of the Oregon contingent are revved up, renewed and ready to bring some energy back home to work on spreading the word and stopping the war." — Michael Carrigan
ReFazio
Julie Daniel of BRING Recycling perches on Congressman Peter DeFazio's trademark red '63 Dodge Dart GT. DeFazio drove around in the old hunk of metal from the time he ran for county commissioner in the early '80s until the engine started to "peter" out about two years ago. When he donated it to BRING, the car's interior was appalling. "Think rust holes that allowed a clear view of the road, and enough dog hair to stuff a large pillow," Daniel says. But the engine still turned over, so BRING spruced it up and made it a company car, naming it "ReFazio." DeFazio, for his part, upgraded … to a 1964 Dodge Dart convertible.
Bounce is hoping that the Duck footballers can bounce back to beat Stanford down there, which won't be easy. Watching USC reel off 45 straight points could shake any team's confidence, and it can't help to read The New York Times about the Ducks' luxurious locker rooms. An article titled "The Slap of Luxury" in last Saturday's Times chronicled the excesses of the Duck locker room, pointed out that the team won more games before constructing the "college football wonderland," and asked whether the luxury might be contributing to Duck complacency. Ouch. Of course, people would stop slamming Oregon's locker rooms, billboards, and fancy uniforms if the Ducks would run the table and win a big bowl game. Is that going to happen? So far, the Ducks have shown us good, bad and ugly. Good: The record, 3-1: Winning games is the bottom line and the Ducks deserve credit for taking three of the first four. This 3-1 looks especially good because it could be 1-3. The Ducks trailed in two of the games they won. Kellen Clemens is playing great football. He has thrown for nine touchdowns and no interceptions, which is about as good as it gets. Demetrius Williams is catching passes as well as anyone in the nation. He plays fast, strong, and focused. Haloti Ngata: a force. Paul Martinez: He's setting records and leading the nation. Bad: Oregon's lack of a consistent running game: Oregon has not proven that it can knock people off the line of scrimmage and run the ball. Bounce could overlook Oregon's inability to run against the Trojans, but the Ducks also managed less than 100 yards rushing against Montana! Defenses are going to start ignoring the run and shutting down Oregon's passing game, so the Ducks better focus on running the ball. Stanford's defense looks suspect, so the Ducks ought to think about running the ball over and over again. And, Bounce admires Kellen's guts, but he should not be running the ball so much. He's taking too many hits and Oregon's got several backs who run better than Kellen. The pass defense: Oregon has given up a ton of points and too many big plays. Bounce wants to see a better pass rush from the Ducks. Devan Long can get to the quarterback, but he has been injured. Can Oregon find some more speed rushers who can disrupt opposing quarterbacks? Special teams: Just about every aspect of Oregon's special teams play has been suspect, except for Paul Martinez's kicking. Ugly: Oregon's image problem: The football team is known more for fancy locker rooms than winning games. Bounce is guessing that the locker rooms are not going to change, so the only way to solve this problem is to win more games. Palo Alto is a great place to start. — The gang in the barbershop
Shifting
Celebration? It has been Northwest of Normal, Slug Queen central, outrageously amusing and occasionally in-your-face offensive, but one thing the Eugene Celebration has never been is dull. Last April there was a sea change at Downtown Events Management, Inc. (DEMI) when their board President Steve Remington left, and Big Green Events (BGE) took over planning the three-day Celebration. BGE had previously done the Filbert Festival and has run Art and the Vineyard for the past six years.
Among the user-friendly changes this year are lower three-day ticket prices ($10 instead of $15) and shifting the big Fifth Street Stage over to 8th and High to be closer to the heart of the EC. There will be a few more indoor venues in case of rain. And, to the relief of late risers, the Saturday parade won't begin until 9:30, thanks to the fact that this year's competing Oregon Ducks football event is an away game, resulting in zero conflict with traffic police. The biggest change of all, however, may be in the overall concept of what the Eugene Celebration is all about. Bob Jensen, head of BGE, is unapologetically proud of supporting family values and has gone on record as questioning the inclusion of parade entries that "make some people in our community feel bad when a float passes by." He has brought in more family-friendly participants, such as the classic car folks who will be filling Custom Corner at Broadway and High streets with vintage motorcycles, automobiles and fire trucks. Jensen's motivations were perceived by some as moving the Celebration more to the right, a position he firmly denies. "It isn't a question of right or left," he told EW in an exclusive interview. "I don't want to shift the perspective, I simply want to widen it to be more inclusive." When asked to be specific, Jensen replied, "I simply looked at what wasn't included in the past and asked why. Nothing will be lost by creating a venue that can entertain anyone from one to 100 without causing some to turn away." When asked to comment, Steve Remington said he wishes this year's Celebration well, but he disagrees with the notion that some segment of the local populace has not been served. "It has been very much representative of the community," he said last week, "and that's all it needs to be. If some particular group did not feel welcome ... well, the doors have always been open to every constituent." "Open to all, yes," Jensen says, "but limits have to be drawn between what is good-heartedly zany and what is bizarre in a way that is strictly adult-oriented. The parade is a morning event. I want parents to feel comfortable taking their children there." The question remains, however, about who may best decide what is proper for a community. Jensen says his office is ready to hear any and all opinions. If citizens complain that something is overly offensive this year, it will be reconsidered next year. So what does this mean for consistently tongue-in-cheek parade groups like the Rickies? Will public opinion dictate that Dykes on Bikes won't be allowed to pull wheelies on Olive Street anymore? And how about the sincerely zealous Believers in Christ‚ who stupefied the crowds in 2000 (and beyond) with their Jesus-bearing-a-cross-while-being-flagellated-by-Roman-soldiers entry? Does Jensen believe in a separation of church and fete? "Spoofing and satire are fine and they can also be in good taste, but why do we need go out of our way to shock and offend?" Jensen countered. "I'm not saying all participants have to present soft family fare, but extreme entries whose purpose is to divide us or diminish others seem to me to be out of place." Years ago, the DEMI board stated something similar about shedding the ultra-weird to Remington, who was also managing director of the Eugene Celebration. Remington's reaction was, "If you take the provocative out of the Big EC, you'll lose the steady audiences who come each year just because it is so outrageous. Or, from a marketing point of view, if you have satisfied customers, why ignore them to take a chance on a whole new fan base? "Anyway, DEMI's job should not just be running a festival," added Remington, who today represents the Oregon Truffle Festival and World Environment Day. "It should be building community. The question I would put to BGE is, does the revamped Celebration truly represent the uniquely diverse people of Eugene?" Jensen feels it does that and more. "Look, we are trying to engage a broad array of citizen interests," Jensen says. "Now, maybe not everything will appeal to everyone — that's just the nature of this kind of wide-ranging event. But I promise you, there will be something in there for everyone to really enjoy." Joseph A. Lieberman is a travel and features photojournalist based in Eugene.
Downtown
Hospital Land for a new Triad hospital at the Eugene Clinic site downtown could cost $50 million or more, based on a 2001 city study. The 2001 study examined an eight block area downtown as a possible site for PeaceHealth. The real market value of the 22 acres of land totaled $49.8 million, according to county tax assessor figures. Fifty million dollars may be far more than Triad is willing to pay. The hospital offered only $25 million for the EWEB property before delays caused it to look elsewhere. But Triad may not need the full eight blocks and may be able to get by with two or three. The company has proposed a facility that's only about one-fourth the 1.6 million sq. ft. facility that PeaceHealth demanded land for. PeaceHealth owns the Eugene Clinic and about two blocks of land at the downtown site, largely parking lots. The PeaceHealth property was valued at about $17 million in 2001. A Triad hospital would fit on about two square blocks, if it's built at about the same height and footprint as PeaceHealth's current Hilyard facility near the UO. Underutilized property surrounding the clinic site could provide space for future expansion or ancillary medical offices. PeaceHealth may resist selling it's clinic site to its chief competitor. A legal settlement with a group that opposed PeaceHealth's application to build at RiverBend required the hospital to make the clinic site available for another hospital. PeaceHealth has said it wants to close the clinic and sell the land, but not until 2008, when it can move to RiverBend. But there appears to be enough room to allow the clinic to continue to operate for a few years while still building the hospital, largely in surrounding parking lots. This could require the city and/or Triad to build a parking garage for the clinic's, and eventually Triad's, use. Possible sites for a garage include parking lots across Willamette behind the First Christian Church, the parking lots surrounding the old library or perhaps tearing down the Kinko's building at Willamette and 13th. The garage could include space for ground floor shops for Kinko's and other businesses to move back into. PeaceHealth could still refuse to sell to it's lead competitor. PeaceHealth has fought bitterly against McKenzie-Willamette/Triad, losing a $16 million anti-turst lawsuit but successfully lobbying state regulators to delay their approval of a new Triad hospital. A refusal to sell could run afoul of PeaceHealth's legal settlement and face a city move to condemn the property, although that could cause delays. Other adjacent property owners needed for a hospital plan could also refuse to sell. But that could be short-sighted. It's unlikely that they could sell their property for more should Triad decide to go elsewhere and with PeaceHealth planning to abandon the clinic in a few years.
It's unclear exactly how much PeaceHealth's clinic property is worth now. Residential real estate has jumped dramatically in price in recent years, but commercial downtown property has historically not been a hot seller in Eugene, although a tentative proposal by developers Connor and Woolley for a large redevelopment a few blocks to the north could have an impact. Adjusted for inflation at 3 percent a year, the clinic would be worth about $19 million today. Buying up the adjacent IOOF building of about nine professional offices and other buildings that are adjacent to the PeaceHealth parking lots across Olive street could cost about $2 million more with inflation. If Olive between 12th and 13th was vacated for the project, that would give the hospital about two full blocks to build on, not including the clinic building. The plan could require city subsidies. For the EWEB site, the city proposed about $12 million in subsidies, mostly for a railway underpass. At the clinic site, a similar amount of money could help build a public parking garage and/or subsidize Triad's land purchases. Money to subsidize the hospital would likely come from the city's downtown urban renewal district, which diverts new tax revenue to fund downtown improvements. If Triad builds its proposed $225 million hospital downtown, the district would be well funded with new revenue. The location could also cause the removal of many large street trees, although a careful plan could save many of them. Locating Triad at the clinic site will be difficult and expensive, but the site has many advantages: • A downtown hospital would be served by existing major streets, sewers and other infrastructure, saving taxpayers tens of millions of dollars over a suburban sprawl location that would demand costly new roads and services. • The location south of the river would provide quick and reliable ambulance rides to serve the city's major population centers. The location is less than a mile from I-105 and wouldn't be at risk of flooding. • The clinic site is close to doctors' existing medical offices and homes. • Less suburban sprawl meets the city's goals to avoid polluting and unlivable urban sprawl. • People could get to the hospital's central location by walking, biking the major 12th Avenue bike route, or using the frequent service at the adjacent LTD main bus terminal and planned bus rapid transit station. That would save on car pollution and traffic snarl that's expensive to serve and detracts from liveability. • Easy access to alternative transportation would reduce the demand for expensive and ugly parking garages and surface lots. • The location on the city's downtown street grid would minimize congestion and provide easy access. • The downtown hospital could spur redevelopment of Eugene's underutilized downtown and patients and hospital workers could enjoy the nearby public library, churches, cafes, stores, public spaces and other services downtown offers. "I really hope they're able to work a miracle here," said Greg Brokaw, a local architect who first proposed the clinic site as a better hospital location after PeaceHealth announced it was leaving downtown. "This could be a really great closure to this long, and unfortunately dumb, saga." But despite the many advantages of the site, the decision in the end will be up to Triad, the Texas hospital corporation that now owns McKenzie-Willamette. Triad officials rejected the clinic site two years ago, viewing it as too small and expensive and complicated by PeaceHealth ownership. Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy says Triad now appears open to reexamining the clinic site with a more urban hospital design and will soon send a team to evaluate the prospect. But Triad appears impatient and passive about the downtown site, telling the city that it will give citizens only about 30 days to come up with a doable downtown proposal. Faced with the deadline, the City Council voted unanimously last week to direct city staff to help the hospital acquire the property. "All things are in motion," Piercy said this week. "This is a big hill," she said, but, "I'm optimistic."
Marine
Mom When Judy Lyman's son Jason was serving his tour as a U.S. Marine corporal in the Iraq invasion, "I never cried so much in my life," the mom said. Lyman said she worried through six months of her 25-year-old son's tour in Iraq and then the extra two month extension the military tacked on when the war soured. "He came home, thank God," said the Veneta resident.
Last Saturday, Sept. 24, Lyman joined roughly 1,000 other locals to rally at the Federal Building in downtown Eugene against the war. She carried a protest sign reading "BRING OUR KIDS HOME!" and a photo of her son in uniform. Her son still has a military reserve designation and could be called up for the war again, she said. Lyman said she and her son think the U.S. should get out of Iraq. "We're just causing aggravation right now," she said. If the U.S. military left, things would calm down, Lyman said. "Let them get on with rebuilding their country." Re-invigorated by anti-war military moms like Lyman, attendance at protests against the war around the country has risen to almost pre-war levels. Cindy Sheehan, who's son Casey, 24, was killed in Iraq last year, inspired many protesters with her vigil outside President Bush's Texas ranch. Looking around at the throngs of similarly minded people at the Eugene protest, Lyman smiled. "It's wonderful. It makes me happy. I wish there were more." As many as 200,000 people protested against the Iraq war in Washington, D.C., on the same day. The Eugene crowd cheered when a speaker announced that protesters had the White House surrounded. About 150,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq at an estimated taxpayer cost of $1 billion a day. Since the invasion in 2003, nearly 2,000 U.S. soldiers have died and almost 15,000 have been wounded. At least 26,000 Iraqi civilians have died. Bush has steadfastly denied the invasion was a mistake, but polls show a slim majority now disagree with him. Before the war, the Bush administration accused Iraq of working with al Qaeda terrorists and having weapons of mass destruction. But no al Qaeda links or WMD were found. Protesters read a letter of support from local Congressman Peter DeFazio at the Eugene demonstration. DeFazio has called for the Republicans in charge of Congress to launch a "full and fair and nonpartisan investigation of how America was led to war." "How did this all happen?" DeFazio asked this month on the House floor. "Was it the result of a massive failure of intelligence? If so, then why did the President pin the highest civilian honor, the Medal of Honor, on George Tenet, the head of the CIA who is now an expensive consultant and living in luxury." The Eugene protest was peaceful and diverse — from toddlers to grandmas. As protesters lined the streets waving signs, Duck fans drove by in flag-waving SUVs on their way to Autzen Stadium. Most honked and cheered support, but at least one driver frowned and gave a thumbs down. A war supporter also circulated in the crowd with a sign thanking Fox TV news for its pro-war coverage. On the courthouse plaza, two Eugene police officers stood by a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer with an unleashed police German shepherd. Eugene police have a policy against using dogs for crowd control, but apparently federal officers do not. After the protest, a Eugene officer lead another police dog to sniff bushes around the building in an apparent check for bombs.
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