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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: News: News: News: Happening Person: Lisa Ponder COP ADS & SHOOTINGS Eugene police union executives have been spending thousands of dollars on big ads in The Register-Guard against the external police review Measure 20-106. The ads, which take up to one full page, include a letter from the Police Employees Association Executive Board. One of the signatories, Randy Berger, identified as the union "Legislative Chair" was involved in two controversial police shootings a decade ago. In 1995 Berger shot and killed an intoxicated man who was holding a toy gun. Police said Berger feared the toy was real and ruled the shooting justified. In 1996 Berger shot and killed Marvin Young, an unarmed heroin addict, through Young's car window. Berger said his handgun discharged accidentally while he was using it to break the window. The district attorney refused to prosecute Berger. The city hired an experienced police psychologist who examined Berger and determined that he lacked the social judgement, willingness to conform to rules and emotional self control to be a police officer. The city then terminated Berger. Berger, backed by the police union, appealed to the state Employment Relations Board. The city brought in another psychologist who concurred that Berger's tests showed he was "a risk for losing emotional control and reacting with intense aggression or temper" and argued that allowing Berger to continue as an officer "would put the public's safety at risk," according to documents in the case. But the union called the city's doctors "incompetent," biased "paid assassins." The arbitrator agreed with the union and its psychologists that Berger was psychologically fit to be a police officer and gave him back his job. "The vehemence" of the city psychologist's "attack on [Berger's] personality and his fitness for duty and the intensity of his predictions of future behavior is incredulously impassioned for a professional who has been retained to do an objective evaluation," the arbitrator wrote. Berger is not a "shoot happy police officer" but a "very valuable and important asset" for the EPD, the arbitrator said.— Alan Pittman
FIRST, THERE WAS ADAM As the nation debates the role of "intelligent design" in publicly funded classrooms, some local home-schooling parents worry that when it comes to publicly funded alternative education, the apple doesn't fall far from the Tree of Knowledge. A teacher for HomeSource, a resource center for home-schooled students that receives funds from local school districts, recently used instructional material that smacks of religious doctrine. In early October, HomeSource teacher Barbara Smith-Gillespie posted The Wall Chart of World History by Edward Hull in her AP World History classroom. According to the chart, the universe was created in 4004 BC, and human history began with Adam and Eve. Posting such a timeline in a classroom funded by public dollars violates state education laws. "That is not in line with Oregon's content standards in terms of social studies or science," said Oregon Department of Education spokesman Gene Evans. A parent, Colleen Bauman, approached HomeSource Director Theresa Thompson about the timeline. "My daughter came home and said, 'It was weird, there was a timeline up with Adam and Eve on it,'" Bauman said. "In this climate, this is not the time or the place to even have a [religious] graphic [in a publicly funded school]." HomeSource staff took down the timeline immediately, and Bauman was comfortable with that. "At this point my family has no problem with what happened at all," she said. But another HomeSource parent, who asked not to be named, felt uncomfortable about religious undercurrents in the program, calling it "so overtly Christian." HomeSource was founded in 1996 by a coalition of parents, the Bethel School District and the Oregon Department of Education. Today, it serves about 600 home-schooled students in 11 Lane County school districts, including Springfield, Eugene 4J and Bethel. The nonprofit has an annual operating budget of about $1.2 million, funded mainly by tax dollars. HomeSource teachers are not required to be certified, and classes are intended to supplement the learning of home-schooled students in grades K-12. Because HomeSource receives public funding, it is prohibited by state law from teaching religious doctrine in the classroom. "We don't teach religion," says HomeSource Executive Officer Paula Praus-Williamson, "but we have a family atmosphere. Our goal would be to make sure that people are comfortable." Praus-Williamson pointed out that HomeSource declined one resident's offer to teach a class on biblical creationism because it would have crossed the secular line. "The teachers know very well that they don't teach religion here," she said. But Praus-Williamson stopped short of calling the timeline inappropriate. "It wasn't being used to teach religion," she said. "[Smith-Gillespie] was using it historically to teach AP History. They didn't even address that part of the timeline. It just happened to be there." — Kera Abraham
WYDEN UNDER PRESSURE Supporters of peaceful solutions to world problems are planning on giving Sen. Ron Wyden a "wake-up call" at noon Thursday, Nov. 10. Activists will be turning in petitions with 400-plus names that call on him to support bringing our troops home, close all military bases in Iraq and use the power given to him under the Constitution to stop the funding of the Iraq war. They'll also be holding a mini-rally with signs and chants "loud enough to be heard in Washington, D.C," says organizer Michael Carrigan. The action is being sponsored by the September 24 Coalition. For more information contact CALC at 455-1755 or e-mail calcdev@efn.org
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS • A news brief last week ("Lee Returns to Eugene") incorrectly stated that the late Sen. Morse cast the lone vote of dissent on the Tonkin Gulf Resolution that expanded the Vietnam War. Sen. Ernest Gruening of Alaska also voted against that resolution. Also, U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee canceled her appearance at the "Gender, Race and Militarization" conference due to unforeseen congressional duties. • Regarding our news brief last week on the local TrineDay book publishing company facing a lawsuit, Editor Russ Becker of TrineDay tells us the suit was actually filed by former Green Berets, members of the Special Forces Association, and not the association itself. Becker says the association does "seem to be the driving force behind it, having published something we think is libelous about the book in their newsletter a few years ago." He adds, "The suit asks for money damages, and so is an indirect attempt to shut us down via a bankrupting award. The First Amendment would, I hope, bar any direct attempt to silence the press."
Is
the WEP Whupped? The Eugene City Council vote last week against the West Eugene Parkway (WEP) has set off a heated debate on the wetland freeway. A central question is: Do voters want the WEP? Supporters point to the close 2001 vote for the freeway as evidence of voter support. The WEP passed 51 to 49 percent. But opponents point to last year's mayoral election. Kitty Piercy was openly opposed to the WEP, preferring traffic solutions that would not destroy valuable wetlands, whereas Nancy Nathanson openly supported it. The WEP was one of the few clear, substantive differences between the two candidates. But Piercy knocked Nathanson out (52 to 46 percent) in the primary. In the primary 21,582 voted for the anti-WEP Piercy. That's more than the 17,899 who voted for the WEP in 2001. In the uncontested general election, 53,732 (84 percent) voted for Piercy, despite her opposition to the WEP. Today's WEP is also a very different project than the one WEP supporters, led by development and construction interests who stood to profit from the project, spent a record-breaking $120,000 three years ago to narrowly pass. The 2001 WEP was described as a $88 million project. Today the price tag is at least $169 million. In 2001 supporters argued in ads that "the money is there," but today it's unclear where all the money will come from. In 2001, supporters said the state, not the city, will "build and maintain" the parkway. Today, the state has asked the city to maintain the eastern section of the project. The wetlands threatened by the project have also changed since ODOT last evaluated the project almost a decade ago. Today they're much more valuable to wildlife and the public. Restoration work has greatly increased the number of acres of wetlands and their quality. Three of the wetland's species, the Kincaid's lupine, Willamette daisy and Fender's blue butterfly are now listed as federal endangered species. Also many more people are now enjoying the wetlands with construction of a new bike path, interpretive signs, overlooks, trails and an educational classroom yurt and 4-J plans for a permanent wetlands education center. The improvements in use and natural amenities will make the noise and visual disturbance of the proposed freeway as well as the wetland fill that much more damaging. In 2001, supporters said the project was "ready to go," but three years later the freeway still appears far from it. Even if the city of Eugene wasn't opposed to the WEP, supporters could find it hard to build. Federal policies protecting parkland from development make the WEP difficult to build. The wetland's status as parkland could require ODOT to demonstrate that no feasible alternatives exist for addressing the transportation problems. One of the biggest hurdles could be a federal policy prohibiting the disposal of parklands like the wetlands which were acquired with federal Land Water Conservation Funds. A rare waiver of this policy could be required, which BLM may be disinclined to provide, given the controversy over the project and its impact on land with high recreational and natural values. WEP supporters argue that the wetland freeway is essential for solving traffic problems in west Eugene and supporting existing and future development. But opponents say the problematic parkway has tied up money for years that could have gone to immediately solving traffic problems on West 11th Avenue at far less cost. The $169 million by-pass project will reduce traffic on West 11th only 17 percent, according to its Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Turn lanes, consolidated driveways and bike and pedestrian improvements on West 11th, bus rapid transit, controls on urban sprawl and transit-friendly development would do a better, cheaper job at meeting the need, opponents argue. The savings from the WEP could go to other needed projects in west Eugene such as widening Beltline Highway. The required EIS alternatives analysis for the WEP never looked at non-freeway options such as those favored by opponents. The "purpose and need" for the project was narrowly defined to avoid looking at anything other than a freeway through the wetlands. Opponents now want a broader purpose statement for the project that would allow looking at non-freeway options. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which must approve wetland fill permits for the project, appears to back that call for a real look at alternatives. The Corps wrote ODOT this fall that "EISs are to serve as the means of assessing the environmental impact of proposed agency actions rather than justifying decisions already made." The letter noted that applicants are only allowed to destroy wetlands after disproving the presumption "that a less environmentally damaging, practicable alternative exists that would avoid the loss of wetlands." It remains unclear whether the Eugene City Council has the power to kill the WEP on its own. Eugene representatives on the regional transportation planning Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) do hold the power to veto MPC votes. But they apparently can't change existing MPC policy without support from county and Springfield delegates that support the WEP. If the ever-evolving WEP requires a new MPC vote to change policy, Eugene may then have a chance to kill the WEP with a veto vote. But the Eugene City Council could also throw a wrench in the project on its own by directing staff to refuse to accept jurisdiction over the eastern half of the project. Last year ODOT asked the city to accept such jurisdiction to get around regulations that forbid spending federal money on a new highway that is projected to be overly congested.
Playing
the Cards A parks acquisition is like a poker game, said Eugene Parks Director Johnny Medlin — an elaborate poker game, with six-figure sums in the pot and developers, city staff, appraisers, activists and lawyers at the table. In one "game" that has dragged on for years, the biggest chip is a 40-acre parcel of pristine forest off Nectar Way and Dillard Road. City staff bluffed, and lost, on two chances to purchase the parcel for a park. Now Portland developer Joe Green is completing an application to build more than 100 houses on the property. For those who are unhappy with how the cards have fallen, there's plenty of blame to shuffle around. The mistakes can't be corrected in retrospect, but EW offers this chronology to shed some light on the game. In the late '70s, members of Munir Katul's family bought almost 100 acres of forested land in Eugene's south hills. They let it sit until 1990, when they asked Katul to try to sell it. For more than a decade, prospectors scoped the property but declined to buy it, concerned that its steep slopes and wetlands would be hard to develop in accordance with the city regulations. In 2001, city parks staff bought the southern 54 acres of the property for $613,000. Katul said he pressed the staff to buy the remaining acres, but they declined. In January 2004, Katul again invited the city to bid on the remaining 40 acres. Parks staff offered $300,000. Katul indicated that he would accept the city's offer only if a higher bid from another prospective buyer fell through. In March, Katul tentatively agreed to sell to the city, then reneged days later. In May he sold the property to Green for $325,000. City acquisitions officer Russ Royer says that Katul didn't give the city a chance to match or beat Green's offer. But Katul paints a different picture. "I had been begging them to buy this property for years," he said. "Why didn't they show any interest or initiative when they had the chance? They missed the boat, but they tried to scapegoat me." With the parcel on track for development, a group called the East Fork Amazon Headwaters Preservation Society (EFAHPS) kicked into gear. Members pointed out that the parcel has been the highest ranked site on the city's natural resources inventory for several years. City staff resumed negotiations. In August 2004, Green offered to sell the parcel to the city for $600,000 — almost twice what he'd paid for it three months earlier. City staff pursued the deal, applying for a state grant to match the city's $300,000. Green set a closure deadline of Oct. 1, 2004. Marilyn Lippincott, grants coordinator for Oregon State Parks, told Medlin that the state would likely approve the grant, but it wouldn't be official until early October 2004. With the clock ticking, city parks staff commissioned an appraiser and secured a $300,000 loan from The Nature Conservancy in case they'd have to close the deal before receiving the state grant. But the Oct. 1 deadline came and went. Money figuratively in hand, but without an appraisal, Medlin didn't close the deal. Instead, he asked for a deadline extension. Green called off all bets and moved ahead with his plans to develop the property. On Oct. 8, the state approved the $300,000 grant, but it was too late. On Oct. 22, local appraiser John Brown valued the parcel at $431,000. In January 2005, Medlin, on behalf of the city, formally declined the grant, writing that the deal fell through because the appraised value didn't support the purchase price. But folding on the deal was a matter of principle, not policy. "Believe me, I would have loved for this purchase to work out, but I could not recommend that we pay more than it was appraised for," Medlin said. "This was not a high-priority acquisition for us," he added. "Doing an acquisition just because a site has rare and endangered species, that's not been our business mandate." In July, the City Council passed a resolution to direct city officials to try to re-negotiate with Green. The effort went nowhere, however, because Green wasn't willing to sell. Now, it appears that the city's only recourse for acquiring the property would be through condemnation, by City Council mandate. Or, hopes EFAHPS member Lisa Warnes, city staff could keep working with Green in hopes that he'll eventually change his mind and sell. But given the city's history of lost opportunities regarding the parcel, she isn't betting on it. "I don't think that the city ever really had a vested interest in buying this property," she said. "Once the [planned unit development] is approved and they start destroying things, it's done."
Beyond
Micophobia Shards of sun fell through skylights at Mount Pisgah's new white oak pavilion and illuminated hundreds of mushroom species sprawled across long tables set up at the 23rd annual Mushroom and Plant Festival on Sunday. By 10 am already hundreds of parked cars lined the hill climbing up to the arboretum where a community formed as vast as the mushroom kingdom itself and gorged on portobello burgers, slurped chanterelle chowder, sipped apple cider, and rummaged through local plant and mushroom species. The festival was sponsored by Cascade Mycological Society, an educational non-profit organization of beginning to expert level mycologists. This year's show of a total of 350 mushroom species was the second highest ever and attracted prominent mushroom community figures like Nancy Weber of Corvallis, daughter of world-renowned mycologist Alexander Smith.
In the afternoon, Weber was approached by an elated mushroom enthusiast, Molly Widmere, who carried a palm-sized specimen of human feces in a Ziploc bag collected because it hosted a rare species of "cup fungus." As Widmere approached her mentor with the specimen, the fungus "poofed" (a temperature-induced spore release) in Weber's face just as she chomped down on a granola bar. Unfazed, Weber continued chewing, identified the species, and went about her business. The feces species is an example of the vast role the mushroom kingdom plays in our world. "From edibles to decomposers," said Marcia Peeters, biology instructor at LCC, "Fungus helps us so we aren't walking on layers of detritus — even our own." Other unidentified species weren't as crude. People of all ages lined up with various fungi to be identified at a station where experts like Joe Spivak of Lorane, cultivator and collector for 20 years and LCC instructor for seven, stayed busy throughout the six-hour festival. Spivak is one of many who say we live in a "mycophobic society" (fear of mushrooms). Parents warn children not to touch mushrooms because they are poisonous, when actually you cannot get poisoned by touching any species of mushrooms. There are more than a thousand species in the Oregon forests alone, and according to Spivak, who's cultivated and hunted mushrooms for 20 years, most of them are not poisonous. "And of the poisonous mushrooms, most do not kill," Spivak said. Granted, some amanitas (the white-spotted, red mushroom under the hookah-smoking caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland) are so potent they could destroy your liver. So in order to avoid being poisoned, know your species! Again, most mushrooms are edible, although they won't necessarily taste good. Others range from slightly poisonous to downright deceiving. Some poisonous ones even replicate the gourmet edible mushrooms. Chanterelles have a doppelganger that if eaten by mistake will leave you with a nasty stomachache, wishing you had double-checked your mushroom manual. One such manual, known as the mushroom hunter's bible, is David Aurora's Mushrooms Demystified. Naturally, size, shape, color and odor all contribute to species identification, but another major factor is where they grow. The mushroom is the fruit of mycelium, the largest organism in the world. Phellinus weirii grows around Douglas firs in the Cascades and can exceed a mile across. Mycelia live underground in a symbiotic relationship with trees. A Douglas fir, for example, cannot grow above six inches high without mycelium to transfer water and minerals to its roots. Jolene Marl of Horton cultivates shiitakes (Lentinus edodes) and makes tinctures for her business, Cougar Ridge. She drills holes into white oak tree logs and inserts dowel plugs impregnated with mycelium. Customary in Chinese medicine, shiitake tinctures have amino acids and vitamins that help boost the immune system and lower blood levels of cholesterol. So where did all these mushroom advocates come from? Who's responsible for much of Eugene's outpouring of mycological knowledge? The man who started the mushroom festival nearly three decades ago: Freeman Rowe. "I've watched it start as a baby and grow into a fully functioning adult. It comforts me to know that after I go, the festival is strong enough to carry on without me," said the 75-year-old Rowe from behind the species identification table under the pavilion. As Rowe and I sat discussing the evolving Oregon mushroom scene, sparkle-eyed fans interrupted us repeatedly to grasp his hand and say hello like old friends. Even after all these years, Rowe would shuffle in his seat with raised eyebrows, speak in excited tones, and share innumerable stories about the mushroom kingdom. Several mycologically conscious advocates blossomed under Rowe's 30-year professorship at LCC, and now work for the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Forest Service, and also infiltrate much of Eugene's mushroom community. Rowe said he motivated his students to understand that "The forest cannot exist without its mushroom associates." Rowe taught students to see the forest and the trees. It's all one single flourishing entity connected underground by mycelium and roots, rather than a market commodity.
Best in Show Of the 350 total species at the show, 40 of those were new this year to the festival. Judged Best in Show: Lyophyllum "Fried Chicken." First Place: Phaeolus schweinitzii. Second Place: Boletus edulis "Porcini" picked by Jim Boyd.
Feed
Your Head Dr. Don England is a retired internist with a long history of practice in geriatrics. He is a native Oregonian, born in 1924 in West Timber ("It's no longer there"). He moved to Eugene in 1930 for his early schooling, graduating from University High, then UO and UO Medical School. He served his internship at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh, then did his residency at Maryland General Hospital in Baltimore. After Army service during the Korean War, he took a position at Eugene Hospital and Clinic, where he remained for the course of his career, becoming, over time, more involved in research concerning aging, dementia and Alzheimer's disease. He lives with his wife, Kay, in the southwest hills and is active in service to the local chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.
November is National Alzheimer's Month, and at 1 pm Saturday, Nov. 12, Dr. England will present the first "Maintain Your Brain Workshop," sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association at the PeaceHealth Downtown Clinic. The workshop is free and open to the public. "Brain-healthy" refreshments will be served, and attendees will receive a free pedometer to encourage a healthy habit of walking. At 81, Dr. England is tall and holds himself erect. He's slender, dressed casually in slacks and sport shirt. His hair is gray and thin, but his eyes are lively and he smiles readily. And — his mind is sharp. How did you get involved in the study of Alzheimer's and dementia? Well as your patients get older and you do, too, you get into geriatrics whether you planned to or not. The more you get involved with geriatrics, the bigger the issue of Alzheimer's becomes. I got involved in nursing home care. Then about 1989, we got this elder health program going and this assessment program. At age 65, I quit my primary care practice, but kept going into nursing homes for a couple years and still had this [Alzheimer's] assessment service. Because of the assessment service, we were doing mostly dementia evaluation and developing this big database. I was dealing with a lot of Alzheimer's patients. I saw my last patient after my 80th birthday. I've continued [working] with the Alzheimer's Association. You've got to have something to get up for in the morning. Can you help readers understand the factors that cause Alzheimer's? I think what's making it tough for us to solve the problem is that Alzheimer's doesn't have a single specific cause. There are a lot of genetic factors and there are these mutations that affect probably 2 to 3 percent of the population. These are dominant genes; if you inherit one of those, you're going to become demented with the [brain] plaques and tangles of Alzheimer's. Has medical science pretty much ruled out environmental factors as causing Alzheimer's? Well, not completely, but certainly not the factors like cooking with aluminum. A lot of work has been done. A huge amount of research and lots of studies have been done on those [like aluminum cookware] and they really haven't borne out. All the scientists who are really expert in this are no longer giving this any consideration. Alzheimer's is very akin to atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease. That's the basis for coronary disease and all kinds of strokes and peripherovascular problems, and it's very clear that there are multiple risk factors. There's no single cause of hardening of the arteries. The lipids involved — if you have a high LDL or high cholesterol, or low HDL, you're going to be at increased risk. If you smoke you terribly increase your risk. Or if you have high blood pressure or diabetes. The more risk factors you have, the more likely you're going to have trouble.
A diagnosis of Alzheimer's can be frightening for many people. Can you describe the disease process and prognosis for patients who receive that news? First, let me just briefly get back to the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia. Dementia is the problem, the decline of cognitive function, so it's now gotten below a threshold. It's bad enough if it's a problem in your everyday life, but someone who's risen up to a normal level of cognitive function and then declines below a level at which they have trouble in everyday life and start needing help, that's dementia. Alzheimer's disease is the commonest single cause of dementia, but when a person starts developing the pathology of the changes in Alzheimer's, and the person is cognitively OK, the higher above this dementia threshold they start, the longer they're going to take to decline. Alzheimer's is a steady, progressive, gradual deterioration of the brain in which the brain cells start losing their connection with each other and the cell itself dies off. You have to get down quite a bit before dementia shows up. The higher the cognitive functioning level at which you start, the longer it's going to take. We don't have a cure for Alzheimer's, and we don't have any way of stopping it, but there are other factors that contribute to it. If you do everything you can to bring cognitive functioning up and avoid the aggravating factors or minimize those, the time it takes Alzheimer's to bring you below the dementia threshold is going to be a lot longer. There are currently about 35 million Americans over age 65, with another 77 million of the "baby boomer" generation rapidly approaching retirement age. Does the Alzheimer's Association or the medical profession have programs that can help people avoid Alzheimer's or at least delay onset? They're working hard to find a way of stopping Alzheimer's, but we don't have that yet. But we do have a program, a strategy for delaying onset, and that's what this program's all about. Dr. England reviewed aspects of the 10-point program that he will discuss in detail at the workshop on Saturday. The 10 points are listed in the Coast-Cascade chapter office's "Maintain Your Brain" brochure. Call the office at 345-8392, or visit their website at www.alz.org We paraphrase the points here: • Take care of your head, for it contains your brain. Your brain is who you are. It's the most precious thing you have. It performs functions that are unbelievable. It's the most powerful computer in the world. Be ready to make some really difficult lifestyle changes which we know will make a difference. • Keep your brain healthy by keeping your heart and cardiovascular system healthy. • Monitor your numbers: Control your weight and watch your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar. • Feed your head: Good diet low in fats and rich in antioxidants (fruits and vegetables), vitamins E, C, B12; recent research strongly advises fish at least once a week; keeping good blood flow to the brain is essential. The most significant aggravator of dementia in people who have Alzheimer's is cardiovascular disease. Your brain is extremely dependent on a constant supply of blood and oxygen. If that supply is reduced for any reason, your brain is not going to function right. • Work out. Physical activity has a very real, significant effect on cognitive function. Walking is highly recommended, daily and vigorously. • Use your cognitive powers. You want a healthy, smart brain, you've got to exercise it. Watching television is no substitute for mental activities that utilize the brain's wider powers. How much you train your brain has a huge impact. Statistically, delaying the effects of Alzheimer's correlates with higher levels of education. • Socialize. There's clear evidence that people who are active and have a social life with others are better off. • Protect your head against damage and injury: Wear a helmet when biking, wear a seat belt when driving. • Don't damage your brain with the wrong drugs and too much alcohol; this includes being careful of interactions among prescription medications, • Think about your future: What you do for your brain or to your brain will affect the quality of your later life. The younger you start, the more you have to gain. You can shut the barn door before you lose any horses instead of waiting till you lose half the horses.
LISA PONDER
"I'm not just a gravestone carver," says memorialist Lisa Ponder. "I'm a person who preserves stories of individuals and communities." A seventh-generation American, she learned her own family stories on childhood visits to a cemetery in Red Lick Mountain, Arkansas. Ponder herself grew up in Chicago. "My equivalent of a babysitter was art classes at the Art Institute," she recalls. When viola studies at Oberlin ended with a tendon injury, she studied economics and later graduated from the University of Texas Law School. She came to Eugene in 1982 to study the history of legal reform. She also had three sons and became a stay-at-home mom while writing a book about abolitionist Lydia Child. In 1992, she went back to school in graphic design at LCC, where she discovered stone-carving in an internship. "I was fascinated by the texture, color, and shape of stone," says Ponder, who started her own business, Heritage Stone, in 1998. "Even the typeface affects the perception of the story." Ponder's community story-telling projects include the basalt Kalapuya Talking Stones at Alton Baker Park and the granite paving stones and marble slabs at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza. -BY PAUL NEEVEL
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