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Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: Q & A: News: Happening Person: Betsy Wolfston REGION 2050 SPRAWL NIXED Should Lane County grow with compact cities or with urban sprawl and bedroom communities? That's the question the Eugene City Council wrestled with Aug. 4 when it voted 6-2 against a Region 2050 plan that allocated much of the county's projected growth to outlying bedroom communities where people will have to drive long distances to work. Under the plan, Eugene will increase in population by 35 percent in the next 50 years while Veneta will increase 600 percent. Eugene will accommodate much of its population increase by increasing density by about one third and by consuming about 10 percent more land. Veneta will sprawl out, adding 84 percent more land while still remaining less dense than Eugene is today. The 2050 plan's projections for other bedroom communities are similar to Veneta, with comparatively huge jumps in population accommodated by sprawling urban growth boundary (UGB) expansions but comparatively little added density. Coburg, for example, would nearly triple in population while sprawling and growing slightly less dense in 50 years. The Region 2050 plan states that its population projections should be used to allocate transportation and other infrastructure resources in the county. Councilor Bonny Bettman said that will mean that Eugene taxpayers will end up subsidizing sprawl in the outlying bedroom communities. "We will be paying to add capacity to the outlying areas either through reduced services or higher fees." Bedroom community sprawl will mean that the region spends far more on bigger roads to accommodate added traffic. People in Veneta, for example, spend about 53 percent more time driving to work than people in Eugene. Larger cities with existing infrastructure are "the logical providers of urban services," Bettman said. She pointed out that extending wastewater and roads to serve outlying growth is expensive, and smaller cities lack sufficient systems development charges (SDCs) to make developers pay for their impact on taxpayers. Councilor David Kelly argued for adoption of the plan, saying that it was better than current trends. The plan would provide for denser growth in Eugene and would allow the city to block UGB expansions until density goals were met, he said. But other councilors joined Bettman in voting against the 2050 Plan. They argued that it was pointless, given that Springfield and Coburg had refused to participate and the plan was overly bureaucratic. — Alan Pittman
ANTI-HATE UO GROUP RISES UP Hate breeds hate, and racist actions on the UO campus and local streets are connected. In that vein of logic, two UO students have launched a new organization to combat racism both at the university and in the greater Eugene community. Upon reading EW's report, "Up Against the Wall" (8/3), UO anthropology student Kristen Layton contacted UO family and human services student Maisie Davis, the alleged victim of racially motivated assaults on campus. Together, the women formed a new community organization, Solidarity Defense Action. "The UO creates a primary example for the community, and in turn serves to perpetuate this discrimination," Layton explained by email. "We are comprised of both students and community members, which makes this movement especially strong in taking on the university." SDA aims to change campus policy and climate through actions such as walk-outs, sit-ins, marches and workshops, as well as legal means, Layton wrote. Subjects of investigation will include death threats made to a Hawaiian student in the dorms last fall, the questionable manslaughter conviction of Darrell Sky Walker for the death of a white UO student, and the ongoing exodus of UO faculty members of color. About 20 people attended SDA's first meeting on Aug. 18, and interest in the fledgling organization is expanding, Layton said. The NAACP is "fully behind us," and two San Francisco-area newspapers, The Abolitionist and The SF Bay View, have expressed interest in covering the SDA, Layton said. The group's new MySpace page (www.myspace.com/solidaritydefenseaction) already has more than 200 friends. SDA's next meeting is at 7 pm Aug. 28 at the Spencer View Community Center, 2250 Patterson St. All are welcome. For more info, e-mail solidaritydefenseaction@yahoo.com. — Kera Abraham
CITY PAYS FOR HARASSMENT At 11:30 pm on May 25, 2004, Charlotte Ough was lounging in her pajamas, watching television in her Springfield home, when she saw a man's face peering through the window. It was EPD officer Brian Hagen, who had come unannounced, with his supervisor's permission, to arrest Ough for allegedly lying on the witness stand two months earlier. Hagen entered Ough's home through an unlocked door, against her will and without a warrant. "I was terrified," Ough wrote in an affidavit three days layer. "With all the publicity about the Eugene police officers stalking women, I did not know what was going to happen to me." Ough tried to call her boyfriend, but Hagen grabbed the phone and hung it up. He handcuffed Ough, threatened to "go after" her boyfriend and son, searched her house and took her to Lane County Jail, where she was held for 17 hours. Hagen alleged that Ough, then 50, lied during a March 24 DMV hearing when she testified that she, and not her boyfriend Robert Warick, had been driving when Hagen pulled over their vehicle and charged Warick with drunk driving. Hagen informed Ough's lawyer, Brian Michaels, that he would pursue a perjury charge against Ough, but no such charge was ever filed. In December 2004, Ough filed a lawsuit against the city of Eugene and Hagen, alleging that Hagen had illegally entered her home and violated her rights. On Aug. 21 the city settled out of court, paying Ough and her attorney $52,000. Ough probably would never have filed the lawsuit if the EPD had conducted a proper investigation into Hagen's behavior, Michaels said. "She was never really interested in the money … But the police department obviously thinks it's fine for officers to be visiting women's homes in the middle of the night for further investigation. To this day, all they've done is defend and condone the very same behavior that [EPD officers and convicted sexual predators] Magaña and Lara were doing." The Ough case leads Michaels to question whether the new police auditor would be able to prevent such abuses in the future. "It seems to me that the auditor can do nothing to force the city to punish this officer," he said. "The auditor is a new branch grafted onto the same tree. It's going to have the same poisoned fruit, because it comes from the same poisoned trunk." City attorney Jeff Matthews of Harrang Long Gary Rudnick said that the city is admitting no wrongdoing in the Ough case. EPD spokesman Rich Stronach would not say whether Officer Hagen or his supervisor, Sgt. Jay Shadwick, were disciplined for the incident. — Kera Abraham INERT, MY ASS You're trying to enjoy a nice summer evening outside, but the mosquitoes are killin' ya. You pull out your trusty can of insect repellent and scan the label. It's got 5 percent DEET and 95 percent unspecified "inert ingredients." You figure that means 5 percent hazardous stuff and 95 percent safe stuff. You may want to think again. Two Eugene groups are leading a legal push to make the EPA put information about hazardous inert ingredients the labels of common farm and household pesticides. According to federal law, "inert" means all ingredients except those specifically designed to kill a pest. Because the EPA treats inert ingredients as trade secrets, pesticide manufacturers don't have to test them for safety or even identify them on product labels. But Caroline Cox, former staff scientist for the Eugene-based Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, said that many inert ingredients "are neither chemically, biologically, or toxicologically inert and can be hazardous for human and environmental health." Some common inert ingredients have been linked with cancer, genetic damage and reduced fertility. On Aug. 1, NCAP led a coalition of health, worker safety and environmental groups in petitioning the EPA to require that pesticide labels identify almost 400 inert ingredients that have been classified as hazardous under environmental laws. Fifteen attorneys general submitted a companion petition, and the Eugene-based Western Environmental Law Center is representing the coalition. — Kera Abraham
BIOREGION GATHERING Coming up Aug. 25-27 is a gathering in Eugene that draws eco-friendly folk from all over the country. The 10th annual Northwest Permaculture and Bioregional Gathering is coming to the Dharmalaya Center in the River Road Neighborhood. Registration for the weekend is $50 and includes organic meals. The stated purpose of the gathering is "to advance the visions, strategies and skills for living more at peace in the global community, to develop positive human potential and live within what Planet Earth can provide." Workshop and panel topics will include peak oil, U.S. foreign policy, climate change, the excesses of modern life, global peace and justice, the environment, (sub)urban redesign, economic conversion, and simply how to "live closer to home with a smaller ecological footprint." Organizers are looking for volunteers for site preparation Saturday morning, along with organic food donations for the communal kitchen. For more information call 686-6761, email Jan Spencer at spencerj@efn.org or visit http://eugenepermacultureguild.org
GOOD HABITS, BETTER AIR! Gas station attendants in Oregon often ask if you want to "top off" your tank after filling, or just do it without asking, but Eugene-based Oregon Toxics Alliance says it's a bad idea for several reasons. OTA is currently running a summer campaign to let drivers know that topping off gas tanks: • Allows toxic benzene fumes to escape from the gas tank and nozzle. Fumes then enter your body through breathing and skin absorption. • Releases vapors that also pose a special risk to gas station attendants who are exposed to these fumes constantly. • Contributes to the formation of harmful ozone and smog that contribute to poor air quality in Lane County. • Can cause gasoline to spill out of the tank and harm your vehicle's paint surface, as well as being wasteful. • Eliminates the extra room needed in your gas tank to allow gas to expand, can foul up your system and cause your vehicle to run poorly and emit more pollutants. OTA has free "Don't Top Off!" stickers that can be put on gas tank covers. Stop by 1192 Lane County Herbicide Spray Schedule • Oregon Department of Forestry (935-2283) plans aerial spraying of Oust, Arsenal, Accord and Forest Crop Oil on 80 acres of state lands near Nelson and Haynes tributaries (#781-50943). • Roseburg Resources (935-2507) contracted Farm and Forest Helicopter (360-262-3197) to aerially spray Sulfometuron, Imazapyr and Glyphosate on 162 acres near Cedar and Haynes Creeks (#781-50912). • Roseburg Resources contracted Oregon Forest Management Services (896-3757) to do ground applications of Sulfometuron Methyl, Escort and Glyphosate on 35 acres near Panther, Haynes, Chickahominy, Wildcat and Liebre Creeks, and Siuslaw River, near Walton (#781-50900). • Rosboro Lumber (746-8411) contracted Skookum Reforestation (485-3026) to ground spray Triclopyr ester and Forest Crop Oil on 3,250 acres in the Greenleaf/Deadwood area (#781-50986). • Rohl Resources (998-1268) will do ground applications of Arsenal, Garlon 4, Tahoe 4E, Chopper, Glyphosate, Oust, Escort and Velpar on 425 acres and 16,500 feet of roadside near Coyote and Wilson Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers 342-8332 or www.forestlanddwellers.org
BETSY WOLFSTON
As a schoolkid in Pittsburgh, Betsy Wolfston was chosen by her teachers to take art classes at the Carnegie Museum. "I've always messed around with art," she says. "But my parents didn't approve." As a result, she studied business in Arizona, Colorado, and finally at the UO. "I took art classes to get my GPA up," she notes. Wolfston worked in business and studied ceramics on the side until 1991, when she left Burley Design Cooperative to serve a year-long residency at Contemporary Crafts Gallery in Portland. Since then she has worked full-time at ceramic art, exhibiting in galleries (examples at buttersgallery.com) and landing commissions for local public art, including the Four Seasons sculptures on the Broadway Plaza (a collaboration with David Thompson) and installations in eight Eugene city parks. A proponent of the bumper-sticker slogan "Art Incites Community," Wolfston is a board member at BRING recycling. "I'm running the 'ministry of taste' committee," she says. "The idea is to make BRING's new Glenwood site as beautiful as possible, so that everyone will want to come and visit."
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