 |
  |
|
 |
||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||
Slant: Short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes News: News: Happening Biz: RACISM COMPLAINTS Complaints about racism from Portland black students visiting Eugene for a high school basketball tournament surprised many in Eugene. But many others were not so surprised. Eugene is one of the whitest, least diverse cities in the nation, according to the latest U.S. Census. Among the nation's 249 largest cities, Eugene is the 18th whitest. In Eugene, 88 percent of residents are entirely white. About 92 percent say they're white or at least part white. Only 1 percent of Eugene's population is black. The vast majority of people in Eugene have little contact with African Americans in their neighborhoods. No Eugene census tract is more than 2.5 percent black. A section of Bethel between the railroad tracks and Crocker Road has 4,059 residents; only 12 identified as black. In south Eugene between Willamette Street and Lorane Highway, seven blacks live among a population of 2,053. In all of the new neighborhoods outside Belt Line stretching from West 11th around to I-5, there are almost 29,000 residents, but only 228 are African American. Nor are young Eugeneans likely to meet many minorities in their formative school years. The district has known for three decades that Eugene's system of alternative school choice results in segregated browner and poorer neighborhood elementary schools but hasn't taken major action to solve the problem. The city's high schools are more evenly mixed. South Eugene High School is 23 percent minority, North 29 percent, Churchill 22 percent and Sheldon 23 percent, according to the latest comparative data. Roosevelt High School in Portland, where the racism complaints came from, has 58 percent non-white students. Complaints that the city racially profiles minorities also date back three decades without significant reform. An EPD study showed that Eugene cops stop black drivers at a rate 2.3 times higher than white drivers and search them at a 37 percent higher rate. — Alan Pittman
THE BIG HULT GORILLA How do Eugeneans in the arts view the Hult Center? "It's both the crown jewel and the entity that absorbs most of the resources available," said Marc Goldring at a meeting on Monday, March 19. In a preliminary draft, Goldring's firm WolfBrown (formerly Wolf, Keens & Co.), the consultant group hired by the city of Eugene to help create recommendations for the future of Eugene's arts policy, laid out a plan for the future of the arts communities in Eugene, including a restructuring of the Hult Center that alarmed at least one of the Hult's constituent groups. The Mayor's Cultural Policy Review (CPR) committee met with the consultants from noon to 4:30 pm, and a public meeting began at 6:30 pm. Tina Rinaldi, mayor's committee co-chair, opened by saying that Eugene's participation in the cultural review process has impressed the consultants by being "far greater" than in any other city that has gone through the process. Indeed, Goldring said, the mayor's committee ended by setting up another meeting to discuss the preliminary draft, which he called "emblematic of the way this community has engaged in the cultural policy review." While the draft recommends some seemingly common sense changes such as ensuring coordination of K-12 arts education and cooperation among the city, the UO and LCC ("separate silos" of arts activities now, Goldring noted), one of the recommendations includes "Conduct a thorough operations audit of the Hult Center to develop a new operating model that will support the facility's mission in a financially stable way." Goldring said, "We understand this is an issue that's been addressed, but solutions have never been implemented. … Unless the issue of the Hult is resolved, [the issue] will continue to be a drain on the cultural community." Riley Grannan, managing director of the Eugene Ballet Company, was alarmed by a footnote to the suggestion which reads, in part, that the Hult Center's "inability to fund raise or present more effectively preclude it from using these avenues to address its need for additional revenues." Grannan explained that if the EBC and other Hult user groups had to compete with the Hult Center itself for funding, that would be a problem because "there are precious few foundations here. … When the big gorilla asks for money, they will get priority, and we will be far down on the list." He summed up the recommendation as "something for everybody," which would mean "nothing for all." Goldring responded, "The situation is untenable, and it is going to get worse if it isn't addressed." The entire document is available at the Cultural Policy Review website (www.eugene-or.gov/CulturalPolicyReview),where mayor's committee co-chair and former City Councilor David Kelly strongly encouraged Eugeneans to give their feedback through the "Tactics Review Worksheet" or directly by email before the end of this month. Goldring and Bach will create the final draft during the month of April, and they need comments by March 30th. — Suzi Steffen
A POET AND A SOLDIER When Maj. William F. "Bill" Hecker III came to Eugene from West Point, friends said that he felt a little strange at first. He was dedicated soldier and a lover of poetry, so the Army sent him to the UO to get a master's degree in English. He then taught literature as an assistant professor for three years at West Point before being deployed to Iraq, where he was killed in January, 2006.
While at the UO, Hecker studied "soldier poetry," a term he preferred to "war poetry." At West Point, he published a book on Edgar Allen Poe. When he received his assignment to Iraq, Hecker began to study Arabic so he could read Iraqi literature and better understand the people he felt he was there to help. "From his morning cup of coffee to his family relationships to his scholarship to his soldiering, he did everything with passion, commitment, intelligence, and care," said UO professor Karen Ford, who directed his MA thesis. "That made his death more painful, but it also meant he had lived every moment of his life with purpose." In his thesis, Hecker wrote about poetry that was published only because its authors survived combat. The poetry "never would have breathed" if not for the Americans who "survived and prevailed in the harshest imaginable conditions for the sake of destroying tyranny." But Hecker himself would not survive to educate future generations. Hecker dreamed of getting his Ph.D. when he returned from Iraq and teaching at West Point for the rest of his career. "He loved America, American literature, and teaching," said Ford. His time in Eugene helped Eugeneans understand soldiers, Ford said, "He surprised a lot of people here who thought they knew what someone from West Point would be like. And I think we surprised him, too." — Camilla Mortensen
DEFENDING LAKE BAIKAL Two Russian visitors in Eugene for the UO Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in early March visited with Mayor Kitty Piercy and representatives from EWEB. They were Marina Rikhvanova of the Baikal Environmental Wave (BEW) and Sergei Bereznuk of the Phoenix Fund.
Piercy had contacted BEW last year when she was preparing to visit Eugene's sister city of Irkutsk, near Lake Baikal in Siberia. She says she wanted to understand the environmental issues of Irkutsk, in addition to cultural and economic aspects. Piercy says she learned about the successful grassroots movement in Irkutsk to defend Lake Baikal against the placement of the massive Siberia-Pacific Pipeline within one kilometer of the shore. Bereznuk was also an important player in rerouting the terminal site of the Siberia Pacific oil pipeline away from a sensitive Amur leopard habitat. Rikhvanova won the Conde Nast Traveler's Environmental Award for her work, and Bereznuk won a 2006 Whitley Award for his efforts. The Phoenix Fund is based in Vladivostok and is dedicated to conserving the biological diversity of the Russian Far East. "Lake Baikal is a world treasure, containing approximately 20 percent of the planet's surface fresh water, and is the world's deepest lake — home to the world's only fresh water seal and many species of fish and mammals," says Piercy. "The Amur leopards are in danger of being lost to the world." Piercy says the two visitors were both very interested in learning more about the mayor's Sustainable Business Initiative and how to engage the mayor of Irkutsk in such discussions. In addition they were interested in eco-tourism. The Russians presented a photograph of Lake Baikal to the mayor, and plans were made to continue the conversation. "From health care to education, culture to the environment, these sister city relationships remain an important piece of building world friendships and peace," says Piercy.
KUCINICH HERE APRIL 2
Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich and his wife, Elizabeth, are planning to be in Eugene for a full day of educational and fundraising events Monday, April 2. He also plans to speak in Corvallis. Kucinich, an Ohio congressman and author of legislation to establish a cabinet level U.S. Department of Peace, was invited to Lane County by local peace activist Betsy Steffensen, and the events are co-sponsored by the Democratic Party of Lane County. All events will be at the First United Methodist Church at 13th and Olive. They begin with a 7:30 am breakfast fundraiser. Kucinich plans to travel to Corvallis for a noon event at a location to be announced (call 753-7431 or email l.simpson@comcast.net). He plans to return to Eugene for a free student forum at 4 pm (register at nfp@efn.org). A VIP event begins at 5:45 pm, followed by the main event at 6:30. A $50 ticket covers breakfast and all the events. The VIP gathering alone is $20, and the evening talk alone is $10. A number of organizations and businesses, including Greater Goods, are selling tickets. For information, call 344-9343 or email Betsy at nfp@efn.org
SAVAGE LOVES UP EUGENE
Seattle advice columnist Dan Savage (see interview last week) got a sexy response from a packed house at WOW Hall March 15. He talked about the need for "real" sex education in America, blasted the Republican agenda on sex-related issues, and said mainstream newspapers are losing credibility by not writing about sex in the language people use to talk about sex. Savage usually gets paid for public appearances, but spoke for free and even paid his own air fare to come to Eugene to defend his column from critics. More than 300 people attended the event. Donations at the door raised more than $1,400 that will be shared among Planned Parenthood, HIV Alliance and Sexual Assault Support Services.
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS Regarding our March 15 news brief about the Persian New Year celebration, the name of the owner of the Bistro at Oakway Wine & Deli is properly spelled Fariborz "Borzi" Marashi.
RYAN ROGERS OF FISHERMAN'S MARKET
Eugene native and South Eugene High grad Ryan Rogers began working summers in Alaska as a break from studying economics at the UO. "I dropped out winter term of my senior year," he says. "I didn't want to end up on the 40th floor in San Francisco or Seattle." Instead, he bought a boat to fish for salmon in Prince William Sound. A year later, the Exxon Valdez hit the rocks. "I was the fourth boat hired to help clean up the spill," he says. "It paid off the boat and enabled me to survive." Looking for an alternative to year-round fishing at age 35, Rogers joined with old friend Mike West in 1997 to purchase the Fisherman's Market, until then an outlet for Newport fisherman Dick Ramus. "Our number-one product is crab," says Rogers, now sole owner of the market. "We get crab twice a week, typically from Newport and Charleston. Since Thanksgiving, we've had no fuel expense. I had my truck converted to burn our fryer oil." Rogers still spends his summers on Prince William Sound. "It's one of the most beautiful parts of Alaska," he says. "Also one of the mellower fisheries, for weather and for competition." — Paul Neevel |
|
|||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
