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News
Briefs: Undercovered #22 | Piven
Returns | Labor Notes | Landwatch Gathers | Airing the Hopefuls | Leggy Lisa
News:
Giving Peace a Chance -- Eugene Middle East Peace Group bridges differences,
celebrates similarities.
News:
Marijuana March -- Legalization activists plan worldwide protest.
News:
The Ecology Dialogues -- An evolving movement.
News:
Beauty & the Bigfoot -- With 28 sitings in Lane County alone, it's time
for taking Sasquatch seriously.
Happening
People: Caroline Padgett.
UNDERCOVERED
#22
-- When curfews lifted this week in the West Bank, many
Palestinians found their workplaces ransacked by the Israeli army, with computer
hard drives, documents and paper files seized or destroyed. Missing or destroyed
are many data banks for civil institutions such as the Palestinian Education, Finance,
and Health Ministries; NGOs and research institutes working on agriculture, water
conservation, and environmental protection; human rights organizations, banks, businesses,
and infirmaries (Ha'aretz Daily). "When Israeli policy and military action
is directed at 'dismantling' the Palestinian Authority, it not only targets political
leaders and institutions of self-rule, but also targets vital services for the survival
of Palestinian society, undoing developmental projects and initiatives crucial to
a stable and democratic Palestinian future" (joint statement from U.N. organizations).
The Israeli army says its aim was to destroy the "infrastructure of terror"
(Guardian).
-- Police stations and security offices in West Bank cities were
destroyed and the headquarters of Preventive Security, which coordinated security
with Israel, were bombed. Israel says this destruction was necessary because militants
had joined forces with Palestinian security. But now, even if there were a ceasefire,
no one could enforce it (BBC).
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Slant
This week's stories on the City Council and County Commission
races will be followed by more election stories next week and our endorsements on
candidates and ballot measures. Ballots will be in the mail starting May 3 and arriving
in homes over the following few days. A lot of important decisions are on the May
21 ballot, and the information offered to voters is sketchy. Several candidates are
not even in the Voters' Pamphlet. We urge our readers to get up to speed and vote!
Remember the "police riot" of June 1, 1997 when
peaceful tree-sitters downtown were tortured with dozens of cans of pepper spray?
The memories live on and so do the lawsuits. We hear the civil case against the city
by Josh Laughlin, Jim Flynn and Brett Cole may be going to mediation in June. At
least one other case has been tossed out of court, but this one might stick.
The West Eugene Parkway is still alive as developers and
their favorite candidates keep trying to shove it down our throats with misinformation
and sleazy lawsuit threats. Local enviros are planning a public forum on WEP at 7
pm May 23 at Harris Hall, followed by a public hearing at 6 pm May 29 at a venue
to be determined. Is this California-style highway really what the people want? Greg
McLauchlan offers a compelling perspective this week in Viewpoints.
SLANT includes short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes compiled
by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com
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-- On Saturday, April 28, a large Israeli peace march took place in
Nazareth, refuseniks held a vigil outside a prison to support men who were inside
for refusing to serve in the West Bank, and 10,000 people, Jewish and Palestinian
citizens of Israel, marched through Tel Aviv. Lesbians and Gay Men for Peace walked
chained together and blindfolded, carrying posters that read, "The media is
keeping us in the dark" (Coalition of Women for a Just Peace). Tel Aviv University
students help at Jenin and other refugee camps on weekends (Avishai Pearlson).
-- After three 14-year-old boys were killed last week on a suicide
mission to a settlement in Gaza, psychologists explained that children who see Palestinians,
and especially people close to them, killed or injured feel helpless and want to
do something. Many Palestinian children show signs of psychological trauma -- 90
percent, according to some estimates. TV news is filled with graphic violence and
death, and 600,000 children are home from schools closed by war and curfew, watching
TV all day. The Israeli government says young Palestinians are exploited by militants
to carry out suicide attacks, while many Palestinians think that desperation is a
major force (BBC, Guardian). In the past few days, Palestinian security police
in Gaza have intercepted 20 would-be child suicide attackers and sent them home (Sidney
Morning Herald). -- Kate Rogers Gessert
PIVEN
RETURNS
Frances Fox Piven will be back in Eugene Friday, May 3, to lead a free
public symposium celebrating an Oregon project sure to have national impact.
One of the leading scholars of poverty and politics in the country,
Piven was here two years ago as the UO Wayne Morse Chair professor. She keynoted
a national conference held at the UO on Work, Welfare and Politics which is the basis
for a book soon to be released by the UO Press.
This week's symposium will mark the release of a three-year study
by the UO Center for the Study of Woman in Society on the impact of welfare restructuring
in Oregon. The study is geared toward the public and policy makers who are debating
welfare policy in Congress.
Some of the questions the symposium will look at: What are the
impacts of welfare reform nationally and in Oregon? Do falling welfare caseloads
mean families are better off and escaping poverty? What's happening in Congress about
welfare reform and how will this affect poor families?
The symposium will last from 11:30 am to 1 pm in the alumni lounge
of Gerlinger Hall.
LABOR
NOTES
Members of the Eugene Newspaper Guild planned a rally in
conjunction with Teamsters Local 206 on the afternoon of May 1 outside the offices
of The Register-Guard on Chad Drive. The event was scheduled to occur just
after EW went to press.
Wednesday's rally marked the third anniversary of the expired contract
between the R-G and the Guild, which represents about 140 newsroom, advertising,
circulation and other employees at the newspaper. Adele Berlinski, president of the
Guild and a copy editor at the paper, says R-G Publisher Tony Baker continues
to deny his workers a fair settlement, even after the Guild has agreed to all the
legal contract issues the company has put on the table.
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WebSitings
Women in Politics
If you've been wondering how to hook up with Oregon
Women's Political Caucus, this site will be of moderate assistance, even if everything
on it appears to be two months old. (They've got a nice picture of Dubya at the bottom,
too...)
Dancing for Dollars
Lead the leader of the "free world" around
by his nose with a bouncing dollar sign. Make Tony Blair dance in the key of Dubya.
See Dubya frolic away from the curse of Enron. You need Java for this.
AIDS
Alternatives
A non-profit grassroots education, support, and research
organization founded by a group of HIV-positive diagnosed men and women who have
learned to live in health without AIDS drugs and without fear of illness.
Natural
Mothering
Earth-friendly, people-friendly products and information
for moms and babies. For no other reason, log on for the cool and soothing sounds
of wind and drums on the site's home page.
More Links:
WebSitings
Archive
WebSitings is a list of useful and sometimes quirky web sites.
Care to contribute to the list? Send suggested sites and a short description to editor@eugeneweekly.com
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"It just makes no sense," Berlinski says. "The company
insists on playing hardball and dragging down morale. Employees are mad and frustrated
and hurt. We feel this has gone on far too long, and we want to see it come to a
civil and reasonable end -- now."
The rally was planned for one day after the R-G faced another
trial over a federal labor law violation. Since it hired L. Michael Zinser, an anti-labor
lawyer from Nashville, the R-G has racked up 16 unfair labor practice charges
in its dealings with the Guild and the Teamsters.
"People deserve to know what's going on, and they certainly
won't read about it in the R-G," says Berlinski. "This is their
chance to find out."
LANDWATCH
GATHERS
The population of the Willamette Valley is expected to
almost double over the next 50 years, adding nearly two million more people. What
will be the impact on farming, forestry and our cities?
LandWatch Lane County has been involved for the past five years
in research, education and lobbying of public officials for sustainable and sensible
land use policies and practices. The non-profit group is planning its annual meeting
from 7 to 9 pm Thursday, May 9 at Tsunami Book Store, 2585 Willamette St. in Eugene.
Featured speaker of the evening will be Jim Just of Friends of
Linn County and 1000 Friends of Oregon who will discuss the Willamette Valley Alternative
Futures Project and answer questions about growth issues in the valley.
Also on the agenda are a talk by President Robert Emmons, an update
by Lauri Segel on LandWatch's joint office downtown with 1000 Friends of Oregon and
Friends of Eugene, a report on the attempted rezoning in the flood plain of the Siuslaw
River at the end of Fire Road near Lorane, and a report on a proposed Lane County
ordinance on the siting of cell phone (PCS) transmission towers.
The meeting is free and open to the public. For more information
call 741-3625.
AIRING
THE HOPEFULS
A collaboration between the Lane County League of Women
Voters and Community Television will give residents of Eugene an opportunity to see,
hear and compare City Council candidates for the May elections.
Candidates in Wards 3, 4, 5 and 6 were interviewed independently
of each other and without advance knowledge of the questions. Their responses will
air together on Public Access Channel 22 beginning Sunday, May 5 and will be repeated
17 times through May 18. Deadline for ballots is May 21.
On May 5, Ward 3 candidates will air at 3 pm; Ward 4 at 4 pm; Ward
5 at 6 pm. On May 6, Ward 6 will air at 6 pm. The full schedule is available by e-mail
request to: CTV@thinkvideo.com, or by phone at 341-4671.
In addition, Channel 22 will cablecast live a Lane County Commissioners
Candidate Forum at 8 pm Monday, May 6. A live cablecast of the Ballot Measures Forum
will be at 8 pm Thursday, May 9.
Ray Wolfe, producer of the local election preview, says the project
"fills the gap left by the dominance of network television, as well as the intrusion
on commercial TV of advertising."
LEGGY
LISA
Lisa Franzetta went through a life-altering experience
while being faced with dissecting a piglet in a biology class. She now travels the
country baring her skin in numerous anti-leather protests, proclaiming, "I'd
rather bare skin than wear skin."
Franzetta, described as a "leggy blonde with an arrest record,"
plans to make an appearance at noon Thursday, May 9 at 10th and Willamette in Eugene,
dressed in a "sin-thetic" outfit bound to stop traffic.
"I'm showing some of my skin in hopes of saving animals' skins,"
she says. "With today's stylish and comfortable synthetics, it's easier than
ever to leave the hides on cows' backsides."
Back to Top
Giving
Peace a Chance
Eugene Middle
East Peace Group bridges differences, celebrates similarities.
By Aria
Seligmann
It was just after the current Intifada began in September 2000
that some of Eugene's Muslims, Jews, and Christians, out of fear, anger and frustration,
reached out to each other to create bonds of friendship. The Eugene Middle East Peace
Group, which now boasts more than 100 members, was formed.
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Two Wars
at Once
In Israel's daily newspaper, Ha'aretz, noted writer Amos Oz reported
on April 5:
"Two Palestinian-Israeli wars have erupted in the Middle East.
One is the Palestinian nation's war for its freedom from occupation and for its right
to independent statehood. Any decent person ought to support this cause. The second
war is waged by fanatical Islam, from Iran to Gaza and from Lebanon to Ramallah,
to destroy Israel and drive the Jews out of their land. Any decent person ought to
abhor this cause.
"Yasser Arafat and his men are running both wars simultaneously,
pretending they are one. The suicide killers evidently make no distinction. Much
of the worldwide bafflement about the Middle East, much of the confusion among the
Israelis themselves, stems from the overlap between these two wars. ...
"Israel must step down from the war on the Palestinian territories.
It must begin to end occupation and evacuate the Jewish settlements that were deliberately
thrust into the depths of Palestinian lands. Its borders must be drawn, unilaterally
if need be, upon the logic of demography and the moral imperative to withdraw from
governing a hostile population.
"But would an end to occupation terminate the Muslim holy
war against Israel? This is hard to predict. If jihad comes to an end, both sides
would be able to sit down and negotiate peace. If it does not, we Israelis would
have to seal and fortify Israel's logical border, the demographic border, and keep
fighting for our lives against fanatical Islam.
"If, despite simplistic visions, the end of occupation will
not result in peace, at least we will have one war to fight rather than two. -- A
just war, a no-alternative war. A war we will win -- like any people who were ever
forced to fight for their very homes and freedom and lives."
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Founders Alon Raab, who teaches Hebrew at the UO, along with Nadia
Sindi, who has since left the group, as well as Avishai Pearlson, of Breema Northwest,
Ibrahim Hamide, owner of Café Soriah, Abdullah Al-Hamyare, the manager of
Casablanca, and others began meeting "out of desperation," says Pearlson.
Nearly 10 people attended the first discussion group, just to share
their feelings of sadness about war breaking out in the Middle East. Gradually, over
the past two years, the gatherings have grown to include potlucks that bring in friends
of various ethnicities, religious backgrounds and nationalities for one common purpose:
to establish peace.
"We see that hatred stems from ignorance. We recognize that
peace begins in our own hearts. Our shared belief is that what we do together in
this group can make a difference here and, eventually, make an impact in the Middle
East. Peace can't only be made between governments, but to be sustainable, has to
be made on a person-to-person basis, with all voices included," states one paragraph
of the EMEPG's mission statement.
At the end of 2000 the group had 60 members. By the end of 2001
the group had 160 members.
In December 2001, the EMEPG held a community potuck to celebrate
Hanukkah and the end of Ramadan. Many people showed up. "It was heartwarming,"
says Pearlson.
The group continues to hold social gatherings in members' homes
that include a feast, a circle with a moment of silence and then each taking a turn
at stating what brings them there. The concerns are the same: the need to share feelings,
the desire to form friendships; the knowledge that Muslims and Jews have more in
common than not.
In addition to the social gatherings, EMEPG has participated in
vigils for the Women in Black gatherings and at various community events. Now, with
the help of a McKenzie River Gathering Foundation grant, EMEPG hopes to increase
community education and awareness about Middle Eastern people's cultures and similarities.
Gail Eisen, another EMEPG member moved to Eugene two years ago
and joined the group just five months after arriving here. An international teacher
in developmental psychology and a Jew, she met her current husband, an Egyptian Muslim,
while she was a Fulbright lecturer in Cairo. Her intercultural marriage and experience
with scores of both Jewish and Muslim friends has raised her awareness of the similarities,
not the differences, between the two peoples.
"We have very similar dietary restrictions, nearly identical
ways of socializing children to respect elders and behave with politeness, identical
emphasis on kindness, generosity, tzidakah (charity), and the value of books and
learning, plus languages that share a high percentage of identical roots," she
says.
Abdullah Al-Hemyare, a Yemenite Muslim who has lived in Eugene
since 1984 and was present at the first meeting, describes how he felt at the time.
"I came because of the Intifida. I felt frustrated and needed to do something
but didn't know what," he says.
Palestinians and Israelis were also present and at one point, says
Pearlson, "The conversation got so heated we had to set parameters of how we'd
talk and not point the finger of wrongdoing at Israel." No one was representing
any government; they were all just people there to support each other. It was not
a political forum, but a place to share feelings.
Pearlson says he joined because he wanted to explore his own fears
and stereotypes. An Israeli and self-described "peacenik," Pearlson says
"I still have embedded in me a fear that Arabs hate Jews. I still have nightmares
from growing up in Israel that I'm going to be attacked by Arabs because we are hated
and they'll do anything to kill us."
Al-Hamyare leans forward slightly as Pearlson finishes his statement
and says softly, "That's not true. We love you."
Al-Hamyare, an Islamic scholar with Jewish relatives in Israel,
explains that hatred is "not a part of the teaching. From day one in Muslim
history, the Jews and Muslims lived together in peace and harmony." Now, he
points out, the two groups are having to get along in a very small place.
"It's not the peace-loving people who are making the decisions,
it's the nationalist leaders at the top making it difficult for peace to spread,"
says Pearlson.
Though Pearlson bemoans the absence of peaceful leaders -- Rabin
and Sadat were both assassinated for trying to establish peace -- Eisen has hope.
"Carter is still alive," she says.
"We need peaceful leaders very badly," says Al-Hemyare.
"We all feel we are victims," says Pearlson.
Eugene Middle East Peace Group: EMEPG@hotmail.com
Back to Top
Marijuana
March
Legalization activists
plan worldwide protests.
By Nicole
Hill
"The War on Drugs" should really be called "The
War on Some Drugs," according to supporters of hemp reform and legalization.
Cannabis sativa, a plant that once budded proudly among America's lush foliage, today
is locked behind bars with the rest of Drug War perpetrators. The opiate and coca
plants are also on the DEA's most wanted list for their psychoactive properties.
 In 1937 marijuana became illegal to grow under an act established by the
Federal Bureau of Narcotics. "But there was never a public vote about it,"
says Jonathan Gustek of the Hemp Education Network, a UO advocacy group. Gustek is
also a musician for The Thirteenth Tribe, which will provide beats for Eugene's 3rd
Annual Peace March Saturday, May 4. Supporters of industrial and medical marijuana
legalization will begin marching at noon from 24th Street and Amazon Parkway to the
Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza.
The prohibition of marijuana can be credited to emerging plastic
and chemical corporations, not societal addictions and health problems, Gustek explains.
"Dupont, for example, started creating nylons [fiber] in the 1930's and didn't
want the competition," Gustek says. Hemp, the fibrous stalk of the marijuana
plant, is well known for its value in rope, clothes, paper, plyboard and other building
materials.
As supporters often reiterate, 10,000 acres of hemp generates enough
paper and pulp to save 41,000 acres of forest. Even so, the federal government is
not willing to dabble in "narcotics" by permitting industrial production.
Last month the DEA went to the 9th District Court in an attempt to pull all products
made with hemp oils, seeds and fibers from stores. However, the court ruled against
requests to expand the statute on what defines products containing THC.
The Associated Press also reported that the General Accounting
Office recently looked into the medical marijuana programs in Oregon and three other
states to evaluate potential abuse. A total of nine states have medical marijuana
programs. Oregon state officials were questioned about the medical marijuana law
and the number of patients and doctors involved. Some medicinal marijuana supporters
are concerned that the federal government's recent visit was an attempt to interfere
with states' rights, as with Attorney General John Ashcroft's battle with Oregon
over the state's assisted-suicide law.
Meanwhile, the federal anti-drug budget has risen to $19 billion
and resulted in 646,000 arrests for simple possession in the year 2000 alone. And
little research seems to indicate that severe drug sanctions leads to a decrease
in abuse among communities.
"The reason why these drugs are illegal is not because of
our children, it's because of the black market." Kris Millegan, a history writer
for High Times magazine says. "It keeps the economy humming."
Millegan suggests taking marijuana out of the black market and
creating a state-regulated legal market, reducing prison populations and creating
a taxable industry to support schools. "We don't need a vice model," he
says, referring of the punitive manner in which law enforcement deals with the issue.
He suggests the plant be made available through state liquor stores or state-regulated
shops.
Others question the feasibility of advertising marijuana in the
market. "Who would the target audience be? How are you going to advertise something
like this?" David Fischer asks, counselor for Addiction Counseling Education
Services, a local private non-profit. ACES provides substance abuse treatment, of
which 40 percent of their clients are struggling with psychological addiction to
THC. Physical withdrawal symptoms are not common, Fischer says, but he does see prevalent
life changes that occur in individuals as a result of recreational use. People tend
to mold their life around smoking, only engaging in activities that would include
getting high, he says. Smoking becomes a way of coping.
But Fischer doesn't see marijuana as the "gateway" drug,
leading to use of harsher intoxicants, as it is commonly portrayed. "Nicotine
is really the drug that opens that door," Fischer adds. If the prohibition of
THC were really about health, he continues, we would see more drugs off the market.
Protestors in the Million Marijuana March, which spreads over six
continents worldwide, will hit Eugene streets once more to declare the unconstitutional
nature of prohibiting such a calming herbal inebriant.
Two petitions are currently in circulation. "Personal Privacy
2000" would allow hemp to be grown industrially and accessed only by people
21 and over who would not be allowed to sell it. Another petition deals with creating
state-licensed dispensaries that would allow more immediate medical attention for
patients seeking the herb. Under this amendment, nurse practitioners and naturopaths
would also have authority to write prescriptions.
Voters passed Oregon's medical Marijuana law in 1998 and new polls
show increasing support of existing laws.
"It's not just about smoking pot," Gustek says."
Although, he sees nothing wrong with it. "It's about citizens' constitutional
right to limit government, not to be limited by government."
Back to Top
The
Ecology Dialogues
An evolving movement.
By Bobbie
Willis
This ain't your mom's environmental movement -- or maybe it is.
Increased awareness of serious ecological issues is changing the face of environmentalism,
stretching the Muir-Thoreau-Greenpeace model to include a broader range of perspectives.
From women, to urban dwellers, to the impoverished, to ethnic minorities -- certain
voices have been marginalized in some ways by the environmentalist set. Only relatively
recently have these individuals explicitly claimed their positions within the movement,
understanding that environmental issues affect us all, whether we hike through the
Sierras, farm in the Midwest, or wash clothes in the Ganges.
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Left to right: Pramila
Jayapal, Andrea Simpson, Ursula Goodenough.
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Next week, May 6-9, the Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS)
will host "Ecological Conversations: Gender, Science and the Sacred." The
four-day program will allow our community to hear these new voices and to see how
environmentalism can manifest itself in countless unique, and ultimately more inclusive,
ways.
The event is the culmination of a three-year Rockefeller Foundation
resident fellowship program through CSWS. It brings together a diverse group of scholars
and activists in a dialogue addressing philosophical, scientific, political and spiritual
perspectives of human interactions with the natural world. These scholars -- including
poets, scientists, nuns and artists -- have had a chance through the residency program
to explore fresh ways of looking at and participating in the worldwide discussions
on environment and ecology.
Next week's colloquium will include speakers such as Andrea
Simpson, an associate professor at the University of Washington. She is the author
of the book The Tie that Binds: Identity and Political Attitudes in the Post-Civil
Rights Generation. Simpson focuses on environmental justice activism in the South,
particularly the role of working class African American women as political actors
within the environmental justice movement. Simpson says, "Environmentalism has
traditionally been about preservation, particularly the preservation of environmental
'goods.' Environmental justice looks at the unequal distribution of environmental
'bads.'" This simple shift in perspective broadens the discussion of environmentalism.
Not only does it include those who want to enjoy and preserve the physical landscape,
but it also gives voice to those who must work and live in the direct fallout of
environmental damage.
Simpson also explores the challenges of intersectionality, that
being the points at which these women's multiple marginalized roles intersect (i.e.,
being women, African Americans, and impoverished or working class). Say this group
of women wanted to mobilize forces to find out what was causing a certain kind of
cancer in a certain region; their intersectionality would pose challenges in terms
of the group's "credibility, access and resources." But, if these obstacles
are overcome, Simpson says, "It could have important implications [not just
for environmental issues] but for political coalitions broadly." Simpson will
give a talk Monday, May 6, titled "Who Hears Their Cry? African American Women
and Environmental Justice."
She is just one of three distinguished speakers who will be in
town next week for the program's final colloquium: Wednesday May 8, Pramila Jayapal,
a writer and activist, will speak on "A Crisis of Imagination: Spirituality
and Community." Jayapal is the author of the book Pilgrimage: One Woman's
Return to a Changing India. Then Thursday May 9, eminent scientist Ursula
Goodenough will speak on her book The Sacred Depths of Nature. Goodenough
is professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis. Her book explores
religious responses to our scientific understanding of nature that have the potential
to serve as an underpinning for a planetary consensus on global ecology. The public
is welcome to join in the dialogue via the lectures and accompanying panel discussions.
These speakers will join the program's scholars from all three years -- 15 total
-- for the program finale.
"This colloquium will provide a forum for the fellows to get
to know one another, and for the program as a whole to share the highlights of three
years worth of enticing conversations with the greater university community and the
public," says program director Lynne Fessenden.
All public lectures are free and begin at 7 pm in the Erb Memorial
Union Ballroom at the UO. The lectures are sponsored by CSWS.
For more information contact Ecological Conversations Program Director,
Lynne Fessenden, 346-5399, or check the program's web site: http://ecocon.uoregon.edu/
Back to Top
Beauty
& the Bigfoot
With 28 sitings
in Lane County alone, it's time for taking Sasquatch seriously.
By Joseph
Lieberman
Her hand trembles and tears edge her eyes as Autumn Williams picks
up the small framed portrait she has just dropped tumbling onto a coffee mug in Starbucks
on 18th Street. The picture shows a rendition of her personal encounter with a Sasquatch,
and she apologizes for still being so emotional about it. After all, at the age of
3, a seven-foot-tall Bigfoot can leave a powerful impression.
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This sketch is based
on the siting by Autumn Williams and her mother.
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Twenty-five years later she might be dismissing that memory as a toddler's
overactive imagination had her mother not been by her side, squeezing her hand tight
and telling her in slow, measured tones to walk, don't run, back toward their cottage
in the woods. The rest of that day was spent indoors and under the covers, but that
was long before she learned the truth -- or as close to what Bigfoot investigators
can call the truth -- about these semi-legendary "wild men" of the woods.
A full accounting of what she and others have discovered is on
her new Eugene-based website (www.oregonbigfoot.com). "This is the first website
pooling together and organizing a chronological listing of incidents in a single
region," she explains. "Until now you could find a report in a book, then
a completely different one on a website, and it would turn out they were in the same
forest a day apart but no one knew that because no one was compiling a central clearinghouse.
This way the two reports serve to authenticate each other."
Autumn has compiled 284 statewide listings in all, with the largest
number of county sightings in Clackamas (66) and the second highest (28) being right
here in Lane County. "This reflects more where the available researchers are
located, rather than where the Sasquatch may be," Williams says.
Autumn is doing all this at her own expense; the information on
her site is offered free. "We compile it from other websites, books, and personally
gathered reports," she says. "And we give credit where it is due. We are
not out to rip anybody off and we offer easy links onto lots of other sites. We want
to provide a comprehensive look at sightings in one area. Since we live and work
in Lane County and research all over the state, we decided that Oregon was as good
a place as any to start."
Her goal is to encourage the reporting of as many encounters as
possible, including any that, like hers, remained on the dusty shelves of memory
or in old photo albums for years. To that end, she will be speaking of her research
at the Bigfoot Art Show opening at Feinstein's Museum of Unfine Art (see Friday,
May 3 Calendar).
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Autumn Williams holds
a plaster cast of a Sasquatch footprint.
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Getting back to her own childhood experience, I ask Williams if she
could be certain now that she and her mom were not startled by a bear risen up on
its hind legs. Although she lives in Eugene, Autumn's sighting took place in rural
Washington state where she spent the first few years of her life. "Bears do
not have long legs, proportional like humans," she counters, "nor faces
with eyes this big." She holds her fingers in a circle that could probably encompass
a baseball.
"And there were two of them," she continues. "I
recall thinking how the smaller one was kind of like me standing next to my mom.
The smaller one was fawn-colored and the big guy was very dark-haired. But it was
the larger one's eyes that I'll never forget. His eyes looked like a cross between
human and cat, enormous and slightly convex, like there was a thick lens over them.
When we made eye contact, I sensed intelligence, yet there was something surreal
and hypnotic."
Where's the Proof?
To skeptics and critics, who probably outnumber firm believers by a fair margin,
the point of contention is pure and simple: Show us the proof! Where is a carcass
or even fragmentary remains? Why does so little reliable photographic documentation
exist? How can we separate the real reports from the hoaxes? Autumn has come-backs
for all these questions.
"Have you ever tried to photograph a bear in the wild?"
she responds on her website. "Wait ... have you ever even SEEN a bear in the
wild? How about photographing a bear who walks on two legs and who can tiptoe? How
about trying to take a picture of a bear who's standing behind dense vegetation,
in the dark, and can see you, but you can't see it, and it's primary method of survival
is its ability to avoid people with guns by being very quiet and clever?"
As to physical remains, well, it's a much bigger spread of heavily
forested land out there than most people realize. No hunter in modern times has ever
reported shooting a Bigfoot and those who say they had the opportunity to do so,
thankfully held back. Further, if the critters are human enough, maybe they have
their own methods and rituals of burial.
BFRO, the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, is one of the
associations that helps feed the Oregon site. They state, "... the public often
assumes that bigfoot research is the tongue-in-cheek pursuit of a solitary, fictional
tabloid character. Nothing could be further from the truth." They go on to point
out that while a majority of Americans will profess religiously based beliefs in
unscientific and miraculous events and beings that they have no objective proof of,
these same people will summarily "ridicule honest eyewitnesses to these animals,
even if those eyewitnesses are their most trusted family members."
The Hoax Factor
When it comes to hoaxes, Autumn is ready to shoot 'em down and speaks disparagingly
over some of the photos and videos out there, including a few that got indirectly
linked into her site. By and large, however, "fraudulent reports become obvious"
and as another link, Bigfoot Encounters, warns, "Investigating the Sasquatch
is a sure way of consuming money, not earning it. Any interest in this field motivated
by financial gain is misplaced."
The Bigfoot Encounters' newsletter goes on to say, "Tabloid
journalism created a pattern that has driven the entire subject of these creatures
into disrepute... we treat the Sasquatch as a species of a very large, hirsute bipedal
hominid."
The BFRO goes into some of the monikers that these critters have
been named. They inform us that, "Sasquatch" is the Canadian term for these
animals. It is a derivative of the Coast Salish Indian word "Sesquac" meaning
"wild man." Various Indian tribes across North America have their own terms,
such as "Omah," "Windego," "Yeahoh," "Tsiatko,"
"Boqs," and "Rugaru." Early white settlers in various regions
had their own regional names, such as "Skookums," "Skunk Apes,"
"Swamp Boogers," and "Mountain Devils."
Just Up the River
There are plenty of reports from one and two centuries back. One of the more
recent items on Williams' Lane County list took place in July 2000 just past McKenzie
Bridge. A Springfield man hiking over Boulder Creek ridge, "smelled a bad odor...
looked around up-wind, and there some 20 feet away stood an eight-foot upright creature
in about four feet of brush against the edge of a darker fir forest." He described
the animal as having huge wide shoulders, long arms, covered all over with dark,
almost black hair, with reddish highlights. Four to six-inch-long hair, not furry
or soft looking, covered the entire body, head, and limbs.
Autumn counsels anyone who is serious about going Bigfoot spotting
to, "not allow firearms, stun guns, tranq guns or any other weapons on research
trips. Spend time in the woods in the dark, if you're brave enough. Learn to be quiet."
And while encountering a Sasquatch "can certainly be unnerving or sometimes
terrifying, in nearly all cases the creatures will avoid confrontation, using creative
means to discourage a witness's continued presence in that area by screaming, throwing
small objects, shaking trees and stomping."
"Don't panic," Autumn advises, "What many researchers
tout as examples of aggression are simply Bigfoot's way of saying 'go away.'"
For further info, visit www.oregonbigfoot.com/
or contact Williams at P.O. Box 25512, Eugene 97402.
Back to Top
 Caroline
Padgett
"I've never worked for a fee-paying client,"
admits attorney Caroline Padgett, honored by the UO law school in February as "public
interest lawyer of the year." Padgett majored in writing and women's studies
at Sarah Lawrence College before earning her law degree from the University of Michigan.
"I did a lot of work around domestic violence and women's rights," says
Padgett, a member of a "women and the law" clinic before she moved west
in 1996. "I had heard that Eugene was a sister city to Ann Arbor," she
notes. As an Americorps attorney for a year, and later on her own, she worked for
Lane County Legal Aid, representing victims of sexual assault and stalking. Since
July of 2000, Padgett has devoted her energies to Kids First, a fledgling agency
that provides a safe, supervised environment for non-custodial parents to spend time
with their children. Located in the former Whiteaker School, Kids First is supported
by a grant from the state and staffed by college students and community volunteers.
"Caroline has worked really hard," says Teri Gutierrez of Aces Nova domestic
violence program. "She has passion and commitment to ending domestic violence."
-- Photo by Paul Neevel
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