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News
Briefs: Solomon on Abortion | Easing
the Load | Sprawl Backs Bartel | Peaceful
Preschool |
Dangerous Art |
WEP Forum | Hunnicutt Targeted
News:
Four Years Later -- Shockwaves from the shooting at Thurston High still ripple
across America.
News:
Buying Votes -- Pro-sprawl money backs block of candidates.
News:
Press Policy -- Police will decide which media may cover protests.
News:
Rape Culture -- Take Back the Night stands up against oppression.
Commentary:
Under Seige -- LandWatch fights to preserve shrinking resource lands.
Happening
People: Jim Shoemaker.
Solomon
on Abortion
Eugene City Council Ward 6 candidate Jennifer Solomon is
anti-abortion and anti-gay rights, according to a Christian Voter's Guide. The guide,
published by the Oregon Family Council, says Solomon responded "yes" to
all of the following six "moral" questions:
"Are you opposed to legalized abortion?" "Do you
support legislation requiring a parent or guardian be notified before an abortion
may be performed on a minor?" "Do you agree that homosexuals should not
be granted minority status?" "Do you agree that 'domestic partners' should
not be given similar benefits as those afforded to married couples?" "Do
you support an educational voucher that would allow students to attend the public,
private, or religious school of their choice?" "Do you support Oregon's
law that returns over-collected taxes back to taxpayers?"
The guide indicates Solomon gave an unidentified qualification
to her anti-abortion answer.
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Slant
-- Thousands of ballots are sitting on desks and kitchen counters
in Eugene and the low numbers turned in so far are worrisome. We can hope for a good
turnout but sometimes it takes action. Turn to the person next to you and say, "NO
MORE SEX UNTIL YOU PUNCH YOUR BALLOT" or something equally compelling.
This election is probably more important than any of us realize.
The outcomes of the City Council and County Commission races, for example, will shape
the quality of life in our area for possibly generations. Every person in public
office is like a trim tab on an airplane, changing the direction of government in
subtle ways that are only evident over time.
Contrary to popular perception, we don't have a progressive City
Council (our painfully conservative mayor breaks a lot of 4-4 votes). Let's elect
a true progressive majority on the council. Let's also vote to change our pro-sprawl,
anti-sustainability county government. State legislative races are also vitally important.
Our Republican-dominated Legislature has been disastrous for Oregon in terms of education,
the environment and social services. And even our judiciary is under attack from
the far right.
We've reprinted our endorsements from last week on this page. Remember,
NO VOTE, NO SEX.
-- These are hard times for newspapers and other media across the
country. The Business News is closing down next week (ouch), and we hear from
some Register-Guard subscribers that they are continuing to get home delivery
even after they have canceled their subscriptions. Must be a circulation department
oversight. Can't be that the R-G is worried about its numbers. Meanwhile (knock
on wood substitute) EW is steadily expanding its revenues, page counts and
circulation over last year. Our paper is so thick now that some of our readers are
going out and buying larger bird cages.
-- One of our astute readers was called by a polling company last
week asking what she thought of several possible new ballot measures. One would eliminate
property taxes for senior citizens, another would reinstate term limits. Is Bill
Sizemore up to his old shenanigans?
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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Solomon opponent Rich Cunningham answered "yes" to the parental
notification and to no minority status for homosexuals questions. "I am pro-choice
100 percent," Cunningham says. He says parents should be notified when children
under 16 seek an abortion. He says he's not sure what the "minority status"
question means, but says he opposes discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Cunningham says he supports the city's extension of domestic partner
benefits to gay and lesbian couples, opposes spending public money on private religious
schools and wants the kicker money to be spent on underfunded public education.
Cunningham says Solomon has supported a local gas tax and cutting
police officers in schools while working on the city Budget Committee. Cunningham
says he opposes the gas tax and supports officers in schools.
In County Commission races, Anna Morrison (West Lane) and Don Staley
(East Lane) were the only anti-abortion candidates. Morrison did not answer the questions
on domestic partner benefits and the tax kicker but supported abortion notification,
no "minority status" for homosexuals, and taxpayer money for religious
schools, according to the guide at http://oregonfamilycouncil.org/
-- Alan Pittman
Easing
the Load
Third-year law students at the UO are leaving an important
legacy to their school and the community: loan repayment assistance for graduates
who go into public interest law.
Today, the average indebtedness of a UO law school graduate is
about $50,000. Under a standard 10-year repayment plan, new lawyers must fork over
$7,200 per year, or more, just to cover their law school loans.
Compare this with the starting salary at a typical nonprofit organization,
such as E-LAW: $27,000. Or for a legal aid lawyer: $28,500. Or a state clerkship:
$26,000.
These economic realities keep many law graduates from pursuing
public service. Instead, many take jobs with private firms (with starting salaries
up to $140,000) in order to relieve debt burdens.
To encourage and support graduates to forgo high pay for public
service, more than 50 law schools nationwide have instituted loan repayment assistance
programs (LRAPs). Such programs provide financial help and debt forgiveness to graduates
who do public interest work.
Students at the UO School of Law recently put their alma mater
on the LRAP list. The effort was initiated by Kurt Unger, who last year submitted
the idea to a lukewarm faculty. Unger then joined forces with a group of motivated,
tenacious students who set up a war room to turn the dream into a reality.
"We had a vision and that's what we wanted to sell,"
says Tiffany Harris, a member of the student-run LRAP Committee. She introduced the
plan in January to the law school's elite Board of Visitors, which advises the administration
and promotes law school programs.
"We put on our suits and went up to the President's Lounge,"
Harris says.
The LRAP Committed did its homework. Students contacted administrators
from every LRAP in the country, compared their aspects, created spreadsheets, crunched
numbers, and developed key contacts around the nation. They also wrote a proposal
for the UO, which gives priority to graduates who earn less than $45,000 and defines
"public interest" broadly to include government jobs and judicial clerkships.
Margie Schroeder, a member of the LRAP Committee, says the workload
was akin to taking another law class. However, she adds, "Working on this program
has been the most rewarding thing this year."
The LRAP Committee gained a major ally in the Board of Visitors.
"We had huge concerns about the student debt load," says U.S. District
Court Judge Ann Aiken, a member of the board. But Aiken stresses that it was students
who did the legwork to convince administrators that an LRAP could work at the UO.
"They drove the engine," Aiken says. "We just tried
to help them navigate the waters."
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Endorsements
at a Glance
(Your ballot will differ in content depending on your district,
ward and party affiliation. Note that city measures are out of numerical order on
the ballot. Read it carefully.)
U.S. Senate
Bill Bradbury (D) and Gordon Smith (R)
U.S. House, 4th District
Peter DeFazio (D) and Liz VanLeeuwen (R)
Governor
Bev Stein (D), Jack Roberts or Ron Saxton (R)
House District 11
Phil Barnhart
House District 12
Rick Henson
Labor Commissioner
Dan Gardner
Schools Superintendent
Susan Castillo
Judge, Court of Appeals 1
David Schuman
County Commission Position 1
Dianne Burch
County Commission Position 2
Bill Dwyer
County Commission Position 5
Tom Lininger
City Council Ward 3
David Kelly
City Council Ward 4
Kevin Wells
City Council Ward 5
Pat Hadley
City Council Ward 6
Richard Cunningham
EWEB At-Large Position
Sandra Bishop
State Ballot Measure 10
(universities stock) -- YES
State Ballot Measure 11
(OHSU bonds) -- NO
State Ballot Measure 13
(school funding) --YES
Eugene Ballot Measure 20-57
(fire) -- NO
Eugene Ballot Measure 20-58
(library) -- YES
Eugene Ballot Measure 20-56
(schools) -- YES
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When the LRAP Committee presented its proposal at the board's April
meeting, the response was overwhelmingly positive, as alumni, faculty, and even outgoing
Law School Dean Rebnnard Strickland all reached for their checkbooks.
The target fund-raising goal for the UO LRAP is $5 million, but
students say most LRAPs start small and then grow quickly. Few, if any, members of
this year's graduating class will be able to take advantage of the program. But Schroeder,
who has taken a job with mid-sized firm in Portland, says the effort was worth it.
"Even though I'm not going to benefit monetarily," she
says. "I've gained so much from working with this group."
For more information, visit www.law.uoregon.edu/~lrap/ --
Cheri Brooks
Sprawl Backs Bartel
Campaign contribution reports reveal EWEB at-large candidate
Peter Bartel to be the candidate of choice for sprawl interests. Eugene Mayor Jim
Torrey gave Bartel $100, the Giustina (timber and land speculation) family gave $300
and the Wildish Land Co. $1,000. Bartel reported raising a total of $4,679.
Bartel's opponent Sandra Bishop has reported that she will raise
less than $2,000 for the election. -- Alan Pittman
Peaceful Preschool
Imagine a school that gives children the ingredients for
a life of peace: a love of nature, the wonder of self-discovery, and easy to understand
models of non-violent communication that focus on the innate peacemaker born in every
child.
Eugene's Little Peace School on Bailey Hill Road offers just that.
Currently a preschool, Little Peace will also have a summer program for children
in kindergarten through second grade. The school is a precursor to the Eugene Children's
Peace Academy that will open in September 2003.
Little Peace School's curriculum includes developing social skills
through peaceful communications, helping children discover their own uniqueness while
honoring their similarities and differences with others and encouraging environmental
sustainability through recycling, organic gardening and composting.
An open house to learn more about The Little Peace School will
be held from 10 am to 2 pm May 18 at 85989 Bailey Hill Road. -- Aria Seligmann
Dangerous
Art
National columnist and commentator Alexander Cockburn will
speak at the first City Club Gala at 5:30 pm Thursday, May 16. He will speak on the
topic, "Cultures High and Low: Can Art be Dangerous to our Health?"
Dinner is $25 for City Club members and $30 for non-members. Gallery
seating is available at $5 to $10 sliding scale.
The City Club leadership will also present the annual Turtle Award,
which is given to a civic leader who sticks his or her neck out for the community.
Cockburn is a contributing editor of The Nation magazine,
and has been called by The New York Times a "warrior freethinker, armed
with courage and gifted prose to cut down the hypocrisies of tyrants." His op-ed
pieces run regularly in The Register-Guard.
The City Club of Eugene has a mission of "building community
vision through open inquiry." For more information, visit www.cityclubofeugene.org
WEP
Forum
In anticipation of a May 29 public hearing on the embattled
West Eugene Parkway (WEP), concerned citizens are organizing a West Eugene Transportation
Forum from 7 to 9 pm Thursday, May 23 at Harris Hall, 8th and Oak in Eugene.
"We are only beginning to suffer the effects and costs of
sprawl and poor planning," says a statement from Jan Spencer, one of the organizers
of the forum. "Budgets are tight and we can do much better than a big, new,
expensive traffic-generating highway through parklands."
On the agenda are the "History of the WEP" with Rob Handy,
"The Costs of Sprawl" with Becky Steckler and Lauri Segel, "A to Z,
What is Wrong With the WEP?" with Rob Zako, "Environmental Concerns"
with Mary O'Brien, "Federal Concerns" with Mark Robinowitz, and "Alternative
Choices and Strategies" with Jacob Brostoff and Jan Spencer.
Hunnicutt
Targeted
The Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV) PAC announced
this week that is has launched an independent campaign to defeat Court of Appeals
candidate David Hunnicutt, who is challenging incumbent Judge David Schuman in the
May 21 primary.
The effort to defeat Hunnicutt is the first time in OLCV's 30-year
history that the organization has taken sides in a judicial race.
"OLCV is working to expose David Hunnicutt's history of extreme
attacks on Oregon's farmland, open spaces, and wild salmon," says Jonathan Poisner,
OLCV Executive Director. "We need impartial judges, not former lobbyists like
Hunnicutt who are driven by a political agenda of rolling back environmental safeguards,"
says Poisner.
As legal director for Oregonians in Action, Hunnicutt has brought
lawsuits and lobbied to eliminate protections for farmland, open space, and wild
salmon, says Poisner.
Back to Top
Four
Years Later
Shockwaves from
the shooting at Thurston High still ripple across America.
By Joseph
A. Lieberman
It's not an anniversary anyone is looking forward to. Four years
ago on May 21, 1998, Kipland Kinkel carried an arsenal of weapons into the cafeteria
of Thurston High in Springfield and began shooting. He swept his semiautomatic rifle
in an arc firing a 50-round clip into a crowd of over 250 students, hitting more
than two dozen in less than a minute. Two died from their injuries. When Kip stopped
to reload he was tackled by seven students.
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Four years ago on
May 21, 1998, Kip Kinkel opened fire.
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It could have been worse. When his gear was searched it was found
that altogether he carried enough munitions to wound or kill 1,077 people.
The previous afternoon, Kip had murdered his parents, both teachers,
after being expelled for bringing a gun to school. Bill Kinkel had retired from Thurston
and was working part time at LCC. Faith was teaching at Springfield High.
The lives that Kip shattered extend far beyond the immediate shooting
victims and their families. The aftermath of trauma still affects many of those involved
even peripherally. For the community at large, the media glare of being caught up
in the most infamous crime in Lane County history was an unwelcome intrusion most
would rather put behind them.
There are several reasons why this case won't rest quietly, however,
and most involve the aftermath of the shooting. Sixteen months after being indicted,
Kip dropped his plea of insanity. Because many of his actions were deemed willful
or volitional, his defense council no longer felt confident Kip could win a verdict
of "guilty but insane." Kip's attorneys advised him to plead guilty to
four counts of murder and 26 counts of attempted murder.
This meant there would be no trial. Instead, a sentencing hearing
was called in November 1999. The main focus was Kip's mental state. District Attorney
Kent Mortimore argued that Kip knew what he was doing, chose to do it, and should
therefore "die in prison." He asked the court to lock Kip away for the
maximum 222 years.
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Kip, who turns 20
in August, is incarcerated in the Secure Intenstive Treatment program at Maclaren
Youth Correctional Facility with other youths guilty of violent crimes.
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The defense argued that issues of psychosis had to be considered as
mitigating factors. On Nov. 10, 1999, Judge Jack Mattison sentenced Kip to 111 years
without possibility of parole, making him the first juvenile imprisoned for life
in the state of Oregon.
Because a formal trial was avoided, many questions raised by the
shootings were never addressed. Unsatisfied was the issue of how this event ever
came about. While elements of teenage revenge and family conflict were undoubtedly
present, they reflect only part of the equation. And while testimony was given concerning
Kip's mental state, this too was never fully resolved.
Kip, who turns 20 in August, is still incarcerated in MacLaren
Youth Correctional Facility, a juvenile prison in Woodburn. He is housed in the Secure
Intensive Treatment Program with other youths guilty of violent crimes. He attends
school and takes part in intensive therapy specifically developed for severe adolescent
offenders. While he may remain at MacLaren until he turns 25, the length of his stay
will be determined by the staff's assessment of his participation in the program
and his suitability for adult prison. Sentencing appeals shepherded by Chief Deputy
Public Defender Jesse Barton in Salem are expected to last for years.
The rest of the nation may assume that with Kip behind bars, the
story is over. Locally we know better. The tragedy affected the whole community and
there are scars which may diminish but never heal with time. Some of the wounded
will carry bullet fragments in their bodies for life. For others, such as the parents
of Ben Walker and Mikael Nickolauson who died at Thurston aged 16 and 17 respectively,
no passage of years can alleviate the pain.
There was talk of lawsuits and a few brief undertakings, but the
only case still pending against insurers of the Kinkel estate is that lodged by the
family of a seriously injured student, Teresa Miltonberger. "Her wounds will
limit her abilities for the rest of her life," said her attorney, Art Johnson,
who adds, "She has her share of anger."
Far From
Over
Cindy Murdoch chairs the Parent Resource and Development
Group for the Springfield-based Ribbon of Promise National Campaign to End School
Violence.
Like most of its members, she uses positive activism to diminish
the heartache of past trauma. "Being proactive and finding out more about why
kids would want to create this environment of terror has been eye-opening,"
she says. "This knowledge and involvement has been helpful in my healing progress.
At the same time, it's been scary to see what these kids are capable of planning."
Last month's school attack in Erfurt, Germany only reinforces the
notion that this trend is far from over. On April 26, an expelled 19-year-old student
went on a shooting rampage during which he killed 13 teachers, two girls, a school
secretary and a policeman before committing suicide.
Even so, Murdoch says, "I never thought it would be so difficult
to convince people, especially in my own community, that making changes is critical
to preventing further violent episodes. You would think that parents and school officials
would do everything they could to make sure it doesn't happen here again or anywhere
else if they can possible stop the trend. Yet some seem to think they are now immune."
Murdoch argues, "Know-ledge on how to prevent school violence
gives us the power to prepare for the actual event. What little progress is being
made is happening mainly in schools that get the whole community involved."
Although the main purpose of Ribbon of Promise is preventing future
incidents, it also deals with unresolved past issues. One source of resentment was
the promised memorial to victims at Thurston which the school district continually
delayed, "in a very nice PC way," according to Diana Alldredge, mother
of a student who barely survived the slaughter.
"Community members and people across the nation asked to be
involved in the memorial process. Many offered to pay for a bench, a tree, a plaque.
Some even submitted a design and asked to pay for it. All offers were rejected,"
she says.
Alldredge views an alternate memorial of a new football stadium
as inappropriate. "Which murdered or wounded student was a football player?"
she asks. "None. The killer played football." Officials at Thurston insist
the stadium was being planned before the shootings and was never meant to be an official
memorial. There was simply an overlap in events.
A Disaster
Waiting to Happen
Indignation remains concerning perceptions of preferential
treatment. In some minds, the fact that both Kip's parents were teachers contributed
to the lack of sufficient action in preventing his attack. "In my opinion, any
other student, with teachers and counselors calling attention to serious behavioral
problems, would not have been given the slack that this student and his family received,"
Murdoch insists.
Alldredge agrees, adding, "We know the Kinkels weren't monsters
or saints, they were human. They tried, but the father lost hope and patience and
the mother wore out carrying the load herself. If you compound that with the extreme
pride of their standing in the community and the purchase of weapons for their angry,
aggressive son -- it was a disaster waiting to happen."
When contacted, a representative at Thurston claimed Kip had only
been referred for discipline once on a minor charge of being off campus without permission.
He was not considered a serious threat. His earlier run-ins with the law and counselors
occurred in middle school, and those records were not transferred to Thurston High.
In January 1997, for example, Kip was arrested for throwing rocks
off a highway overpass in Bend which struck a car. Kip also made no secret of his
bomb-making abilities and gave a lecture on it in class. Among students, Kip had
carved out a reputation for being slightly dangerous, prone to sudden outbursts of
anger.
Kip's final assault did not occur as an isolated event. There were
headline-making school shootings for several years prior to his attack, and Columbine
occurred exactly eleven months later. Closer to home, another 15-year-old boy named
Buddy Morgan made the local TV news one week before Kip's rampage when he was arrested
with stolen guns in the trees behind Elmira High School just 15 miles west of Springfield.
One week after Thurston, Cody Hartle, 18, was arrested in Klamath Falls for threatening
to kill fellow students during graduation. A few months ago, Thurston High was again
closed down when administrators got wind of a student's plan to bring a gun to school.
After the incident at Bend, far from being remorseful, Kip wrote
in his on-line AOL profile that his hobbies included dropping rocks on cars. In May,
1998, Kip Kinkel dropped a heavy stone indeed into the quiet pond of Lane County
life. The shock waves hit dozens of people immediately and hundreds ultimately. Four
years later, some peace has returned but closure will never be complete until the
last ripple has been absorbed into the forgiving sands of time.
Back to Top
Buying
Votes
Pro-sprawl money
backs block of candidates.
By Alan
Pittman
April 24 was the day for the Oregon Realtor's PAC, one of the most
powerful pro-sprawl lobbying groups in the state, to cut it's checks for Eugene.
The Realtors PAC sent off consecutively numbered checks to City Council candidates
Maco Stewart ($50), George Poling ($500), Gary Pape ($400) and Jennifer Solomon ($400).
Another $500 went to County Commission candidate Ed Kemp.
Campaign contribution reports reveal a definite block of candidates
backed by pro-sprawl and anti-environmental interests. Many of the same big pro-sprawl
donors have financially backed Stewart, Poling, Pape and Solomon for the city council
and Morrison, Atkinson and Kemp for the County Commission. Many of the sprawl candidates
use the same PR firm to run their campaigns, Cawood Communi-cations. Liz Cawood is
a member of the Gang of 9 that spent tens of thousands of dollars on personal attack
adds against councilors opposed to urban sprawl.
Council Ward 3 -- East Eugene
Maco Stewart's challenge of incumbent David Kelly is getting a push from some
sprawl interests. A member of the Babb family that owns the Delta Sand and Gravel
and Construction companies contributed $300 to Stewart. A member of the Giustina
family (timber and land speculation) gave $100. Stewart reported a total of $2,374
in contributions.
Kelly reported raising $4,289 with $500 from the city worker (AFSCME)
union and an in-kind contribution of $855 from the Oregon League of Conservation
Voters (OLCV).
Council Ward 4 -- Northeast Eugene
Sprawl interests have stuffed George Poling's pockets. Poling has raised $14,637,
more than any other council candidate. The Eugene Chamber gave $1,500, the state
home builders PAC $1,000, and Wildish Sand and Gravel $1,000.
Poling listed a $1,000 contribution from the Infinity Group. The
Infinity Group registered as a business with the state with Alan Yordy as its president,
secretary and registered agent. Yordy is PeaceHealth's CEO.
The Babb (Delta gravel and construction) family gave Poling $800
and the Giustina timber and land speculation family gave $500. The Oregon Realtors
PAC gave $500 and Jewel Hult and L.L Stewart contributed $250 and $300 of their timber
money. Poling has hired Cawood to run his campaign and paid her at least $7,138.
Poling's opponent Kevin Wells reported $7,551 in contributions.
Big money came from the city union AFSCME ($750) and the city firefighters union
$1,406. Political Consultant Chris Matson contributed $2,500 worth of in-kind work.
Council Ward 5 -- Northwest Eugene
Gary Pape reported $6,956 in contributions, with heavy investments from sprawl
and timber interests. The home builders PAC gave $500, Oregon Realtors PAC $400,
Chamber of Commerce $500, Chambers Construction $500, and Wildish Sand and Gravel
$500. The Giustinas gave a total of $550. Cadore and Lost Creek Timber gave $100
each. Pape paid Cawood at least $5,633 to run his campaign.
Pape challenger Pat Hadley reported $4,395 in contributions. The
Eugene firefighters union gave $1,400 in cash and $569 in in-kind donations. The
OLCV gave an in-kind contribution of $432.
Candidate Jim Hale reported raising $1,425, mostly in small donations.
Council Ward 6 -- Bethel Area
Jennifer Solomon reported $10,374 in contributions. The Eugene Chamber gave Solomon
$1,500, Wildish Sand and Gravel gave $1,000, the Babb construction and sand and gravel
family gave $800, the Oregon Realtors gave $400 and PeaceHealth CEO Alan Yordy gave
$500. Solomon's grandfather timber baron L.L. Stewart gave $595, the TP Associates
wood products company gave $600 and the Giustinas gave $250.
Rich Cunningham reported $1,939 in contributions, including $750
from AFSCME, $200 from the firefighters union, and $339 in in-kind donations from
the OLCV.
County West Lane Position 1
Incumbent Anna Morrison has raised $53,442, enough to bury her opponent in campaign
ads. Arlie & Co., the developer involved in PeaceHealth's Gateway land deals
and the Gang of 9 political attack ads, gave $5,000. Florence Mill owner Phil Davidson
gave $1,000, the Home Builders PAC $1,300, Babb family $6,000, Eagle Veneer $2,500,
Monaco Coach CEO Kay Toolson $1,000, John Jaqua (Nike investor) $2,000, Arlie $1,000,
fair manager Mike Gleason $1,000, Seneca Jones Timber $2,000, Randy Pape (heavy equipment)
$2,500, and Murphy Plywood $2,500.
Morrison paid Eugene council candidate Solomon $309 to reimburse
her for a campaign lunch. Morrison is paying Cawood at least $11,842.
Morrison's opponent Dianne Burch has reported raising $8,569. The
Lane County Public Works union (LCPWA) gave $2,500 and the Oregon AFL-CIO union $500.
County Springfield Position 2
Incumbent Bill Dwyer has raised $26,996. LCPWA gave $8,500, Gleason $1,000, Seneca
Timber $1,000, Tom Bowerman $1,000, personal injury lawyer Art Johnson $1,000, Vernon
Egge (sand and gravel) $1,100 and Alan Dale Babb $1,000.
Challenger Tom Atkinson has raised $16,577. A.L. Babb (construction
sand and gravel) gave $500, Eugene First PAC $3,000, and Arlie and Co. (developer)
$1,000.
County East Lane Position 5
Tom Lininger has raised $40,531. LCPWA gave $5,000, the Babb (Delta Sand and
Gravel) family gave $2,000 and the candidate loaned his campaign $10,382.
Ed Kemp reports $4,563 in contributions, including $1,000 from
the Home builders PAC, $100 from L.L. Stewart and $500 from the Realtors PAC.
Back to Top
Press
Policy
Police will decide
which media may cover protests.
By Alan
Pittman
In June 2000, police blocked media from covering the mass arrest
of protesters at a downtown demonstration. Protesters complained of excessive police
force and members of the media complained that the police action violated their First
Amendment role of providing information to the public. Members of the media urged
the police and citizen Police Commission to change EPD policy to prevent officers
from blocking coverage of protests in the future.
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EPD officers attack
marchers with bicycles on June 17, 2000, as alternative media videographers -- the
only media present at this scene -- are pushed back and corralled.
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But the police blamed media members themselves for forcing them to
block media coverage. They claimed some activists engaged in confrontations with
police were claiming media status and putting officers at risk.
The police have publicly provided no evidence in support of these
accusations against the media. In a meeting with media members in September 2000,
police were asked repeatedly to provide specific examples of instances where this
had occurred, but declined.
Several alternative media representatives at the meeting disputed
police claims. They said police were motivated not by any real risk the media posed
to police, but by not wanting to be embarrassed by evidence of excessive force that
could cause police arrests of protesters to be criticized or thrown out in court.
Members of the media asked the Eugene Police Commission to pursue
reform of police media policy. The City Council created the Police Commission after
widespread complaints of excessive police force during the June 1, 1997 tree cutting
and pepper spray incident. But critics of police policy say the mayor has appointed
mostly police boosters to the body. Recently, the Police Commission backed even higher
police spending than the EPD itself was recommending in the city manager's proposed
budget.
Two years after police blocked media coverage, the Police Commission
and EPD have come back with a new policy not to limit how police wield their power
against the media, but to increase it.
The new policy still allows police to order all media to disperse
during protests. The police may allow some media displaying identification cards
to stay after an order for protesters to disperse, but may block coverage from media
persons they view as somehow "participants" in an event. "Participant"
media that fail to leave are subject to arrest.
The policy does not define the word "participant" and
it's unclear if it would apply to members of the media who frequently walk with protesters
during a march or, in the police view, display or voice some sympathy to the protesters
or shout questions police don't like. Police Commission Chair Angie Sifuentez said
"participant" media could include media "jeering" at police or
"behaving in a manner that isn't appropriate."
Police Commissioner Bonny Bettman said it wouldn't include a member
of the media that wore a peace button to a peace march. No other commissioners expressed
a view on the button issue and it was not included in the policy.
Commission staff person Jeannine Parisi defined "participants"
as members of the media that may be "shouting" or otherwise act in a "manner
that police think is participating."
That vague standard may not hold up legally. The U.S. Court of
Appeals in Washington, D.C., held in Sherrill v. Knight that media access "cannot
be denied arbitrarily or for less than compelling reasons." The court also ruled
that agencies must publish the standards for receiving a valid press pass and provide
opportunities to appeal denials, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom
of the Press.
Eugene Weekly commented on the EPD policy's many vague,
weak, unworkable and non-existent protections of the freedom of the press. EW
also urged several EPD policy reforms related to the media: forbidding police from
lying to the media and the public; protecting department whistleblowers; forbidding
police from posing as media and endangering reporter safety and information gathering;
allowing EPD staff to speak directly with the media without the prior approval of
department PR staff; removing an existing ban on EPD staff publicly criticizing the
department; forbidding the destruction of records to cover up wrong doing; and requiring
the disclosure of police disciplinary records in cases of strong public interest.
EPD rejected all of these suggestions from EW and the Police
Commission followed the department lead, voting unanimously May 9 to recommend the
new EPD policies back to the EPD.
Commissioner Melissa Mona voted for the policy but expressed "grave
concerns" about "big chunks" of it. If, for example, police accused
a member of the media of participating by "shouting a slogan" at an event,
"they might actually suffer consequences that a citizen would not."
Other commissioners had no qualms with restricting the free speech
rights of the media. Commissioner Munir Katul said the police "have to decide
who is media and who is not." Katul said the policy would likely restrict access
by only a "small fragment of the media."
Commissioner and City Councilor Betty Taylor voted for the new
policy as a trial that she hoped will be reconsidered later.
Back to Top
Rape
Culture
Take Back the
Night stands up against oppression.
By Lisa
Igoe
Renee is a junior at the UO. A few weeks ago she was drugged at
a local bar and ended up in the hospital. Her story is not unique and joins the voices
of countless others who share the common experiences of a society steeped in sexual
violence. This week, survivors and their allies will participate in the 23rd annual
Take Back the Night -- a rally, march and speak out to raise awareness and resist
oppression.
"Everything happened really quickly," Renee recalls.
She had gone out with her two female housemates for dancing at Diablo's. She had
two drinks at home and one at the bar. "All of a sudden I got really out of
control -- my motor functions were really off. It felt like if I stopped moving I
would fall over, so I just kept moving," recalls Renee. "Finally, I lost
my balance and fell over on the dance floor. That's when my housemate took me home."
"I don't remember anything after that, other than waking up
in the emergency room," she says. "When I woke up, they asked if I wanted
to be tested for GHB, or other similar drugs, because my blood alcohol level didn't
match my behavior." According to the Rape Treatment Center at the University
of California Los Angles, GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) is a "homegrown"
synthetic that acts as a depressant of the central nervous system. It can be made
with commonly available chemicals and very simple tools. It metabolizes quickly,
is virtually untraceable and produces "black outs" when mixed with alcohol.
For these reasons, it has rapidly become a perpetrator's drug-of-choice.
"At the hospital they said the test was rather unreliable,
that it was expensive and wouldn't be covered by insurance. For those reasons and
because I hadn't been physically attacked, I opted out of the test," says Renee.
Now, she has no "proof" of the incident, just her own story and concerns.
"I feel like I am an aware person. I'm cautious. So, if it can happen to me
-- it can happen to anyone. Thinking about what could have happened is really scary."
Joe Morales, head of security at Diablo's, says this is the first
time he's heard of a drugging at his workplace. "We're willing to cooperate
but we need more information," he says. "We're not in the business of supporting
abuse." Women have also reported druggings at other bars, parties, and fraternity
houses.
"The scariest thing is that there is a perception that Eugene
is a safe place because it isn't a 'big city.' Everywhere you go, you run into people
you know -- so you feel safe. But you aren't," warns Renee.
Rape counselors say stories like this are rampant in Eugene and
Springfield, often with more tragic endings. There are endless stories of drug-facilitated
assaults, acquaintance rape, partner abuse and violent attacks -- primarily aimed
at women. Michelle Edwards, Community Education Coordinator at Sexual Assault Support
Services of Lane County says SASS receives an average of 350 requests for service
every month. In 2000-2001 they handled 3,677 client contacts.
"Talking about rape culture in Eugene and in our society as
a whole is really important," says Chaone Mallory, a UO Women Studies instructor
and Ph.D. candidate. "There are specific responses that occur after attacks
-- but until we start talking about how this culture normalizes violence against
women, things won't get significantly better."
Sheryl Eyster, coordinator of the Alliance for Sexual Assault Prevention,
echoes Mallory's concerns. "We have to debunk the myths that surround rape culture
... the media images and the misconceptions must be challenged by the entire community,"
she says. "People have to understand the relationship between sex, power and
oppression. Sexual assault has nothing to do with sex and everything to do with power
and control."
"Sexual violence is a form of oppression," concurs Edwards.
"To rid our society of rape culture we have to resist all forms of oppression
-- racism, heterosexism, agism, classism -- the underlying issue is that some people
are valued more than others, and that is not OK."
Renee's experience is not a story of sexual assault per se, but
reveals the ways in which women are constantly unsafe in this society. Stories like
hers have power when they are shared: They carry warnings, solidarity, and courage.
Take Back the Night Thursday, May 16, is an immediate opportunity
for survivors and allies to reclaim power and challenge oppression. "We're reclaiming
our streets, our homes, our days and our nights. It's about hearing survivors voices
and saying that we have had enough," explains Edwards. The event begins at 5
pm at the UO Amphitheater with music by Norma Fraser. The march will begin at dusk
and will end with the sharing of personal stories of survival. "It's really
important for survivors to have a place to speak, feel supported and be heard,"
says organizer Kirista Trask. "We expect everyone to respect that space."
Back to Top
Under
Siege
LandWatch fights
to preserve shrinking resource lands.
By Robert
Emmons
EDITOR'S NOTE: Robert Emmons, president of LandWatch
Lane County, spoke at the annual meeting of LandWatch, May 9 at Tsunami Books. Below
are his comments.
 |
|
A few scraggly deciduous
trees are left in this once heavily forested land off Highway 242.
. |
|
As many of you know, LandWatch Lane County formed five years ago to
protect forests, farms and open space from urban sprawl and, I might add, from plain
old homegrown ignorance and stupidity. We led a successful campaign to keep dwellings
off 695,000 acres of forest resource land. And we've testified before councils and
commissions, helped elect favorable officials and established a network of information,
including a quarterly newsletter, to concerned citizens. Together with Friends of
Eugene and 1000 Friends of Oregon we hired a staff person and opened an office in
downtown Eugene.
Eugene, Springfield and rural Lane County have given us plenty
to do. But with our urban growth boundaries under siege in every direction and three
of our commissioners and the Land Management planning director, Kent Howe, letting
developers call the tune, LandWatch has had to do more than dance to get their attention.
Last month we appealed two applications, one for a 30-room tourist lodge on two
small parcels adjacent to 67-acre Camp Yale, also owned by the applicant, on the
old McKenzie Highway. Based on a 1986 conditional use permit, planning director Kent
Howe rubber-stamped a proposal for 12 cabins in addition to the pre-existing RV park
on Camp Yale. The owners of all three parcels, the McDougal brothers, are among the
county's most ruthless developers.
Nothing could be more ruthless, however, than what these loggers-turned
real estate developers have perpetrated on this 67-acre piece of the old scenic highway
-- except to allow anything further to occur. In the company of Mrs. Yale, the 85-year-old
former owner and caretaker of the camp, four LandWatch members walked the property
a week ago.
A year ago, maybe two, Mrs. Yale awoke to the sound of chainsaws
coming from the direction of Camp Yale, just across and up the road from her property.
She wasn't unduly alarmed, figuring that the new owners were clearing only a few
trees for their prospective cabins. Besides, for her chainsaws had been a way of
life. She was, she told us, the first female log truck driver in the state of Oregon.
No shrinking violet.
 |
|
Robert Emmons.
. |
|
But still, when a distraught neighbor called to say they were cutting
all the trees, Mrs. Yale thought she'd better take a look. By the time she arrived
it was obvious the fallers intended to take more than the few trees necessary to
notch a dozen cabins into the woods.
Anyone who's been up Highway 242 even once carries an image of the road -- not
so much a road, really, as a twisting, turning path, a pass through woods up close
and personal. Now, as you round the bend a quarter mile past the cutoff from 126,
you sense something amiss, something missing from the skirt of Foley Ridge. But the
first thing you notice is the light. Too much light. Light entering as an intruder,
rather than as a welcome guest.
Where once grew forest that was part of the forest next to it,
oblivious to property lines, and that shaded and held the banks of the stream that
ran through it, now lies a forlorn carpet of mono-turf, newly and half-heartedly
sprouted from tons of soil trucked in from the valley floor and spread over native
wetland. Imprisoning this reluctant invader, megatons of boulders, like some marbles
game from Gulliver's Travels, have been bulldozed into bizarre walls that here and
there sprout vigorous growths of Scot's Broom.
Just below the torn and treeless hillside where the cabins will
go, two sections of turf have had their stomachs pumped for bilious waters, with
so far, however, only a couple of lumpy mounds to show for the effort. An artificial
pond of cooler waters, scooped out of the wetlands, resides nearby and sports a little
dock and a sign apprising the aspiring angler of his responsibilities. The smallest
of his prizes, a 16" trout, he learns, will cost him $2. And if he should hook
and bloody the lip of something smaller, it must be turned in to the manager where,
apparently, it is either repaired and returned to its murky abode or the hapless
hooker is charged perhaps double the fee of a legal catch.
This is certainly the sort of dilemma that calls for a pause for
a Pepsi, which the owners have thoughtfully anticipated by placing a dispenser no
more than 75 feet from the pond. After the wall of giant marbles bordering the desperate
lawn, it's the next thing that catches your eye, a quarter mile along your scenic
tour to the lava beds and the yellow-bellied pines of Eastern Oregon.
But these are just distractions, mere baubles to lure the focused
resort-hunter and RV trouper into the heart of the matter -- a bona fide wild Oregon
campout. This may be discovered -- and achieved! -- by following a gravel drive past
the Pepsi sentinel and bearing a gentle left around a domed knoll. This centrally
located feature attraction, encircled by a necklace of boulders that both highlight
and confine the tulips, irises, azaleas and other familiar flora in their little
narrow, well-edged beds, has sensibly and sensitively been created to comfort the
adventurous tourist on his nights away from home.
Home is not far away: He has his choice of 10 or 15 rectangular
patches of struggling but well kept lawn, each with a small barbecue on a pole and
two in-line, equally spaced rhododendrons potted in and exported from the valley.
And each with its own gravel driveway ready to host an RV. Best of all, there's nary
a tree to block the summer sun or the view of fellow campers.
What's good for the RV jockey is even better for prospective cabin
dwellers: not a tree on site to hide a predator, shelter a noisy bird or fall on
the weekend pioneer. Or to hide formerly clear-running Yale Creek from its predators,
the skunk cabbage and grasses now choking its reduced flow, not only on the McDougal
property but on Mrs. Yale's property downstream.
Unhappy with losing her creek, not to speak of the trees that were
integral to the experience of Camp Yale under her stewardship, ex-log truck driver
Frances Yale says she's ready to do what she can to sideswipe the McDougals off her
scenic highway. What's more, she says the owner of the wooded parcel next to the
proposed lodge will join her on the drive.
To appeal hearings official Gary Darnielle's ill-considered approval of the McDougal
application to the Board of Commissioners cost LandWatch a brutal $3,010, by far
the highest fee of any county in Oregon. Pardon my paranoia, but it's not too much
of a stretch to regard this toll as a ploy by pro-development commissioners to discourage
groups like ours. It nearly succeeded.
What the McDougals have been allowed to do along a state scenic
roadway is unconscionable, but unfortunately only an extreme example of the usually
tasteless and always inappropriate development these two logger-developers and others
like them are doing -- little by little, lot line adjustment by lot line adjustment
-- all over Lane County. How or even whether they continue depends, however, on the
commissioners and planning director who serve them. And on our own complacency.
To contact LandWatch, e-mail hopsbran@aol.com or write LandWatch,
120 W. Broadway, Eugene 97401.
Back to Top
 Jim
Shoemaker
After he helped develop an anonymous HIV testing program
at White Bird Clinic in 1988, Creswell High School grad Jim Shoemaker administered
the program for nearly 10 years. "You look people in the eye, tell them they
have HIV," he recalls. "Then they go away -- the relationship is severed
-- I felt a loss." In 1997, Shoemaker left White Bird to become a case manager
at HIV Alliance. "It was an easy transition, a total right fit for me,"
he says. "Here we create treatment plans, help clients find the resources necessary
to maintain a stable life." Now client services director, Shoemaker and one
other case manager meet regularly with 177 clients. Some check in every six months,
others come by weekly or even daily, depending on their needs. "Jim is the go-to
person when anyone is in need," says HIV Alliance volunteer Sharon Manganiello.
"He's completely genuine, never judgmental." Shoemaker looks forward to
this Saturday's Riverwalk fund-raiser -- "It fills my heart to see hundreds
of people there. The community has been so supportive." Early next month, he
will pack his bags to leave Eugene for a new life in sunny Sarasota, Fla.
-- Photo by Paul Neevel
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