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NEWS
BRIEFS : GALACTIC MYSTERIES
| BIKE-FRIENDLY TOWNS | SUPPORT
FOR SWAIM | ONE-NOTE CHARLIE | IRAQ
VS. THE ECONOMY | EUGENE TRIVIA | CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS
News:
Atlas of Grazing Massive new book documents damage to public
lands.
News:
All Adrenaline Eugene police break up birthday party in case
of mistaken identity.
Happening
People: Don Winther
APGALACTIC
MYSTERIES
Seeking a larger perspective on the
struggles of the 20th and 21st centuries? Author and Mayan expert
John Major Jenkins will be in town this weekend to talk about an upcoming
galactic alignment with, well, astronomical implications.
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| JOHN
MAJOR JENKINS |
Lane Planetarium is hosting
a slide show, discussion, and book signing by Jenkins at 3:30 pm Sunday,
Sept. 15. The two-hour program, called "The Galaxy
in Ancient Cosmologies from Mexico to India" is open to the public
and admission for adults is $10, children $3.50. The Planetarium is
located behind Autzen Stadium at 2300 Leo Harris Parkway. Call 687-7827
for more information.
Jenkins has been writing books on the Mayan calendar
since 1989. Visiting Guatemala in 1986, Jenkins says he "sensed that
the Maya were advanced in ways that my own world could barely appreciate
or understand."
His primary concern has been to reconstruct ancient
Mayan cosmology and answer the question "Why did the Maya choose the
year we call 2012 to end their Long Count calendar?" The answer, he
says, is that the Earth will be aligning with the center of our Milky
Way galaxy in the year 2012.
"The fact that this alignment involves the center
of our galaxy suggests a larger perspective in which we can understand
the current global crisis, and ancient wisdom provides insight into
the unprecedented developments and dilemmas that have unfolded during
the last hundred years of human history. This is a 'galactic' perspective
that our ancient forebears apparently understood better than us."
Jenkin's latest book on the alignment has been described
by local author Moira Timms as "a profound work of epochal importance
for our historic moment."
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SLANT
It's been three weeks since The Oregonian ran a quirky
short story about an industry group offering to fund a staff
position at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality,
but fortunately Willamette Riverkeeper, OSPIRG and other folks
were paying attention and are complaining. If you missed the
story (we didn't see it in the R-G), the Northwest Pulp
and Paper Association wants to revise (read: dilute) the state
rules on water clarity in rivers and streams and has offered
the DEQ $126,000 to get it done.
DEQ Director
Stephanie Hallock says her agency is financially strapped and
she assures us the funding "will in no way compromise public
review and the technical and scientific integrity of the standard."
What the industry group gets is good PR, a foot in the door
that should be closed between government and industry, possible
new rules that could serve them in defending future lawsuits,
and a handy safety plug — if they don't like the way the
research is going, they can pull their funding with 30 days
notice.
Meanwhile,
DEQ is not adequately enforcing the rules on turbidity that
are already on the books. Taking money from industry doesn't
help, and the conflict of interest is blatant.
The reopening
of the closed sections of Broadway is coming together just in
time for the Eugene Celebration and we're hoping to see a surge
of vitality downtown as a result of the reconstruction. A perfect
addition to downtown would be the Land of Awe, a local children's
museum in the making. Picture families flocking downtown year-round
for creative, educational and interactive fun. This non-profit
group has been working for two years to establish itself and
they've done a commendable job of planning and collaborating
with other groups. All they need is a donated or low-cost building
space, or a benefactor or two to help them pay rent. Want to
help? Call 485-7533.
So are we going to war? Actually, we've continued to bomb Iraq
off and on since the Gulf War, reportedly more often in recent
weeks. Our foreign policy under the Bush administration appears
to be little more than stumbling and arrogant posturing. Hopefully
the strategies being hashed out behind closed doors contain more
logic and wisdom than the peculiar saber-rattling we see in public.
Considering the player behind the scenes, we're not optimistic.
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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BIKE-FRIENDLY
TOWNS
Eugene and Corvallis top the list
of 22 Oregon cities ranked in a first-ever "Bicycle-Friendly Communities
Report Card." Both cities got A- grades, followed by Portland (B+)
and Ashland (B-). Near the bottom of the list earning D grades were
Keizer, Tualatin, Medford and Roseburg, ranked only above the "Flat
Tire" communities where little or no commitment to bicycling has been
shown.
The list was compiled by The Bicycle Transportation
Alliance and was intended to "evaluate the cycling strengths and weaknesses
of each community, providing a tool to help citizens advocate for
bicycle infrastructure and programs."
The full list of communities and their grades is online
at www.bta4bikes.org
SUPPORT
FOR SWAIM
The Oregon Bus Project is leaving
Eugene for Salem Saturday, Sept. 14 to campaign for Salem Mayor Mike
Swaim, Sen. Peter Courtney, and Rep. Brian Johnson who are all running
for the state Legislature in November. Swaim has been under heavy
fire from conservatives in the Salem area, in part for his outspoken
criticism of Salem's pro-sprawl Chamber of Commerce (see story in
EW archives, April 25).
The Bus Project (www.secretplan.org) has knocked on
more than 28,000 doors across Oregon, campaigning for progressive
Oregon House and Senate candidates in tight races.
The Eugene contingent will meet at 9 am Saturday at
South Eugene High School and carpool to Salem. RSVP to eugenestation@hotmail.com,
call 914-8067 or just show up. The group plans to return by 6 pm.
ONE-NOTE
CHARLIE
Several weeks ago The Register-Guard
stopped running a weekly syndicated column by Norman Solomon. R-G
Editorial Page Editor Jackman Wilson told one reader that he's grown
bored with Solomon and described him as a "one-note Charlie" in his
persistent lambasting of mainstream media in the U.S.
In an e-mail to reader Izzy Whetstine, Wilson said,
"The topic of each week's column was seldom a surprise, and his conclusions
could invariably be predicted. The amount of information in the column
seemed to be declining. When he began writing the column (with Jeff
Cohen) a number of years ago, it often included reporting of media
research done by their organization, FAIR. But in recent years I found
that I seldom learned anything from him that I didn't know already."
Whetstine responded: "The attention span of your readership
is vastly overrated and you can't be faulted for being bored with
the things which infuriate the body politic for such brief periods.
It is, however, the responsibility of the 'free press' to KEEP the
public pissed off about those chicaneries which have become all too
commonplace."
Wilson says he tried to find a replacement for Solomon
but was unsuccessful. "So ultimately I decided to simply drop the
column," he wrote. "We all know that Solomon feels there's too little
critical analysis in the U.S. media. So instead of saying so once
again, I reasoned, let's use the space to print some more of what
he says is missing, particularly in the area of foreign affairs."
David Zupan and George Beres of Eugene Media Action
have weighed in on the discussion, responding, "Any of you who have
ever read Norman's column know how weak and inaccurate such excuses
are. Utne Reader described him as 'one of the fiercest and
most articulate media critics around.' His last collection of syndicated
columns, The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media won the George
Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity
in Public Language."
IRAQ
VS. THE ECONOMY
A political writer for The Ireland
Post of Dublin recently warned that a U.S. invasion of Iraq to
unseat President Saddam Hussein could crash the already fragile U.S.
economy.
Post writer Jane Black wrote that "any attack would
weigh heavily on the federal budget" and would "add tens of billions
of dollars to the deficit."
Black quoted economists saying that domestic programs,
such as a bill to help the elderly pay for prescription drugs, could
survive the deficit since Congress would most likely simply borrow
more to cover the costs of war. And in the near term, an invasion
could stimulate growth as the government spends billions on goods
and services for the military.
But Black also quoted Mark Zandi, chief economist
for Economy.com, saying the deficits will be a long-term negative
for the $6 trillion U.S. economy. "Large deficits mean higher long-term
interest rates and slower growth. If we're devoting resources to fighting
a war, we're not going to have them to spend at home."
Black said the exact cost of a war against Iraq is
unclear. The cost of the Gulf War was $61 billion, according to the
Congressional Research Service, or $80 billion in today's dollars.
And analysts fear that oil prices worldwide would rise substantially,
adding to the cost.
EUGENE
TRIVIA
Some Eugeneans are complaining that
their lush lawns are getting ripped up at night,
and the damage doesn't look like gophers or moles — looks more
like someone's been practicing midnight javelin tossing. Prevailing
wisdom blames raccoons digging for nightcrawlers that got away. First
it was wild, noisy sex under the house, then they murdered the chickens.
Now even the neighborhood worms aren't safe.
CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS
Due to a printer's error the credit
for the artwork on the cover of EW last week was omitted. The
artwork is titled "Souls" and is by Tom Gerald.
Back to Top
Atlas
of Grazing
Massive
new book documents damage to public lands.
BY
LANCE ROBERTSON
Sometimes you can read a book by its cover.You
don't have to crack open Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction
of the American West (Island Press, $75) to know where this book
stands on the issue of grazing in the West.
But one thing makes Welfare Ranching stand
out among an entire bookcase of worthy efforts exposing the West's
environmental ills: bulk.
Editors George Wuerthner and Mollie Matteson, recently
of Eugene, have assembled the most comprehensive array of essays,
photos, facts, charts and sources ever published on the subject. At
346 pages and weighing seven pounds, this voluminous atlas of grazing
compellingly supports the book's main conclusion: Grazing on public
lands should come to an end.
Funded by the San Francisco-based Foundation for Deep
Ecology, the large-format (11 by13 inches) book is being made available
to members of Congress, selected journalists and other opinion-makers
just as a coalition of five Western environmental groups ramps ups
its National Public Lands Grazing Campaign. Environmentalists plan
a week-long lobbying blitz in Washington, D.C., in September to push
for legislation authorizing federal agencies to buy out grazing permits
on public lands.
Modeled somewhat after Clearcut (also a foundation
project), which a decade ago raised national awareness about the logging
of old-growth forests, Welfare Ranching aims to help convince
the public that a century of grazing has been very bad for the ecological
health of public lands in the West.
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WELFARE
RANCHING EDITORS MOLLIE MATTESON (LEFT) AND GEORGE WUERTHNER.
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"It's a pretty narrow subject, but it is analogous
to what whaling and clear-cutting were before they became high-profile
national issues," says Sharon Donovan, publications director for the
Foundation for Deep Ecology in San Francisco. Books such as Clearcut
and Welfare Ranching, she adds, "document, visually, the environmental
damage that often isn't seen by the general public."
"This book will be a real eye-opener," adds Keith
Raether of the National Public Lands Grazing Campaign in Missoula,
Mont.
The book may never have come about without the efforts
of Wuerthner, a photographer, writer, ecologist and longtime wildlands
activist who has lived in Eugene off and on for a number of years
with his wife, Mollie Matteson, also an accomplished writer, editor
and ecologist. (They moved to Vermont with their kids in late August,
where Matteson took a job with Forest Watch, the state's premier environmental
group).
"I've been interested in the effects of livestock
and grazing for a long time and felt it hadn't gotten the attention
it deserved," says Wuerthner.
He'd been approaching publishers for some time, trying
to convince them that a book about grazing had merit. But "it's not
the kind of topic that is going to be a best-seller," Wuerthner admits,
and most publishers balked until the Foundation for Deep Ecology decided
to take on the project.
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The
solution was to show side-by-side photographs comparing a healthy
ecosystem with streams and rangelands damaged by overgrazing.
One two-page spread shows grass-filled rangeland on the cow-free
side of a fence and start, barren ground on the overgrazed side.
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Wuerthner envisioned a fairly modest book, but the
foundation wanted something with a bigger impact modeled after Clearcut:
a large "coffee table book" format with lots of photos, essays and
research. Wuerthner became the managing editor of the project, lining
up writers and photographers; Matteson served mainly as the nuts-and-bolts
editor, helping to refine copy. Both also wrote essays, and many of
Wuerthner's photos are in the book.
Two and a half years of work has culminated with the
book hitting store shelves in late September. In addition to articles
by Wuerthner and Matteson, it features essays by an impressive list
of noted writers, ecologists and natural resource experts, including
the late Edward Abbey. Local and Oregon writers include Brooks Fahy,
Cheri Briggs, Chris Manes, J. Boone Kauffman, Andy Kerr and Bill Marlett.
Wuerthner wrote an effective section called "Ranching
Myths" that counters many of the industry messages about grazing like
"livestock benefit wildlife." There's a section called the "Iron Pentagon,"
which connects the dots among the political and economic interests
that support subsidized grazing on public lands.
The essays on the ecological effects of grazing are
compelling and well researched, but some of the more interesting sections
deal with the history, economics and culture of ranching and grazing.
Although crammed with words and statistics, the photos
are what bring the impact of grazing home to the reader. Wuerthner
says Welfare Ranching was a photographic challenge, because
the damage isn't always glaringly apparent to the untrained eye, as
it is with clear-cutting.
The solution was to show side-by-side photographs
comparing a healthy ecosystem with streams and rangelands damaged
by overgrazing. One two-page spread shows grass-filled rangeland on
the cow-free side of a fence and stark, barren ground on the overgrazed
side.
The "How to Look … and See" section —
one of Wuerthner's innovations — is a primer on how to identify
grazed-over riparian areas and rangelands that uses number keys to
pinpoint the effects of poor or good range-management practices.
"The pictures and captions provide a way for people
to quickly look and learn," Wuerthner says. "This is a very difficult
issue to portray. It's not like clear-cutting where someone without
any background in ecology can look at a clear-cut and immediately
conclude that damage has occurred. The impacts of grazing are much
harder to show visually."
He admits, though, that at nearly 350 pages, readers
may be carpet-bombed with information. That's why the photographs,
coupled with the show-and-tell narrative, are the "heart of the book."
Despite its size, the book offers a "dramatic look
at the degree of devastation on public lands in the West," says the
grazing campaign's Raether. "Welfare Ranching distills every
aspect of the public lands issues in the West today."
Back to Top
All
Adrenaline
Eugene
police break up birthday party in case of mistaken identity.
BY
JACQUELYN LEWIS
A child's birthday party is usually filled
with presents, cake and laughing kids, but Sunny Waldorf says this
one — interrupted by an overzealous EPD — was filled with
guns, chaos and fear.
Police officers were pursuing a suspect reported to
be near Haig Street in the Trainsong neighborhood at 8:30 pm Aug.
20. Waldorf, her husband, Michael, and their two children, were attending
a child's birthday party in the same neighborhood, across the street
from the Waldorf residence.
"We noticed a car pull up," says Sunny Waldorf, "and
a man ran out of nowhere, jumped in a car and said, 'Go, go, go.'
Then the car sped away."
The Waldorfs were standing in the driveway when three
police officers arrived on the scene. "They were obviously looking
for someone," she says.
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"Why
would they draw a weapon on someone who is holding a child and
doesn't have a weapon in sight?"
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According to police records, Michael Waldorf matched
the description of the intended suspect, also named Michael, and both
were wearing blue sweatshirts and jeans. The suspect's mother had
reportedly called the police when her son waved a Leatherman tool
and threatened his own life. According to police records, the suspect
was also thought to be under the influence of "dangerous drugs."
When Michael Waldorf, who happens to be president
of the Bethel/Trainsong Neighborhood Association, approached the officers
to inquire if they were looking for someone, "they instantly had weapons
in his face," says Jennifer Moss, a parent who was helping with the
party. "It was uncalled for." Officers then handcuffed him.
"I was just freaking out emotionally," says Sunny
Waldorf, who is eight months pregnant. She says when she and neighbors
tried to explain that her husband wasn't the suspect, the police officers
"were completely non-interested." According to Moss, "[the officers]
were all adrenaline."
Moss says Michael Waldorf was holding his 2-year-old
son's hand at the time. "Why would they draw a weapon on someone who
is holding a child and doesn't have a weapon in sight?" she says.
"There were several things I had a problem with." Moss also says one
of the children had received a Leatherman tool as a birthday present,
but it was unopened. She says she is concerned about what may have
happened if the tool had been opened, since it matched the
description of the one the suspect had.
Both Sunny Waldorf and Moss say officers were oblivious
to the children on the scene until the parents at the party pointed
out their presence. "They were completely clueless of what was going
on around them," says Waldorf. She says the officers ordered everyone
inside the house, but she refused to go. "I just said no," she says.
"I know my rights. There's no way I'm leaving the scene and not witnessing
this. You have my husband at gunpoint." Regarding her refusal to leave
the scene, police records simply state the citizens were "not complying
with commands."
Sunny Waldorf says officers finally allowed her to
retrieve her husband's identification to prove he was not the suspect.
No charges were filed against her husband or the suspect.
EPD has declined numerous requests for a statement
describing the incident from the police officers' perspective.
Neighbors are concerned for many reasons. Sunny Waldorf
says she was so upset after the incident that she started having contractions.
"That's pretty frightening," she says. "It's never happened to me
before."
She says she is also upset because of the way she
says officers treated her civic-minded husband. "He tries to make
our neighborhood better and to be treated this way was ludicrous."
She says police also discriminated against her neighborhood. "I can't
imagine them going to Spring Boulevard and picking one of the fathers
out. I just don't see that happening."
Moss and Waldorf also say they're concerned that the
children attending the birthday party were traumatized. "[My daughter]
had nightmares I got handcuffed and dragged into a store," says Moss.
"The officers scared and traumatized 15 children."
The EPD sent a female police officer back to the birthday
party to explain the incident to the children. However, according
to Moss, "It's not resolved in [my daughter's] mind or any of the
other kids'." Moss says her 5-year-old twins still scream every time
they see a police vehicle. Waldorf says her 8-year-old son threw away
a sticker an officer gave him. "That's how freaked out he was," she
says.
"My oldest daughter wanted to be an officer," says
Moss. "One bad incident and she's scarred for life." She plans to
attend a "citizens advisory" meeting to talk about the EPD's conduct.
Michael Waldorf declined to comment on the incident.
According to his wife, "He wants to pursue [the issue] in his own
way."
The Waldorfs have yet to take any formal action against
the EPD, and Public Information Director Pam Olshanski says the Waldorfs
have not called or filed a written complaint during the three weeks
since the incident occurred.
EDITOR'S
NOTE: Complaints about police policies and activities can be directed
to the Eugene Police Commission at 682-5852, or the INDEPENDENT Police
Review Project at 485-3020.
Back
to Top
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Don
Winther
On a gravel road north of Santa Clara,
farmer Don Winther lives in the house where he was born, the son of
Danish immigrants, almost 87 years ago. "We raised carrots, 30 tons
to the acre," he recalls. "It was dry farming, no irrigation, up 'til
the drought of '35." Winther got married and left the farm in 1941,
did police work in Eugene and Portland, served in the Navy, and drove
a gravel truck before returning in 1950 to rejoin his brother Clifford
on the farm. "We raised pie cherries for 40 years," he says. "When
they stopped wanting cherries we planted walnuts." Winther also worked
graveyard shift in the Eugene Post Office for 10 years. "I retired
30 years ago," he says. "I've been shooting pool ever since, five
days a week at the Campbell Senior Center." Arthritis has kept Winther
from working his walnuts in recent years, so he had half an acre of
trees removed this spring to make room for a large garden. He's raising
corn, beans, tomatoes, beets and squash to give away to people in
need through FOOD for Lane County. "I'm a Christian, so I need to
help others," he explains. "Good works are your clothing in heaven
— I don't want to be naked when I get there."
— Paul Neevel
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