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Slant: short opinion pieces and rumor-chasing notes. News: CORVALLIS GETS ITS OWN GRAFFITI WALL Graffiti writers from Eugene, San Francisco and even Sweden and Germany have been making their way to Corvallis to take advantage of what they might call a diamond in the rough, a 60-foot-long "free wall" located along the Willamette River in the downtown area.
"Overall, the public supports it," says Catherine Mater of Mater Engineering, the company that sponsors the wall. "We have been able to develop a wonderful rapport with the artists, and the police think that the wall has impacted the amount of illegal graffiti around town," she says. For some, this wall can be considered Corvallis' best kept secret, for it provides a huge area where artists can spend several hours working on a piece without interruption from local authorities. During the summer, several graffiti writers from Eugene carpooled up I-5 to paint on the free wall because all of the walls here in the Emerald City have been closed down due to vandalism on surrounding businesses. "All of the artists have been very respectful of each other's work and of the area around the wall," Mater says, "and there have only been a few instances in which something needed to be painted over right away." "Most of the credit for this should go to my husband, Scott, who died of cancer last Christmas," she says. The two first conceived of the idea when they noticed an increase in the amount of graffiti around Corvallis. The couple thought the graffiti was interesting and attractive, and decided to dedicate part of their riverfront property to this unique art form. The wall fits in nicely with the rest of the Corvallis riverfront improvement project and throws some much needed color into the downtown area. Rumors in Eugene suggest that the Corvallis wall might be closing, but Mater says she is sure that the project will continue for a long time. — Karman Ratliff
COUNTY SPRAYS AT BLUE MOUNTAIN PARK A local environmental group says Lane County sprayed herbicides at Blue Mountain Park near Cottage Grove Nov. 13 without giving proper notice. "They notified Blue Mountain School on the night before the application, when staff were away, which was not enough advance time for parents to be notified," says Megan Kemple of Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP). "They did not follow the county's requirements for advance notification. They should have posted yellow signs one week prior to the application, but instead posted these signs on the day of the application." Todd Winter, county parks superintendent, says county commissioners authorized the spraying in June and Lane County Parks gave notice to the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) in October of their plan to spray between Oct. 17 and Nov. 17. Winter says the backpack hand-spraying of blackberries and scotch broom was done to protect tree seedlings far from developed parts of the park. He says the "nominal" amount of spraying was done according to guidelines of the Forest Practices Act rather than by county roadside spraying rules since it was "well away from the county right-of-way." But a mixup within county government also fueled the angry response to the spraying. "Several mistakes were made," says Commissioner Bill Dwyer. "Roadside spray policy was not intended to apply to management of our forest resources … however, the board order that authorized this spraying not only referenced complying with state and federal law, it referenced the notifications requirements of our roadside spray policy. This policy requires posting and seven day prior notification. We did not do this. We screwed up." Blue Mountain School is adjacent to the park and Mosby Creek runs through the park. The creek is habitat for endangered Chinook salmon, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service, but Winter says no spraying was done near the creek or school. In response to public concern, Winter is offering to contact interested parties seven days before future spraying. To be on the Blue Mountain call list, call 682-2000.— TJT
EUGENE-SPRINGFIELD RATED FIRST IN CYCLING Eugene-Springfield has a higher rate of bike commuting than any other large metropolitan area in the nation. Almost 5,000 people, 3 percent of locals, bike to work, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. That percentage ranks Eugene-Springfield as #1 among urban areas with more than 50,000 commuters. Compared to cities of any size, Eugene-Springfield ranks third, behind the smaller Missoula, Mont., area and the #1 ranked Corvallis area, with almost 5 percent commuting by bike. Most of the local bike commuters come from Eugene rather than Springfield. In Eugene, 5.5 percent commute by bike, compared to only 1.3 percent in Springfield. Comparing cities rather than metro areas, Eugene's 5.5 percent ranks second in Oregon for bike commuting behind Corvallis with 7.1 percent on bikes. By comparison, 1.8 percent commute by bike in the city of Portland and 1 percent in Salem. Census data ranking the Eugene only bike rate compared to cities nationally was not readily available. Despite Eugene's comparatively high number of bike commuters, bikers are a dwindling minority in Eugene. In 1980, 8 percent biked to work; in 1990, 5.8 percent biked; and in 2000, 5.5 percent biked. Overall, Eugene is still struggling to solve the car problem that has choked many cities with smog, asphalt and snarl. In the last decade, the percentage of people walking, biking or busing to work in Eugene increased only half a percentage point. Two-thirds of Eugene commuters still drive to work alone in their cars. That percentage of car commuters is slightly lower in Portland where 12 percent of commuters use public transportation. But in Eugene more people bike to work than bus. — Alan Pittman
IT'S SUCH A FINE LOOKING BUDGET The city of Eugene last month received it's 20th consecutive Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The GFOA has awarded hundreds of the awards to cities across the nation since starting the contest in 1984. The contest apparently focuses on "presentation" in the city's budget document and not so much on whether the city is making the best use of taxpayer money. Entering the GFOA contest costs $450 a year, according to the application form. — Alan Pittman
CHURCHILL STUDENTS HONORED BY GOODALL Ambassador to the U.N. Jane Goodall recognized Churchill High students and project leaders at a recent gathering at Pacific University in Forest Grove. The honor was for their work on the Churchill Community Garden Native Planting Demonstration, Restoration, and Teaching Garden, funded by a grant from the Weddle Foundation. The students, from the Rachael Carson Center for Natural Resources, were Clarissa Williams, Sarah Francis, Sarah Coon, Robi Phetteplace, Cassy Duyck, Danny Stratton and Caitlin Townsend. Project leaders were Heidi Branchesi, Mitzi Colbath and Lynn Lomax.
Don't be surprised next week when Ducks Illustrated
disappears from EW. As the football season winds down, the sports
magazine will go to a less-than-weekly schedule. DI will be back
for a Bowl Game preview
In last week's cover story on sustainability, Jack Roberts of the Lane Metro Partnership is reported to be "lobbying for … revoking Eugene's Toxics Right to Know ordinance." But Roberts tells us that in the interview with Alan Pittman he "simply explained some of the problems local businesses have encountered trying to comply with it. At no time did I suggest revoking the ordinance, nor have I suggested that with any elected officials or anyone else." EW just learned this week that a Slant item back in our June 5 issue was based on erroneous information. We wrote about a Columbia Journalism Review article that said the R-G gave equal presentation of letters for and against the Iraq War, despite receiving letters 4-1 opposed to the war. For the record, R-G Associate Editor Paul Neville tells us, "The intern that CJR had do the survey incorrectly reported our policy. I told her that we attempted to run pro and con letters in approximate proportion to the numbers received."
Solitary
and Shackled Pregnant Oregonians imprisoned at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, the state's only women's prison, are still shackled during labor. Women are routinely put in solitary confinement upon entering prison. Oregon has no program for keeping infants and moms together, so bonding and breastfeeding cannot occur. These and other topics will be presented at the "Women in Prison" symposium on Friday, Nov. 21, in Rm. 110 of the UO Law Center. The symposium is co-sponsored by The Portia Project and the UO Women's Law Forum. The Portia Project, a nonprofit formed two years ago by prison reform advocate Carole Pope and UO law professor Barbara Aldave with a UO Morse Center grant, assists women incarcerated in the state of Oregon. A large component of the Portia Project's work has been to develop a booklet that informs imprisoned women who are mothers of young children about their rights and responsibilities as parents and to assist them in maintaining legal custody of their children. (See story on how new foster care laws are affecting women inmates in EW archives, "While Mom's Away," 1/9/03). The Project also works for the release of women prisoners who may have been wrongfully convicted or who have demonstrated they are fully rehabilitated and ready to return to the free world. It also educates the public about the problems presented by the rapid growth of the U.S. prison population. Aldave points to the injustices suffered by women inmates, many of which will be outlined through papers presented at the symposium. For example, being placed in solitary confinement is status quo. "They come in and are routinely sentenced to solitary confinement for the first week or two just to sit and reflect. Every other country considers that cruel and unusual. Women go bonkers without stimulation," she says. Another paper outlines the routine shackling of pregnant prisoners during labor. "I found it fascinating how many prisons still shackle women while in labor as if they're going to escape and run off the table," says Aldave. Written by second year law student Moe Spencer, the paper comprehensively outlines the treatment of pregnant women prisoners in the U.S. and focuses specifically on Oregon's women's prison. He interviews a Coffee Creek inmate, Whitney, as well as a doctor and a prison administrator. Approximately 5 percent of women offenders are pregnant when they go to prison. In Oregon, pregnant inmates who choose to continue their pregnancy receive obstetric care, including blood work, an HIV test and an ultrasound as soon as the pregnancy is confirmed. If an inmate chooses to terminate her pregnancy, she must pay for the abortion herself. Prenatal vitamins are given to women as soon as their pregnancy is confirmed, but Spencer discovered that some women are not given pregnancy tests in a timely manner, even if they ask for them. Whitney, the new mom Spencer interviewed for his paper, didn't receive her pregnancy test until she was four months pregnant. Pregnant inmates don't receive special diets, but eat the same food that is based on nutrition analyses for men. But of the information he presents, it's the practice of shackling that draws the most attention. From Spencer's interview with Whitney: Q: Tell me about the shackling. Were you restrained whenever you went to the hospital at any time? W: Yes. I was shackled, ankles and wrist, and with the waist belt, too. Those never came off. Q: So, full-on? W: Full-on! During the ultrasound I was still cuffed, but my hands were above my head, and I still had ankles on. Q: What about after your water broke? Were you restrained at all? W: I had the wrists on. I was cuffed. Q: All the way to the hospital? W: Yes, and when I got to the hospital they put me in a wheelchair and put a blanket over my wrist, so nobody could see that I was cuffed. They rolled me up to my room and then took them off. Now I know a lot of people stay shackled, but I worked hard to earn a good status and to be real respectful to everybody, you know, so that everybody trusts me. So I didn't have to have restraints after I had her. Normally, you would have been restrained again, but they did not put the restraints back on because they know I'm not going anywhere.
Whitney's situation was unique. Because she was due to be released soon after the birth of her baby, she was also allowed to see and nurse her baby three times a week — "the first time that's ever been allowed," she says. According to Lory Humbert, assistant superintendent of Program Services at Coffee Creek, Oregon has improved its rules regarding shackling to reduce the danger to mother and child. "You have to understand what normal is," says Humbert. Normal is for any offender, male or female, when out of prison, to have leg restraints around each ankle with a short chain for restricted walking, as well as belly restraints, consisting of a chain that encircles the waist, and off of that two cuffs encircling the wrists, with a very short length for minimal maneuvering of hands and arms. But pregnant women who've started labor are taken to the hospital in handcuffs attached in front, not back. "You have to understand nobody is cuffed to the front," says Humbert. "That's abnormal in and of itself — it really is the minimal amount." During actual birth, the handcuffs are removed. But they are put back on as soon as the mother has given birth. Some women have leg restraints put on — the chain is attached to the bed post — while they are in the recovery room. The doctor makes the decision as to when the postpartum woman is well enough to be restrained. "Whenever a prisoner is away from a secure facility there is a danger of escape or assault — a very real danger," says Humbert. But the doctor making the decision is not informed of the woman's crime; whether she's a mass murderer or is in for identity theft. "I think it's a shock to everyone; the shackling thing is just the prison going with the status quo," says Spencer. "There's no legislation saying you shouldn't do it, but plenty says you should do it for regular inmates." Illinois is the only state that has legislation against the practice. Oregon has no infant/mom residential type program, so after birth, the baby is taken away and placed either with a family member or with the state foster care system. Some moms get to have their infants visit a couple of times a week if the care provider is able and willing to bring the child, but not to breastfeed. Humbert says, "Nursing is not a normal practice within the Department of Corrections." The free symposium runs from 10:30 am to 5 pm. The keynote speaker will be Joan Palmateer, newly appointed administrator of all Oregon prisons.
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