daily'&merald
Vol. 81, No 73
Eugene, Oregon 97405
Tuesday, January 15, 1980
City has ‘head start’ on decade, says mayor
Photo by Joe Schnabel
Eugene Mayor Gus Keller says 1979 was a productive year for the city despite
budget cuts, the condominium controversy and increased traffic Keller made an
annual "State of the City " address Monday night to an audience of 80 people
By TAMARA SWENSON
Of the Emerald
The City of Eugene has had difficulties
in the past year, but they are nothing that
can t be dealt with and handled effec
tively, Mayor Gus Keller said Monday
night
Keller told city council members and
the nearly 80 people who gathered to
hear his "State of the City" address that
Eugene has a "head start” in dealing
with problems as it enters the 1980s — its
"precedent for creative problem solv
ing "
The problems, he said, are budget
deficits, the condominium controversy,
and increased traffic Recent solutions
include making "peace" with the field
burners'and the completion of the
Eugene/Springfield Metropolitan Plan
The next three months, will be a critical
period in the decade, he said
Earlier this month the city began a
series of budget cuts to eliminate a $1 6
million deficit and ensure the city makes
it through the fiscal year, which ends
June 30
Close budget examination of city pro
grams and departments is especially
necessary since Eugene voters will face
a tax-base election, mandated by the
Legislature for all cities that have gone
outside their tax bases for the last three
years, Keller said
In May I979, voters approved an addi
tional tax levy of $6.4 million to sup
plement the tax base, state and federal
funds
But, despite problems, the city began
to realize some of the goals set in I978,
Keller said
The recent accord with the grass seed
industry should help to ensure clean air
in the Willamette Valley, ending a conflict
that began as the I970s got underway, he
said
The updated 1990 plan, now the
Eugene /'Springfield Metropolitan Plan,
asks citizens to focus on what they want
their community to be like in the year
2000, Keller added. The plan has served
as a guide for many council decisions.
“We were able to zero in on many
specific problems when the condomin
ium conversion issue came before us,"
Keller said, expressing optimism for
“creative long-range plans to provide a
variety of downtown living alternatives.”
The city council approved a six-month
condominium conversion moratorium
last November, aimed at halting cover
sion of the Patterson and Willamette
Towers, two Eugene apartment com
plexes which house a large number of
elderly residents.
But the moratorium is only temporary
— and it's facing challenge from the
developers who own the buildings.
The City Council is scheduled to dis
cuss Wednesday possible exemptions to
the moratorium, provided in the city's
legislation, for the Boise, Idaho,
developers The Portland law firm repre
senting the developers has filed an ap
peal with the Oregon Land Use Board of
Appeals and a civil suit in Portland
federal district court
The mayor also cited improvements to
Eugene's transportation system as a
major accomplishment
"Increased traffic is one of the growing
pains felt in the central city and in the
community at large,” Keller said, adding
that the the council’s approval of a
large-scale paratransit program and of a
parking program reduced the volume of
employee traffic downtown, eliminating
much of the congestion and parking
shortage
With population growth at an average
3 percent per year since the Metro Plan
was first adopted in 1972, Eugene could
have as many as 206,000 residents by
2000
"The City of Eugene needs all of its
citizens working together I believe this
is a city of open doors and open minds,”
said Keller
‘‘If we take the leap into the new
decade together, this can be a pivotal
year for Eugene."
Photographer captures drama of whale life
By STEWART WRIGHT
Of the Emerald
“Marine mammals are won
derful animals, highly evolved
animals There's nothing that
moves so beautifully as a dol
phin."
That's how National Geogra
phic photographer Bill Curt
singer describes his feelings
towards the creatures he has
photographed for a good share
of his life.
“But when you watch these
animals day to day,” Curtsinger
adds, “you realize that it's a
rough life out there
“They have bellies to fill," he
says "Everything they do has a
reason "
Curtsinger and Brower spoke
to a full house in the EMU Ball
room Monday night and showed
slides of a variety of marine
mammals, including sperm
whales, dolphins, and narwhals,
known best for the long, spiral
tusk which extends from upper
jaw of males.
Ken Brower wrote the text of a
large, hardcover book called
"The Wake of the Whale," filled
with a decade’s worth of Curt
singer's best photographs
He agrees with Curtsinger's
appreciation of whales and dol
phins
"We share a belief that that's
enough," he says "There's a
school that wants to make little
flippered gurus out of the dol
phins."
Though people hold an in
tense interest in whales and
dolphins, Brower says, the
feeling isn't mutual — dolphins
are only interested in dolphins.
Curtsinger began his career
by working as a photographer
for the U S Navy He first pho
tographed whales while based
in Antarctica And he has pho
tographed them for the National
Geographic.
He first explored the ideas
that led to "The Wake of the
Whale" with David Brower, Ken
Brower's father
The older Brower, founder of
Friends of the Earth, cotlaborat
ed with Ken Brower on other
books of a similar format "And
one day,” Curtsinger says,
"Ken showed up on my door
step and stayed for a month "
Much of the text is derived
from Curtsinger's conversa
tions with Brower and from
Curtsinger's journal Brower il
lustrates Curtsinger's exper
iences by photographing mar
ine mammals around the world
Brower describes the book as
a "celebration of the animal.”
He says their book tries to "play
down the harangue" that is of
ten associated with people who
speak and write about whales
Searching for whales tries the
patience, Curtsinger says He
uses scientific data and report
ed sightings, yet he often puts in
10-hour days without seeing
anything
But when Curtsinger and
Brower hear the whales' “sing
ing," they say the waiting is
worthwhile.
Brower says the "songs" are
felt as vibrations — not heard
Once the two even “felt” the
whales' music while in a boat on
top of the water, he says
Curtsinger says his next
project is photographing krill —
a major food for whales — next
month in Antarctica.
Brower plans to continue
writing his monthly column in
Omni magazine, and working on
his first novel, which is about
Micronesia
Their stop at the University is
(Continued on Page 3)
today
If declining enrollment doesn’t
cause enough headaches for col
lege administrators, they also must
worry about keeping students in
school who do register. The teachers
of a new class say they know how to
do it. See Page 4.
Four ASUO officials, including
Pres. Scott Bassett, will fly to Wa
shington, D.C., with a University Ve
terans Association member late this
month for an American Student As
sociation conference — at a cost of
$920. See Page 5.