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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITOR
Nicole Krueger
wueuissttei
Moving to Oregon requires
adjusting to more than heavy
rain and iveak coffee
When I left San Francisco to
move to Eugene, a co-worker
said, “I just have one thing to
say to you.”
I assumed he was about to push his reti
cent self aside and tell me how much he'd
enjoyed working with me and how work
and life, in general, would never be the
same for him without me.
I began to steel myself for
his farewell tribute, sad
to be leaving but anx
ious to get going.
“Gore-tex,” he said
flatly.
“Gore-tex?” A
Hannah
Dillon
mantra for my jour
ney?
“You’ll need it in
Oregon.”
“Never,” I proclaimed, trying to lo
cate a picture of Gore-tex in my
head. "I may be moving to Ore
gon, but I will not succumb to
its fashion nor its culture,
whatever that may be,” I said
with a sneer and rolling of
eyes.
CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
Skim over letters that are
still coming in to The Regis
ter-Guard trying to maintain
the 30-year war over the cross of
Richard Hugo, a wonderful poet, wrote
about the gray people and gray interior
exterior landscapes of his Northwest. “In
this photo, circa 1934 / you see the
women of the St. James Lutheran / Wom
ens Auxiliary / ... That gray / in the
photo was actually their faces. / On gray
days we reflected weather color. /
Lutherans did that. It made us children
of God.”
The color of his words seeps in and
settles like the gray-green bone-cold
damp here. Still, the gray in Hugo's
photo pervades this place in all sorts
of ways.
Snapshots:
On a late spring afternoon, go sit
out on the deck at the only close spot
on the river available to eat and
drink, the North Bank Restaurant. It
is like being at a chamber of com
merce after-work holiday party.
Beefy men with loosened ties,
“blond” bouffants in high heels
still talking about work and, be
fore the first couple of drinks,
a jq, looking awkward togeth
er without their office
Two years later I sit at the L & L
Market on an overcast autumn morning,
cupping my shot in the dark. (I remember
first being asked how I would like my cof
fee at Full City Cafe. Strong, medium or
light? Dumbfounded, I flashed back to the
best cafe for forceful and flavorful coffee in
all of San Francisco, as well as the best
viewing of tattoos, scarifications and pierc
ings, which happened to be next to my
apartment in the lower Haight. Ordering a
decaf, I was nearly blown out of the Horse
shoe Cafe by a derisive, “There’s no decaf
here." Since being in the nice Northwest, I
have learned to order a shot of espresso in
my java since “strong” here would be dish
water at the Horseshoe). Having shed my
finely weathered bomber jacket, snug 501s
and gleaming black cowboy boots, I am
now wrapped in a gray Henley, flannel, po
lar fleece, baggy denim and oatmeal Wool
rich socks stuffed in Timberline leather
boots. I arrive at the L & L on my hybrid,
metallic blue bike because I have not yet
invested in a white sports utility vehicle so
Northwestern exposure
I can carefully place a “Celebrate Diversity”
sticker on the center of its rear bumper.
And in the back of my mind is a persistent
niggle to take part in the Eugene communi
ty at large, which might help to curb my
sideline commentary about living here.
The only thing that beckons, once in a
while, is to become a Ricky, although I hear
that they have lost their “subversive” edge
since the fallout from their papal spoof in
the parade a few years ago. Ho-hum.
More advice on my move north. One of
my older brothers, a writer-publisher, said,
"Garrett Hongo.”
His voice was reminiscent of when I was
waiting to find out to which West African
country the Peace Corps would be sending
me. My brother tested, “What if they send
you to ... Chad?" I replied that I might then
have to reconsider their offer. I had no idea
what and where Chad was, but given his
authoritative inflection I knew it must be
far from the beaches of Senegal, where I
hoped to be posted.
“He’s in Eugene?" At least I knew that
much.
My brother advised looking him up. He
had an idea that Garrett was living as one
who had been banished to the outback and
that I, an outsider from a happening place,
might be able to provide some relief to his
exile. And with the bravado of a newcom
er, I considered it, but then the rain set in
for six months and I battled to keep afloat,
here, in Eugene.
Skinner Butte.
See Oregon’s most wanted, who all
fit the same description — scruffy white
guys with names like Gurley Crumb.
Recall the slap in the face Oregonians felt
over Garrett Hongo’s revelations to the out
side about living here.
The OCA and West 11th Avenue.
Hear people enthuse over Eugene’s “Eu
geneness.” I don’t get the “ness,” but I think
it has contributed to the University faculty
salaries remaining historically low. It is fig
ured that being in the Eugeneness of it all is
nearly compensation enough.
I own no Gore-tex. Not yet. You see, I
was born and raised in the Pacific North
west. This is my land. Its gray has pro
pelled me out and I have carried it with me
all over the world. Now, I have returned to
it. I have come home, and I want it to be
more than the place I once loved.
Hannah Dillon is a columnist for the Emerald.
Her work appears on alternate Fridays. Her views
do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Must help hungry
Few people realize that hunger
and homelessness are serious is
sues in America. For those of us
who have enough food and a roof
over our heads, it seems impossi
ble that 10 percent of the United
States relies on food stamps or
that on any given day three mil
lion Americans are homeless; 25
percent of these people are chil
dren. However, even more
unimaginable is the fact that the
world produces 10 percent more
food than is required to adequate
ly feed the world’s entire popula
tion. It has been estimated that if
the federal assistance programs
were fully funded, the hunger
and homelessness problem
would be solved within five
years.
If the world has more food
than we need, then why isn’t the
problem being solved? The an
swer to this is that we, as the peo
ple, need to be educated, and
then we need to get involved. An
opportunity is being provided for
people to get involved during Na
tional Hunger and Homelessness
Week, Nov. 17 to 21. During this
week, there will be shelter visits,
information sessions, fasting and
a sleep-out on the University
campus in order to raise aware
ness and involvement.
The chance to learn and to be
come an active part in the solu
tion is being provided, so take ad
vantage of it, help others and
make a change.
Carey Risch
OSPIRG
University funding
Whether the current method of
allocations to Oregon State Sys
tem of Higher Education institu
tions should be changed has been
debated in these pages. However,
readers have been given scant in
formation about current budget
allocations.
As former chair of the Univer
sity Senate’s budget committee, I
have had a detailed look at the
process. Let me just present some
numbers. See what you think.
The Chronicle of Higher Edu
cation for Nov. 14 published the
state allocations for schools in
the United States and the
changes over the last two years.
The Oregon section reads like a
good news/ bad news story. The
good news is that all of higher ed
ucation in Oregon got a 17 per
cent increase in state support
over two years. The bad news is
that it didn't happen at the Uni
versity of Oregon.
Community colleges got an 18
percent increase in state support.
At the six OSSHE schools,
state support increased 29 per
cent (SOU), 21 percent (PSU), 20
percent (EOU), 14 percent (OIT),
4 percent (UO) and 3 percent
(WOU).
The wide variation of state
funding at state schools is attrib
uted to the Basic Allocation Sys
tem. This mathematical model
attempts to account for the differ
ences in educations costs for dif
ferent types of students.
I have looked at the model, and
I have looked at the allocations,
and I can’t reconcile the two.
Changes in funding ought to be
proportional to the changes in
the students in the different cate
gories. Yet, the model’s “cost”
factors do not vary enough to ac
count for the large disparities of
funding for institutions. To ac
count for the disparity between
institutions, one would have to
assume that some students are af
forded cost factors that are 30
times greater than those afforded
other students.
In extreme cases, funding
changes oppose the changes in
student numbers. At the UO, the
enrollment of Oregon residents
and graduate students increased
by 6 percent this year. Yet the fig
ures supplied by OSSHE — the
basis for the Chronicle article —
show state allocations decreased
over the same period.
These allocation changes are
cumulative. When I presided
over our budget committee in
1993, the UO funding per resi
dent and graduate student was
roughly comparable across the
OSSHE schools. Now, UO stu
dents receive one-quarter less
state support than cohorts at oth
er OSSHE institutions. This
trend cannot be explained by
changes in the composition of
the student body; during this
time science and other high-cost
majors at the University in
creased.
Don’t just take my word on the
data; you can look it up yourself
at the Web site coe.ilstu.edu. Be
fore you ask if this is the alloca
tion system you want, ask your
self it this allocation makes sense
to you.
Paul Engelking
Chemistry professor
Park discussion
University planning, public
policy and management under
graduates involved with a com
munity development project
held an event called Saturday in
the Park on Nov. 15, America Re
cycles Day.
The event offered the commu
nity a place to take recyclables,
get recycling and public safety
information and offer their ideas
for the long-term use of the West
University neighborhood park. It
was a great success, and we
would like to thank the follow
ing for their donations, contribu
tions and support:
Bobby Lee, BRING (especially
Sarah Grimm), Eugene Public
Works, Starbucks, the Interfrater
nity Council, Domino’s Pizza,
Jabberwocky, the Alpha Omega
house, EMU scheduling, KEZI,
KVAL, the Eugene Police De
partment, Central Presbyterian
Church, Campus Recycling, Uni
versity Office of Public Safety,
Computer Systems West and the
University Physical Plant.
This is an example of stu
dents, businesses, the city, Eu
gene police, the University and
others all working together to
help out the community.
Lance Joanis
Planning, public policy and
management