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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2000)
By Jack Clifford Oregon Daily Emerald There is no easy way to define the word “community.” One ap proach is with a dictionary entry: n. any group living in the same area or having interests, work, etc. in common. That description, of course, leaves out way too much. Which is why the Emerald has left it up to those who should know best how to portray the deeper sense of what the word inspires in the Eugene populace. Eight people offered a few in sights on the town that most stu dents will be calling home for the next nine months and some resi dents have called home forever, give or take a day. They defined community in their own words, each person spoke about why he or she has chosen Eugene as their place to live and everyone suggest ed one change they would make for the city. Michael Lamont owns the Bijou Art Cinema, just off campus, and he came to Eugene in 1978. Lam ont made it to senior-level status in computer science at the Universi ty before, in his words, “tanking out.” He’s stayed because, first of all, he was coaxed into becoming the Bijou’s owner. Beyond his cine matic obligations, however, Lam ont said he also appreciates Eu gene’s other cultural offerings. Tom Patterson Emerald Ernie Bok works at the University Bookstore and said she would change nothing at all about Eugene. Bok likes the quietness of certain neighborhoods in the city. More than that, though, he says it’s “the surrounding areas, the ease with which you can go to the coast in an hour, or skiing in an hour, or hit the high desert in a few hours — the hiking trails up Spencer Butte.” He gave a textbook definition of “community,” but added that the people should strive to “hopefully make themselves better, and as a result, the community will im prove over time.” Should he stay here for another 22 years, Lamont wants to either add more screens at the Bijou or open a second theater. “It would give [the community] access to more films that don’t have the kind of profitability that a small business like mine requires, so I just have to pass on some films,” he said. A wider range of films would add more culture to Eugene, he added. Mary Daniels, who works in ad vertising and marketing for Sereni ty Lane, an alcohol and drug treat ment center, is originally from London, England, but has lived in Eugene since 1973. Similar to La mont, she gave a more common definition of community. Daniels, however, also named several areas where she has lived and can com pare to Eugene: San Francisco; Pickwood, Ohio; Pontiac, Mich.; and Greely, Colo. She left England because her hometown was “very formal” and she wanted to experience a coun try that was less so. “I’ve been [in Eugene] so long because I have a sense of roots here that I never had anywhere else,” she said. “The longer I live here, the more people I see that I know going down the street and it really is a sense of roots for me that I’ve never had before. ” Those roots may run deep for Daniels, but her dislike for high ticket prices at the Hult Center were on the tip of her tongue in re sponse to the community change she would make. “Goodwill. It's the place to get great buys on clothes, household items, furniture, even computers... How cool is that?” great locations near campus: • 1590 Willamette Street •15 Coburg Road \ BACK TO GOODWILL “There was a big deal about the Hult Center when it opened, but I don’t think that it’s for the commu nity, it’s for the rich people in the community,” she said. “I think it’s failed to be a community theatrical experience [and] I think it’s be come only for those who have $75,000 a year or more.” Bagonda, Old S.L.U.G. Queen, 1997-98 reign, put it simply: “To me, community is family, really,” said Bagonda, who goes by Kevin Henry when not promoting slug ness. Bagonda came here in 1992 and said it’s important to tout the S.L.U.G. Queen title because it’s the truest spirit of diversity. In fact, moving to Eugene freed Bagonda to become “the glamorous person that I am.” At the 1997 Eugene Celebration, Bagonda went around to each en tertainment stage to talk with the partygoers. “I told a little story about an unglamorous slug who arrived in Eugene, and how she became glamorous and became herself and let her true spirit out,” Bagonda said. “So many people come to Eu gene to become themselves, they leave behind their life in the old country and they come here yearn ing to be freed, and they can.” The biggest change Bagonda wants to see is in how money con trols everything. “I don’t think we’re going to see real change until money is re moved from politics. ... Unfortu nately, because of so many budget cuts and unfair tax policies, the Celebration now has to be spon sored by many corporations and I see that as a kind of advertising for them,” Bagonda said. “I think tax money should be spent on public art, it should be spent on public events. [Events such as] the Cele bration build community. ” Kimber Williams came to Eu gene from Kansas 12 years ago and is a feature writer for The Register Guard. She acquired a master’s de gree in journalism at the Universi ty, and pointed out in her answers that she is “married and keeps busy chasing after a 20-month-old daughter, two aging cats and two hyperactive dogs.” Not surprisingly, she doesn’t think of community as a static sys tem. From her job as a newspaper reporter, she sees the act of build ing community as ongoing, a {{so many people come to Eugene to become themselves, they leave be hind their life in the old country and they come here yearning to be freed, and they can. Bagonda former Eugene S.L.U.G Queen process that arises from the ordi nary — shared experiences, com mon struggles, the mundane, in credibly necessary functions of daily living — and said Eugene is “constantly refining its own sense of community.” This town is Williams’ choice to call her community, because of, among other attributes, “sunsets over the coastal range. ... Witness To earn a 4*00 in Brewolosy all you need to know is STEELHEAD. n 9 Award-Winning Micro-Brews □ Sonps, Salads n Ribs □ Fresh Pizza □ Sandwiches □ Pastas n Burgers □ Spirits □ Home-Made Rootheer TAKE A BREW HOME IN STEELHEAD'S BOX O' BEER Steelhead Brewing Company a 199 East 5th Avenue Eugene, OR Phone 686-2739 Eugene, OR - Burlingame, CA - Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, CA - Irvine, CA ing the cultural collision of yuppies and hippies. ... A wonderful com munity of writers.... A love of recy cling. ... And oddly, the gentle win ter rain.” As the parent of a young child, however, Williams worries about raising her in such a homogenized area. “As a community, even our re cent history has not been one of in clusion,” she said. “I would love to see our community become more inviting to minorities, to truly achieve the diversity and tolerance that we so often find flaunted on bumper stickers.” John Huang has lived in Eugene for nine years with his wife and they have one child. He and his family moved here from China so that Huang could attend the Uni versity; he received a sports man agement degree in 1994. To Huang, it’s important for peo ple in a community to go beyond their common interests and be more supportive. With that in mind, he says he has stayed in Eugene “be cause people here are very friendly and people help each other.” Huang has settled in town and he staked out a claim in the area’s sub stantial massage therapy field, while teaching tai chi, as well. An other reason Huang has stayed in the Willamette Valley is the clean liness factor — the city streets are clean, the water is good and the en vironment is close to perfect, he said. Yet, if there were one thing Huang would change, it would be the growing traffic problems. “I don’t want [Eugene] to become like San Francisco or Los Angeles,” he said. Barbie Griggs talked about the Eugene community and compared it to Santa Cruz, Calif., near Mon terey, where she lived before com ing to this area nine years ago. She said the sense of community in both areas was an “interconnected ness of people living and thriving together, assisting each other. They [both] have an established commu nity of earth-conscious, friendly minded people.” Griggs runs her own craft busi ness, which brings her to the down town Saturday Market every week end, and she also has her wares available on-line. If there's one thing I might change, it would be that people have a truer respect for real diversity, and an ability to dialogue when we disagree. Steve Clovis Priest, St. Paul Catholic Church She appreciates the fact that she can walk down the street without being harassed. But she does see a few infrastructure problems with the city’s growth. “There’s so much development happening when there are build ings that are vacant and readily available,” she said. She said that new buildings in one residential area will draw people away from an already established residential area, which changes the system of both areas. “There is no interconnectedness when it comes to the business es tablishments,” she said. She added that taxes shouldn’t be used to build new schools, when there are so many available buildings that could be used for that purpose. Father Steve Clovis is a priest at St. Paul Catholic Chinch, which is nestled in between Coburg and Harlow roads in northeast Eugene. He was transferred to the city 14 months ago, but “fell in the love” with the area dining his first stay in Eugene, for a summer in 1987. Clovis said that a community should strive for a sense of unity and search for common ground. Eugene, he said, has a wide range of activities that appeal to a broad scope of individuals, and that there’s a diversity here that makes it a comfortable place to live. The differences that people have, however, sometimes create discord, which Clovis would like to see re solved with more consideration. “If there’s one thing I might change, it would be that people have a truer respect for the real di versity [Eugene residents] have and an ability to dialogue when we dis agree,” he said. Clovis said that “attention-grab bing activity” gets too much play in the media and he wishes that “au thentic and respectful dialogue would be just as attention-grab bing.” Ernie Bok works at the Universi ty Bookstore, which is a microcosm for her community definition: “It’s a place where you live and you in teract with other people, hopefully in a positive way.” Bok, who is married with two children, was bom in Arizona and moved here from California. Her family background — Bok’s ances try is Native American, German and Spanish Basque — sounds more diverse than Eugene as a whole, but she likes the town be cause with its small size, “there’s a lot of cohesiveness; it’s a nice envi ronment, with friendly people.” The quietness of the town and the neighborhoods appealed to her on a visit 20 years ago, so she made a move. Of course, moving from California to central Oregon does have its drawbacks. “It would be nice if it were sun ny, warm and wonderful — nine months, 10 months out of the year [with no rain] would be nice,” she said. Other than a change in the weather, who knows how many lo cal residents Bok speaks for when she gives a final comment on nec essary changes for Eugene? “I’d change nothing.” Azle Mai in a o-AI va reztrnera I d Old S.LU.G. Queen Bagonda, whose reign occurred during 1997-98, gets a little help with fashion. Bagonda was on hand in August to watch the 2000-01 Queen be chosen. 009795 Textbooks 35-50% off list price Rrine your textbook information Bn"o Smith Family Boototor, • Author • Title • Edition We'll help you find that will save you money. Always buying'. • texts • paperbacks . 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