Food
continued from page 1
end rolls around.
Tom Driscoll, director of food serv
ices for University Housing, said in
addition to all-time favorite foods
such as pizza, students are trying out
some new items these days.
"A lot of the traditional things
seem to still be popular and a lot of
students are experimenting with
ethnic foods,” he said.
But even though students are in
troducing some novelties to their
taste buds, they remain loyal to tra
ditional fast-food favorites.
"Traditional items still fly out of
here really quickly, like pizza for ex
ample,” Driscoll said.
Kristen Olmos, a health educator
and a registered dietitian, said not
having time to cook is no excuse for
not eating healthy.
She suggests stocking up on
healthy snacks such as apples,
string cheese or yogurt to satisfy
cravings before being able to get a
real meal.
“I think it’s important if a person
doesn’t have time to cook, that they
keep healthy snacks on hand,” she
said.
Olmos added most students still
seem to prefer french fries and
baked dishes over fruit and salads.
While many students seem to be
taking advantage of Grab ’N’ Go
meals, many also do seem to take
the time to sit down for dinner
when possible.
Cindy Lund, manager of Carson
Dining Hall, said the trend among
students eating at Carson Dining
Hall leans toward healthier habits,
although their all-time favorite,
Campbell’s tomato soup, hasn't
changed for years, and continues to
be offered once a week.
Besides vegetarian or nearly-veg
etarian foods, students eat lots of
fruit, she said.
"Fruit has always been a popular
item," she said. "There also seem to
be a lot more semi-vegetarians.”
Like most food outlets around
campus, Lund goes through loads of
suggestion cards on a weekly basis
to keep up with students’ prefer
ences and find out exactly what
they like for breakfast, lunch and
dinner.
She said her impression is that
more students nowadays seem to
grow up with healthier foods than
just a few years ago.
"I would say that over the past
five years, they have started to eat
healthier,” she said. ‘They’re proba
bly more familiar with non-fat food
items more than they were five or 10
years ago.”
Dan Brunell Emerald
Doug Randels serves a cup of joe to customer Pat Mackey at Theo’s Coffee House, located on the downtown mall. Many businesses in
the hub of town are hoping for increased revitilization efforts by the city.
Downtown
continued from page 1
Ellen Mitchell, owner of Backstage
Dancewear at 62 W. Broadway, said
she will be relocating her business
to 380 W. Third Avenue at the start
of November. Her present location
will join the half-dozen other store
fronts with a “For Lease” sign in the
window because business has
grown too large for downtown.
“There's really no reason for us to
be here with a large mail-order busi
ness,” she said.
Although Mitchell’s company
needs 1,300 more square feet of re
tail room, she said she would not
leave if there were adequate parking
and access to the mall. She favored
the idea of opening Broadway Street
to car traffic so shoppers could park
right outside the store.
“Had (the city) made the decision
to put the street through I’d proba
bly stay,” she said.
Other business owners in the
mall admitted there were difficul
ties about being in business on the
mall, but didn’t have one magic-bul
let solution to make the area a com
plete success.
Theo’s Coffee Shop owner Brian
Logan said he dealt with several
problems after he opened his doors
in April of 1999. He had to remove
his patio seating for two months af
ter he saw people dealing drugs
right'in front of his customers, and
he has had to make a constant effort
to attract people to the mall.
Despite the problems, Logan is
committed to staying downtown.
“I think there’s an energy down
here,” he said. “There’s more hap
pening down here than anywhere
else in Eugene.”
Logan also serves on the Down
town Safety Council, which is a
loose-knit organization of city offi
cials, residents and businesses that
are working to erase the downtown
mail’s reputation as a dangerous
place. He said there is hardly any
risk of violent crimes in the down
town core, but that drug activity and
drunkenness are a problem because
the city has a negligent attitude in
policing the mall.
“These two blocks have been
abandoned,” he said.
Logan couldn’t predict how
Symantec’s possible move from
their current location would affect
the revitalization efforts. He was
disappointed the large business was
leaving, but because the move prob
ably won’t take place until two
years from now, he didn’t know for
sure if it was good or bad.
“There’s lots of stuff going on, by
2002 the library is going to be open,”
he said, referencing Eugene’s new
public library, which should be a
large draw to the mall area.
While Symantec’s employees
have helped support many down
town businesses, he said a different
business could have a more positive
effect on the mall in terms of the
larger picture.
“There could be a better business
in the downtown than Symantec for
revitalization in terms of staying
open after hours,” he said.
But with or without Symantec
Logan said Theo’s will stay down
town.
“We’ll just take it as it rolls,” he
said.
Mike Sullivan, the manager for
the Downtown Visioning Project,
has been leading the effort by the
Planning Department to create a vi
able option to revitalize the down
town area. He said the chief goal is
to bring the idea of “nodal develop
ment” into the area. This is a plan
ning theory that localizes employ
ment, shopping and services into
small neighborhood clusters that
translate into a smaller reliance on
auto traffic.
“More compact growth works
better for mass transit and is better
for neighborhoods,” he said.
Sullivan said the downtown area
is prime for this kind of development.
“The downtown is sometimes re
ferred to as the ‘mother node,”’ he
said.
In addition to a new style of de
velopment, Sullivan said the city
also has to bring in more housing
options to get residents active
downtown all the time.
To make these changes, Sullivan
said the city will have to start with
streets. He said that when the proj
ect is completed it will likely in
clude some plan to open part of the
downtown mall to auto traffic. Do
ing so, however, will force the city
to look at its parking options and
will likely mean more parking
garages.
Sullivan said the plan will be
open to public comment at two
meetings in October before it is pre
sented to the City Council on No
vember 15.
Eugene artist Raven Moon is one
of the nearly 140 artists who make
up the Circle of Hands cooperative
art store that has been in business
on the mall since 1996 at 44 W.
Broadway. He said that while busi
ness is decent at its current loca
tion, if more people came to the
mall the store could be “rocking.”
“It’s been great actually working
here,” he said, “but we would defi
nitely like more business.”
Moon said that in the four years
he has seen businesses come and go
due to the lack of pedestrian shop
pers.
“We’ve survived when a lot of the
people have moved away,” he said.
To bring more people into the
area Moon thought that there
should be improved mass transit
access and more residential units.
He added, though, that he would
like to see smaller busses he said
don’t pollute as much, and housing
that didn’t mean cutting down too
many trees.
Skateboarding and bike riding
have been banned on the mall in an
attempt by the city to not let it turn .
into a hang-out for restless
teenagers. Many teens still do hang
out in the area, which has bothered
some business owners. Moon, how
ever, didn't think they were a prob
lem. He instead argued that it was
the police presence on the mall that
actually drove prospective shop
pers away.
“If I’m on the mall and I see a cop
car there I’m going to avoid it prob
ably,” he said.
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