Ken Kesey to be immortalized downtown Fundraising efforts are underway to build a memorial statue of the famous Eugene author Roman Gokhman Campus/City Culture Reporter Ten clays before Eugene writer Ken Kesev was admitted to Sacred Heart Medical Center for the last time. Pulitzer Prize-winning photog rapher Brian Lanker took a snap shot of him at his Pleasant Hill farm for a story in Modern Maturity, a na tional magazine. Kesev died in No vember 2001. but the photograph is being used to presen e the legacy of the famed Oregonian forever. A group of community leaders, including Lanker. University Presi dent Dave Frohnmavcr, football head coach Mike Bellotti and sculp tor and longtime Kesev friend Pete Helzcr, is campaigning to have a sculpture of the writer constructed and unveiled at the 2003 Eugene Celebration. "'it’s important tor us to remem ber the importance people in this community make to the community as a whole," Lanker said. “Ken Ke sev is clearly one of those people.” Lanker, who was a close friend of Kesev's, spearheaded the effort by contacting Kesev's friends to see who else was interested. Other communi ty leaders stepped up. and “that’s where the whole thing started.” Lanker said. He developed a poster out of the photograph, and Eugene printing company IP/Koke donated the printing costs. The poster, with a tax-deductible cost of S25, is on sale at various bookstores in Eugene, Springfield, Corvallis and Portland, as well as online. “It's not just a poster for your wall; it's a contribution to the Ken Kesev memorial,” Campaign Coor dinator Cathy Briner said. Helzer became involved after talk of a memorial sculpture came up and the Kesev family suggested that he be involved somehow. He said there is no one with as high a stature in Oregon as Kesey. Kesev “is the closest thing to a creative genius I have ever seen,” Ilelzer said. “There is a sense of pride and can bring (Eugene) a lot of cultural attention.” The late author's work is taught in various University courses and at other institutions all over the world. “Anyone who teaches modern lit erature or American literature could incorporate Kesey,” English department head and Professor John Gage said. Professor Emeritus Glen Love, who teaches several literature courses, said Kesev’s work is invalu able to the University. “He's written one or two of the best novels about the Northwest,” Love said. So far, 815,000 to 820,000 of the SI 15,000 needed for the sculpture has been raised, Briner said. The majority of the funding is coming from sales of the posters. Lanker said the group wanted as many people to take part in the fundraising as possible, instead of going to the big donors first. “We wanted to make it a grass roots effort,” he said. The sculpture will be of Kesev reading to three children, and it wiil be placed at the intersection of Willamette Street and Broadway. “This sculpture is something for future generations to ... come and know the man and know that he was part of the community,” banker said. banker and llelzer are both friends of the Kesev family, banker worked and traveled with Kesev, and l lelzer sculpted, among others, the memorial to Jed Kesev, Ken Ke sey’s son, who was one of two Uni versity wrestlers who died while coming back from a meet at Pull man, Wash., in 19X4. Contact the reporter at romangokhman@dailyemerald.com. Courtesy Brian Lanker Sculpter Pete Helzer works on a statue of Ken Kesey. Measure continued from page 1 these cuts, the Oregon University System alone would face a nearly S27 million reduction in the 2001 03 budget, S13.2 million which would he abated by general fund re ductions and S13.6 million which would be cut from programs, class es, staff and campus projects. University students will also pay a tuition surcharge of 810 per credit tor winter and spring terms if the measure fails. Opponents of the measure are saying, however, that despite possible cuts, raising income taxes during a recession will only hurt the economy further. Fifteen Oregon legislators stated in the voter’s pamphlet that r increasing taxes continues “non essential” government spending and blocks reform. “Your ‘No’ vote for this unnec essary tax increase will not turn prisoners loose, will not increase the size of our classrooms or force our senior citizens to choose between rent or food. Such scare tactics are not true,” the repre sentatives said. Taxpayer Association of Oregon Executive Director Jason Williams concurred. “It’s economic suicide,” he said. “No one with a rational mind will believe you can tax your way into prosperity.” Proponents contend that Measure 2