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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 20, 2003)
JAIME GUADAGNI CORVALLIS GETS ITS OWN GRAFFITI WALL Graffiti writers from Eugene, San Francisco and even Sweden and Germany have been making their way to Corvallis to take advantage of what they might call a dia- mond in the rough, a 60-foot-long “free wall” located along the Willamette River in the downtown area. “Overall, the public supports it,” says Catherine Mater of Mater Engineering, the company that sponsors the wall. “We have been able to develop a wonderful rapport with the artists, and the police think that the wall has impacted the amount of illegal graf- fiti around town,” she says. For some, this wall can be considered Corvallis’ best kept secret, for it provides a huge area where artists can spend several hours working on a piece without interrup- tion from local authorities. During the summer, several graffiti writ- ers from Eugene carpooled up I-5 to paint on the free wall because all of the walls here in the Emerald City have been closed down due to vandalism on surrounding businesses. “All of the artists have been very respect- ful of each other’s work and of the area around the wall,” Mater says, “and there have only been a few instances in which some- thing needed to be painted over right away.” “Most of the credit for this should go to my husband, Scott, who died of cancer last Christmas,” she says. The two first conceived of the idea when they noticed an increase in the amount of graffiti around Corvallis. The couple thought the graffiti was interesting and attractive, and decided to dedicate part of their riverfront property to this unique art form. The wall fits in nicely with the rest of the Corvallis riverfront improvement project and throws some much needed color into the downtown area. Rumors in Eugene suggest that the Corvallis wall might be closing, but Mater says she is sure that the project will continue for a long time. — Karman Ratliff COUNTY SPRAYS AT BLUE MOUNTAIN PARK A local environmental group says Lane County sprayed herbicides at Blue Mountain Park near Cottage Grove Nov. 13 without giving proper notice. • At City Club of Eugene last week, EW’s Ted Taylor shared the podium with the R-G’s Paul Neville on the topic of letters to the editor. Ted talked about (among other things) the preponderance of male voices in the letters sections of the R-G, The Oregonian and even EW. Each paper runs about 70 percent letters from men, which reflects what comes in the door. What’s behind this phenomenon? Some women fear harassing phone calls or other confrontations if they express strong opinions. But more than that, women’s views on many topics have been traditionally marginalized in our society, and this history of oppression manifests in many gender imbalances. But this is Eugene. We have the power to change. We encourage women to take over the op-ed and letters pages of local newspapers and voice their concerns. And we at EW will do our part. • How much attention should we give to the “Decline to Sign” campaign? Shouldn’t we just assume conservatives will buy their 50,000 signatures and get a measure on the ballot to stop HB 2152, the Legislature’s three-year tax package? Shouldn’t we save our time, energy and money for the campaign against the measure in February? No way. Let’s fight it now, and if necessary, fight it later. Educating people now about this reactionary anti-government initiative will go a long way to building votes against it later. Here’s one point that needs to be drilled into the public consciousness: Conservatives are screaming about the “largest tax hike “They notified Blue Mountain School on the night before the application, when staff were away, which was not enough advance time for parents to be notified,” says Megan Kemple of Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP). “They did not follow the county’s requirements for advance notification. They should have posted yellow signs one week prior to the ap- plication, but instead posted these signs on the day of the application.” Todd Winter, county parks superinten- dent, says county commissioners authorized the spraying in June and Lane County Parks gave notice to the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) in October of their plan to spray between Oct. 17 and Nov. 17. Winter says the backpack hand-spraying of blackberries and scotch broom was done to protect tree seedlings far from developed parts of the park. He says the “nominal” amount of spraying was done according to guidelines of the Forest Practices Act rather than by county roadside spraying rules since it was “well away from the county right-of- way.” But a mixup within county government also fueled the angry response to the spraying. “Several mistakes were made,” says Commissioner Bill Dwyer. “Roadside spray policy was not intended to apply to manage- ment of our forest resources … however, the board order that authorized this spraying not only referenced complying with state and fed- eral law, it referenced the notifications require- ments of our roadside spray policy. This policy requires posting and seven day prior notifica- tion. We did not do this. We screwed up.” in Oregon history,” but considering the federal tax cut, Oregonians will actually pay less in overall taxes next year if HB 2152 survives. • Holly Near as usual fused strong music and strong politics in her concert with Cris Williamson at the McDonald Theatre Nov. 8. Holly said Bush’s environmental and military policies affect the entire planet, so in 2004 we will be voting not only for ourselves but also on behalf of all people around the world. That should be motivating. • The UO workgroup Concerned Faculty is drafting a resolution to present to the administration on how to handle USA PATRIOT Act legislation being adopted on campus by the administration. So far, a consensus has not been reached on the resolution’s wording, but members have met and will continue to do so. Stay tuned. • In media news and rumors, we hear R-G Executive Editor Jim Godbold got a fortune cookie this week saying he can expect a new job description soon. Don Kahle of Comic News premiered his redesigned and renamed <wink> last week. Dinah’s now on page 2 and the premiere issue has Alan Siporin reminiscing on Kesey. KMTR-TV ran a short feature on EW last week. The Clear Channel NBC affiliate interviewed EW management on its growth in revenues and circulation in light of the R-G’s announcement of another round of layoffs . • Congrats to BRING Recycling for landing a $60,000 matching grant from the Meyer Memorial Trust for development of its new three-acre facility in Glenwood. The grant, the largest in BRING’s history, follows an earlier $50,000 grant from the trust. The non-profit BRING is developing a “Planet Improvement Center” that will include not only recycling but also educational programs and buildings that demonstrate “green” design. Find out more at www.bringrecycling.org SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com NOVEMBER 20, 2003 9
