HAWK MADRONE
Jane Mara, Bethroot
Gwynn and Jennifer
Council wearing
costume designs
from Tee Corinne’s
Cunt Colouring
Book.
FEMINIST STATE OF
UNION ADDRESS AT UO
Bethroot Gwynn’s Women: The Longest
Revolution recreates the herstory of the sec-
ond wave of the feminist movement Friday at
the UO. In the tradition of personal theater,
the piece highlights the experiences of
Oregon and West Coast women using inti-
mate stories, historical events, poetry by
Gwynn, humor and song. The performance
promises to speak to anyone interested in so-
cial change and particularly feminist, gay and
women-centered women.
Gwynn describes The Longest Revolution
as “a feminist state of the union address.”
Commissioned for the 2003 30th
WomanSource Fall Gathering outside of
Ashland, Gwynn wrote the piece around the
questions, “What has changed for women in
these past 35 plus years?” “What have we ac-
complished?” and “What have we yet to do?”
Starring Bethroot Gwynn, Jane Mara and
Jennifer Council, the piece includes cameos
by seven other women from the area. Eugene
residents Lory McClane and Judy Goldstein
will share stories of their feminist work dur-
ing the ’70s, including participation in the
Women’s Press, Starflower Trucking
Collective and Amazon Kung-Fu (a women’s
self-defense program).
Proceeds from Friday night’s perfor-
mance will benefit the Southern Oregon
Lesbian Archival Collection at the UO
Library. SOLAC librarians are actively gath-
ering journals, essays, and letters that support
research into the lesbian experience in
Oregon.
Women: The Longest Revolution shows at
7:30 pm, Friday, April 23, in 100 Willamette,
UO. Suggested donation is $5-$15. No reser-
vations are necessary. The show will also be
performed April 24 at Portland State
University, where reservations are encour-
aged, (503) 232-6003. — Kate Storm
COUNCIL BALKS AT
BLOCKING BIG STORES
While dozens of cities around the nation
have moved to regulate big box stores such as
Wal-Mart, it doesn’t look like Eugene will be
one of them.
The Eugene City Council voted 5-4 April
12 to not impose a moratorium on big box re-
tailers. Councilors Nancy Nathanson,
Jennifer Solomon, Gary Papé, and George
Poling and Mayor Jim Torrey voted in favor
of big boxes and Councilors Bonny Bettman,
Betty Taylor, Scott Meisner and David Kelly
voted to pursue a moratorium.
The moratorium would have been put in
place pending a council meeting May 24 on
whether to regulate the size, location, traffic
impact and other issues with development of
the giant stores. Big box stores are under at-
tack across the nation and in Oregon for
8 APRIL 22, 2004
urban sprawl, traffic congestion, pushing
down wages, hurting local businesses and
sheer ugliness. Most recently, Steamboat
Springs, Colo., imposed a three month mora-
torium on big boxes, and the Central Point
City Council in southern Oregon is taking a
stand, despite threats of lawsuits, against a
planned Wal-Mart “supercenter.”
“The intent is to protect local businesses
and local workers,” said Taylor of her mora-
torium proposal. “It’s way overdue. People
are saying now, ‘Why haven’t you done
something?”’
But Solomon said she opposes restric-
tions on the “valuable service” stores like
Wal-Mart provide. “This just feels very anti-
business to me.”
Nathanson, now running for mayor, said
city staff work on the moratorium would dis-
tract from higher priorities. She said a mora-
torium could affect a wide variety of retailers.
“Are we saying no more Jerry’s, no more 5th
St. Public Market?”
Taylor said her proposal would clearly not
apply to places like 5th Street, with many
small stores in a single complex. It also
would not apply to a controversial Wal-Mart
expansion in West Eugene because the corpo-
ration is grandfathered in with an already
submitted application.
Bettman said the city needs a moratorium
before it addresses the big box issue May 24.
In the past, developers have rushed to file
permits for structures that wouldn’t be per-
mitted under proposed city code changes. “If
we don’t have a moratorium, then it just
sends out a signal that now is the time to get
your application in.”
Bettman said preserving local jobs against
poor-paying big boxes should be a city prior-
ity. The city spends a lot of money on eco-
nomic development, she points out. “I think
we can also spend money to protect local
jobs.”
A “Wal-Mart is a Bad Neighbor Rally”
begins at 5 pm Thursday, April 22 at the cor-
ner of Commerce and West 11th in
Eugene.— AP
EFN HOOKING UP
WITH LOCAL UTILITY
Two seemingly unrelated local public ser-
vice organizations are making plans to link
up to their mutual benefit. Eugene Free
Network (EFN), struggling with financial
and technical problems, announced this week
that it will be turning over its Internet ser-
vices to Emerald People’s Utility District
(EPUD).
Paul Harrison of the EFN board of direc-
tors said in an EW news story (4/8) that the
non-profit organization was in a “tight finan-
cial situation” and was “looking at all possi-
bilities.” This week he said EPUD offered the
best solution out of several possibilities.
NONVIOLENT PEACEFORCE
EPUD, in addition to providing tradi-
SPEAKER TO OUTLINE
tional utility services over the past 20 years,
MISSION
has been growing a sideline, low-cost
Internet service in recent years at
The idea of civilian
peacekeeping is an idea
www.epud.net
“A deal has been worked
that’s been around a long
time. In fact, according
out so that all of our cus-
tomers will be offered ser-
to
Nonviolent
Peaceforce (NVPF)
vices, and will be able to re-
ceive service credits,” says
spokesperson Nick
Mele, who will speak in
Harrison. “People who paid
ahead will see their pay-aheads
Eugene
April
29,
Mahatma Gandhi was
honored,” and the current stan-
dard ISP rates will remain the same.
working on such a project
when he was assassinated.
Harrison says EFN will “continue
Nick Mele
to participate in a scheme that allows
Gandhi’s project might not have
achieved fruition, but his vision has.
low-income people to get discounts on rates
and allows non-profits to receive services
The NVPF is a recent incarnation. It was
born when David Hartsough, a longtime
from OPN, the parent organization.”
“We feel like it’s really a good thing.
peace activist who got his start in the civil
rights movement of the 1960s, met
EPUD is a strong electric company that has a
strong ISP offering, very reliable, very solid,
Minnesota peace activist and Presbyterian
minister Mel Duncan at the Hague Appeal for
and they are the kind of people who work
with a strong public interest motive,” says
Peace Conference in May of 1999. The two
started recruiting a small group of people at
Harrison. — TJT
BY PAUL NEEVEL
M A TT B U T L ER
Eugene native Matt Butler grew up in a musi-
cal family. “My mom was one of the founders
of the Eugene Symphony,” he notes. “She
plays violin in the orchestra.” Butler took up
drums at an early age, and played piano
through high school. In San Diego for college,
he and fellow South Eugene grad Chris
Haugen founded the band Jambay in 1989.
“Jambay toured relentlessly for eight years,”
he says. “We did a lot of music, but even more
driving!” Now the father of two young chil-
dren, Butler stays closer to home in Eugene,
where he plays local gigs, composes, and pro-
duces recordings. He still gets out of town on
occasion to manage his personal social-ac-
tivist project, the Everyone Orchestra, a vary-
ing group of all-star musicians that he has as-
sembled to pay benefit concerts in Cincinnati,
New Orleans, and now Eugene. The ninth EO performance (since 2001) is scheduled for
Thursday, April 29, at the McDonald Theater. “The idea is to get great players together
on stage,” Butler says. “I call it ‘music games’ — beautiful things can happen.” The con-
cert will benefit Portland’s Pangea Project, a non-profit engaging low-income kids in ser-
vice activities.