BY DAN CAROL
Spring Cleaning
Some tidying, please, while we
await renovation.
M
y last column on downtown, with its bold
call for an end to more holes in our
urban center, seemed to resonate
with folks. So in the spirit of spring cleaning
season, let me offer up a few cheap ideas for
sprucing things up downtown while we wait for
the next multi-million dollar Connor-Woolley ren-
aissance pipe dream to come into our lives.
Te ar d ow n t h at f en c e . What is with the hideous
chain link fence surrounding the parking lot behind the
old Symantec building. Can we at least make it a standard that the city should
tidy up empty parking lots behind formerly city-subsidized buildings whose
tenants then bailed to Springfield so that they look like something besides a
dog kennel with no clients?
Eu ge ne Sk in n er s t at u e. Is it just me, or does the statue of our town’s
founder in front of the library make him look really, really depressed? Since
we can’t give a bronzed fellow Prozac to help his mood, how about some new
surroundings? I say move Eugene to over near his cabin by the river, where
the guy can have a better view. Certainly staring at the Mighty Willamette
would look far better to tired old eyes than the stagnant “lake” now growing
in the hole that was once the Sears building at 10th and Charnelton. And then
we can replace that art in front of the library with something a bit more
cheery.
S ea r s L a k e. Speaking of holes downtown, why not turn Sears Lake into a
lively skaters’ park or an urban art zone for our town’s great muralists until
the geniuses at City Hall figure out what’s next. For folks who fear teens walk-
ing around our empty downtown, what better way to deal with the problem
than to move their activity space down one floor? Better yet, there’s plenty of
time to make this site a Rockefeller Center-style ice skating park by
Christmas.
O ld La ne E le c t io n s b u il d i n g . Are you familiar with this building? It’s across
from the Hilton Hotel and backs up to the overflow parking lot used by 5th
Street Public Market and Steelhead customers. Now that the Elections team
has moved, it’s time to do something here. Can we paint it with stripes,
Science Factory style? Can we open up a new Dutch Bros? What gives? This
columnist wants to know.
T ow n a n d g o w n . Hey, I heard that there was a university of 17,000 people
located only about six blocks from downtown. To celebrate the rapid bus tran-
sit system we paid for to make it easier to go to Ducks games at the new bas-
ketball arena, wouldn’t it make sense for Dave Frohnmayer and the Ducks to
open a ticket store and sell UO gear downtown?
T h e Bu tt er f l y l ot . Now that we are getting all this great new parking near
Whole Foods, it’s time to turn this area (across from Saturday Market and the
county building) into either more park space or a better home for Farmer’s
Market. Yes, I know it is county land — I say let’s make a deal with the new
Fleenor-ized commission post haste. Better yet, ask Whole Foods to kick in
some goodwill for this project as a down-payment on their promised support
to local food growers.
T he K es e y p l a z a . Don’t worry, I love the statue of Ken Kesey reading to
the kids at the center of downtown at Broadway and Willamette. But I don’t
love all the rest of what’s there in the “plaza,” which is uh, kind of another
big hole. So can we get some striking announcement banners or some flags
from our sister cities or some cool activity kiosks is installed here? A classy
wrought-iron gazebo where we can read in the rain and sit in the summer
sun? A fun fountain like they have up in Seattle? Something? Otherwise, I
am worried that the statue of Ken is going to soon look as depressed as
Eugene S.
WHO YOU GONNA BLAME?
Dan Carol of Eugene is a political strategist.
EDITORIAL Editor Ted Taylor
News Editor Alan Pittman
Associate Editor Melissa Bearns
Arts Editor Molly Templeton
Calendar Editor/Proofreader Suzi Steffen
Contributing Editor Anita Johnson
Reporter Kera Abraham
Contributing Writers Jason Blair, Brett Campbell, Rachael Carnes,
Michael Cockram, David Constantin, Rachel Foster, Kate Rogers Gessert,
James Johnston, Sharleen Nelson, Mary O’Brien, Sylvie Pederson,
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Interns Dan Hoyt, Tim O’Rourke, Adrienne van der Valk
ART DEPARTMENT
Art Director/Production Manager Kevin Dougherty
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Eugene Weekly • 1251 Lincoln Street • Eugene, OR 97401 • 541.484.0519 • fax 541-484-4044
4 JUNE 1, 2006
TO THE EDITOR
DEFAZIO HAD OPTIONS
INFANTILE HUMOR
Congressman Peter DeFazio offers a con-
voluted, absurd explanation (news story,
5/25) of why he voted for a bill that would
make it a felony to help illegal immigrants.
Instead of backing the bill, he could have
achieved most of his goals by simply
demanding that the administration vigorously
enforce existing laws and increase penalties
on businesses illegally hiring immigrants.
Although the corporate media asserts that
it is virtually impossible for employers to ver-
ify immigration status, businesses have a
variety of means available to verify the iden-
tity, residency, and age of the applicant.
Companies routinely rely on credit bureaus,
commercial reporting services, background
investigations and their own due diligence in
checking references and conducting inter-
views to establish credentials. Background
reports are available from a wide range of
sources, including Mexican ones. In addition,
employers check the integrity of applicants’
Social Security numbers to ensure that names
and numbers match.
Once again, the corporate media’s report-
ing on the issue serves only to obscure rampant
illegal hiring and does nothing to promote
good public policy. As for DeFazio, he appar-
ently could not resist the opportunity to inocu-
late himself against conservative attack dogs'
charges that he is soft on illegal immigration.
John Hofer
Eugene
Recently Eugene Weekly asked for local
musicians and bands to submit promotional
material to be included in a special publication
featuring local musicians. I assumed the
"Locals Only" section was going to be a pro-
motion of the diversity of local music. I
expected that there would be a brief portrayal
of me as one of Eugene’s established musi-
cians.
Instead, I find myself the object of infantile
humor and poor journalism. I was appalled to
be included on the “Short, Sweet and Sour”
page where I was individually cursed, rudely
called by my last name and then insulted. This
was more than a bad review of my music. It
was malicious and degrading.
The piano compositions on my CD are
peaceful, contemplative and spiritual. The
synthesizer compositions are soundscapes
that deal with things like the rainforest
destruction and artificial intelligence. You
can hear these compositions in a more real-
istic light than portrayed by Mr. Stout at
www.cdbaby.com/cd/loucrist
EW did a severe disservice to all the
bands that were featured on the last page of
the guide. Mr. Stout’s rating system equating
musicians and bands to sadistic behavior and
pornography is disgusting. Why someone
whose own bio states that he hates music
was given this assignment makes me won-
der where was the editorial staff oversight of
this article?
CISCAP & The Whiteaker Community Council
present:
A Day of Yard Sales to
Raise Money for Our Causes
SATURDAY • JUNE 3RD, 2006 • 9AM–4PM
(Pick up sale map at 458 Blair Blvd. @ CISCAP office)
IT WILL BE A MASSIVE EXTRAVAGANZA
OF ANTI-CONSUMERISM &
RECYCLED SHOPPING MADNESS
For more information or to donate to the sale call 485-8633