ONAMI’s Miniature Tactical Energy
Systems initiative is sponsored by the U.S.
Army, and the Inherently Safer
Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing ini-
tiative is sponsored by the U.S. Air Force, ac-
cording to the ONAMI website.
Eiden said the group would like an official
statement describing why the military is in-
terested in contributing funds to ONAMI. “It
just doesn’t seem like enough is being told
about what exactly is going on,” he said.
UO chemistry professor Jim Hutchison,
who directs ONAMI’s Inherently Safer
Nanomaterials and Nanomanufacturing ini-
tiative, has said previously on multiple occa-
sions that the UO does not conduct weapons
research.
Eiden said the group’s actions regarding
ONAMI might include informing the citizens
of Eugene about the institute, distributing fly-
ers and petitions, and lobbying the UO
Student Senate to make a statement on the
issue. He added that collaborations with SDS
chapters in Portland and Corvallis might also
be possible, and emphasized the importance
of educating people about political issues.
“If people want a resource to combat
something, it can’t just be throwing yourself
in front of a bulldozer,” Eiden said.
— Eva Sylwester
KNOW YOUR
DERECHOS
When does a bill become a law? For
Spanish-speaking Eugeneans who didn’t
grow up watching Schoolhouse Rock’s “I’m
Just a Bill,” the answer may not be clear.
Patricia Cortez, youth program coordinator at
Amigos Centro de Servicios Multiculturales
and advisor to Latino immigrant youth group
Juventud FACETA, says that some unethical
groups are trying to take advantage of immi-
grants right now. She’s heard reports of
groups that convince immigrants that bills
have become laws which provide methods to
become citizens. “People fall into traps and
pay money, and the groups disappear,” she
says.
The members of Juventud FACETA want
to change that. On June 10, FACETA, in con-
junction with the American Friends Service
Committee’s Project Voice, will present a
day-long event at St. Mary’s Catholic
Church. The event, which is entirely in
Spanish, is called Derechos de los
Inmigrantes son Derechos Humanos
(Immigrant Rights are Human Rights).
In workshops like “Nuestra Identidad
Individual y Nuestra Identidad Colectiva”
and “Los Derechos Humanos y los Derechos
Civiles,” FACETA members want to involve
the community in lively educational discus-
sions. Cortez says they expect around 50
adults to take part. FACETA will provide
child care, and local Latino restaurants and
businesses are in charge of food for the free
event, which also features UO professor
Lynn Stephen and KLCC’s Armando
Morales. “This helps immigrants know their
rights, so they won’t believe dishonest people
trying to fool them,” says Cortez. Those still
wanting to register can call 746-6022.
— Suzi Steffen
BUCKS FOR
THE DUCKS
The UO subsidizes its athletic department
with $1.4 million a year in student fees, ac-
cording to a database of NCAA financial re-
ports compiled by The Indianapolis Star.
The use of fees on struggling students to
subsidize huge athletic budgets is controver-
sial at many universities, the Star recently re-
ported. Students at Indiana University re-
cently fought successfully to eliminate $1
million in new student fees to subsidize ath-
letics, the Star reported. Critics say few stu-
dents benefited from the fees, which did not
go to increasing the quality of their educa-
tion.
The UO announced a few years ago that it
would stop diverting money from its general
fund to subsidize athletics, but subsidies such
as student fees continue.
Another big public subsidy comes from
tax breaks. The UO reported $11.6 million in
contributions from boosters in the 2004-05
school year. The UO’s educational mission
makes donations to it tax deductible. Sports
donations are mostly for entertainment, but
money contributed to UO athletics is still tax
deductible, costing state and federal govern-
ments millions of dollars.
About a third of the money the UO has
raised for its ongoing Campaign Oregon
fundraising drive has gone to athletics, The
Oregonian reported recently. That share,
$138 million, is far higher than what has gone
to athletics at other universities and is more
than twice what has been raised for the UO’s
College of Arts & Sciences.
A big chunk of UO athletic spending goes
to recruiting players. The UO led the Pac-10
in spending on football recruiting with
$430,000 spent in the 2004-2005 school year,
according to the Star database. As part of its
recruiting efforts, the UO has also spent mil-
lions of dollars on huge billboards of football
players, an indoor practice facility and a posh
locker room.
Oregon spends about $85,000 per player a
year on the UO football team. But The
Oregonian reported the state spends only
about $4,000 per student on higher education,
ranking it 46th in the nation. — Alan Pittman
CITY PARKS GO
PESTICIDE-
FREE
Sown in the fall like wildflower seeds,
pesticide-free parks will root out weeds …
through nontoxic means. No Roundup
needed.
The Northwest Coalition for Alternatives
to Pesticides (NCAP) has been working with
the Eugene parks department since October
to design a one-year pilot program for man-
aging five neighborhood parks without pesti-
cides: Scobert Gardens, Gilbert, Awbrey,
Berkeley and Shadow Wood. It’s a small but
symbolic effort, representing about 2 percent
of the city’s parkland. But if all goes well, the
city will likely extend and expand the pro-
gram, said city Parks Maintenance Manager
Kevin Finney.
Ironically, at the same time that the city
BY PAUL NEEVEL
GAYLE AND
GREG EDWARDS
In a west Eugene ware-
house, Gayle and Greg
Edwards display a few of
the 30-plus donated ortho-
pedic wheelchairs that
they will personally deliver
to the Mexican state of
Baja California Sur this
summer. In 2002, the
Edwards founded Mobilize
Mankind, a non-profit
devoted to finding used
orthopedic equipment and
bringing it to children with
physical challenges and
limited resources. “The key
word is recycling,” says
Greg. “A lot of outgrown
equipment is sitting around
in garages.” An adventur-
ous pair, both of whom had
lived and worked in South
America, the Edwards met in Eugene, married in 1991, and ran an English school
in the Czech Republic for nine years. On their return, Gayle resumed her career
as a physical therapist. She learned of the dire need for orthopedic equipment in
impoverished areas on a trip to China in 2001. In cooperation with Baja Sur
agencies and charities, Mobilize Mankind has supplied 250 kids with specialized
wheelchairs, and brought orthopedic equipment to five schools. “We have com-
mitted for 10 years,” says Gayle. Learn more at mobilizemankind.org.
Lane County
Herbicide Spray
Schedule
• Lane County will soon start spraying the
following herbicides: Oust Extra (sulfome-
turon methyl and metsulfuron methyl),
Milestone (aminopyralid), Habitat (imaza-
pyr), Garlon 3A (triclopyr) and
Aquamaster (glyphosate). (For info or
feedback, call IVM Coordinator Orin
Shumacher: 682-6908.)
• Lane County uses herbicides around
Public Works building, including Casoron
(dichlobenil), Roundup (glyphosate) and
others. (For ground maintenance records,
call 682-6911.)
• Lane County Vegetation Management
Advisory Committee has three openings.
Application deadline: 5 pm June 16. For
info, call 682-6991 or visit
www.co.lane.or.us/BCC/vacancies.htm
• For No Spray Area Permit, call 682-6911
or (800) 826-8978.
Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers:
342-8332.
boots toxic chemicals out of roughly 10 acres
of neighborhood parks, Friends of Buford
Park has announced plans to start using herbi-
cides on 10 acres of Mt. Pisgah to control
false brome. Finney sympathizes. “Managing
natural areas that have invasive species is ex-
tremely challenging, and that’s why we
haven’t included them in our pilot program,”
he said.
But for now, the focus is on the pesticide-
free parks, where flame weeding, hand weed-
ing, mulching and other nontoxic methods
will replace herbicide use. Costs to the city
will be minimal.
NCAP spokeswoman Megan Kemple,
who has worked to implement similar pro-
grams in Portland and Salem, hopes that the
pilot effort will inspire local residents to try
nontoxic weed control methods in their own
backyards.
The city already minimizes herbicide use
through an integrated pest management pro-
gram that emphasizes eco-friendly alterna-
tives. But park maintenance crews some-
times spot-spray synthetic herbicides like
gyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup)
on the toughest weeds, avoiding areas near
restrooms, picnic areas and playgrounds.
— Kera Abraham
SARA RICH
AT WAND
Sara Rich, MSW, spoke to a crowd of
hundreds at the Take Back Our America rally
March 18 (see EW web archives for 3/30),
describing her daughter’s experiences as a
soldier in Iraq. Her daughter went AWOL this
winter, citing persistent intimidation and sex-
ual harassment from fellow soldiers in addi-
tion to the dangers of war. She was also or-
dered to return to Iraq for a third tour of duty
in less than four years.
Rich will be speaking about her daugh-
ter’s plight at the 6:30 to 9 pm meeting of
Women’s Action for New Directions
(WAND) at McNail-Riley House, 13th and
Jefferson, Eugene. The meeting is free and
open to the public.
JUNE 1, 2006 9