Eugene weekly., February 01, 2007, Page 9, Image 9

site. “But the American Institute of
Architects (AIA) is setting out to study
how all the parts connect. We want to reach
beyond the ‘usual suspects’ to include
those whose views and experiences may
not overlap any more neatly than the ideas
that have begun to emerge for what could
happen along this corridor.”
The Franklin Corridor Study is a long-
range project with a long-range vision
spanning the next several decades. More
workshops are planned for mid-April and
at the Eugene Celebration next fall. The
study is initially funded by a $15,000 grant
from the AIA.
Civic activist Don Kahle of the study’s
steering committee says the group is more
interested at this point in asking the right
questions than coming up with immediate
solutions.
“The issue has something for every-
one,” says Kahle. “Traffic, mass transit,
riverfront, railroads, bike trails, Glenwood
development, Walnut Street nodal devel-
opment, the UO’s plans for an arena and a
front door, the emerging neighborhood
around the federal courthouse. Even larger
looms how Eugene and Springfield relate
to one another and how both relate to the
state’s major interstate highway.”
— Ted Taylor
JAZZED ON
ENERGY
The lights inside Harris Hall were
dimmed low, but spirits were high at the
first Lane County Energy Forum Tuesday,
Jan. 23. By the 7 pm start time, so many
people had filled the Public Service
Building hall at 8th and Oak, they were
spilling out the doors.
The Energy Forum’s co-director Kathy
Ging estimates there were 300 to 350 com-
munity attendees, about half of whom
stood in the back, leaned against walls, or
sat on the aisle floors for the entire two-
hour session.
The panel of 11 speakers included
EWEB and EPUD (Emerald People’s
Utility District) representatives, longtime
energy activists, and experts on climate
change studies, biofuels, solar energy and
green building.
Other than a few technological hitches
involving fussy PowerPoint presentations
(a couple of techies from the audience res-
cued the presenters), the forum covered a
lot of ground. The meeting was at once an
informational session and a statement —
that Lane County is ready for a sustainable
future, according to Ging. “We had the top
minds in the city there,” Ging says, noting
that several attendees were energy profes-
sionals and activists she has worked with
and read about for nearly three decades.
The turnout and response “was truly amaz-
ing,” Ging says. An email sign-up sheet re-
ceived 190 signatures. “I’ve never seen
190 people sign up for anything in
Eugene,” Ging says.
Ging says the second Energy Forum,
scheduled for Feb. 27 at the First United
Methodist Church, 1376 Olive St., won’t
include any PowerPoint presentations.
Instead, community members will discuss
energy topics in small focus groups (and
yes, floating between groups is allowed).
Ging and her fellow coordinators hope to
find community leaders interested in being
group facilitators. Check out oregonener-
gymodel.org or contact Kathy Ging at 342-
8461 or Kathy@kathyging.com for more
details. —Nicole Fancher
FEW WANT FASTER GROWTH
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Too fast
Too slow
Just about right
Source: Eugene Community Surveys
(no data for 1992)
Every year developers and the Chamber of Commerce push for faster growth in
Eugene. But for the last 16 years, far more people in Eugene have thought the city
population is growing too fast rather than too slowly.
In 1990 about twice as many people thought the city was growing too fast
rather than too slowly, according to city surveys. Growth opposition crested in
1999 when 56 percent thought the city was growing too fast compared to only 2
percent who thought the city’s growth was too slow. That year, 40 percent said the
city’s growth rate was just about right.
In 2006, more than four times as many people thought the city was growing too
fast rather than too slowly. Half of survey respondents said the city’s growth rate
was just about right, 31 percent said it was too fast and just 7 percent said it was
too slow. — Alan Pittman
CIRCUS IN
RIVER ROAD?
The
River
Road
Community
Organization has an ambitious neighbor-
hood celebration planned for Saturday,
Feb. 3 at the Park District Recreation
Center in Emerald Park, 1400 Lake Drive.
A full day of fun, education and entertain-
ment is scheduled from 1 to 9 pm. The
event is being likened to a circus by organ-
izers, with activities and entertainment
planned for all ages.
WOMEN SAY
PULL OUT NOW
Many of the two dozen or so Oregonians
who traveled to Washington, D.C., last week-
end to stop the war experienced turbulent
landings as they set down in the nation’s cap-
ital amid a swirl of snow flurries and frigid
temperatures. Yet the climate soon warmed
for Saturday’s peace march, and the esti-
mated half a million people who arrived from
at least 47 states calling for peace.
Speakers at Saturday’s pre-march rally,
organized by United for Peace and Justice,
included the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who admit-
ted to the crowd, “Peace is controversial,”
and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who called for a
Department of Peace. Rep. Maxine Waters
chastised the administration, drawing huge
cheers when she declared “Condi Rice does-
n’t represent me.”
The march, led by Code Pink, a women’s
peace action group, completely encircled the
Capitol building. Code Pink members
drummed and chanted, “Women say pull out
now,” and marchers carried signs declaring,
“The rapture is not an exit strategy,” and
“Impeach Cheney, then Bush.”
Next, marchers swarmed past the
Supreme Court Building, spontaneously
chanting, “Bring back habeus corpus.”
On Sunday, UFPJ held a lobby training
day, followed by Monday’s day on Capitol
Hill that saw nearly a thousand Americans
visiting their representatives to lobby for an
end to the Iraq War.
“Ho’ohemokolonaio: Why Political Decolonization
Is Not Enough for Kanaka Maoli in Hawai’i”
The quest for political independence of the Hawaiian Islands and
the thrust for recognition of indigenous Hawaiians — can these
threads meet the needs of indigenous Hawaiians, Kanaka Maoli,
for dignity, freedom and self-determination?
Monday, Feb. 12, 2007 • 7 p . m . • FREE
Room 110, Knight Law Center, UO
Reception and book-signing follow
in the Wayne Morse Commons.
Dr. Noenoe Silva ,
of the University of Hawaii
discusses the struggle
for recognition of
indigenous Hawaiians
Sponsored by the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics
(541) 346-3700 • www.waynemorsecenter.uoregon.edu
FEBRUARY 1, 2007 9