Eugene weekly., March 22, 2007, Page 9, Image 9

Ballet Company, was alarmed by a footnote to
the suggestion which reads, in part, that the
Hult Center’s “inability to fund raise or present
more effectively preclude it from using these
avenues to address its need for additional rev-
enues.” Grannan explained that if the EBC and
other Hult user groups had to compete with the
Hult Center itself for funding, that would be a
problem because “there are precious few foun-
dations here. … When the big gorilla asks for
money, they will get priority, and we will be far
down on the list.” He summed up the recom-
mendation as “something for everybody,”
which would mean “nothing for all.” Goldring
responded, “The situation is untenable, and it
is going to get worse if it isn’t addressed.”
The entire document is available at the
Cultural Policy Review website (www.eu-
gene-or.gov/CulturalPolicyReview), where
mayor’s committee co-chair and former City
Councilor David Kelly strongly encouraged
Eugeneans to give their feedback through the
“Tactics Review Worksheet” or directly by
email before the end of this month. Goldring
and Bach will create the final draft during the
month of April, and they need comments by
March 30th. — Suzi Steffen
A POET AND
A SOLDIER
When
Maj.
William F. “Bill”
Hecker III came to
Eugene from West
Point, friends said
that he felt a little
strange at first. He
was dedicated sol-
dier and a lover of
poetry, so the Army William Hecker
sent him to the UO to get a master’s degree in
English. He then taught literature as an assis-
tant professor for three years at West Point be-
fore being deployed to Iraq, where he was
killed in January, 2006.
While at the UO, Hecker studied “soldier
poetry,” a term he preferred to “war poetry.” At
West Point, he published a book on Edgar
Allen Poe. When he received his assignment to
Iraq, Hecker began to study Arabic so he could
read Iraqi literature and better understand the
people he felt he was there to help.
“From his morning cup of coffee to his
family relationships to his scholarship to his
soldiering, he did everything with
passion, commitment, intelligence,
and care,” said UO professor Karen
Ford, who directed his MA thesis.
“That made his death more painful,
but it also meant he had lived every
moment of his life with purpose.”
In his thesis, Hecker wrote about
poetry that was published only be-
cause its authors survived combat.
The poetry “never would have breathed” if not
for the Americans who “survived and pre-
vailed in the harshest imaginable conditions
for the sake of destroying tyranny.” But
Hecker himself would not survive to educate
future generations.
Hecker dreamed of getting his Ph.D. when
he returned from Iraq and teaching at West
Point for the rest of his career. “He loved
America, American literature, and teaching,”
said Ford.
His time in Eugene helped Eugeneans un-
derstand soldiers, Ford said, “He surprised a
lot of people here who thought they knew what
someone from West Point would be like. And I
think we surprised him, too.”
— Camilla Mortensen
Kitty Piercy, Betty Taylor, Sergei
Bereznuk and Marina Rikhvanova
DEFENDING
LAKE BAIKAL
Two Russian visitors in Eugene for the UO
Public Interest Environmental Law
Conference in early March visited with Mayor
Kitty Piercy and representatives from EWEB.
They were Marina Rikhvanova of the Baikal
Environmental Wave (BEW) and Sergei
Bereznuk of the Phoenix Fund.
Piercy had contacted BEW last year when
she was preparing to visit Eugene’s sister city
of Irkutsk, near Lake Baikal in Siberia. She
says she wanted to understand the environ-
mental issues of Irkutsk, in addition to cultural
and economic aspects.
Piercy says she learned about the success-
HAPPENIN’
BiZ
RYAN ROGERS OF FISHERMAN’S MARKET
Eugene native and South Eugene High grad Ryan Rogers began working summers in
Alaska as a break from studying economics at the UO. “I dropped out winter term of
my senior year,” he says. “I didn’t want to end up on the 40th floor in San Francisco
or Seattle.” Instead, he bought a boat to fish for salmon in Prince William Sound. A
year later, the Exxon Valdez hit the rocks. “I was the fourth boat hired to help clean
up the spill,” he says. “It paid off the boat and enabled me to survive.” Looking for
an alternative to year-round fishing at age 35, Rogers joined with old friend Mike
West in 1997 to purchase the Fisherman’s Market, until then an outlet for Newport
fisherman Dick Ramus. “Our number-one product is crab,” says Rogers, now sole
owner of the market. “We get crab twice a week, typically from Newport and
Charleston. Since Thanksgiving, we’ve had no fuel expense. I had my truck converted
to burn our fryer oil.” Rogers still spends his summers on Prince William Sound. “It’s
one of the most beautiful parts of Alaska,” he says. “Also one of the mellower fish-
eries, for weather and for competition.” — Paul Neevel
MARCH 22, 2007 9