Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2008)
news briefs muniqué which also calls for a vegan life- style. The activists are undeterred by last year’s sentencings in the Operation Backfire cases, according to the communiqué, which says, they will not be intimidated by the “witch hunt against the earth and animal liberation movements.” The 40 mink that were released have been caught, and the FBI is investigating the incident. Oregon’s last mink release was in 1997 and also attributed to ALF. “Draconian prison sentences and repres- sive legislation will not deter us from our goal of total earth, animal, and human lib- eration,” reads the communiqué. The sentencing for one of those involved in what the FBI called “Operation Backfire,” Jacob Ferguson, has been rescheduled yet again, this time to 1:30 pm Wednesday, May 14. Ferguson’s information and covert recordings were key to the FBI’s “Operation Backfire” case, leading to the prosecution of almost 20 participants in ecologically motivated arsons across the Northwest. He pled guilty to one count of attempted arson and one count of arson in October 2007 and was originally scheduled to be sentenced in January. The sentencing date has been moved several times and could be moved again. Ferguson participated in about 13 arsons and the toppling of a BPA transmission tower but is expected to be sentenced only to probation as a result of a plea deal with federal prosecutors. All of the eco-saboteurs who have appeared in court have taken pleas, except for Briana Waters, whose March 2007 trial resulted in a guilty verdict on two out of five counts. Waters’ sentenc- ing is scheduled for May 30 in Washington. Ferguson’s plea deal will likely allow him to be released on probation and pay no restitution, unlike others in the case who are serving from three to 13 years in federal prisons and paying sometimes millions of dollars in restitution. Check EW’s blogs at blogs.eugeneweek- ly.com for updates on the sentencing. — Camilla Mortensen HOPE ON THE BRAIN Emotions will be an important factor in deciding the 2008 Democratic primary elec- tion between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama — and that’s just how the human brain works, UC Berkeley linguis- tics professor George Lakoff said in an April 25 public lecture at the UO. Lakoff recounted a conversation he’d had with Dick Wirthlin, Ronald Reagan’s chief strategist. Wirthlin told Lakoff he’d been taught in school that people voted based on issues, but he quickly learned in practice that people care more about wheth- er they perceive a candidate as authentic and trustworthy, even if they don’t agree • Look for our election endorsements and more elec- tion stories next week as ballots arrive in the mail. And as usual, we’ll repeat our endorsements in our May 15 issue for those who like to wait until the last minute to mail in or drop off their ballots. The deadline has come and gone to register for the May 20 election or change party affiliation, but even nonvoters can help by volun- teering for campaigns. We’ve already given our nod to Kitty Piercy for mayor and had the pleasure of seeing a huge turnout for her last Friday night at Tsunami Books. The high- energy party raised more than $4,000 for Piercy’s campaign. A lot of Kitty Piercy’s supporters have been holding back, figuring she would be a shoo-in for reelection, but the slick TV ad campaign by the well- funded Torrey campaign has been a wake-up call. • What won’t be on the ballot anytime soon will be EWEB bonding. Activists this week reported they were unable to get the necessary 4,200 valid signatures to qualify their initiative to put EWEB’s $85.5 million in construction bonds on the September ballot. They did get more than 2,000 signatures and say they learned a few things along the way. Josh Schlossberg of the peti- tion group tells us about 75 percent of the people approached were positive about the initiative, but the campaign needed more time and more volunteers. He says 95 percent of the people he approached were unaware of the issue when the signature drive began, but in the final days of the campaign, about half of the people knew something about the issue. That’s accom- plishing something. • Dave Frohnmayer announced this week he will be retiring at the end of the next school year. Here’s a modest proposal for filling the vacancy: How about offering the job to Nike CEO Phil Knight? No expensive WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM with the candidate’s specific positions. Based on that, Wirthlin helped Reagan get elected president twice. How do today’s candidates compare? “Hillary is running on lists of issues, Barack is running on trust,” Lakoff observed. The view of the human mind at the time the U.S. was formed was that reason is con- scious, dispassionate, abstract and based on self-interest — in other words, well suited to an issue-based campaign. But modern brain science has since discovered that rea- son cannot exist independent of emotion, that humans are hardwired for empathy and that most human thought processes are unconscious, Lakoff said. One of these unconscious thought pro- cesses is the formation of metaphors. For instance, the use of the word “warm” to metaphorically mean “affectionate” comes from people’s experiences of being held as babies, of experiencing the affectionate intent in one area of their brains and the physical warmth in another area of their brains. The metaphor comes from the con- nection formed between the two areas of the brain, Lakoff said. Lakoff sees two family metaphors domi- nating American political discourse because the first form of government most people experience is in their families. The Strict Father metaphor, identified with conserva- tive politics, holds that people are born bad and must be disciplined in order to reach self-reliance. The Nurturing Parent meta- phor, identified with progressive politics search process, and probably no salary following the Kilkenny model when the big donor took the athletic director job for free. Knight’s likely not interested in filling Dave’s big sneakers, but then it might be fun for him to really run the place. Like Frohnmayer, he clear- ly loves the UO. • Big changes are coming for the WOW Hall, aka The Community Center for the Performing Arts (CCPA). The WOW Hall is one of our favorite local institutions, providing an all-ages music venue at low cost for many years, and now the nonprofit venue is about to embark on a new era, due in part to the construction of the big 101-unit urban housing complex next door. WestTown on 8th will be opening some units in late May, with more to follow as construction continues through the summer. The project next door means major work on the his- toric WOW Hall as well, with soundproofing, structural work, new heating and air conditioning and exterior work. Longtime WOW Hall supporter Jon Pincus tells us some grant monies are available, but the organiza- tion also needs to crank up its fundraising and develop- ment work. There are lots of challenges, he says, and a “need for fresh leadership.” The WOW Hall is planning its annual membership meeting at 4 pm Sunday, May 4, at the hall, and on the agenda are elections for seven out of nine board posi- tions. CCPA Treasurer David Helton will be chairing the meeting, and his work number is 726-2545. Love the WOW Hall and its great music events? This is a good time to get involved, or at least sit in on what promises to be a lively and informative meeting Sunday afternoon. • Kudos to the crew of volunteers who on Earth Day descended into the pit known as Aster’s hole next to the Centre Court building downtown to clean up trash WAR DEAD Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq began on March 20, 2003 (last week’s numbers in parentheses): • 4,056 U.S. troops killed* (4,039) • 29,320 U.S. troops injured* (29,320) • 145 U.S. military suicides* (145) • 309 coalition troops killed** (309) • 1,123 contractors killed (accurate updates NA) • 90,782 to one million Iraqi civilians killed*** (90,521) • $515.1 billion cost of war ($513.1 billion) • $146.5 million cost to Eugene taxpayers ($145.9 million) * through April 28, 2008; source: icasualties.org; some figures only updated monthly ** estimate; source: icasualties.org *** highest estimate; source: iraqbodycount.org; based on confirmed media reports; other groups calculate civilian deaths as high as 655,000 to one million. and weeds. High school students, city staff, Mayor Kitty Piercy and community folks joined in the effort and even scattered hardy wildflower seeds. We hear the idea for the clean-up came from Drix, who showed up wearing his dad’s 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps boots. Hopefully the old pit will become underground parking for a Beam Development project. See photos of the clean-up on our website this week. • Citizens for Public Accountability held its final forum on downtown revitalization this week, and we are looking forward to seeing what recommendations the group will be presenting to the City Council. The CPA report in itself will have no official status, but it should stand on its own merits. Good ideas and insights into how to implement them should always be welcome, whether they are coming from city staff, elected officials or the people who pay their salaries. The process may also prove useful as a catalyst for innovation and invest- ment independent of city involvement. • More kudos to Laughing Planet Café, which announced this week that it was withdrawing its bid for a restaurant space in the UO’s EMU. The public outcry was very strong in support of keeping Holy Cow on campus. The EMU was unable or unwilling to accommo- date both of these fine eateries, so Laughing Planet took the high road and resolved the issue, sacrificing for now what would likely have been a profitable expansion onto campus. We hope to see Laughing Planet on or near campus soon, and the EMU could do some damage control by helping them find and negoti- ate a location. SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chasing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 1, 2008 9
