Barry Sommer
MAKE PANTIES FOR
YOUR PARTNER
Tired of purchasing the traditional flowers and candies for your partner on
Valentine’s Day? What says love more than making a pair of underwear for your
lover out of his or her favorite old T-shirt! Redoux Parlour, a retail shop specializing
in local designers, consignment and resale, is hosting an undies-making workshop
11 am to 2 pm Saturday, Feb. 5, at its 780 Blair Blvd. location.
“Most people don’t realize how easy it is to make your own underwear,” says
Laura Lee Laroux, owner of Redoux Parlour. Laroux offers sewing classes for
the community, but has never done a one-day workshop before. “I figured it
would be fun to provide a different kind of Valentine’s activity for the
community; plus it’s a great way to teach people how to reuse an article of
clothing that they might otherwise throw out,” says Laroux.
For $35, the workshop includes materials for three pairs of undies, including
lace, elastic, Lycra scraps and other recycled materials, a custom underwear
pattern (yoga short, boy short, bikini, low-rider hipster, thong or brief) and of
course, the sewing machine and thread to create your magic.
Laroux encourages individuals to bring in an old favorite article of clothing
you can transform to make a more personalized gift for yourself or a loved one.
For more information and to sign up for the workshop call 342-1942.
— Heather Cyrus
EMX GETS STRONG SUPPORT
While media attention has focused on a few car-oriented businesses opposed to
the proposed West 11th EmX bus rapid transit route, support for the project from a
group representing more than 23,000 local citizens has gone relatively unnoticed.
The ASUO, the elected UO student government representing 23,389 UO
students, unanimously passed a resolution Nov. 17 strongly supporting LTD’s
proposed public transportation improvement.
The resolution notes that the ASUO provides almost 3 percent of LTD’s operating
budget, far more than the payroll taxes of any of the business opponents. The UO and
its students are by far the largest employer and largest economic driver in Eugene.
Both students and businesses would benefit from the West 11th street rapid
transit, according to the ASUO resolution. “The West Eugene EmX Extension is
a vital transportation solution in the Eugene-Springfield area,” the resolution
representing 23,000 local citizens states. “West Eugene has been focused on the
automobile for too long. Automobile congestion decreases the opportunities for
Eugene residents to choose alternate modes of transportation along this important
corridor while continuing to emit pollutants that harm our environment. We
believe that this project will bring much needed connections to the residences
and businesses in West Eugene and will go a long way in completing the
progressive bus rapid transit network we would like to see in our community.”
The huge show of support was sent to the Eugene City Council Jan. 22 by
ASUO Senate President Zachary Stark-MacMillan. “I think it shows the strength
of the student support for this valuable service,” Stark-MacMillan told the council.
LTD has tried to appease a vocal minority of “No Build” opponents by scaling
the EmX project back at the expense of riders, but the “No Build” group still
fiercely opposes the public transit project.
The City Council, which has appeared closely divided on the issue, plans to
vote on West Eugene EmX on March 9 after a Feb. 8 public hearing (see Activist
Alert). — Alan Pittman
GERRYMANDER
COULD REDRAW
EUGENE POWER
The Eugene City Council plans to begin
meeting this month to redraw councilor
ward boundaries — and perhaps the city’s
power structure — in response to the 2010
Census.
The council plans to meet Feb. 14 to
discuss ward redistricting.
Ten years ago the Eugene Area
Chamber of Commerce successfully
pushed adoption of its carefully drawn
map of wards that eliminated a progressive
south Eugene councilor seat. To accomplish
that, the Chamber map severed students
living near Autzen Stadium from a
university area ward and created an
elongated, noncontiguous north Eugene
ward that stretches north from the Ferry
Street Bridge, jumps the river and another
ward, and reaches up to the far end of
River Road, a seven-mile drive away.
“It’s a blatant power grab,” progressive
activist Greg McLauchlan complained in a
2001 Eugene Weekly opinion column.
McLauchlan wrote that the chamber map
sought to segregate progressive voters into
three concentrated wards to reduce the
chance of progressives winning in mixed,
swing districts.
Former councilor Bonny Bettman
(McCornack) complained 10 years ago
that redistricting moved the City Council
to the right in support of urban sprawl and
corporate and developer subsidies. “We
ended up with the Republican scenario.”
The Chamber of Commerce had
threatened the city that if it didn’t get the
gerrymander it wanted, the conservative
business group would sue the city and/or
pass a charter amendment to eliminate all
wards and elect councilors citywide.
Citywide elections would favor more
conservative candidates with deeper
pockets for mass advertising, a City Club
committee noted.
Eugene City Councilor Andrea Ortiz, in
elongated Ward 7, emailed councilors last
month that she plans to attend a training
this week in Washington, D.C., on
redistricting.
Mayor Kitty Piercy emailed back, “I
think we need a redistricting briefing and
some information about how this will roll
out.” — Alan Pittman
ISLAMIC STORM
IN A TEACUP
Undeterred by LCC’s cancellation of
his “What Is Islam” classes and the modest
firestorm that ensued from that, Barry
8 FEBRUARY 3, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
Sommer began a series of four weekly
lectures from 6 to 8 pm on the same
subject in Harris Hall on Jan. 24. Working
independently of any sponsorship, Sommer
devoted the first third of the evening to an
account of the life of Mohammed, followed
by a history of how the Qur’an evolved
from oral revelation to written document.
Two weeks earlier in the same location,
Sommer had given a 45-minute preview of
his free month-long Monday night series at
a gathering of the Lane County 9.12
Project, a local Tea Party group that
meets at 6:15 pm on the second Tuesday of
every month at Harris Hall downtown.
Sommer had been criticized previously
for lacking any formal academic credentials,
and for presenting a biased view of Islam on
his CTV program, writings and blog.
However, LCC does not require academic
credentials for noncredit “personal
enrichment” courses, and Sommer claims
that every word he presents can be verified
as factual, often in the Qur’an itself. He
denies “cherry picking” only the worst
aspects of Islam, and has issued an open
challenge to debate anyone who claims he
“manufactures fictitious or biased data.”
His message found a receptive audience
among the nearly 50 of the 9.12 Project
attendees and at each of his presentations
since.
Representatives of Eugene’s Anti-Hate
Task Force handed out fliers before each
event decrying Sommer’s “prejudice and
discrimination” for encouraging a community
atmosphere that replaces “friendship, unity
and common purpose” with “division,
mistrust and ignorance.” However, after
the Jan.11 meeting, several 9.12ers expressed
the opinion that they didn’t find anything
“hateful” about Sommer’s presentation, and
similar audience reactions have followed
each event.
The Lane 9.12 Project is an offshoot of
the national organization founded by Fox
News TV and radio personality Glenn
Beck. Its approximately 200-plus local
members are a like-minded group of
individuals with common conservative
values “frustrated with wild government
spending and high taxes to finance it,”
according to their current chair, Glenn
Stutzman.
“We have grown to expect the
government to take the place of the
educator, family, landlord, doctor, and
general care taker,” says Stutzman. Put
right, he feels, “The interest alone on our
local and national debts could pay for a
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