slant
685-1800. Donations can be made on the
web at www.vim-clinic.org and those
interested in volunteering can email
dmeashintubby@vim-clinic.org
— Philip Shackleton
VOLUNTEERS
IN MEDICINE
DIPS INTO
RESERVES
During the current recession some of
the hardest hit people have been the
working poor, presenting a challenge to
organizations, such as Volunteers in
Medicine (VIM), which serves this
segment of the population.
VIM in Springfield is one of about 50
free clinics across the nation that provide
free medical and mental health services to
those who qualify under their mission. To
be eligible for VIM’s services a patient’s
income for the last three months must be
between 85 and 200 percent of the federal
poverty level. This works out to around
$900 per month for an individual. Those
who are eligible for the Oregon Health
Plan, Medicare, Medicaid, or any other
insurance are not eligible for services at
the VIM clinic.
The VIM clinic provides a range of
health care services including mental
health and primary care in an integrated
model. This allows for more efficiency and
better communication between primary
care physicians and mental health care
professionals. Two specialty clinics are on
site, a diabetes management and education
clinic, as well as a women’s health care
clinic. VIM runs an in-house dispensary
that provides patients with medication at
no cost. The clinic also can refer patients to
local specialists. The VIM clinic is one of
the only clinics in town to offer its services,
including mental health care, in Spanish.
The current recession has made it
difficult for VIM to continue to fill its
mission. “When the clinic opened 10 years
ago, there were an estimated 23,000
uninsured people in Lane County,” says
Jackie Mikalonis, VIM’s executive
director. “Now that number is
approximately 73,000.” She noted that
during VIM’s 10 years in operation, about
80 percent of patients came from working
families.
VIM is a 100 percent community
supported program. Mikalonis noted, “All
services are free, there are no revenues
from fees, so each year VIM has to raise
more than $1.5 million to deliver free
medical services to the community. The
recession has resulted in an increased
demand for services; and at the same time,
revenues are not keeping pace with
expenditures." VIM has dipped into its
reserves, for rather than cut services, she
added.
VIM’s clinic is located at 2260 Marcola
Road, Springfield. It can be reached at
FOREST
SERVICE
ROADS &
TRAVEL
There are enough roads in the U.S.
National Forests — more than 375,000
miles — to circle the equator 15 times.
According to panelists on the “Forest
Service Travel Management” panel at the
Public Interest Environmental Law
Conference March 3, these roads are
severely underfunded, are a primary cause
of
aquatic
degradation,
habitat
fragmentation, erosion and unmanaged
recreation.
The “travel management rule” directs
all national forests to identify, through a
science-based analysis, an ecologically
and fiscally sustainable minimum road
system by 2015. “We don’t need new laws;
we want the Forest Service to correctly
implement the rules,” said panelist Cyndi
Tuell from the Center for Biological
Diversity. CBD campaigned for the
protection of the Oregon sand dunes from
off-road vehicles a few years ago.
According to the panel, only about 20
percent of the Forest Service roads are
maintained to standard each year.
Additionally, harm from off-road vehicles
such as, dirt bikes, motorcycles, all-terrain
vehicles and snowmobiles, are causing
noise, water and soil pollution, disrupting
the flora and fauna, water systems and
enjoyment of the land by quiet users.
“I can’t monitor all the roads out there,
that’s why I want the Forest Service to
help me,” Tuell said. She said she would
like everyone using public land to help her
as well by documenting evidence of road
erosion. “It would be a huge help to have
people regularly monitoring areas the
same time of year, year after year,
documenting with photos and GPS if
possible,” Tuell said. She recommends
reporting information directly to the Forest
Service to let them know about problematic
areas.
Due to a shortage of maintenance
money and issues with runoff from roads
affecting bull trout and salmon, the
Willamette National Forest is closing 132
miles of roads near Oakridge this spring.
For more information visit, www.
biologicaldiversity.org — Heather Cyrus
PROTECT
THE BATS
“Why save bats?” asked James Eggers,
director of education for Bat Conservation
International during a panel at the recent
Public Interest Environmental Law
Conference. According to Eggers, bats
provide utilitarian values, including pest
management, pollination, seed-dispersal
and guano (aka bat poo) but we are in
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
• We had the good fortune to go to Lynda and Brian Lanker’s house for a DeFazio
fundraiser last November. As many of you know, the walls of their splendid home
display Brian’s photography, Lynda’s paintings, and on that autumn evening,
brilliant bouquets of fresh flowers enhanced it all. Lynda said the flowers were
Brian’s province. As we reflect on that evening and read local and national tributes
after Brian Lanker’s too-early death, we better understand how his essential
humanity and passion for social justice drove much of his truly profound
photography.
• Can Civic Stadium’s sturdy old-growth structure be saved from the
chainsaw and bulldozer? We were pleased to see City Councilor George Brown last
week push for more council input into the 4J School Board’s decision-making
process. This might buy a little time and get the three interested parties talking to
each other about a public-private partnership that could benefit just about
everyone.
Last time we checked, the Y and Save Civic Stadium (SCS) were not talking to each
other after a year of discussions. Dave Perez, executive director of the Y, tells us
money and parking were some of the big issues. “In the end,” he says, “the cost of
the stadium’s capital restoration combined with unsustainable ongoing costs
caused our organizations to part ways.” The Y and its architects looked at vertical
parking, but it was “cost prohibitive.” So the Y’s plans show a big parking lot and
tennis courts in the middle of the site, surrounded by apartments, with an
impressive new Y on the north side. The Y is also trying to finance a second new
facility in north Eugene.
Meanwhile, Ron Crasilneck, SCS’s board president, tells us he’s frustrated that “the
Y’s refusal to consider anyone else’s needs but their own demonstrates to me a lack
of understanding of how to get things done.” Crasilneck says the Y could benefit
greatly from a joint proposal, and even get its new building site for free. “I see no
reason for us to approach them again when they have shown no signs of willingness
to work with anyone else besides an out-of-state housing developer.”
The Y and SCS are no longer competing with each other so much as with the third
proposal from Steve Master and Fred Meyer, which is finding favor with the cash-
strapped school district. Will this motivate the Y and SCS to get over their past
differences, sit down again and collaborate? Can parking across Amazon next to
South Eugene High be utilized? Can Master add a commercial element to the mix
(other than an ugly big box store) to make the package more viable? Three complex
plans would need to merge, but saving a landmark would be a huge draw for
community support and fundraising. The district would gain long-term lease
income, the property would stay in public ownership as intended in the 1938 deed
to 4J, and Civic Stadium would be restored as a venue for soccer and other sports,
and as a vibrant community center.
• Good, impassioned discussion on Envision Eugene at City Club last week.
Quality of life got a lot of attention, including the need to protect our shrinking
agricultural lands from development. It was a bit disturbing to hear brownfields
such as railyards and old industrial sites being written off as too expensive to clean
up and redevelop. So do we just leave them as toxic eyesores while we pave over
prime farmland? With a little visionary leadership, Eugene can do better than that.
• A bill for single-payer “public option” health insurance in Oregon had a public
hearing in Salem March 11 with a good turnout in support. Rep. Paul Holvey is one
of the sponsors of HB 3510, called the Affordable Health Care for All Oregon Act.
Oregon is joining Vermont, Pennsylvania, California and 17 other states in
promoting single-payer legislation as an alternative to the national legislation. U.S.
Sen. Ron Wyden gets credit for language in Obamacare that allows states to pursue
their own proposals that would meet the same goals of the federal legislation.
Why now when the economy is in the tank? The insurance industry takes a big bite
out of the health care pie, and the federal legislation doesn’t go nearly far enough
in cutting costs. Proponents of the Oregon bill tell us we can’t afford to wait. By
their projections, state and local governments in Oregon would save $900 million
a year under single-payer, businesses would see their health care benefit costs
reduced by 16 percent; doctors’ costs to collect fees would decrease 30 percent;
and families on average would save $340 annually. Let’s do it. And Oregon can once
again serve as an example for the nation.
• We’re off to war again, this time in defense of Libyans under attack by Gadhafi
and his loyalists. Exercising U.S. military force always has unintended consequences.
It’s preferable to have these tough decisions being made by Barack Obama, the U.N.
Security Council and the Arab League, rather than Dick Cheney, but what about the
other Arab nations where newly informed and inspired citizens are rising up
against their autocratic rulers who have been supported militarily by the U.S. for
decades? Do we pick sides and inject ourselves into every budding civil war? Our
Middle East foreign policy has been based on U.S. self-interest and ignorance rather
than diplomacy in search of peace and justice. Obama will have a hard time turning
around our bloody U.S. legacy. The civil war in Iraq is still raging with 129 civilian
deaths just last week.
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
lighten up
According to Aristotle, the brain is used to cool the blood and not for
thinking. Michele Bachmann proves him right.
— Rafael Aldave, Eugene
EUGENE WEEKLY
MARCH 24, 2011 7