Eugene weekly., April 28, 2011, Page 8, Image 8

PHOTO BY ARMANDO SENRA
NEW ELECTRIC
CAR UNVEILED
PHOTOG KILLED IN LIBYA
Award-winning conflict photographer Chris Hondros was killed, along with docu-
mentarian Tim Hetherington, in Misrata April 20 while covering the conflict in Libya.
Hondros, who was shooting for Getty Images, realized his dream of photographing
wars and conflicts all over the world. Dan Morrison, a UO photojournalism
instructor who also works in war zones, describes Hondros as among the world’s
elite conflict photographers, a job description that understates the risks these people
take to bring us the news.
“They do it,” Morrison says, “because they believe in democracy. And a
democracy without an informed citizenry is not a democracy at all.” But to imagine
the dangers, consider one basic difference between journalism and photojournalism:
“A print reporter can describe a battle without ever actually seeing it,” Morrison
says. “But a photojournalist must be in the killing zone.”
“I strongly believe,” Hondros wrote in an alumni-directed publication at North
Carolina State, “that we re-fight the same wars over and over again … I’ve seen
reoccurring themes and grievances in all the conflicts I’ve covered, even those
seemingly dissimilar, like say the Serbs in Kosovo and the rebels in Liberia. Even
right now, in Iraq for Americans … it’s all more alike than we often realize.”
Hondros leaves behind a fiancée and family who have requested that anyone
wishing to show support donate to the Chris Hondros Fund, which will provide
scholarships for aspiring photojournalists and raise awareness of issues concerning
conflict photography:
The Chris Hondros Fund, c/o Christina Piaia, 50 Bridge Street, No. 414,
Brooklyn, NY 11201. More of Hondros’ work can be seen at chrishondros.com
— Ulrick Casimir
8
APRIL 28, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
Easter weekend marked the return of
Zombie Jesus for some Eugeneans. It also
marked the rising of hope for new small
businesses in the area. While Fashion Week
(see photos page 32) dominated stages at
Agate Hall and Opus VII promoting local
fashion designers, Arcimoto’s newest
electric car prototype hit the Whiteaker,
along with stars of TV’s Castle Nathan
Fillion and Jon Huertas, promoting local
alternative vehicle production.
Arcimoto founder Mark Frohnmayer
unveiled the “Red 5” or SRK (aka the
Shark) to a crowd of over 100 from
members of the Whiteaker Bike Brigade to
supporters of the Bus Project, who came to
town from Portland for the unveiling
following a discussion of the role of public
policy in stimulating economic innovation
as part of the Bus Project’s “Le Tour
d’Innovation.”
Eugene Reps. Nancy Nathanson and Val
Hoyle led the Bus Project’s discussion at
Sam Bond’s before the Arcimoto event,
moderated by political thinker Dan Carol of
The New Policy Institute. About 25 young
business entrepreneurs, congressional staff-
ers and community organizers attended,
though the attendance by the under-30
crowd was heavily weighted toward the
Portland contingent.
happening people
The discussion ranged from health care
plans for emerging microbusinesses to the
effects of tax credits. Nathanson said “A
yacht credit, do we really need that?” But
pointed out that giving tax credits to a
business is wise if Oregon puts “sunset
dates” on them when they no longer
function as a business incentive.
Incentives of another sort were of con-
cern to Hoyle who discussed Lane County’s
upcoming participation as a part of a pilot
program for Oregon’s potential health care
exchange marketplace and the need to give
incentives for people to be healthy. The
Oregon Senate passed SB 99 on April 25
that would create the Oregon Health Insur-
ance Exchange. “Oregon is a perfect incu-
bator for companies to be big fish in a small
pond,” Hoyle said. The program, she said,
would allow small businesses to buy into
affordable health plans.
After the discussion, the Bus Project
joined the celebration at a warehouse on 1st
Avenue for Arcimoto and its zero-emission
SRK that Fillion (known to many fans at
“Captain Tightpants”) said he will use to
commute to his set for the TV show Castle.
The car, according to Frohnmayer, is made
for the 90 percent of drivers who drive
alone and commute within a 40-mile range.
Frohnmayer said in his speech at the
unveiling that Arcimoto was inspired by a
car he saw in a Eugene Celebration parade
— the three wheeled BugE. He pointed out,
dryly, that a vehicle for one to two people
going a short distance and carrying minimal
stuff had already been invented — the
bicycle — but that isn’t what people are
using, since given the bike option, they
continue to drive.
The Oregon Legislature is currently
looking at a per-mile tax for electric and
plug-in vehicles to balance the funding lost
through the cars not paying for roadway
wear and tear through gas taxes.
— Camilla Mortensen
BY PAUL NEEVEL
RABBI MAURICE HARRIS
“My mom was one of 12 siblings,”
says Maurice Harris, who grew up
in St. Louis but spent summers in
Israel visiting family. “I spent lots of
time on the beach and playing with
kids.” Harris was active in peace
and reconciliation work at Wesleyan
University in Connecticut. He
worked half a year on a kibbutz,
then moved to San Francisco,
where he eventually directed the
shoestring-budget Bay Area
Holocaust Oral History Project. “I
did the videography for 40 or 50
interviews,” he says. “It was eye-
opening.” After five years at the
progressive Reconstructionist
Rabbinical College in Philadelphia
and ordination in 2003, he found
work as associate rabbi and head of
the religious school at Temple Beth
Israel in Eugene. “I support Israel-
Palestine reconciliation as a
member of the J Street Rabbinic
Cabinet,” says Harris, whose work
for GLBT equality with the
Religious Response Network earned
him the Heneini (“I am here” in
Hebrew) Award from TBI’s Queer
Chavurot. “Gay equality is not a
secular versus religious issue,” he
says. Though he is stepping down as rabbi at the end of July, Harris will stay on in Eugene.
“I hope to make a living teaching and writing,” he says, “and doing political work.”
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