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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (May 12, 2011)
NEWS BRIEFS slant • If you missed our election endorsements last week, look for our Endorsements at a Glance this week. It only takes a few minutes to fill out the ballot and white ballot boxes can be found around town and on campus. Deadline for voting is 8 pm Tuesday, May 17. • The biggest item on the ballot is the temporary income tax for schools, and the R-G complicated the issue May 1 by editorializing against the measure and its “leakage” of revenue, saying that “a bucket that leaks 30 percent of its water has bigger holes than most.” As EW’s Alan Pittman pointed out in his news story last week, “that’s half the leakage rate of the property taxes that conservatives have repeatedly backed for jails, potholes and other measures.” Every tax has collection costs and there are always people and corporations that dodge taxes through exemptions, loopholes or downright deceit. It is peculiar that the R-G is against the tax, but endorses all the board candidates who are in favor of the tax. Is that some odd attempt at “balance”? • 4J School Board candidate and Eagle Scout Mark Callahan is running TV ads saying the quality of Eugene public schools has “degraded” and he knows how to fix it with an infusion of “leadership, character, courage and heart.” Alas, his plan does not support teachers and kids in any meaningful way. It’s irritating to hear anyone, let alone someone running for the School Board, bashing the quality of our schools. Despite our current budget problems Eugene teachers and administrators are among the very brightest and best in the country. They need support, not derision. • We can’t help but wonder: Is this debate over Measure 20-182 about taxes or is it about public education? The battle over public schools has been going on since our Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson prevailed in his efforts to establish free public education by arguing that our new nation can only be a viable democracy if we have literate and informed citizens. The argument against public schools, carried over from Europe, was that educated commoners were a threat to the aristocracy and to the power of the church. That thinking is still with us, most noticeably in the Tea Party. We still have an aristocracy and we still have religious conservatives offended by secular education. Let’s show Eugene and every other city watching this election that we put public schools and democracy as our highest priorities. • NPR aired a “Planet Money” program last week relating to the claims that higher taxes cause wealthy people to move to other states and take their businesses with them. This was a predominant argument against the passage of Measures 66 & 67 last year, and carries over to the current debate over the income tax and bond measures for Eugene schools. The University of Massachusetts conducted a two-decade study and concluded that rising taxes have “essentially no impact on causing people to leave a state.” Hear the story or read the transcript at http://wkly.ws/12a 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 ACTIVIST ALERT • An indoor picnic and fundraiser for First Place Family Center, supporting homeless families with children, will be from 5:30 to 8 pm Thursday, May 12, at St. Mary Catholic Church, 1062 Charnelton. • An all-ages free concert and rally for Strong Schools Eugene will be from 7 to 11 pm Friday, May 13, at Unity of the Valley, 3912 Dillard Road. Mayor Kitty Piercy will speak and undecided Eugene residents are urged to drop in to learn more about the initiative. Music by The Longshots, Against the Green, Barefoot Leroy, SEHS Jazz Band and the Eugene 10 MAY 12, 2011 EUGENE WEEKLY “The university needs more than just a student-lead program,” Clarke said. “It needs to be a real priority for the university.” Clarke said universities like Michigan State, Stanford, the University of Arizona and Arizona State all have full- time, professional bike coordinators. The coordinators plan bike infrastructure, promote bicycling and educate students on safe riding, he said. The student government funded UO Bike Program has a student working part time as a coordinator, Ted Sweeney. Sweeney, who plans to graduate next fall, said he agrees with Clarke that the UO administration needs to commit to adding dedicated professional staff to support the effort. “I think it’s a great idea.” In accepting the award, Lariviere noted the importance of biking to the UO. “Bicycling is cost effective, healthy and contributes to campus sustainability,” he said, noting that it fits with campus climate change reduction and health promotion plans. By reducing the cost of transportation, cycling is “effectively making the very education here less expensive,” Lariviere said. Lariviere thanked students in the campus Live Move group for completing and submitting the application for the award. Lariviere said “accommodating bicycling” is “something we have been proud to do well for a long time.” He said the UO was a leader in closing 13th Avenue through campus to cars, in creating a campus bike plan in 1991, in offering a class in bike planning and in research on bike transportation. “We are trying to keep construction of automobile parking to a minimum by making bicycling attractive and convenient,” said Lariviere. He said the new basketball arena “has more permanent bicycle parking than any arena of its size in the entire nation, and, more importantly, it gets used.” On campus, “every time we expand our bicycle parking capacity, it’s full in short order,” Lariviere said. He said the student government association (ASUO) has funded the addition of way finding signs and shared lane markings on campus for this year. “Survey after survey shows the growing number of users. Over 4,000 students rely on bicycles as their main mode of transportation to the campus.” Lariviere noted the city’s success in promoting cycling. “Eugene sets the bar high, but we need to set it higher.” — Alan Pittman (A version of this story first appeared at EugeneCycles.com) Peace Choir. Contact LeaJones99@gmail.com • NowaCumig, Dennis Banks, elder of the Anishinabe Nation, co-founder of the American Indian Movement (AIM), will speak on the “National Indian Health Epidemic,” 7 pm Friday, May 13, in the EMU Ballroom at the UO about The Longest Walk 3, an over 5,000 mile walk to raise diabetes awareness, and on the prevalence of diabetes in Native American communities. Banks will also talk about the early days of AIM and his latest documentary A Good Day to Die. • Sustainability activist Jan Spencer will give a free talk at 7 pm Wednesday, May 18, at Temple Beth Israel, 1175 E. 29th Ave. Call Spencer at 686-6761 or see www. suburbanpermaculture.org CIENFUEGOS IN TOWN “It’s all about majorities of local people coming together and saying we have had enough,” said Portland-based activist Paul Cienfuegos. “It’s about moving from ‘no’ to ‘yes.’” Don’t expect a conspiracy theorist or ranting geezer when Cienfuegos speaks May 16 at Harris Hall in downtown Eugene. As a longtime advocate of social justice and founder of Justice Unlimited of Humboldt County, Cienfuegos has worked hard to make the American dream come true for everyone. “We have immense power as citizens under the law and the Constitution,” he told EW. “But this beast of corporate personhood is affecting so many issues.” Cienfuegos attempts to raise awareness about how citizens can lessen the corporate grip on local politics. His activist track record is long, ranging from leading nonviolent direct action trainings to protest nuclear submarines to founding Justice Unlimited and a social change oriented bookstore, 100 Fires, and he is now writing his own book, a lay person’s guide to ending corporate rule in the U.S. Paul Cienfuegos speaks at 7 pm Monday, May 16, in Harris Hall, 125 E. 8th St.; suggested donation of $5 for students and kids under 16, $10 for adults; no one will be turned away for lack of money. For more on Cienfuegos go to his bookstore 100fires.com or www. paulcienfuegos.com — Brit McGinnis (See Q&A with Cienfuegos at eugeneweekly.com) TAMIM ANSARY SPEAKS AT LCC Nationally recognized author and lecturer Tamim Ansary will speak 7:30 pm Thursday, May 12, in building 19 at the LCC main campus. Born in Afghanistan, Ansary moved to the U.S. when he was 16 where he finished high school and college. In the days following 9/11, an email Ansary wrote to a few friends in response to calls to bomb “Afghanistan back to the Stone Age.” The email denounced the Taliban and Osama bin Laden and went viral, garnering him national attention. In his memoir, East of Kabul, West of New York, Ansary describes his life growing up bi-culturally, straddling two lives. “This is an experience that not many people can relate to, but we all live in a fragmented world and experience transitions, so I think people can relate in that way,” Ansary said in an interview with EW. • Congressman Peter DeFazio will speak at 7 pm Thursday, May 19, at Temple Beth Isral, 1175 E. 29th Ave. His talk, sponsored by J Street Eugene, will be on “The View from the House in 2011: Reflections on the Changing Landscapes of National and Global Politics.” • The Eugene Coalition for Better School Food presents “Do You Know What Your Kids Ate Today? Nutrition’s Impact on Health and Learning” from 6:30 to 8:30 pm Thursday, May 19, at the Jefferson Arts and Technology Academy cafeteria, 1650 W, 22nd Ave. This presentation and community discussion will explore nutrition during a child’s life from conception to adulthood and issues related to health, education, economics and politics. WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
