NEWS BRIEFS
CONTINUED FROM P.8
WHO OWNS
THE UO?
In arguing for the privatization of the
UO, many supporters of outgoing
President Richard Lariviere cited figures
as low as 6 percent for the amount of the
institution’s budget that comes from the
state. But actual figures from state
government put that percentage at least
twice as high.
Last year “total state support” to the
UO of $80.5 million was 12.5 percent of
the “operating expense” of the UO of
$644.7 million, according to numbers
provided by the Oregon University
System.
Supporters of privatizing the UO with
a governance board independent of state
control apparently included athletics to
increase the operating number and
decrease the percentage.
A fifth of all the revenue and spending
at the UO goes to sports, according to a
UO report to the NCAA last year.
Opponents of handing the UO over to
private control during the Lariviere
debate cited another percentage, 100
percent, as the public’s ownership of all
the buildings at the UO. They argued that
in order to hand the UO over to private
control, the public should be reimbursed
for the value of the campus that it owns.
According to OUS figures, the total
replacement value of all the buildings at
the UO is $1.3 billion.
— Alan Pittman
CELEBRATE
SOLSTICE
AT MUSEUM
The UO Museum of Natural and Cultural
History (MNCH) will host its 10th
anniversary Winter Solstice celebration
Dec. 16, promoting the wonders of animals
in winter and enjoyment of rhythm and
melody, with activities beginning at 5 pm.
Long ago, the Winter Solstice was a time
communities came together in the
uncertainty of living through the winter and
enjoyed wine and beer that was ready to
drink, but its significance was diminished
after the spread of Christianity. These days,
after ’60s counterculture helped revive its
memory, people are more aware of the
solstice tradition from centuries ago.
The MNCH celebration is expected to
draw 300 to 400 people and is the museum’s
most popular event, according to Denise
Sorom, marketing and communications
specialist at the museum. She hopes the
event will be a time to reflect on seasonal
change and come together as a community.
“It is purely a secular celebration but just
has this festive feel to it and attracts a very
diverse group,” said Sorom.
Animals will be the center focus of the
evening, with Dick Lamster, former
president of the Audubon Society of Lane
County, giving a presentation on birds in
winter. The MNCH will also debut a set of
animal marionettes that include a wooly
mammoth and a saber-toothed salmon to
teach children about the solstice. Other
planned events include storytelling of how
the beaver got his tail and other animal folk
tales.
Sorom said the museum tries to find
ways to make the event enjoyable for
children and adults.
Musical performances are scheduled to
take place throughout the celebration as
well, with Joe Manis, a northwest jazz
musician, kicking off the night with his
tenor saxophone in the MNCH galleria.
Big news this week is that O.U.R. Federal
Credit Union in the Whiteaker neighborhood
has been purchased by the locally based
Northwest Community Credit Union (NWCU).
O.U.R. was taken into conservatorship by the
National Credit Union Administration last
June (see our story at http://wkly.ws/14z),
and management was fi red. NWCU has
purchased most of the assets and liabilities,
and is assuring O.U.R. members that there
will be no interruption of services. O.U.R. has
about $4.9 million in assets and about 2,000
members. NWCU has $700 million in assets,
about 70,000 members, 15 branches, and
many services that were not provided by O.U.R.
The O.U.R. building, which is owned by
NEDCO, will house the new branch for now,
according to Matt Purvis of NWCU. Purvis
says he expects the new branch will continue
at least some of O.U.R.’s member education
services, and will add some “horsepower” to
small business lending and support. Members
will be transitioned to NWCU accounts in
January. Call 686-2934 with questions, or visit
the Whiteaker branch in person.
Inn at the 5th, Eugene’s $12 million, 68-unit
boutique hotel at Fifth Street Public Market,
is now expected to open in mid-January,
according to Heidi Albertson, director of sales.
Earlier projections by owner Brian Obie had
the hotel opening last summer, then in time
for football season, and then in December.
Once it opens, the hotel is expected to give a
big boost to Fifth Street Market businesses
and other enterprises nearby. The website is
www.innat5th.com and the hotel is now taking
reservations.
The Wild Duck Café opened Dec. 6 at 1419
Villard St., just east of Matt Court, offering a
Northwest-inspired American bistro menu and
a full bar. Current hours are 11:30 am to 1 am
daily and breakfast hours are expected to be
added in January. Owner Bob Jensen says his
old Wild Duck Brewery, Restaurant and Music
Hall downtown closed in 2004, but he’s “kept
the duck alive” with Wild Duck Catering and Big
Green Events. Email bob@biggreenevents.com
Valley Vintner & Brewer has changed its
name after 10 years to Falling Sky Brewing, a
reference to Oregon’s infamous rainy weather,
and will be opening a new downtown Eugene
Brew House in mid-January. The new pub,
inspired by London neighborhood pubs, will
be an expansion into the 3,000 sq. ft. adjacent
space on Oak Alley behind the brew store at 30
E. 13th Ave. See www.fallingskybrewing.com or
call Robert Cohen at 520-8012.
Blue Dog Mead has begun production of
its honey-based brew at 254 Lincoln St. in
Eugene. Owners are Simon Blatz, Chase Drum
and Simon Spencer, all UO students. A tasting
room may open soon. Meanwhile, the beverage
is available at Sundance and at Dairy Mart at
24th and Hilyard, and is being served at Max’s
Tavern, Rennie’s Landing and 16 Tons. See
www.bluedogmead.com
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SpaceMonkey, a third member of the
KHAC effort, says the station is already
getting a lot of interest from people
who want to do a show. “If there’s a
desire there, then we can teach them,”
he says.
The spot KHAC will occupy on the
dial, 87.5, was chosen specifically
because it is on the unused end of radio
spectrum. It’s so underutilized that
some radios, particularly car radios,
don’t even have it on the dial, according
to Static. “It’s a limited edition
frequency,” he says. KHAC expects the
range of the station to be throughout the
greater Eugene area.
Static says he knows some people
will ask, “Why don’t you use the
internet?” instead of radio. But KHAC’s
aim it to reach the people who don’t
have internet access so “some homeless
person pushing a shopping cart with a
transistor radio could have access.”
Eugene hasn’t had a pirate radio
station since about 2002, KHAC says.
But pirate radio stations exist around
the country. Santa Cruz Calif., has had
a pirate radio station since 1995. That
station, like KAOS Radio in Austin,
Texas, was shut down by the FCC, but
both were quickly back on the air,
Daniel says.
Free speech is at the heart of the
matter when it comes to occupying the
airwaves. “Pirate radio is essentially
just an unlicensed radio station,”
according to Daniel. But he says the
large fees that corporate stations pay to
be licensed and the hoops that need to
be jumped through prevent the
community from being able to have
access and a voice. Public radio stations
can’t have a “call to action,” KHAC
organizers say, which restricts free
speech, as do limitations on obscenity.
Future programming might include
anything from radio broadcasts of
Occupy Eugene general assemblies to
talk radio and music.
biz beat
“We want to get things out there that
are not being covered by corporate
media,” SpaceMonkey says.
Organizers plan to hold a fundraiser
for the pirate radio station at a time and
location that they will announce later.
For more info on KHAC and its
fundraiser, or to participate, email
87.5.Eugene@gmail.com or call 286-
KHAC.
— Camilla Mortensen
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EUGENE WEEKLY DECEMBER 8, 2011 9