Springfi eld’s experience
How students benefi t
EW talked to two students involved in SCYP, Hiroshi
Kaneko of Portland and Lauren Schwartz of Ashland. Both
were drawn to the program because of its interdisciplinary
scope and its practical applications in the “real world” of
work.
“It’s been tremendous,” says Kaneko, an architecture
student. “I like what they are doing, bridging education
with the community,” he says. “Not all academics can be
applied to real world situations.”
Schwartz is an MBA candidate, a student in landscape
architecture and graduate teaching fellow with SCI. Her
involvement in the fi rst SCYP in Gresham involved plans
for an economically depressed neighborhood. She says her
experience inspired her to pursue an MBA in sustainable
LAUREN SCHWARTZ AND HIROSHI KANEKO
P HOTO BY T RA SK B E D O RT HA
Springfi eld also picked projects linked to council goals.
Projects this year include redevelopment of the 11-acre
Waremart property in the Mohawk area with its 40,000
sq. ft. building that has been empty for about 10 years.
Redevelopment of the site is considered a catalyst for
the economic health of the area. Students in architecture,
landscape architecture, transportation, urban planning,
public relations, law, business and other disciplines are
crafting proposals with the help and guidance of city staff,
UO professors and even practicing architects and other
professionals in the community. Waremart property owner
Steven Yett is heavily involved in working with students
on the project.
Congressman Peter DeFazio kicked off Springfi eld’s
SCYP back in September, saying the collaboration will
bring residents, faculty, students and other strategic partners
“to develop new approaches to projects involving bicycle
and pedestrian transportation planning, redevelopment for
some of the city’s commercial and industrial sites, and
preservation of the historic Dorris Ranch. I am looking
forward to seeing the results of the students’ work.”
Piercy also lauds Springfi eld’s SCYP, saying “We’re
thrilled that Springfi eld is doing the SCYP program.
They’ve been so wary and now they are fully engaged.
They have much to be proud of. Smaller communities
around us are doing great things, too.”
“I’ve been totally happy with SCI,” says former Eugene
city manager Vicki Elmer, who is lead professor in UO’s
Oregon Leadership in Sustainability graduate program and
involved in the Springfi eld year. “It is always a challenge
to get a good local client who will spend the time.” She
says Courtney Griesel, Springfi eld’s management analyst
in the city manager’s offi ce, is “amazing” and “awesome,”
and “she is totally committed to sustainability and getting
us everything we need to do class prep.”
business practices. Last year in the Salem SCYP she
worked on a proposal to partner Salem, which has excess
wastewater treatment capacity, with SeQuential Biofuels,
which has excess waste from processing restaurant grease
into biofuels. The sludge can be “digested” to generate
power from methane gas.
Why use students in city projects, other than the
practical experience they gain? “Cities benefi t because
they don’t have a lot of money available for redesigning
parks, playgrounds, downtown areas, empty storefronts,
parking lots, empty buildings,” says Chris Jones. “So for
a little bit of money, comparatively speaking, they get 400
really bright students descending on their town to help
them come up with ideas, plans and proposals.”
Jones says the student ideas are “vetted with the help of
professors, city staff and other professionals and partners.
We encourage the city staff and professionals to put some
boundaries on the student work, but not too much.” Jones
adds that “students can explore a much wider range of
alternatives than city staff typically can.”
even tougher today. Hence, some cities have sent us their
regrets, despite their desire to participate.”
Liberty says the $250,000 cost of the program covers
the mostly part-time salaries and administrative costs
associated with managing such a large program involving
hundreds of undergraduate and grad students. The cost
next year also includes an independent evaluation of the
program to make sure it is operating effi ciently.
Liberty says he’s had some encouraging conversations
with staff at two cities in the Portland area. “We might have
to adapt our one-city partnership model a bit (or not) to
make it work,” he says, “but I am hopeful and determined
that our program will continue in the next academic year.”
Looking ahead, Liberty says the program will need
some supplementary funding, “probably philanthropic
funding,” to help bring the cost of participation down. “We
believe it is important for the city to care enough to commit
both money and staff time,” he says. “It would be great if
we could cover two-thirds to one-half of the costs from
other sources, so that smaller, less affl uent communities,
like Coos Bay or Klamath Falls, could participate if they
wanted to.”
Meanwhile, free workshops at UO are being planned
in April and June to accommodate out-of-state and out-of-
country university faculty and others who want to learn
how they might replicate SCYP in their own cities. ew
What is the future?
Is the UO’s ground-breaking sustainability program
in itself sustainable? Robert Liberty says it was diffi cult
for Gresham, Salem and Springfi eld to come up with the
money to participate in the SCYP, and “since then the fi scal
outlook has worsened. What was hard then has become
HOW MANY EYES ARE
ON EUGENE WEEKLY?
More information on SCI and SCYP can be found at sci.org.edu
NOW OPEN
Asian Food
Market
YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED & THE NUMBERS ARE GROWING!
Largest Selection of
Asian Groceries
Seaweed, rice, noodles, frozen
products, deli, snacks, drinks,
sauces, spices, produce,
housewares, and more.
We carry groceries from Holland,
India, Pakistan and Polynesia
Sushi & Asian deli take-out
114,047 READERS
29TH AVENUE
5
OAK STREET
SHOPPING CENTER
WILLAMETTE STREET
WoodÀ eld Station
FALLINGSKYBREWING.COM
Sunrise
www.sunriseasianfood.com
Get in here!
F R E E E V E RY TH U R S DAY !
M-Th 9am-7pm•F 9am-8pm•Sa 9am-7pm•Su 10am-6pm
1334 Oak Alley
NOW AVAILABLE IN 792 LOCATIONS IN THE VALLEY AND ON THE COAST
70 W. 29th Ave. Eugene • 541-343-3295
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
EUGENE WEEKLY FEBRUARY 2, 2012
11