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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 2012)
slant HEALTH CARE GETS OCCUPIED Occupy Eugene is tired of all the talk about the state of America’s health care system and is taking action by treating those in need of medical care for free and connecting them with other community services. On Sunday, Feb. 5, at the corner of 7th and Pearl, OE organizers set up a medical tent outside the old Federal Building with doctors and nurses available for basic medical treatment, and the group has a long-term plan to continue on every Sunday. “We think that health is a basic human right and so we’re here to provide that for people,” says Terry Purvis, medical coordinator for OE. “We don’t think that your health should depend on how much money you have or where you live.” Purvis and other Occupiers were met with supportive honks by passing drivers. The offering of free medical services is an attempt to fill the gap left by the inequitable healthcare system, Purvis says. This includes the homeless population but also those who are without means to pay for care, whether with or without health insurance. The medical tent is also a way for OE to refer patients to other organizations that offer free or low-cost medical care in the area. Lane County Public Health is just a block away from the tent’s downtown location. White Bird Clinic, a Eugene-based nonprofit agency, is also nearby, and Volunteers in Medicine is a medical clinic in Springfield. “These are great organizations that run on shoestring budgets to serve the same community that we are helping,” says Sue Sierralupe, Occupy medical organizer and volunteer. DEAD TREES PROTEST LOGGING During the wee hours of the morning on Feb. 10, members of Cascadia Forest Defenders used dead Christmas trees to block the driveway of the governor’s mansion in Salem. The protest at Gov. John Kitzhaber’s house was to call attention to an upcoming meeting of the State Land Board as well as to what the protesters say are damaging environmental practices on state forests, including selling off state forestland to private interests. CFD members have objected to the land board’s dramatic increase in clearcutting on the Elliott State Forest and have had a series of protests and treesits. In addition to the pile of Christmas trees, silky pink and purple bandana-wearing protesters held banners reading, “Rally at the State Land Board Meeting Feb. 14” and “Kitzhaber lies. Forests die.” The land board banner, in honor of the fact the meeting is slated for Valentine’s Day, had pink writing and a big red heart. One protester from Eugene was arrested for third-degree criminal mischief and “offensive littering.” OE organizers chose to set up the tent on Sundays in part because the other organizations are unavailable then. Clients who access the OE medical tent will be given anonymity if desired, but the group plans to keep records on the illnesses and injuries. In the future, OE hopes to expand into a more vigilant street program, and also care for those with mental illness and provide dental services. Those interested in helping out are encouraged to contact Purvis at firemanterry@gmail.com — Ted Shorack POISONED POLLEN Many plants rely on honeybees to pollinate them and facilitate reproduction, but colony collapse disorder (CCD), which is killing about one-third of bee colonies per year nationally, is making it much harder for bees to get their buzz on. A Jan. 3 study from Purdue University gives more evidence for a significant role of pesticides like clothianidin in causing CCD, but if it’s a problem for bees in Lane County, beekeepers won’t know. Clothianidin exposure in Lane County is not documented because the Legislature cut the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Use Reporting Program after collecting 2008 data. The ODA ran the Pesticide Use Reporting Program for three years before it was suspended, and the program won’t be collecting data again until at least 2013. Beyond Toxics Executive Director Lisa Arkin says without pesticide use reporting, it’s hard to tell what sort of impact neonicotinoids are having on Oregon’s environment. “It is shameful that the state of Oregon denies the residents of Oregon the right to know what toxic chemicals are in their air and in their water,” Arkin says of the program’s suspension. “They deny the communities the right to know that information, and it’s directly related to our health and the health of everything around us.” OSU entomologist Ramesh Sagili told EW that while Oregon’s 24 percent winter die-off rate was better than the national 30 percent, it was still above the 10 percent die-off CONTINUED P. 7 Ben Jones of CFD says the dead Christmas trees were used to visually call attention to the effects of clearcutting “but we weren’t about to cut down any trees.” Jones says the banner proclaiming “Kitzhaber lies” is in reference to what he and CFD members call the governor’s hypocrisy in campaigning as an environmental candidate but approving a plan that calls for clearcutting 1,000 acres a year of previously unlogged coastal rainforest. Eugene-based conservation group Cascadia Wildlands, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and Audubon Society of Portland, has filed a lawsuit that alleges the clearcutting and forest practices on the Elliott, Tillamook and Clatsop state forests are “harming, harassing and otherwise leading to the demise of the federally (endangered species) protected marbled murrelet, which comes inland to nest and breed in mature and old-growth forests.” CFD will have a rally at the next land board 10 am Tuesday, Feb. 14, at the state offices at 775 Summer St. NE in Salem to “tell Kitzhaber that we won’t let our forests be destroyed without a fight.” For more information go to www. forestdefensenow.com — Camilla Mortensen • Despite all the scary crime news in the daily rag and on local TV news, Lane County remains a remarkably safe place to live, work, play and raise a family. But a local political action committee, Citizens for a Safer Lane County, is asking our county commissioners this week to put a charter amendment on the May 15 ballot that would guarantee revenue for public safety to support the Sheriff’s Office, DA and Youth Services. The measure would not raise taxes and the money would come from discretionary general funds, so what county services would suffer? You guessed it: the multiple social services, such as drug and alcohol treatment, that are vital to reducing the need for the Sheriff’s Office, DA and Youth Services. The proposal goes to the commissioners after we go to press this week. We predict another 3-2 vote with our Tea Party majority on the commission favoring their conservative buddies who see guns, handcuffs and jail beds as the simple solution to every complex social problem. • It’s still safe to tweet your protests in Oregon. The Oregon Legislature killed the “flash mob” bill at its Feb. 6 hearing. The proposal, SB 1534, would have made it a felony called “aggravated solicitation” to call for people by Twitter or email to “engage in specific conduct constituting a crime” at a designated place. Sen. Floyd Prozanski chaired the committee that rendered the bill dead in the water. • Now we will see what happens with Prozanski’s SB 1526 that would essentially reverse the controversial ruling in the Lane County commissioners’ open meetings case. The bill would make it legal for elected officials of a public body to confer through email or sequential one-on-one meetings to discuss upcoming votes in public meetings. This type of discussion is what the commissioners got nailed for, but such communication was not considered a violation when the Oregon Board of Higher Education engaged in a similar process in the controversial firing of former UO president Richard Lariviere. Judge Michael Gillespie’s quirky and impractical ruling against the commissioners has been mostly ignored around the state. It’s time to clarify and update Oregon’s open meeting rules to allow our elected officials to actually talk to each other. • What will be the impact of the West Eugene EmX on businesses along the route? A lot of credible research has gone into this issue and we hear LTD will be making a report at the 7:30 pm Monday, Feb. 13, City Council meeting. Should be interesting. We expect the anti-EmX folks won’t like what they hear. • Words to watch in 2012. “Authentic” is a key political word in this campaign year. That doesn’t bode well for Romney or Gingrich or Santorum. “Resilience” and “adaptation,” unfortunately, jump out of climate change conversation. Too bad that we appear to be past “prevention” or even “slowing” extreme climate change. Meanwhile, so many Americans continue to be deceived into denying it’s happening, let alone identifying the contributing human causes. • Congrats to Greg Evans, LCC ethnic studies instructor, who will be presented the 2012 Trailblazer Award from the Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers at its annual celebration in Salem Feb. 11. The award recognizes contributions to furthering the advancement of African Americans in Oregon and paving the way for others to follow. Evans is a well- known civil rights activist and former regional official with the NAACP. He is also on the adjunct faculty of Northwest Christian University, serves on both the LTD Board and American Public Transportation Association national board, and has his own education consulting business. • Acting UO President Bob Berdahl forcefully made the case for an “independent” governing board for the UO Feb. 3 at the City Club of Eugene while Chancellor George Pernsteiner suggested that “governance by itself is not a silver bullet.” The Oregon Legislature is expected to name a committee to examine independent governance for the 2013 session. That’s what the UO faculty leadership wants following the ugly uprising over the firing of Richard Lariviere. But who would appoint an “independent” board of a public university? The governor, with approval of the state Senate, so maybe governance by itself is not a silver bullet. SLANT includes short opinion pieces, observations and rumor-chas- ing notes compiled by the EW staff. Heard any good rumors lately? Contact Ted Taylor at 484-0519, editor@eugeneweekly.com 6 FEBRUARY 9, 2012 EUGENE WEEKLY WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
