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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2013)
ACTIVIST the applications state that they need it, but, Zelenka says, “the problem is we can’t really tell whether that’s true or not.” MUPTE is intended to create both needed housing density and future tax revenue by allowing projects that developers can’t afford while paying tax revenue. Other ideas included moving the MUPTE zone to the Trainsong and Hwy. 99 area, awarding points for develop- ment in transit nodes, having different lengths of MUPTE periods, raising the application fee, requiring returned rev- enue if a project makes much more than it projected and giving points to retail portions that would put fresh grocer- ies in a food desert. City Council suspended the acceptance of new MUPTE applications in February but the full program is scheduled to resume July 1. — Shannon Finnell TEACHERS COMPLAIN ABOUT 3X5 PROCESS More than 60 parents, teachers and students met April 18 to discuss the common schedule coming to all 4J high schools. Organized by a group called 4J Parents Support- ing Public Schools, the meeting brought together people from all four high schools, who expressed frustration with both the 4J School Board’s mandate and the process lead- ing up to it. “The thing that concerns me most is the decision-mak- ing process and how this decision was arrived at,” Sheldon High School parent Lloyd Madden said. “It feels like a pro- paganda campaign.” Madden said teachers at Sheldon had told him they’d been reprimanded for making comments against the new schedule. “Teachers who questioned or challenged this have been given consequences,” echoed Amanda Deedon, a parent volunteer at Churchill High School, which implemented the 3x5 this year. “There was an imbalance of power in that room,” ex- plained Eugene Education Association President Tad Shan- non, of the meetings of the committee formed by 4J Super- intendent Sheldon Berman to select a common schedule. “We have always worked collaboratively for the best of the kids,” South Eugene High School teacher Franzi Thompson said, “and we have never experienced treatment like this.” Teachers feel their opinions have been given no more than lip service by the board and superintendent, she added. “Teachers feel ignored” by the district’s decision-mak- ing process,” South teacher Ken Davis added. Two members of the school board, Jennifer Geller and Mary Walston, attended the meeting, but said they came to listen only. In response to audience questions, teachers on the panel voiced greatest concern over the loss of time to develop re- lationships. Getting high school students to trust a teacher takes time, explained North Eugene High School teacher Claire Wiles, and “after 12 weeks, you will be done with your kids.” The 3x5 schedule has been promoted by the district as a way to raise its high school graduation rate by providing time in the third trimester for remediation. Moderator and parent Jane Cramer said research has shown that merely changing a school’s schedule doesn’t necessarily result in better outcomes for students. Shannon said achievement gaps in 4J were the result of “systematically disinvesting in our public schools,” while Churchill counselor Shannon Rosetta said that graduation fi gures “do not really refl ect what is going on,” since they don’t include students who fi nish high school at commu- nity colleges or take the GED. At an earlier school board meeting, the board reiterated its intention to move ahead with the 3x5 schedule this fall. 4 J Parents Supporting Public Schools will hold a second meeting at 7 pm Thursday, April 25, at the Unitarian Uni- versalist Church, 13th and Chambers. — Abby Gershenzon DRONES AROUND TOWN Drones bomb people in Pakistan. They make “targeted attacks” in Yemen. A recent piece on “Drone Strikes and the Boston Marathon Bombing” on The Atlantic’s website argues that drone strikes have “probably made this kind of terrorism — home-grown terrorism, committed by longtime residents of America — more likely.” You might have seen a drone, a “quadrocopter” to be precise, fl ying around Eugene. The city of Eugene recently posted a video about “city robots” that discusses sewer bots that look for problems with storm and wastewater lines, the Eugene Police Department’s bomb robot and city building inspectors’ quadrocopter — an unmanned aerial vehicle. Some argue the word drone applies only to vehicles that fl y on their own without human control and others point out that drone is used to refer the U.S. military’s Predator drone that is controlled by a ground team often thousands of miles away. “A drone is a drone no matter what they call it,” says Mi- chael Carrigan of the Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC). “I say no drones with cameras until they pass a city ordinance that either bans their use or tightly regulates how they’re used. The public must be involved in the regulatory process from start to fi nish.” Stuart Holderby, lead structural inspector for Eugene’s Building and Permit Services, says in the video that the drone is already in use, and he demonstrates its camera and ability to fl y up, down, back and forward. He says it can be launched from anywhere and stresses that it is used “only with prior approval from the contractors and on commercial buildings.” But drone opponents question what would stop the Eu- gene police from just borrowing a city drone if they felt it was needed. Aria Seligmann of the Eugene No Drone Coalition says that “30 percent of all drones crash. You don’t want one fall- ing on your head.” She says that while drones can be useful, “the problem with their use is in the mentality of the user.” Seligmann questions what would happen if “drones get into the hands of the wrong type of people who don’t care about civil rights, such as the right to privacy.” She adds, “I can imagine it would be easy for someone to cross the line when using drones for surveillance.” Seligmann says she has been keeping an eye on the bills SB 71 and HB 2710 in the Oregon Legislature. “If the state passes restrictions on drone use, we should be OK, unless the bills are watered down.” She says the idea is to make sure residents’ civil rights are protected, with no illegal sur- veillance without a warrant and no targeted drone strikes against living creatures from humans to wolves. If the state bills don’t pass or are watered down, Selig- mann says the No Drone Coalition has a draft resolution to work on and then present to the Eugene City Council for re- view and passage. The city drone video can be seen at wkly. ws/1gg. — Camilla Mortensen WILLAMETTE RIVER COMPLAINT SETTLED A mixing zone is a spot where pollution enters into a river, and it’s legal for it to be there. These mixing zones exist throughout the Willamette River, and last fall, Travis Williams of Willamette Riverkeeper found himself fl oating over a dark, murky patch of water in the Willamette near Halsey. That murky water has led to a settlement between Cascade Pacifi c Pulp and Willamette Riverkeeper. However, the question over whether Cascade should have to post a sign letting river-users know about its mixing zone will be decided by a federal magistrate judge in Eugene. Williams discovered the smelly patch of dark water was the mixing zone for two pulp mills, Cascade Pacifi c Pulp and Georgia-Pacifi c Consumer Products. Williams and at- torney Doug Quirke of Eugene’s Oregon Clean Water Ac- LERT • A community meeting about the 4J School District’s proposed common high school schedule is planned for 7 pm Thursday, April 25, at the Unitarian Church at 13th and Chambers. The meeting is in anticipation of the school board meeting at 7 pm May 1. “4J parents and students have grave concerns about implementation of the 3x5 schedule,” says David Zupan of Parents for Learning Effectiveness and Accountability (PLEA). Comments on the 4J 3X5 schedule can be emailed to board@4j.lane.edu and Zupan can be reached at zupandavid@gmail.com. • A Palestinian Cultural Festival to benefit peace and justice for the Palestinian people will begin this week and run through June 6 in Corvallis. The festival begins with a film showing of 5 Broken Cameras at 7 pm Friday, April 26, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2945 NW Circle Blvd. in Corvallis. See mecaforpeace. org for upcoming dinners, auctions, films and other events throughout May. • Karen Coulter, director of the Blue Mountain Biodiversity Project (bmbp.org), will speak on the triumphs and tragedies of the last three decades of radical environmental activism at noon Friday, April 26, at Lawrence 166 on the UO campus. Coulter has been involved in Earth First! since 1984 and has been arrested 13 times for civil disobedience. • Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, will speak at 5 pm Friday, April 26, at the UO Law School. Free. Tough has also been an editor at The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s Magazine and a reporter for NPR’s This American Life. See paultough.com. • The Oregon League of Conservation Voters 16th annual Celebration for the Environment will begin at 5:30 pm Friday, April 26, at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Sen. Jeff Merkley will be among the speakers. See olcv.org for tickets. • The documentary The Healthcare Movie about the health care system in Canada will be shown at 7 pm Monday, April 29, at Temple Beth Israel, 1175 E. 29th Ave., followed by discussion. See hcao.org for more information. LANE COUNTY AREA SPRAY SCHEDULE Rosboro LLC, 746-8411, now plans to spray a total of 900 acres on its forest roadsides throughout Lane County with Garlon 4 and Glyphosate. See ODF notices 2013-781-00324 and 2013-771-00333. Giustina, 345-2301, plans to hire Northwest Reforestation, 554-0489, to ground spray Atrazine, Clopyralid, Hexazinone, Sulfometuron Methyl and/or Triclopyr Ester on a total of 219 acres near Preacher, Camas Swale, Coyote, Hawley and Doak creeks, also on 57 acres near Little Sand Creek. See ODF notices 2013-781-00321 and 2013-730-00485. Roseburg Resources Co., 935-2507, plans to spray its roadsides throughout Lane County with Aminopyralid, Clopyralid, Glyphosate, Imazapyr, Metsulfuron Methyl, Sulfometuron Methyl, Triclopyr Amine, Triclopyr Ester and additives Non-Ionic Surfactant and Oil Surfactant. See ODF notice 2013- 781-00359. ODOT has begun spring spraying. Call Tony Kilmer at ODOT District 5 (Lane County area) at 744-8080 or call (888) 996-8080 for herbicide application information. Compiled by Jan Wroncy, Forestland Dwellers: 342-8332, www.for- estlanddwellers.org CORRECTIONS/CLARIFICATIONS In Slant last week (4/18) we wrote that “six out of eight councilors are on record opposing” the city services fee measure on the May ballot, but our math was bad. Only five councilors, George Brown, Betty Taylor, George Poling, Greg Evans and Mike Clark have said they oppose the fee. Councilors Alan Zelenka, Claire Syrett and Chris Pryor are in favor, along with Mayor Kitty Piercy. Former councilors Bonny Bettman McCornack and Paul Nicolson are actively campaigning against the fee. eugeneweekly.com • april 25, 2013 9
