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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 2013)
The Shedd Institute www.theshedd.org - 541-434-7000 The Carl Woideck Jazz Heritage Project Live at the Blackhawk: Miles Davis, 1961 Thursday, November 21 MONSTER CHAIN That wonderful old Civic Stadium might be torn down to put in a Fred Meyer makes me feel ill. The Register-Guard is no help, headlining an article on page one of the Nov. 16 edition: “Freddy’s Pitch.” It’s way past time to stop calling these stores by the cutesy/folksy moniker “Freddy’s.” Way back in 1985 they devoured Salt Lake City’s Grand Central Stores. In the 1990s they consumed Los Angeles’ Ralph’s chain and Seattle’s QFC, already making it the nation’s fi fth largest food and drug purveyor. And then ol’ “Freddy” merged with Kroger! Fred Meyer stores are a monster chain of big-box discount stores a la Walmart and K-Mart. That 4J School District would sell this magnifi cent wood structure, a structure given to them by the city for recreational use, to help with a short-term budget problem is absolutely outrageous. The stadium is on the National Register of Historic Places! A big-box discount joint that smells like plastic and polyester would nonetheless result in plywood-boarded windows of lost small specialty shops which make south Eugene so livable. This has happened all over America. Don’t let it happen here. Please note that “Freddy’s Pitch” is all about looks. Are we collectively that stupid!? Ever hear the old adage “You can’t tell a book by its cover”? Letting the YMCA auction the grand old building so it can be demolished to cram in more housing is just as nuts. Let’s show some foresight. Save Civic! Ronald B. Duber Eugene PLAN FOR WALKERS Remember when it was cool to smoke, cruise the boulevard or just go for a Sunday drive without purpose? Well, that was yesterday. Today we need to take responsibility for ourselves, our neighborhoods and the planet. The redesign of South Willamette Street must be one where people can enjoy walking. Currently that is not the case. More than one-third of adults are not just overweight, they are obese and have related conditions that include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death. We have neighborhoods for cars and not for people, maximizing the sale of goods of various kinds. We have not built the places we live with an eye toward future generations. From 2001 to 2009, the average annual number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by young people (ages 16 to 34) decreased from 10,300 to 7,900 per capita — a drop of 23 percent — and is expected to continue to drop. Many of America’s youth prefer to live places where they can easily walk, bike and take public transportation. Let’s plan for future generations now. Richard Hughes Eugene Brooks Robertson John Standefer Friday, November 22 Workshop: Sat, Nov 23, 10-noon Shedd Theatricals 2013 proudly presents REBEL AGAINST TESTING Garbage in, garbage out (GIGO): If you enter nonsense data into a computer, that’s what comes out. That’s what the standardized testing machine amounts to. If these tests are so precise in measuring students and teachers, how come they change them every few years, then compare the new scores to older scores? Now, the Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (OAKS) test will be replaced by the Common Core Test. Here we go again. But that doesn’t stop politicians from wanting more tests. It certainly doesn’t stop the giant testing corporations from making “new” tests every few years and, of course, making billions in profi ts. But more and more people are saying, “Enough!” Over 875 school districts in Texas, representing 91 percent of Texas students, signed a resolution to reassess high-stakes testing. In Snohomish, Wash., over 550 students opted out of testing recently. Those parents spearheaded HB 1293, the Parent Right-to-Know Testing Transparency Bill. Portland high school students walked out of school last spring, refusing to Camelot Dec. 5-22 A Jazz Kings Christmas at The Shedd 2013 Button Up Your Overcoat! December 12 evening & 15 matinee eugeneweekly.com • November 21, 2013 5
