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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2014)
Tom Bowerman of PolicyInteractive is hoping that re- search from the 2013 Oregon Values and Beliefs Survey will help stir a cultural conversation. Bowerman founded PolicyInteractive in order to understand general public opin- ions about global climate change and how it may infl uence our future, but the OVB survey also addressed education, conservation, health, crime, public transportation, economic development and taxes. Bowerman, along with Adam Da- vis of DHM Research, will be discussing the survey and its fi ndings at the Jan. 10 City Club of Eugene meeting. The 2013 survey gathered the views of more than 9,000 Oregonians from all parts of the state and all walks of life, Bowerman says. He adds that while you can’t ask 200 ques- tions and expect to change the world, a survey like this can be used as a fulcrum for change. The OVB survey was pre- viously conducted in 1992 and 2002. Bowerman cites the failed 1000 Friends of Oregon cam- paign to stop Measure 37 as the original incentive for his research and the founding of PolicyInteractive. Measure 37 was a land use bill that essentially made property owners exempt from many rules against developing their property. He says opponents outspent Measure 37 proponents but still lost by 20 percent. “This is crazy,” Bowerman says. “If our intelligence is that bad, we are doing something wrong.” Bowerman says the biggest puzzle that arises from the survey results is why we have “great values as a culture, but those values are not always refl ected in our behavior.” Among the fi ndings are that 86 percent of Oregonians feel that taxes are necessary to pay for the common good, 57 percent feel that environmental protection is more important than economic growth, 70 percent feel that all people should have equal access to a basic level of health care, 66 percent feel that criminals should be rehabilitated through counsel- WHOVILLE GOOD OR BAD FOR BUSINESS? While Whovillians say their informal survey showed business support for the homeless protest camp, some nearby business owners say that since the camp moved in, disturbances are up. Angie Rush, a manager at The Mis- sion Mexican Restaurant, says that since Whoville set up, it has lost a signifi cant portion of its college student busi- ness, one of its main customer bases. “We’ve had numerous incidences where we’ve had to call the police,” Rush says. She adds that because the ef- fects of the camp are so negative, The Mission is no longer allowing anyone associated with the camp into the restau- rant. “It’s the intoxicated folks who are the problem,” Rush says. “The ones who are not intoxicated are not coming in.” She says that the situation has escalated to the extent that The Mission is doubling up on staff, costing it a lot of money, especially for a small, family-owned business. Rush contacted EW after a story ran about positive rela- tionships between Whoville and its business neighbors. Rush tells EW that another nearby business has had to add a lock to its water spigot because water was being sto- len. Other businesses that were contacted didn’t respond by press time or didn’t wish to comment. JIMMY JENNETT BY PAUL NEEVEL OREGON VALUES AND BELIEFS EXAMINED ing and job training whenever possible and 81 percent feel that K-12 education is a top concern. Yet schools have trou- ble passing bond measures, and more money is put into jails than into rehabilitation. The OVB survey used landline, cell phone and online interviewing and conducted a minimum of 300 interviews in each of fi ve geographic regions of the state. Bowerman and Davis will speak to City Club at noon Jan. 10 at the Downtown Athletic Club in the third fl oor ball- room. Admission is $5, and members attend free. City Club airs on KLCC Mondays at 6:30 pm. — Camilla Mortensen HAPPENING PEOPLE NEWS “I’m on my ninth life,” says Jimmy Jennett, who grew up amid drugs and dysfunction at home in Sacramento. “I got addicted to hard drugs at 16.” Jennett was an all-city basketball player, but needed a second senior year at Cottage Grove High School in Oregon to get his diploma. After one year of school and hoops at Sierra College, he dropped out and into a life of drug dealing and aggressive behavior that landed him in Folsom Prison at 27. “A two-year term was long enough to take a look at things,” he says, “at who I was and who I wanted to become.” In 2010, he moved to Eugene, where his mother had settled. “I came back to Oregon to be around positive people,” he says, “and to be involved in the clean and sober community.” He also walked into a mixed martial arts gym, Art of War, where he found a mentor, coach Jason Georgianna, and a positive way to channel aggression. “I work at building roads in the summer,” says Jennett, who started a nonprofit, Checkered Past MMA Outreach, that offers free clinics and low-cost training to at-risk kids. “I do this because it’s a passion and because I want to give back.” A heavyweight at 6 feet 8 inches and 275 pounds, Jennett will face 290-pound Aaron Dickey in a cage fight at the Salem Armory on Jan. 18. Learn more at Checkered Past MMA Outreach on Facebook. Scams inspired by our popular Best of Eugene Awards are evolving. Not only are businesses and groups being offered fake Best of Eugene plaques for $150 (the real ones are free), but local businesses are now getting pitched for “Dental Office of the Year” or “Salon of the Year” and other fake accolades. These so-called awards are touted as “free” but the scammers charge big bucks for making the plaques and shipping them, if in fact they ever make and ship them at all after they take your Visa number. We ran across another scam this week involving Craigslist for sale ads. It’s a variation on an old scam. If you include a phone number in your ad and say “text me,” you might get a text message offering to have a shipping company come to your house to pick up your stuff after you deposit a check from the out-of-state- buyer. The check clears your bank initially but bounces a few days after your stuff gets hauled away. We haven’t heard of such problems with EW classified ads. City Club of Eugene has a new home at the Downtown Athletic Club for its Friday luncheons now that the holiday break is over, and the topic this week will be the results of the 2013 Oregon Values & Beliefs Survey with Tom Bowerman. See story in our news section this week. The DAC is at 10th and Willamette. The nonprofit Willamette Animal Guild (WAG) Spay/ Neuter Clinic has received a grant enabling the clinic to offer free S/N to free-roaming cats in the 97477 and 97478 ZIP codes. The city of Springfield has donated a headquarters for storage and recovery. Volunteers are needed to help with the program, such as coordinating transportation, responding to phone messages, caring for cats in recovery, etc. Call Norma King at 726-6697. Jewish Events Willamette-Valley (JEW) is gearing up to celebrate another new year: The Jewish New Year for Trees is Thursday, Jan. 16, and JEW and Hendricks Park are offering a guided tree walk in Hendricks Park at noon that day. The guide for the free event is Michael Robert, who was the head gardener of the park for 25 years. JEW is also celebrating by showing Vegetative Love, a meditative movie about trees in Israel, along with Wherever You Go at the Bijou (492 E. 13th) at 2 pm Sunday, Jan. 12. The movies are part of the Eugene Jewish Film Festival, cost $5 and include a discussion after the showings. More info can be found at JewishEventsWillamette-valley.org or call 514-2571. The nonprofit Oregon Wild is planning “winter walkabouts” on snowshoes around Oregon this month and next. Many are in the Portland region, but some are farther south. The Marilyn Lakes outing near Diamond Peak is Saturday, Jan. 11. Find details at oregonwild.org. Nonprofits will be working together on Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a community service project. AmeriCorps members at Springfield/Eugene Habitat for Humanity will partner with Community Supported Shelters to honor King’s legacy of community service by building temporary housing for homeless community. Volunteers will build a Conestoga hut and camping structures on Jan. 20, and the structures will become part of the Eugene Safe Spot site. To help, contact Kris Redmond at 741-1707 or Erik de Buhr at 683-0836. lighten up BY RAFAEL ALDAVE Humor is everywhere. This came from a church bulletin: “The Low Self-Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday from 7 to 8:30 pm. Please use the back door.” eugeneweekly.com • January 9, 2014 7
