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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 2014)
NEWS ALITO ALESSI AND EMERY BLACKWELL PERFORM ‘TANGO, TANGO’ AT TEDX APRIL 19 RULING ON IMMIGRATION HOLDS AFFECTS LANE COUNTY JAIL The Lane County Jail announced on April 21 that it will no longer hold inmates on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers without a warrant or a court order. This is in response to an April 11 federal court ruling that Clackamas County violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights by hold- ing her in jail for 19 hours after her case was settled in order to let federal immigration agents begin investigating her residency status. Sergeant Carrie Carver of the Lane County Sheriff’s Office says the Lane County Jail’s policy was to hold people for ICE for four hours after local charges were dropped, completed or disposed. “We are not using jail beds for these folks,” she says. If ICE didn’t come within four hours, the people were released. Carver says people were not held solely for ICE; they had to have had local charges. Statistics from the Sheriff’s Office show that 133 people were picked up by ICE from the Lane County Jail from January 2012 until March 2014. This does not include the people ICE had on detainer that the agency did not come and pick up. In the Clackamas case, U.S. District Court Judge Janice M. Stewart ruled that county officials misinterpreted an ICE request to detain Maria Miranda-Olivares as mandatory. This ruling has now led police and jails throughout the state to re- evaluate their ICE holds. Washington, Marion and Polk coun- ties have all stopped the ICE detainers. The Springfield Police Department has temporarily discontinued the detainers as well, pending reviw by the legal department. Monserrat Alegria was one of several students who pre- sented concerns over immigration holds to Lane County Sheriff Tom Turner and Springfield Police Chief Timothy Doney at a Grupo Latino de Acción Directa (GLAD) meeting in March. Alegria calls the Lane County Jail decision a “first step.” Alegria says fears of deportation affect how members of the immigrant community interact with law enforcement. For ex- ample, she says victims of domestic violence can be reluctant to seek help or report incidents of intimate partner violence due to fears of deportation for themselves or their partners. UO students have now formed a group, Community United Against Deportation, to work specifically on the immigration issue and outreach, which is open to all interested members of the community, Alegria says. Those interested in the immigra- tion issue and working with CUAD can contact Paige Corich- Kleim at pcorichk@uoregon.edu. — Camilla Mortensen P HOTO: MICK E Y S T EL L AVATO TANGO ON WHEELS AT TEDX UOREGON TEDxUOregon returned April 19 for its sec- ond year of speakers, student speakers and perfor- mances at the UO’s Beall Concert Hall. Speakers from all backgrounds, from the sciences to the arts, expounded on 2014’s theme, “Intersections: Diversity is Critical to Creativity,” including UO physics professor Richard Taylor, UO President Michael Gottfredson, Tracy MacDonald — co- producer and director of The Whitelandia Docu- mentary: Oregon’s Determination to Become a White Homeland — and Cornel Pewewardy, di- rector of Indigenous Nations Studies at Portland State University. One performance in particular brought the packed audience to its feet: “Tango, Tango” per- formed by Alito Alessi and Emery Blackwell of DanceAbility International. Alessi, artistic direc- tor of DanceAbility, first gave the talk “All Bod- ies Speak,” in which he discussed his 30 years of teaching movement to people of all abilities across the globe. “DanceAbility believes the more di- verse a community you have, the more learning there is,” he said. “Problems arise in communities when people are isolated.” Alessi then introduced Blackwell, one of his dancing partners of 25 years, who announced his retirement in March. The duo had recently traveled to Argentina, Alessi explained, and had learned that “men invented the tango.” While lac- ing up his roller skates on stage, Alessi said, “He’s retiring. Who knows? This could be his last show.” Blackwell joined the stage in a wheelchair (he has cerebral palsy) and “Tango, Tango” began with the two stealing coy glances before swirling away into passionate choreography; Blackwell and Alessi glided across the floor, using the wheelchair as a third dancer and prop. The dance received a stand- ing ovation. “Tango, Tango” was followed by Wilson Smith, Nike director of design. Smith spoke about the Nike and UO Product Design program collabora- tion, “Adaptive Products, Adaptive Athletes: En- abling Athletes with Disabilities,” a studio course where students design athletic gear for athletes with prosthetic devices and wheelchairs. “People want to become one with their equip- ment,” Smith said, adding that “good design solves problems, it’s not just beautiful.” Among the athletic inventions were an adhesive bandage that could be put on with one hand, an ergonomic handcycle bike and a harness for wheelchair rugby player Will Groulx, who won bronze at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. “A student product started in January was winning in London in Au- gust,” Smith said. — Alex Notman SPONSORED BY THE WAYNE MORSE CENTER FOR LAW AND POLITICS, CINEMA PACIFIC, AND THE GOOD WORKS FILM FESTIVAL VISUAL JUSTICE: DEMOCRATIZED VIDEO AS EVIDENCE FORBIDDEN VOICES Featuring Kelly Matheson, Attorney, Filmmaker, and Human-Rights Activist 1:00 p.m., Saturday, April 26, 2014 Bijou Art Cinemas 492 East 13th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon 5:00 p.m., Thursday, April 24, 2014 110 Knight Law Center 1515 Agate Street, Eugene, Oregon How To Start A Revolution With A Laptop Learn from examples in Syria and locations across the globe where cell-phone and other video have been used to secure prosecutions of the guilty or exonerations of the innocent. The Internet has provided a medium of expression that can, in the hands of courageous individuals, counter the power of repressive regimes. This documentary film accompanies three brave young cyberfeminists as they risk their lives to challenge their governments. Discussion to follow. Free and open to the public For ticket information, go to cinemapacific.uoregon.edu waynemorsecenter.uoregon.edu EO/AA/ADA institution committed to cultural diversity. eugeneweekly.com • A pril 24, 2014 7
