NEWS
• We are in shock at
the dawning of a Trump
presidency and all that
we stand to lose: Roe v.
Wade, civil rights,
immigration reform,
media freedom, minority
representation, climate
change, the list goes on.
The path to resistance
becomes clear. Don’t
circle the wagons; don’t
snipe at the Bernie
voters. It’s time to listen
to the anger of those
who elected Trump as
well as to the thoughts
and fears of those who
are most hurt by the
policies Trump has said
he will put into place. We
won’t give in to hate and
despair. We will reassess
and move forward to
create the nation we
want to be.
• Did you join Pantsuit Nation? We did and watched the “secret”
Facebook group grow to a membership of more than two million in less
than two weeks. It’s a place where Hillary Clinton supporters could wax
enthusiastic about Clinton without criticism. Posts come from ardent
progressives to Republicans who don’t dare tell their friends they voted for
Clinton. It’s a rare place for political love, and we hope it continues and
inspires. #PantsuitNation.
• Was a valuable teachable moment eclipsed by political correctness
at the University of Oregon? A UO law faculty member blackened her face
— something she absolutely should not have done — in an attempt to
make a point about race. Nancy Schurtz, a highly respected UO law prof for
more than 30 years, invited faculty and students to her home for a
Halloween party. Her costume was a white coat and blackface depicting
Dr. Damon Tweedy, who wrote Black Man in a White Coat, a best-selling
book about racial hurdles for a medical professional. Schurtz has publicly
apologized for her mistake in using blackface. The law dean has suspended
her from teaching, 23 law faculty members have asked her to resign and
UO President Michael Schill is highly critical in his public statements. Wait.
What about due process and facts and the UO’s own policies on free
speech and academic freedom, the First Amendment? The faculty union,
of which the law school is not a member, has written that Schurtz is
entitled to a fair hearing, a position that we assume is held by law school
faculty other than the 23? Academic politics is also a big player here, but
that’s another slant.
• Eugene City Club on Nov. 4 addressed, “Should We Worry About
Heavy Metal in Eugene’s Air and Water?” The takeaway from Merlyn
Hough of the Lane Region Air Protection Agency and Brad Taylor of EWEB
is that we are looking good, without the cadmium and heavy metals in the
air or lead in the water issues of Portland and Flint. We learned if we live in
an old home with lead in its pipes we should flush the cold water in the
morning when we get up and again when we get home. What we didn’t
learn was how quickly we would be told if there was an issue with our air.
LRAPA is great about giving a head’s up about smoky air, but Hough was
unclear how fast we’d find out if a study showed a possible problem.
Hough laid blame at the feet of the media for causing a “frenzy,” but who
can blame Portlanders for being angry about the news the state sat on the
info about the heavy metals for a year? EWEB said transparency is a
priority, and we appreciate that!
• A terrific weekend soup dinner Nancy and Josh Reckord put on at
their home for their neighborhood, coupled with this ugly campaign,
reminded us that the neighborhood is where we must start to deal with
the problems of our divided country. Homelessness, climate change,
public education, mental health, drug abuse, public lands, etc., have
hardly been mentioned in the last 18 months of shouting. That’s all left to
our neighborhoods, city, county, state, region.
SL ANT INCLUDES SHORT OPINION PIECES, OBSERVATIONS AND RUMOR-CHASING NOTES
COMPILED BY THE EW STAFF.
HE ARD ANY GOOD RUMORS L ATELY? CONTAC T EDITOR@EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
BY KIANNA CABUCO
15TH NIGHT PROJECT AIMS TO
REDUCE YOUTH HOMELESSNESS
“It is building a rapport and relationship with
ccording to local homeless advocates,
them, whether it’s a counselor, a teacher or me,”
273 students in Eugene were homeless
Dailey says of her position. “I’m looking and
and living without a parent or guardian
listening to conversations with youth about how
last year. On top of that, 90 students
they can help.”
dropped out, and advocates believe they
As coordinators talked with homeless stu-
have moved to the streets.
dents, they found that many of them did not feel
In response to this, activists and the city of
they had any kind of relationship to lean on.
Eugene formed 15th Night, a collaborative ap-
Homeless youth didn’t think they had someone
proach to help prevent youth homelessness in the
they could trust or someone who cared enough to
4J and Bethel school districts.
reach out to them.
Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz says that if
According to Ruiz, the Youth Advisory Coun-
homeless youth “spend more than 14 consecutive
cil seeks to mobilize others in schools through
nights on the street, there’s a good chance they’ll
peer-to-peer connections. “We’re trying to make
become chronically homeless.” Thus, the name
this more youth-centered, as opposed to a youth
“15th Night” is about how to intervene and help
afterthought,” Ruiz says. “It’s really about their
youth connect with needed resources and pro-
experiences and their
grams.
stories as opposed to
Megan
Shultz
what we think their
helps coordinate 15th
stories and experi-
Night, which started
ences should be or
around three years
should’ve been.”
ago, and she works
All parties in-
closely with its Youth
volved in 15th Night
Advisory
Council,
agree that preventing
primarily made up of
young people from
kids who have been
winding up on the
formerly
homeless
— JON RUIZ, CITY MANAGER
streets is a community
or students who care
effort. “Part of our re-
strongly about the is-
sponsibility is to educate our community on the
sue and want to help.
issue,” Shultz says, “but also to inspire them to
“Some of the questions we asked were, ‘What
act.”
services would a youth have needed to help pre-
“A lot of people have stepped up,” Dailey
vent them from going on the street?’” Shultz
says of the individuals and programs that have
says. “Also, ‘Once you were on the street, what
expanded some of their requirements to allow
kinds of services did you need that would have
homeless youths to receive the help they need.
helped you get off earlier than you did?’”
“They’re willing to give their time, their talent
The group came up with a list of about 50
and their money.”
resources and services that would be helpful
Ruiz says he hopes to bring the number of
in keeping young people off the street. These
kids dropping out to zero, and he’d like to create
sources are connected through their Rapid Alert
a sort of tool kit that the program can share with
Network app, which was launched at the begin-
other communities to help reduce the homeless
ning of the school year. The app, still being beta
and dropout rates in other cities.
tested, sends notices to providers when there is
“We’re trying to create a movement or a cause
a student in need with the goal of eliciting faster
instead of another nonprofit, because we have a
response times. Some of these providers include
lot of agencies and nonprofits that are doing re-
Looking Glass Community Services and Hosea
ally good work around homeless youth,” Ruiz
Youth Services.
says. “If we focused some of our energy and our
Deborah Dailey, the McKinney-Vento home-
resources, we could get to a point where none of
less student liaison for Eugene School District
our youth have to end up on the street.”
4J, is one of the key resources on the list. The
For more information, visit 15night.org or
McKinney-Vento Act is a federal program that
email info@15thnight.help.
protects the educational rights of students.
A
‘We’re trying to cre-
ate a movement or a
cause instead of
another nonprofit.’
P O L LU T I O N U P D AT E
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) sent the Walmart Supercenter on Olympic
Street in Springfield a warning letter for hazardous
waste law violations Oct. 3. This facility generates
between 220 pounds and 2,200 pounds of
hazardous waste per month, and the violations were
discovered by DEQ during an unannounced Sept. 28
inspection. Violations cited by DEQ include failure to
properly store and label hazardous waste, failing to
conduct weekly inspections of waste, and failing to
post emergency information. DEQ sent warning
letters for hazardous waste law violations to the West
Eugene and Newport Walmarts around the same
time as the warning letter to the Springfield facility;
however, we have yet to receive those letters from
DEQ, despite having requested them over a month
ago. Oregon’s public records law currently has no
hard deadline for agencies to respond to public
records requests, however Oregon Attorney General
Ellen Rosenblum has advised that 10 business days
should be sufficient for most requests. Thank you to
DEQ’s Christina Humphries for connecting us with the
letter to the Springfield Walmart.
Doug Quirke/Oregon Clean Water Action Project
8
November 10, 2016 • eugeneweekly.com