FLUX 2008

a a

Study abroad.

international

in YO abroad.org. www.ahastu d ~UNIVERSITYOFOREGON AN ACADEMIC PROGRAM OF TH

front of book 4

Editor's Note

6

In Flux

o Food

14

Arts

back of book

online

61

Documentaries

Sweet Caroline was here 0 Reading the writing on the wall

62

Environment

Psychic numbing Trying to understand why we turn away in the face of tragedy

A lone voice.

The quest to expose an eco-crisis on the coast

64

18

Redefining identity • Finding out what race really means

Reinventing Ed's Coed Decades before Animol House, this silent film put Eugene on the map

Bass driven Two brothers take an underground electronic band to the top

Nuclear acrobat

Multimedia key Use the icons at the end of each story as your guide to the related content available online. Visit flux.uoregon.edu to discover more.

.Slideshow

o Interactive

•

~ Documentary

Video

Atrapeze for an office and a career built on the joys of taking risks

Exclusives City living Moving to the city? Check out our interactive map. Meet UO grads now living in cities across the United States, learn about their lives, and get the scoop on how much they are really paying for rent.

The Making of Flux: coming fall 2008 See all the magic and madness of producing a magazine in seven weeks.

Reality TV ain't got nothing on this.

the well 22

One year, one pair, zero washes.

42

Transforming jeans into an art project

26

Running from crocodiles.

Looking forward, to life beyond addiction

48

Exploring Africa's whitewater

30 36

The science of suspension • ~ For this MIT grad, gravity is merely a suggestion

52

The big idea 0

56

A DO computer programmer asks, "What if?"

02 flu x • 2008

Faith in recovery.

I am Duck.

The view from inside a big plastic head

Unfinished battles.

Three local families fight a war of their own

Learning to lose.

Front cover: Tanya Burka, hanging around with Portland's Pendulum Aerial Dance Theatre in April 2008. Photo by Ashley Baer.

Back cover: Arms outstretched, Aaron Rettig looks toward the mountains of the independent kingdom of Lesotho from his vantage point in Bethlehem, South Africa. Photo by Tyler Brandt.

Basketball and the bonds of brotherhood flux.uoregon.edu 03

ux EDITOR IN CHIEF Lindsay Funston

hat's Next?" It's a pivotal question we all encounter as graduation nears. Flux 2008 encapsulates this moment by exploring the trends, culture, people, and ideas that define the Facebook generation.

This year the Flux staff has made changes and taken risks with the magazine to better capture our readers' lifestyles.

In the front of the magazine, readers will find sections devoted to food, arts, the environment, and a conversational forum on new trends. These stories strive to show what's next for us during a time of eco-consciousness, social networking, and fresh perspectives.

The heart of Flux remains our unflinching dedication to showcasing in-depth and provocative features, profiles, and essays, each a meditation on our central theme through myriad lenses.

The photos and text of "Faith in recovery" explore the lives of two individuals as they overcome their addictive pasts and return to the question, "What's next?" Flux's staff videographer and adventurer, Aaron Rettig, takes us on a journey along Africa's whitewater in "Running from crocodiles," revealing an expedition so invigorating that it inspires our future endeavors. Tanya Burka, profiled in this issue's cover story, drastically changed her future plans, transforming from a MIT nuclear engineering graduate into a professional aerial dancer. Her story, like all those in Flux 2008, demonstrates the need for big ideas and bold choices when facing whatever comes next in our lives.

Flux does not end within these pages; our website offers readers additional stories and multimedia content. Visit flux.uoregon.edu to continue your Flux experience.

"

Best,

PUBLISHER Brittany McGrath

MANAGING EDITOR Kate Griesmann ASSIGNMENT EDITOR Megan Clark ASSOCIATE EDITORS Peter Barna, Wade Christensen, Katie Cornell, Nick Cummings, Karen Nagy CHIEF COPY EDITOR Mindy Moreland COPY EDITORS Jessica Blume, Nicole Stormberg RESEARCH EDITOR Meghan McCloskey ASSOCIATE RESEARCH EDITORS Liz Balaesh, Carolyn Hamm, Erin McNamara STAFF WRITERS Jessica McElfresh, lach Klassen, Kamran Rouzpay ART DIRECTOR Faith Stafford DESIGNER Chris Brock ART ASSOCIATES Molly Bedford, Tristen Knight, Stuart Mayberry, Jiyea Park, Maxwell Radi,

Melissa Rezada, Danielle Schisler, Nicole Schultz ART INTERN Kelly Montgomery Lindsay Funston (left) and Brittany McGrath

PHOTO EDITOR Ben Mangin PHOTOGRAPHERS Ashley Baer, Benjamin Brayfield,

lac Goodwin,

Blake Hamilton,

Conner Jay, Katie Onheiber, Jarod Opperman, Tim Wallace PRODUCTION MANAGER Kelly Walker PRODUCTION INTERN Roger Bong

PRODUCER Desiree Aflleje PROJECT MANAGER Jackson Hager WEBMASTER Louie Vidmar VIDEOGRAPHERS Simon Boas, Joshua Bolkan, Alex Grigas, Aaron Rettig DOCUMENTARY Sloane Cameron, Catie Ciciretto, Ernese Fosse, Wen Lee,

Rebecca Purice, John Rosman, Eric Rutledge, Steven Wilsey

BUSINESS MANAGER Saramaya Weissman MARKETING DIRECTOR Jessica Polley MARKETING ASSISTANTS Meghan Foley, Alison Grise ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Jeff Kempf MARKETING DESIGNERS Molly Horner, Shawna Huang

Lindsay Funston ADVISORS Steven Asbury, Mark Blaine, Skipper McFarlane, Dan Morrison, Jon Palfreman, Bill Ryan FOUNDERS Bill Ryan, Tom Wheeler

SPECIAL THANKS lach Blank, Tanya Burka, Andre Chinn, Randy Cox, The Duck Store, EMU Event Services, Rachael Fellows,

Nick Fiorante, Tim Gleason, JR Gaddis, David Hamburger, Jackie Hamm, Melissa Hart, Sara Hazel, Suzanne Kenney and the

Brittany McGrath

Pendulum Dance Theatre, Tom Lundberg, Kevin May, Kyle McKenzie, Julianne Newton, Arwen Okalani, Elke Pellicano, Stephanie Risbrough, Sally-Shannon Scales, Ryan Stasel, Alan Stavitsky, University of Oregon, UO Alumni Association, UO School of Journalism and Communication, UO Urban Farm, Sue Varani, and all our friends and family.

04 flu X • 2008

flux.uoregon.edu 05

IN FLUX 0 Left: Urban golfer Ian Daniell chips his tennis ball toward a pillar serving as a hole on the back nine of the industrial course in northern Portland.

By the numbers 0 z

!:i

Forty-year-old Laura Calappi first heard the words "inflammatory breast cancer" after a 2004 doctor's appointment in which the appearance of her breast so sincerely baffled her surgeon that he requested permission to take a picture. A few weeks prior, Calappi had discovered a growth on the outside of her breast that she thought might be dermatitis, an ingrown hair, or even a bug bite. A biopsy of the growth, which bled and crusted at times, came back positive for IBC. IBC is an acutely aggressive but seldom publicized disease. This rare and elusive cancer variety metastasizes in sheets, or what oncologists

Warning signs Dr. Chui advises women to contact a physician and request a biopsy and an MRI if they experience one or more of the following symptoms:

..... ~

'~"

Asphalt, argyle, and IPA

On the corner of Russell Street and Albina Avenue in the north industrial district of Portland, roughly eighty people gather with specially marked green tennis balls and prepare to tee off on a perfect March afternoon.

Dressed in what can only be described as retro golf meets urban street wear, young men and women take turns smacking tennis balls several city blocks to the second hole: a Dumpster. This is not your father's game of golf.

Urban golf is just one of many new recreations revolutionizing the sporting arena.

The game can be played in practically any city neighborhood - all you really need is a pack of tennis balls, some old clubs, and a laid-back attitude.

In Portland, thirty-eight-year-old Scott Mazariegos uses his organization, NW Urban Sports, as a way to eliminate the prestige and snobbery that underlies traditional golf by organizing other locals to participate in the part golf match, part

06 flu

X•

2008

barhop. "I think people enjoy the social aspect [of playing urban sports] ," says Mazariegos. "It's an alternative thing to do in Portland, and you meet a lot of new people."

Though Mazariegos introduced the game to Portlanders just two years ago, Myspace has propelled the hybrid sport to international sidewalks. In September 2007, he organized the first World Urban Golf Day via the social networking site.

Just under one hundred players turned

This is not your father's game of golf. out in downtown Portland, and similar tournaments were held in cosmopolitan areas, industrial neighborhoods, and college campuses in forty cities around the globe. Mazariegos intends to continue the tradition in early September 2008.

Though urban golf may never be as

mainstream as its original counterpart, there's something exhilarating about attempting tricky holes like fire hydrants and telephone poles on city streets with a bunch of friends. "There is kind of a dangerous and unconventional aspect to hitting balls around a city," says Mazariegos.

SurpriSingly, the mayor of Portland, Tom Potter, supports activities like urban golf because it keeps the city quirky and unique. So when cops do come to check things out, they normally leave urban golfers alone to enjoy their game, as long as they respect the environment.

While professional golfers may focus on winning and keeping score, urban golfers just want to have fun. Mazariegos wants to keep the cost down for Portland's urban golfers, which is why he's refused several sponsorships. "It's not about making money for me," he says. "It's about people going out and having a good time and not taking things too seriously." ..

- Megan Clark

30

~ Covert killer

•

Dramatic change in breast size Breast becomes warm to the touch Nipple indentation and possible discharge Change in color of the areola An uncharacteristic, persistent itchy sensation Acute breast tenderness ranging from a dull ache to shooting pains Change in breast skin texture (resembling an orange peel) Change in color from fleshy pink to dark red or purple (bruised appearance)

Of course, the above symptoms do not always indicate IBe. Dr. Chui advises women to follow their gut and be aware. If more than one symptom arises, contact a physician immediately. IBC symptoms usually materialize on an accelerated timescale - afew weeks, not months or years.

The Susan G. Komen For the Cure Foundation provides accurate information about IBe. Don't hesitate to call them with your questions.

Phone: (877) 465-6636 Web: komen.org

million Number of

Facebook users who check their social networking accounts every single day

call "nests." In other words, IBC doesn't clot in lumps, doesn't show up on mammograms, and can't be detected by breast self-examinations. And it's striking victims as young as sixteen.

IBC comprises less than one percent of all cancer diagnoses, says Dr. Steven Chui, an oncologist at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon, who sees between six and eight cases every year. Although Calappi is now healthy, she is a statistical minority. "IBC in particular really pisses me off," Chui says, "because two-thirds of women with IBC will be dead in three years."

- Libby Whittemore

21 percent

Young voters who cite The Doily Show and Saturday Night Live as regular sources of presidential campaign news

13

minutes Amount of time Americans consider to be ideal for good sex

17

percent Deeline in employers planning to hire 2008 graduates,

compared to 2007

5

percent Eighteen- to twenty-two-year-olds who feel financially secure

29 3 percent

Eighteen• to twenty-fouryear-olds who didn't have health insurance in 2006

$ 5 5 billion

Amount • college students spend on alcohol every year. That's more than the GOP of Sierra Leone ($4.88 billion)

7 5 9 percent

Oregon • adults who don't consume the recommended five or more fruits and veggies a day

$1 million

How much more a college graduate can expect to earn throughout his/her lifetime compared to someone with a high school diploma

flux.uoregon.edu 07

IN FLUX Left: With over twentyseven million Americans registered with the social networking site, Facebook has become an important campaign tool, providing an outlet for young people to declare their allegiance or opposition to political candidates.

...:::i

1&1

...

:c

~

Barstoo I rocksta rs

Attention aspiring rock gods and goddesses: your chance to shine has arrived. Grab your friends and some brews, and get ready to hit the stage with Rock Band, a video game that brings out the virtuoso in even the most tone-deaf and uncoordinated among us.

Founded in the mid-nineties by a couple of MIT students, Harmonix Music Systems has created games that channel the thrill of making music. After crafting the smash hit Guitar Hero series, Harmonix joined MTV Networks and broadened the experience to a four-piece arrangement with Rock Band, the collaborative music game.

Harmonix delivers brand-new downloadable songs through its iTunes-like store. The music store has been a surprise hit; more than eight million songs have been downloaded, and musicians have taken notice. Motley Crue broke new ground when releasing -its new single, "Saints of Los Angeles," exclusively through Rock Band.

And with more than 1.5 million copies of the game sold in less than six months, the success of Rock Band is breaking out of living rooms.

Left: Tone deaf? Can't playa single chord? On Monday nights at Eugene's Jackalope Lounge, even the most instrumentally challenged get a chance to take center stage in a button-pushing, musicmaking frenzy.

Rock Band has found a special home where few video games dare to tread: bars. Traditionally, bars cater to two separate attention-grabbers for the inebriated: games of skill and opportunities to be unreasonably loud. Rock Band, which combines the two, has struck a beer-soaked chord with patrons across the country since the day it came out. Local venues such as Eugene's Jackalope Lounge and Portland's classic arcade-turned-bar Ground Kontrol offer weekly Rock Band nights. " - Nick Cummings

Breaking conventions University of Oregon junior Aaron Polk uses the click of a mouse and a Facebook account to support presidential hopeful Senator John McCain in this year's election.

Boasting more than forty-two thousand members, Polk's boldly titled Facebook group, "Stop Barack Obama (One Million Strong and Growing)" leads Facebook's anti-Obama outlets. "Facebook is heavily used by young people, and the majority of Obama supporters are young people," says Polk. "I figured a lot of people support him for the wrong reasons. It's an Obama awareness group, but an anti- one."

Polk is one student politico striving to educate his Facebook peers and, when November election time comes, offset their left-leaning voting traditions. As the presidential election nears, Generation Y is using Facebook as an online forum to organize rallies and protests and debate with peers.

Founded in 2004 and touting seventy million users worldwide (twenty-seven million in the United States), the social networking site has become youth's new grassroots leader.

08 flu x • 2008

Democrats first tapped the online social networking scene in 2004, when Howard Dean realized how rapidly his campaign staff could rally supporters. This year, campaigning via Facebook is common practice. More than 1.25 million users have added the ABC News U.S. Politics application since it was implemented in the 2006 mid-term elections, allowing users to read, watch, debate, and participate in political discussion.

Obama's hugely successful Facebook campaign has garnered him more than eight hundred thousand supporters on the site, roughly six times the amount of either Senator Hillary Clinton or McCain. As a young Republican, Polk pits himself against the majority of his peers. "I try to show people 'I'm young and I'm conservative.'

It's a challenge. I hear a lot of irrational arguments." Polk, whose inbox is regularly filled with hate mail, attracts pro- and antiObama students who engage in often-heated debates on his group's discussion board. "I caught myself in one that put me behind studying for days," he says.

Facebook's political presence has the market power to send more young voters to the polls in November than the 2004 presidential election, which saw the largest turnout of under-thirty voters in the last decade thanks to organizations like Rock the Vote.

Prior to Obama's March 21 visit to the UO's McArthur Court, Facebook invitations were sent to roughly four thousand local users. The bombardment of notifications had college voters lining up as early as fourteen hours before the speech.

Though Polk's membership grows by about nine hundred members per day expanding from one thousand to more than forty thousand members in just five months - he recognizes that his Facebook efforts ultimately offer a place for college students to be engaged in politiCS. "I wish [college students] would look top to bottom at all the issues," says Polk. "At the end of the day, whether people are voting Libertarian, Republican, or Democrat, if they're voting, then it puts a smile on my face." " - Lindsay Funston and Kamran Rouzpay

Suite 412.2.8 Univetsity of Ote&on 'EU&ene,Olt 97403-12.2.8

flux.uoregon.edu 09

FOOD LEFT: Jocelyn /lMcAuliflower/l McAuley credits her degree in biology for her inclination to use unusual ingredients in the recipes she posts on her food blog.

Would you like sprouts with that?

Inside Laughing Planet Cafe in Eugene, cusArea to observe and taste the one food he tomer Ben Falkin peers over the colorful counter considers perfect: the burrito. crowded with plastic dinosaur toys, watching as In 2000, Satnick brought Laughing Planet's the server mixes his smoothie. "You can watch signature burritos to Portland, and later to Euthem cut up the beet for the Carrot Apple Beet gene. Inside the cafe, you won't find endorsements Smoothie," he says once the chilled blend is or manifestos of sustainability or nutrition; you safely in his grasp. "I come here regularly bewill find eclectic art, funky music, and laid-back cause the people are great and the food is quick attitudes. "We get people to eat more intelligently, and convenient." even if they don't mean to."

Falkin is among a growOne strategy: his to-go burriFast food doesn't have to tos ing number of people who are wrapped tightly in tin mean calorie-overload. patronize healthy fast food foil, designed to fit perfectly cafes throughout the country. inside bicycle cup holders For the past few years, cafes promoting quick, while minimizing waste. delicious, and healthful foods have sprouted Eugene's Cafe Yumm! builds on the fundamennationwide in the casual dining sector. tals of beans and rice spiced by their trademark "[Organic food is] going to be the fastest-growsauce. Co-founder Mary Ann Beauchamp develing segment of the fast restaurant business," says oped the sauce - a zesty mix of nuts, beans, and Sam Fromartz, journalist and author of Organic, spices - as a means to entice her young daughter Inc. "Health is in the DNA of organic food," to eat healthy food. She opened the first of several Fromartz adds. "That's part of its core mission." cafes eleven years ago.

Laughing Planet grew from founder Richard In 2007, Cafe Yumm! started franchising, Satnick's search for eateries that served nutritious with a location in Bend and four more planned and convenient foods. In 1995, Satnick opened for Portland and Corvallis. John Shickich, the his first "Planet" in Indiana (named after the imcompany's franchise mastermind, insists that Cafe age of a fed-up planet laughing off human folly).

Yumm! isn't out to change the world. "We just To launch the menu, he went on a pilgrimage to want to deliver soul-satisfying, deeply nourishing, the San Francisco Bay and beautiful food from lower on the food chain with less environmental impact."

- Jessica McElfresh

Fridge fillers With limited funds and busy schedules, college students don't always have the luxury of a healthy, home-cooked meal (nor do they have time to throw away two-month-old leftovers).

See what's going on inside today's student refrigerators.

Name: Andy Holmes

o

Major: International Studies and Spanish Number of roommates: 3 How often do you go shopping? IINot very often. I'll probably go every one-and-ahalf to two weeks."

What is your favorite thing to buy? /lMilk. I drink it all the time. It's very practical."

What do you have most of in your refrigerator? /lCondiments. We have too many of each one ... a couple mayo ... two mustards ... II What's the grossest thing you've ever discovered?

IIA friend of mine gave us some chili in aTupperware container that we never ate, and it developed mold allover the top of it.

That was pretty bad." " - Zach Klassen

N

ca

e Just like your motherboard used to make While writing about food may not sound quite as appealing as eating it, food blogs are rapidly gaining popularity. Type "food blog" into Google, and you'll get tens of millions of hits.

Food blogs provide a platform to edit recipes, discuss entrees or whole meals, and pose questions. Beyond the inclusion of cookbooks, food blogs allow bloggers to write about the ways in which they experience food and document their culinary endeavors with photos.

Jocelyn McAuley has been blogging for over three years but it wasn't until she stumbled upon the food blog "World on a Plate" (worldonaplate. org) that she realized, "Hey! I can do this! '" I was trying to create the 'perfect' pad thai (isn't that sooo Eugene?) and was forever losing my recipe notes on what worked for me."

McAuley, otherwise known as "McAuliflower" writes her blog, browniepointsblog.com, under the tagline "a good girl's notebook of her culinary world." She graduated from the University of Oregon in 1997 with a degree in biology that has given her an innate curiosity about the world and the urge to try creative ingredients: liquid nitrogen sorbets, anyone?

"Good food blogs have a personal voice to them - a recognizable palate and style - and a veracity that cookbooks can't come close to," says McAuley. "I can check in on a food blog week after week and get to know that author in a way I will never know a cookbook author." However, McAuley adds, food blogs written by novices can be frustrating when they make recipe-writing mistakes.

Kyrie Juchemich is a baker extraordinaire. Her blog, cakenbake.blogspot.com, features an everevolving showcase of her experiments at home or in one of the two bakeries where she works (Mangiamo and Metropol).

Juchemich started her blog in October 2007 to show her relatives, who live in Gladstone, Oregon, the treats she'd been working on. Her baking creations include peanut butter and jelly cupcakes and "Better than Sex" cupcakes filled with dulce de leche. With a full load of classes and a fortyhour work week, Juchemich spares precious time for baking because she is in love. "I'll probably do nothing with my psychology degree," she says.

"But for me, baking is a comfort."

Kyrie's top 10 baking blogs 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

8.

9.

- Jessica McElfresh

flux.uoregon.edu

11

• FOOD

SCHOOL OF JOU"RNALISM AND COMMUNICATION

How to throw a sustainable dinner party

University of Oregon

Move over, Martha Stewart: today's dinner party focuses on friends, food, and a low environmental impact. Small changes to routines and a little creativity can make a big difference, says Epicurious.com associate editor Lauren Salkeld. "If you're in your twenties, this is a good time in your life to develop these good habits."

- Mindy Moreland and Lindsay Funston

CO) Main course Although the Oregon Chinook fishing season has been called off for 2008 to preserve fish populations, all's not lost for tasty, environmentally conscious feasts.

Most seafood packs a much smaller carbon-emission punch than do land-based animal protein sources.

Visit flux.uoregon.edu for links to the numerous environmental groups that maintain lists of good seafood choices and those to avoid, based on factors such as fishing method, health of wild populations, habitat impact, and fish management practices. Serve your guests dinner without aside helping of habitat depletion.

~ Side dishes IIJust about every menu can be conscious if you use the right ingredients,1I Salkeld says.

IILook for things that are seasonal, local, organic. 1I Serving organic, local produce will reduce your exposure to pesticides, cut down the costs of food transportation and storage, and support local farms.

~ Napkins & dinnerware The average American uses 650 pounds of paper products ayear. Reduce your impact by avoiding disposable plates, cups, and napkins. Don't have enough?

Ask your guests to bring a plate with them. liThe best option is figuring out ways to repurpose things you already have,1I Salkeld says. Need napkins? IIMaybe you have bandanas of all different colors. You 1I just need to be creative.

Congratulations, Class of 2008!

When you graduate, you join the ranks of more than 9,000 sOJe alumni.

Not all of them make headlines, but they all make a difference.

~ The mood Choose natural light, compact fluorescent bulbs, or beeswax candles to power your party. Get creative when constructing a centerpiece: try a bowl of fruit or locally grown flowers. Have musical friends?

Unplug the stereo and invite your guests to bring their instruments along.

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~ Visit flux.uoregon.edu for avegan ~ ~ chocolate mousse recipe that's as easy ~ \. to prepare as it is delicious.

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School of Journalism and Communication 1275 University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403-1275

ART Left: From their first velvet art purchase in Bisbee, Arizona - a painting of a naked woman - to this wall devoted to unicorns, Carl Baldwin and Caren Anderson have pursued their velvet passion and turned their collection into a unique museum.

~

...

ca

z

= MySpace fan

o

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base

They're not quite the starving artists of yesteryear. University of Oregon student musicians are taking the digital DIY approach to self-promotion, relying on social networking sites such as MySpace to propel themselves to Internet stardom. By keeping track of fans,

announcing concerts, and distributing songs for free, local bands have delivered their signature sounds straight to their listeners across cyberspace - and generated swarms of followers as well. til - Nick Cummings and Zach Klassen

Water Tower String Band

The Skyline

The Arithmetic Danger Club

Genre Since Where

Genre Since Where

Genre Since Where

Old-timejbluegrassjfolk

2005 Lake Oswego, Oregon

Rock

2006 Eugene, Oregon

Electronicajrockjindie

2007 Eugene, Oregon

III

3 Welcome to the Velveteria Marshall Appelwhite is hardly a household name. Preaching a gospel rooted in aliens and the Apocalypse, Appelwhite was the doomsday seer behind the Heaven's Gate suicides in 1997. A decidedly unpopular figure, Appelwhite's image is substantially less than timeless, making the fact that Caren Anderson and Carl Baldwin managed to locate and purchase a black velveteen likeness of the googly-eyed guru even more remarkable.

Anderson and Baldwin aren't Heaven's Gate disciples, and they don't care much for Kool-Aid. It isn't Marshall Appelwhite they worship, but the fine craft of velvet painting.

Often classified as the bastardized, closeted cousin of fine art, velvet paintings are stuffed in basements and bargain bins, admired by old women perfumed with cat urine. For connoisseurs of kitsch, Anderson and Baldwin are relatively inconspicuous.

Ten years ago, they embarked on a velveteen odyssey. Weary of squinting at stale European street scenes and zestless water lilies, the couple hit the road in search of something a little offbeat. They scoured the Western part of the country for velvet art-

14 flu x • 2008

work, rummaging through thrift shops and garage sales, flea markets and flophouses.

They were on a bender - drunk on love and velvet and Elvis. "The power of these damn things changes you," says Baldwin.

In 2005, they opened the Velveteria, a museum in Portland featuring throngs of black velvet banditos, gremlins, full-breasted aliens, dog-children, jackalopes, and poodles. "I think we've hung three hundred paintings, although I haven't even counted them all," says Anderson. The duo admits to an overwhelming affection for the overtly garish, but there are certain pieces that even they snub. "We don't buy landscapes unless they glow in the dark," says Baldwin. "We're also tired of cartoons, Snoopy, and Mickey Mouse. And the new Elvises are pretty hack."

Inside the Velveteria's showroom, visitors are greeted with an onslaught of all that is plush and neon. Each wall is organized loosely by theme: one dressed with tropical landscapes and Polynesian women, another with D-list celebrities like Howard Stern and Dog the Bounty Hunter. Jesus is strewn about in nearly every conceivable form (including blessing a semi truck), and

an entire room is devoted to voluptuous nude beauties. Unicornucopia, Poodletopia, Clowntacular, and the Surgical Evolution of Michael Jackson are rotating exhibits. A shrine in homage to Hawaii 5-0's Jack Lord is exhibited nearby.

As the assemblage of nearly two thousand fuzzy canvases continues to grow, so does the Velveteria's notoriety. It's been featured on HGTV's Offbeat America, the Travel Channel's No Reservations, and NBC's The Tonight Show with]ay Leno as part of Tom Green's countrywide search for interesting people. The couple even penned a book entitled Black Velvet Masterpieces, outlining the history of the art form.

"It's not easy being the new darlings of the art world," says Baldwin with a playful sigh.

Anderson and Baldwin remain passionate velvet fetishists, whether vying for a neon Condoleezza Rice or haunting eBay auctions for a flame-wielding Ted Nugent.

After years of hunting and gathering, they've cemented a position among rococo royalty. .iii ..

Known throughout Eugene for rowdy, vivacious square dances, the band has fostered a new generation of old-time enthusiasts among its fans. "The fun in playing is the sense of community it brings," says Cory Goldman, the band's banjo player. "That's really the heart of it."

JJWe go for the straight rock sound because it doesn't seem to be too prevalent in today's music," says Skyline singer and guitarist Daniel Jacobs. The sound, which combines British invasion and early nineties alternative rock, is fueling the group's forty-six-show tour beginning July 2008.

myspace.com/watertowerstringband

myspace.com/theskylinemusic

..................................................................................

.

JJIt's basically rock with aton of electric stuff over it," says The Arithmetic Danger Club drummer Damion Winship. And he's right. Bright MIDI and Korg synths pierce the ADC's fast-paced rock aesthetic with influences from Modest Mouse, the Flaming Lips, and Arcade Fire. myspace.com/thearithmeticdangerclub

.

.

.

un THEUEItVET _ &

B-side culture With a new generation of music fans raised in a culture where the mp3 has become the aural standard, appreciation of analog LPs could be lost among multigigabyte iPods. But according to Nielsen SoundScan, an informational system that tracks the sales of music throughout the United States, record sales have risen from 858,000 in 2006 to 990,000 in 2007. Though these numbers aren't staggering and pose little threat to CD or online mp3 sales, they do prove one thing: people still buy vinyl.

Here are the most sought-after records of all time.

- Zach Klassen

John Lennon a Yoko Ono

The Velvet Underground

Sex Pistols

Double Fantasy, Geffen, 1980.

Hours before he was shot and killed, John Lennon autographed his assassin's copy of Double Fantasy. In 1999 the album sold for $150,000, making it one of the most valuable records in the history of recorded music.

The Velvet Underground and Nico, on acetate, Scepter studio recordings, 1966. Found by Warren Hill in 2002 at ayard sale in New York, this record was one of the first original recordings by The Velvet Underground. The record sold for $25,200 in 2006.

"God Save the Queen" single, A&M Records, 1977 The single "God Save the Queen" was released through A&M in a small number of copies.

One original release sold on Ebay for ÂŁ12,675 (nearly $25,000) in 2006.

- Kate Nacy

flux.uoregon.edu

15

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~

i:i:

~ Royal generosity

f Big horn, big plans

"We may be drag queens honey, but if you think about it, who better to put on a show and help raise money?" says Dan Cook, better known as Mother Cherreese. Cook belongs to the International Imperial Court System (IICS), a non-profit organization comprised of drag queens who employ their glamorous big wigs and gravity-defying stilettos to turn drag into an act of philanthropy.

The IICS is one of the largest gay organizations in the world.

The Eugene chapter, the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Emerald Empire, performs every other week to support local charities. In 2007, the Court raised nearly $11,000.

"I've never seen an independent organization fundraise like them," says Diane Lang, executive director of Lane County's HIV Alliance. "The court has developed such a culture of giving, where they encourage others around them to give effortlessly.

They really are amazing role models in that sense." _

Name: Seth Horner

- Text and photos by Conner Jay

Age: 23 Hometown: Eugene, Oregon Occupation: Tuba player Pursuit: Horner was in middle school when he began playing alongside students from the University of Oregon Tuba Ensemble. By his junior year at South Eugene High School, he had placed first at the International Tuba Euphonium Conference and was the top pick at the state tuba solo competition three years in a row. After graduating from the exclusive Curtis Institute of Music, Horner was accepted into UO's graduate music program, where he currently studies and teaches. He is also a substitute musician for the Eugene Symphony, the Oregon Bach Festival, and Oregon Ballet Theatre. He hopes to work for a major orchestra and continue teaching tuba lessons to university students.

Talking shop: "Stay committed to your music and your identity. Find your sound, nurture it and be prepared to be flexible." _ - Zach Klassen

Above: Performing for a crowd of students, Karess Anne Slaughter, representing the Imperial Court System of Eugene and the local drag troop, SheBang, makes her entrance to Beyonce's IICrazy in Love." Middle left: Thomas Criego, current emperor of the Eugene court, smokes and socializes outside The Embers in Portland. As emperor, he is required to attend functions around the Northwest. Below: Empress Daphne Bertha Storm waits in line with her Emperor to tip a performer, money that goes back to the various charities the court supports. Right: Sabel Scities helps make up a younger performer during the ISCEE's HIV Alliance Show at the Hult Center, passing along the elaborate techniques needed to don full drag.

16 flu x • 2008

flux.uoregon.edu

17

ENVIRONMENT O.

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Left: By 2009, the waters off Reedsport, Oregon, chosen as the test site for wave energy development in the United States, will be home to many buoys like this one.

Today, the average American farmer is fifty-five years old. Farmers make up less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, but an agricultural revival is on the horizon.

Students are playing an important role in today's food revolution as they begin to understand the importance of communal farming and the joys of freshly grown food.

"There's been a paradigm shift in consciousness," says Harper Keeler, director of the University of Oregon's Urban Farm.

"The whole idea of knowing where your food comes from is huge." Urban farmer and UO philosophy student Laura Beko agrees.

"To not know where your food comes from is kind of scary," she says. "Eating what you produce is a cool thing."

The Rodale Institute's Farming for Credit Directory lists seventy-seven colleges and universities nationwide that offer classes or hands-on work in campus gardens to lure young people back to the land. "When everything you do in college is in the class-

>

;1 Making waves Two years ago, the Navy began testing buoys in the ocean as a way to generate energy. Although the concept is still in its infancy, the Oregon coast is slated to be the first place in the nation to install wave parks, and implementation is moving quickly. In the next five years, Oregon may become the nation's leader in wave energy.

Here's a look at wave energy and what it means to Oregonians.

(some in the works) in Portugal, Ireland, England, and the United States. Reedsport, Oregon was chosen as the optimal location in the nation for developing a wave energy test site by the Electrical Power Research Institute in 2004. Reedsport is on course to have buoys in the water by 2009 and a full, 0.25 square mile wave park in five years.

The Reedsport location will produce fifty to one hundred megawatts of energy.

men out of their former territories. Wave parks and the close proximity of buoys to the shore - within three miles at Reedsport -limit fishermen and crabbers' access to the coast.

The state and federal agencies: The abundance of groups filing licenses to develop wave energy over hundreds of miles of coastline prompted Governor Ted Kulongoski to allow only five to seven full-scale wave parks.

- Jessica McElfresh

The basics

Who's involved

In Oregon, wave energy technology primarily consists of buoys that harness energy and send electricity inland. It's considered an alternative energy one hundred times more powerful than solar energy. "We need a lot of energy to power the world, but it only takes a small fraction of the total available energy in the ocean to do that. Now it has been estimated by researchers in Europe that if we could take 0.2 percent of all the energy in the ocean, that would do the job," said Allan Wallace, the late researcher at Oregon State University whose innovative research and ideas helped kick off the wave energy program at OSU in 2003.

Currently, there are wave energy projects

The developers: At OSU, a major site of wave energy development and testing, researcher Ted Brekken and his colleagues are optimistic about the power of wave energy. Brekken is eagerly working to develop the necessary technology to make it happen.

The private companies: The companies competing to bring wave technology into the marketplace include Ocean Power Technology and Finavera. Groups like these will help to support development, installation, and maintenance costs of the buoys.

They also stand to lose the most money if the technology fails.

The fishermen/crabbers: The push to develop marine reserves is slowly elbowing fisher-

18 flu x • 2008

Cultivating change

Environmental implications Without buoys in the water it is nearly impossible to predict the environmental effects of awave park, but researchers at OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center have been working to determine a plausible range of impacts. At a 2007 conference organized by the Hatfield Center, stakeholders met to discuss ecological impacts on waves, fish, habitat, marine mammals, and seabirds.

Their conclusions will help guide current and future impact studies to ensure that the new technology doesn't negatively affect the coastal environment.

Left: Andrew Doherty, a senior anthropology major, carts a load of weeds at the UO's Urban Farm, one of seventy-seven such programs at colleges and universities nationwide.

room, it's fun to get outside," says senior UO political science major Jaime Symons.

The UO's Urban Farm - a thriving 1.5acre outdoor classroom - is one of many sites nationwide where the student farm movement has taken root. The farm, now in its twenty-sixth year, has created a growing network of young farmers throughout the Willamette Valley. These students, newly educated about the basics of soil composition, crop rotation, and composting, are eager to turn their knowledge into food in their own homes or community gardens.

Jen Surdyk, a third-year Urban Farm team leader and garden coordinator at the Laurel Valley Educational Farm at the Northwest Youth Corps, takes pleasure in working with soil and with people in the various green spaces. "Bonds are created by growing food and eating food," she says.

"On any day there's no place 1'd rather be than farming."

e

- Karen Nagy

Rose City roaster Who he is Daft Punk electronica beats bump in the converted yellow garage of twenty-seven-year-old Joel Domreis while he decides what beans to roast for the day. The owner of Courier Coffee Roasters, Domreis applied his longtime passion for java and regard for the environment (he earned an environmental studies degree from the University of Oregon in 2003) as guiding principles for his southeast Portland startup.

What he does After college, Domreis began roasting in his backyard with a pie iron and a side burner on his gas grill. Today, he runs his business with professional equipment. Domreis roasts for ten homes and sixteen businesses and delivers to all of them on his bike. He admits hauling 75 pounds of coffee on the front of a cargo bike can be awkward, but it forces his business to stay small, local, and sustainable. "Cars make things easy - a little too easy," says Domreis. "Biking limits me in that I can only go so far." He wakes up at four o'clock each morning to begin roasting and he'll make up to three trips daily across downtown Portland to deliver his products: coffee in glass mason jars and brown paper bags stamped with the company logo.

e

- Amy Purcell

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ENVIRONMENT

III

It's not easy buying green Our eco-savvy age group is bombarded with messages pressuring us to save the environment while encouraging us to fill our apartments and our lives with more stuff. In 2007, the world's population emitted 19 billion tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide, consumed 9.1 percent of the earth's fresh water, and continued to deplete available energy resources at a rate of 4.1 percent. Many corporations would like to have you think your next purchase will help reverse those statistics.

Don't let them fool you; Jlgoing green" takes more than an advertising campaign. We surveyed products that might be found in our next apartments, considering everything from marketing tactics (advertising with green jargon like Jlcompostable" and Jlrecycled" and boasting about energy ratings to boost perceived sustainability) to manufacturing procedures.

Discover which companies are guilty of greenwashing (in red) - turning the green trend into afinancial game with big promises, vague claims, and no real intent to protect the earth - and those that really do strive to reduce their carbon footprints (in green). 0 - Flux research editors

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(Q) Abundant Earth Shop the company's website for handmade mattresses of organic cotton and natural latex, recycled lawn furniture, and organic area rugs.

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More than 95 percent raw materials are used in the company's well-known household products, including Ziploc, Orano, and Windex.

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(Q) YOLO Colorhouse Wall Paint This brand produces environmentally fr1endly paint products. Its products contain no Volatile Organic Compounds (which release hazardous chemicals).

Reasonably priced at $28-$39/gallon.

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20 flu x • 2008

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~ IKEA Praised for its environmental efforts, IKEA refuses to use materials from intact natural forests. This stackable chair is made from banana leaf, a material often discarded as waste.

The Raw Denim Jeans Project - it's more than afashion statement story Katrina N attress photos Katie Onheiber

On]une 2,2007, Sean McKeen awoke in his underwear for the first time in weeks. He felt strange without the familiar pull of denim around his legs, but if he could sit in a chair and smell himself, it was time to freeze his jeans. Yesterday; it was time.

He got out of bed; his long knobby legs feeling oddly exposed as his bare feet thumped on the hardwood floor. His dreadlocks bounced on his back. When he arrived at the freezer he pulled out a bag heavy with denim. "Freezing your jeans helps with the smell," he says. "I usually freeze mine every two to four weeks. If that doesn't work, I Febreze them." McKeen grabbed the jeans and shoved them into his face. He inhaled, satisfied that they no longer smelled like sweat, grime, fart, boy, and overall gnarliness. Though they were still stiff and frozen, McKeen pulled them on: the cool denim felt good on the summer morning. It was the start of the 310th day of McKeen and his jeans.

On August 21,2006, McKeen began The Raw Denim Jeans Proj ect - customizing your jeans by not washing them for a year - with his friend and fellow denim enthusiast Michael Gardner. It was Gardner who opened McKeen's eyes to raw denim, convincing him to try on a pair of Iron Army jeans at Portland's Johnny Sole boutique. As the Foo Fighter t-shirt-clad vegan stood in the dressing room, assessing each pair of Iron Army jeans in the mirror, he thought of the artistic possibilities raw denim presented.

Raw denim jeans come straight from the loom, which makes them extremely stiff and dark. "Over time, your body forms creases in the jeans that

flux.uoregon.edu 23

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Previous: For year two of The Raw Denim Jeans Project, McKeen and the other members are wearing $400 Iron Heart jeans from Japan every day.

Below: McKeen, a vegan, replaced the leather Iron Heart label on his jeans with a black label of his own design.

Right: "Freezing your jeans helps with the smell," McKeen says, starting his day with a bag of ice-cold denim.

fades the dye in those particular places, making more of a personal mark on your jeans," explains Gardner. The jeans fit unlike any McKeen had worn before. Snug and stiff, they hugged his legs as if they were made specifically for his body He gladly forked over $1 70 for the Hiro Straight Leg Raws, one of Iron Army's most popular cuts. Within the first month, the rigidity disappeared, leaving McKeen with the form-fitting jeans he calls his "second skin."

Though McKeen may not sound like the typical wearer of designer jeans - his mother claims he shopped at Goodwill in high school - he has always been one for commitment. "If he makes a commitment he will follow through," says Marcella Owsley, McKeen's girlfriend. She points out that the twenty-three-year-old has been growing his dreadlocks for five years and has been under the needle for over twenty hours in order to complete a tattoo of the Milky Way galaxy that spans the left side of his body, beginning under his armpit and wrapping around his thigh to end near his pelvis.

It is advised not to wash raw denim for a few months upon purchase, but McKeen had been studying Namjun Paik, a Korean artist whose performances span the course of a year and have included him tying himself to a woman with a 6-foot rope but not being able to touch her.

Fascinated by Paik's time-based art, McKeen, an Oregon State University art student, raised the non-washing time to a year. He also decided to extend the project to four years, changing the pair of jeans annually when the members (four total for round one) congregate for the first washing.

By March 2007, Gardner and McKeen had recruited another member for the Raw Denim jeans Project: Frankie Flatch. Like McKeen, Flatch is not usually one to spend hundreds of dollars on clothing, but says it's not just about personalizing a pair of pants. "I am willing to spend more if I know the workers are treated fairly," says Flatch of Iron Army In 2004 Steve Opperman and Steve Dubbeldam established Iron Army, the now defunct brand used for year one of the project. The two purchased old jeans at thrift stores and customized them in their hometown, Edmonton, Canada. When their out-of-the-garage designs

Illf you were to take them off and put them up to your face, you'd immediately pull back:' grew in popularity, the duo was forced to move production to Los Angeles. In an effort to oversee operations and ensure fair payment and employee working conditions, they moved too.

The Raw Denim Jeans Project - like the efforts of urban hipsters to mainstream organic fabrics and support local, handmade clothing - fuels the movement to look at clothing as part of a social statement and ecological responsibility McKeen, Gardner, and Flatch may be on the fringes, but they're not alone in their attempt to think

a little more about the impact fashion has on the environment. According to The NPD Group, a consumer and retail market research firm, 27 percent of consumers polled in 2007 were interested in eco-friendly brands and retail, a leap from just 6 percent in 2002.

Gardner sees green fashion, and raw denim, as a subculture, and believes the benefits outweigh the jeans' price tag. "To me its like collecting action figures or baseball cards," he says. "It's a lifestyle." A lifestyle, it turns out, with its own look, feel, and smell.

At two o'clock in the morning on a humid summer night, McKeen stood in a sweatshirt, boxers, and socks tagging a building in downtown Portland with stencils declaring "Raw Denim jeans Project August 21,20." He taped his jeans to the wall with "07" painted in white on the left back pocket, completing the phrase and rendering him pantless because, of course, he didn't think to bring an extra pair on his excursion.

McKeen uses his street art to remind the city of his project and hopefully open some eyes to raw denim. He plans to implement supplemental urban art in each year of the project. "It's a big commitment and a lot of people think I'm crazy," says the denim fanatic, who is willing to pay up to $800 for a pair of jeans in upcoming years. "I want people to know what I'm doing."

By the twelfth month of the project, not even freezing could save the jeans. "The last month [of the project] was equivalent to the first eleven combined," recalls McKeen. The jeans were subject to beer, vomit, paint, .and construction work all in the course of thirty days. "If you were to take them off and put them up to your face, you'd immediately pull back," he says. "It was a foul, rotten trespassing of the senses."

On August 21,2007, McKeen, Gardner, and Flatch stand in their boxers, Budweisers in hand, at Flatch's southeast Portland home. They hold their jeans in front of them, admiring twelve months' worth of creases, fading, and stains. Their jeans see the inside of a washing machine for the first time, finally being cleansed of the disgusting substances that have been absorbed into the denim in the past year. McKeen makes sure the first wash isn't too harsh by using special detergent made in japan.

Unable to read the directions (they are in japanese, after all), he dumps the contents of the packet into the washer.

Once the buzzer sounds, they hang the jeans to dry in Flatch's shower. "This is the conclusion of a year's amount of work," says McKeen. "I feel accomplished."

In Flasch's bathroom the water dripping from the denim is a mixture of blue and brown from the indigo dye and dirt collected over the year. The dye has faded in areas, leaving the color of the jeans uneven. Each pair is unique, formed by the body of its owner. Honeycomb creases permanently form under the knee. A small hole is burned in the left thigh of McKeen's jeans from an experiment testing whether raw denim is flammable. It is.

As the jeans drip, McKeen and Gardner try on a new round of jeans for year two of The Raw Denim jeans Project, a $400 limited edition pair of Iron Hearts from japan. The cycle begins again. _

r Here's something to think about next time you're out shopping for jeans: A quarter of all pesticide use occurs during the cultivation of cotton. According to the World Health Organization, twenty thousand people die annually from accidental poisonings in conventional cotton agriculture.

Organic cotton grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers is weaving its way into the clothing industry, which translates not

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only to better conditions for workers, but also fairer wages.

Large corporations such as Gap and Levi's have begun implementing organic cotton into some of their clothing lines. Gap introduced an organic cotton t-shirt for men last spring and Levi's launched asustainable line that includes men and women's jeans, tees, leggings, and skirts, all made with at least 98 percent organic cotton.

flux.uoregon.edu 25

r n ing

f om Aaron Rettig map illustration Chris Brock

story & photos

Editor's Note: In December 2007, Aaron Rettig found himself amid eastern Africa's austere landscapes. Along with world-renowned kayakers Lane Jacobs, Rush Sturges, Tyler Bradt, Ian Garcia, and Patrick Camblin, Rettig followed the banks of Africa's White Nile River with one mission: to discover uncharted whitewater. Video camera in hand, this University of Oregon senior and Flux videographer documented the expedition the kayakers dubbed The Africa Revolutions Tour.

In the north of Madagascar we ran from crocodiles. We startled one on a sandy riverbank and it thrashed its tail, raised its head, and disappeared into the river in front of us as we sprinted downstream.

I remember in the confusion of motion and spray, smiling, and I don't know why. Maybe because this seemed fitting, runningfrom crocodiles.

This was what was supposed to happen on African rivers. This was the adventure. Thinking about it now, I smiled because there is nothing that makes you freer than running from crocodiles, no feeling more immediate. It~ the same feeling you get from paddling whitewater I was with my best friends, running a first descent on a wild Madagascar river; and we were runningfrom crocodiles. Nothing could be better

26 flu x • 2008

Far from the granite rivers and the Polynesian influence of Madagascar, near Conrad's Congo River, and just below the killing fields of Sudan, lies the source of the White Nile River. Here in Jinja, Uganda, the Nile is born from the polluted waters of Lake Victoria and doesn't stop until it reaches Egypt, some 3,500 miles away In the first forty miles of the Nile's life, the river drops in gradient and pushes its way through a series of islands, forming channels of whitewater with some of the biggest holes and waves found on the planet.

Previous: Locals watch It was on the banks of this river, only yards from as Ian Garcia paddles these rapids, that I found myself in December 2007 on a over Deepdale Falls in the Drakensberg Mounmission to explore the rivers of Africa with some of my tains of South Africa. closest friends and some Below: The red dotted of the best whitewater path depicts the team's kayakers in the world. land expedition south; These were people who the yellow shows the flight north. refused to live life by the rules, globetrotting in search of fame, glory, whitewater, and stories to tell the girls back home.

Expedition leader, longtime friend, and kayaking all-star Tyler Bradt had recently broken the waterfall descent world record on Alexandria Falls, a 107-foot drop in Northern Canada.

"How was it?" I asked twenty-one-year-old LIBYA EGYPT Bradt, who stood shirtless in the Ugandan sun, a Nile Special beer in his hand.

"Super chill," said Bradt with a smile on his face, eyes hidden by a pair of oversized Smiths.

Between 2006 and 2007, three ERITR months before his world record CHAD descent, Bradt SUDAN and whitewater DJIBQUTI legend Seth Warren drove ETHIOPIA a Japanese fire CENTRAL AFRICA REPUBLIC truck converted to run on vegetable oil from the UGANDA northernmost point of "'ONGO Alaska to the southernmost DEMOCRATIC RWANDA REPUBUCOF point of Chile - promoting CONGO BURUNDI alternative fuels along the way I joined them on the Colombia leg of the journey "Let's get all the boys together and go have some fun in Africa," Bradt said ANGOLA on the banks of the San Juan River in central Colombia.

Antanarivo "Fuck it, I'm in."

ZIMBABWE MADAGASCAR My words would have NAMIBIA a profound effect on me one year later as we set off from Uganda, driving south, kayaks on the roof SWAZILAND and hope in our hearts.

After crossing Kenya and escaping the escalating violence in the troubled Rift Valley, we traveled across the wide expanse of Maasai land sneaking under the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro, down through the agricultural lands of Tanzania, and directly through the poverty of Zambia.

We drove day and night. We didn't stop until we reached the banks of a grand river, which, after dropping 700 feet over Victoria Falls, plunges into one of the deepest, most intimidating gorges on the face of the earth. We gazed across the banks of the river into Zimbabwe, a land of unrest and speculation, a land where the names of politicians were on everyone's lips.

When white explorers first peered over Victoria Falls into the rapids of the

"Let's get all the boys together and go have some fun in Africa."

Zambezi, they immediately proclaimed it one of the wonders of the world.

This river has made legends out of men. The high concentration of big-water rapids, backdropped by the spectacular falls, sent waves of adrenaline through my muscles as we dropped into the first rapid. As I looked up at the walls around me, I, like everyone experiencing the Zambezi from water level, realized the only way out was down. The river was swirling against the canyon walls. It pulled me, mocked my movements, and I gave in. I reached out a hand, grabbing at the water in an attempt to feel the power. It slid through my fingers.

On a sandy bank, somewhere beyond the chaos, muscular male smugglers rested with Zambian goods that would fetch a high price across the river in economically ravaged Zimbabwe. They raised calloused hands and flashed white smiles at us, chirping in a singsong language, voices reverberating off rock walls, soon to disappear in the roar of whitewater.

Three days of driving across Botswana and the northern part of South Africa found us in Bethlehem in time for Christmas. Here one can see the blue ridges of Lesotho. It was in these mountains that the bloody battles of the two Boer Wars were fought. To this day the fiercely independent Afrikaners remain rooted to the ground that holds the bones of their ancestors. Even after the fall of apartheid, the rise in power of the African National Congress, and the latest racial tensions brought about by land claims, the white Afrikaners refuse to leave the land they consider to have first inhabited. Looking at the cool, level stares of the Xhosa, the Zulu, and the inhabitants of the townships, I find the arguments of the white nationalists hard to believe. Their principles are entrenched in the colonial doctrine of an era that has passed them by and face a future where they might not belong.

In Durban we met up with the rest of the crew and began our expedition in earnest. Running fifty-footers in the Zulu stronghold of Kwaza-Zulu Natal, we hiked over green ridges to paddle rivers in the Drakensberg Mountains and dropped into steep gorges in the dry desert highlands of the Transkei region. We surfed waves on the Wild Coast and, perhaps our greatest

accomplishment, put on below the famous 700-foot Semonkong Falls in the independent Kingdom of Lesotho. We ran the river three days until we reached the first village. In this village, Bradt and I hiked upstream two miles, crossed the river, and bought outdated beer from a village of twelve. The villagers announced with great dignity that we were the first white people to visit this place.

Next time, they insisted, we must give them warning of our arrival. They would have slaughtered a goat.

After chaSing African rains and checking off river drainages one by one, we came to our final destination: Madagascar. Here time takes a slow turn backward. The European-style cobblestone streets of the capital, the fresh baked bread, the church steeples, and the language spoken are all reminders of the French colonizers whose legacy remains. In the south, villagers gathered as we ran first descents on swollen rivers that were pouring over banks and flooding rice fields. They ran alongside us, barefoot and screaming with every stroke. In a land

with no knowledge of kayaking, we were doing the unimaginable, and they were witnesses to it.

Africa is a reminder and lesson in mortality Because of this, moments of pure brilliance stand out; moments that you can never fully reproduce or mimic. In the northern part of Madagascar, days after running from crocodiles, I had such an experience of purity On the first descent of the Kazamana River, starting with waterfall after waterfall of clean, cold water that emptied into green pools, we were surrounded by grass hills and scars of granite; slashes in the hills, promises of more drops to come. We eventually came to that promise. The river dropped in front of us, and we paddled to a horizon line, looking hundreds of feet below us into the valley For three days, we ran quality virgin whitewater. Secluded in the wild, stroke after stroke, we achieved brilliance. We forgot our mortality as it fled somewhere far away, to another river, another adventure, and we continued to paddle downstream. "

In a land \\lith no knowledge of kayaking, we were doing the unilllaginable.

Above: Madagasy locals gather around kayaking equipment as the crew prepares to put on the river Onive in Central Madagascar. On this day, the river was flooded from Cyclone Ivan, which left much of Madagascar underwater.

SOUTH AFRICA

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ClenCeoj US enSIOn Tanya Burka abandoned a dream of working for NASA to explore the lighter side of hanging around in space story Kate Griesmann photos Ashley Baer

Just before ten o'clock on an unusually sunny Saturday morning in March 2008, Tanya Burka is busy hanging hoops and trapezes in the gym of the French American International School. In a few minutes the Pendulum Flyers, Portland's youth aerial dance troupe, will start their four-hour rehearsal. Amy Winehouse blares from the iPod speakers in the corner, signaling the start of practice and Burka, the twenty-six-year-old head coach of Pedulum's education programs, joins the singing teenagers in a series of stretches. Burka has worked with the Pendulum Aerial Dance Theatre as a coach and performer for just over a year, beginning shortly after graduating from tEcole Nationale De Cirque in Montreal.

30 flu x • 2008

III Previous: When Burka discovered aerial dance as asenior in high school, she was immediately drawn to the art form, deciding to pursue it as acareer after graduating from college. Below: After braiding long pieces of aerial silk together in a Maypole-like dance, the Pendulum Flyers, a youth aerial dance troupe in Portland, chat as Burka works through choreography details.

Becoming an aerialist was, relatively speaking, a late-inlife decision for Burka. As a child she dreamed of working for NASA, an ambition she pursued wholeheartedly for twenty-two years. Her love for science led her to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she received a degree in nuclear engineering before abruptly changing career paths.

Dressed in the same unofficial uniform as the middle and high school girls in the troupe - a leotard concealed by a t-shirt and black leggings - it's sometimes difficult to tell the coach from her students. Burka's dark hair is cut short and asymmetrically; calling attention to her prominent bone structure. "I'm Ukrainian on both sides," she says with a laugh, gesturing to her face. As the group finishes stretching, Burka walks to a set of blue aerial silks: long, wide pieces of two-way stretch nylon that

hang from the ceiling. Burka climbs one of the silks the way young children climb the fireman's pole on the playground by pulling herself up with her arms, wrapping her legs ir:tto the fabric, and stepping up. The stretchy nylon gives a little each time she pulls on it, but soon Burka is 30 feet in the air.

Aerial dance is still only vaguely known in the United States, but is gaining a reputation, thanks in part to Cirque du Soleil. It combines elements of ballet and modern dance with gymnastics and elevates them using the trapeze, hoops, ropes, and aerial silks.

Once in the air, Burka wraps the blue fabric around her body several times, preparing for a trick called the "star drop" - a complicated move starting with layers of material wrapped around dancers' torsos and legs. With a nod of the head they flip forward, simultaneously rotating horizontally and vertically They spin and twist with arms and legs outstretched, creating a star-like shape tumbling through space. The Flyers have been practicing this trick for months, and while they're good at it, it still makes several students nervous. "We're going to playa game, which is the 'let's get you guys over thinking this is scary' game," Burka calls from above, swinging gently from side to side in the fabric. Today, she explains, they will practice the star drop in two parts with a distinct break in the middle that leaves the dancer suspended in mid-air. The silks unravel from Burka's lean frame as she demonstrates, evoking an Emeril-esque "Bam!" in the pause between the two parts. The teenagers on the ground laugh - they're accustomed to Burka's relaxed approach. The first pair of students climb the silks, get into position, and are suddenly wracked with fear. The game has backfired for some students, slowing the trick down has only made it more terrifying. On the ground, unendingly patient, Burka calls out words of encouragement until the dancers find the confidence they need to take the risk.

From a young age Burka was armed with the selfdetermination she now imparts to the Flyers. She recalls a family story of deCiding to be potty-trained at the same time as her brother, Adrian. Although he is fifteen months older than her, age did not deter Burka from getting out of diapers. By the time she entered kindergarten at the Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, Burka could read and do basic math, including addition and subtraction, which made it difficult for teachers to keep her occupied. "For a lot of kindergarten and first grade I think they sent me to the library," she says. Burka excelled in every academic pursuit she came across, searching out extra credit and earning good grades. As a senior at MIT, she was a member of the 2003 National Collegiate Gymnastics Association's All-Americans in Academics, which reqUired a G.PA. above 3.0. The previous year, she received the Irving Kaplan award for outstanding academic achievement in nuclear engineering. With her natural smarts and dedication, plus a degree with the MIT seal beside her name, it seemed like there was little that would stop Burka from achieving her childhood dream.

So, why is she hanging from the rafters of a Portland gymnasium instead?

Burka's love of aerial dance began when she was older than most of the teenagers she works with at Pendulum.

Germantown Academy required high school seniors to do month-long internships before graduation. On a whim, Burka called the San Francisco School of Circus Arts. "I sort of figured that was my last hurrah before I went off to work for NASA," she says. The school found a spot for Burka. In return for taking out the trash, fixing the fax machine, and performing other general office tasks, she was allowed to take classes for free.

Burka doesn't hail from a circus family (her mother is a project manager for a pharmaceutical company and her father owns an auto-body shop), but a childhood of gymnastics lessons piqued her interest in the circus. Eye surgery to correct strabismus (cross-eyed vision) left her with poor depth perception, something she has grown accustomed to, though she admits shiny doorknobs still occasionally get the best of her. As a result of the surgery; she shied away from sports with moving objects because it was hard for her to tell whether they were coming or going. Gymnastics, Burka found, was perfect because the athlete controls the movements. But despite years of training, Burka describes herself as a "horrible" gymnast.

She is strong and flexible, but at 5'10" her height makes it difficult to rotate fast enough to perform many of the tricks. During her internship Burka discovered a way that her gymnastics background could benefit from her height: aerial dance. In the air, Burka's long limbs create an ethereal quality while her gymnastics training gives her the strength to complete the tricks and make every move appear effortless.

Before leaving San Francisco, a staff member told Burka that she had the potential to be a profeSSional aerialist. "It had just never occurred to me to pursue an alternative career like that, and I was like, 'That's a really , cool idea.' But if I'd told my parents," she says, trailing off into laughter. "They would'have just killed me and buried the body where no one would have found it." She also realized that, at age eighteen, she was not ready to abandon the NASA dreams of her youth. So, putting off the idea of aerial dance for a few years, she attended MIT. Having been a shy, glasses-and-suspenders-wearing kid whose elementary school report cards encouraged her to speak more in class, performing didn't come naturally to Burka. In San Francisco she started the long process of overcoming some of that shyness. "Having gone to the same school for my entire childhood, it was the first time I got to step outside of that and meet people on my own terms," she says. The confidence she gained through that experience followed her back to the East Coast where her mother, Lesia Pryor, remembers noticing a marked difference in her daughter. "It was like some of that quiet and introverted person changed," she says.

At MIT, Burka competed on the gymnastics team and worked at the nuclear reactor on campus. During shifts at the reactor, the reality of her chosen career path started to make itself plain. "It was boring, it really was," she says.

"The training is awesome: there are pneumatic tubes, and there's radioactive material- but the reality is that you sit

there." With aerial dance still on her mind, Burka decided that the opportunity to take a risk was more important than a successful disappointment. "Even if I go into it and fail miserably; if I get injured; if I just can't hack it; I'd much rather say I tried than look back and wonder," she says. During her senior year, while completing her thesis, she applied to circus school.

Pryor attended Burka's last gymnastics competition at MIT and it was there that she found out that her daughters career horizons had changed. Under the fluorescent lights and curved ceiling of duPont Gymnasium, a renovated airplane hangar, the coach announced that one of the seniors had prepared a special performance. This student, he explained, planned to do something very different after graduation. She had been applying to circus schools and was going to perform the piece she choreographed for her auditions. The anonymous "she" was Tanya Burka.

Above: As a nuclear engineering major at MIT, Burka worked at the helm of the school's nuclear reactor. She set that training aside when she attended LEcole Nationale De Cirque in Montreal, aschool of higher education in the arts - better known as circus school.

The opportunity to take a risk was more Important than a successful disappointment.

Though Burka had mentioned circus school to her parents several years before, Pryor was nonetheless shocked when her daughter took the floor. "I guess I never thought she was serious," she recalls. Rather than perform a tumbling routine for judges, Burka claimed the blue-matted floor as her own with a combination of gymnastics and contortion paired with a vamping, overly gawky style. The audience was enraptured. When it was over, her mother knew Burka was on her way to becoming a profeSSional performer. The home video from that day recorded her reaction: "Oh shit, I know she made it."

That fall Burka enrolled at [Ecole Nationale De Cirque, which is a trade school of sorts. The students who study there do not usually go on to a university: they become circus performers. Courses of study include aerial dance, clowning, juggling, and acrobatic technique. Although the focus isn't as academically rigorous as, say; MIT, the flux.uoregon.edu 33

Above: Without the aid of nets or safety lines, Burka (front right) practices astar drop with the members of the Pendulum Flyers. Rehearsals also include work on the hoop and trapeze Opposite: For Burka, the uncertainty of afuture as a performing artist wasn't enough to keep her from taking a risk. IIlf you do it right there isn't any such thing as lost time or closed doors," she says.

34 flu x • 2008

experience of studying performance arts is no less intense.

Students spend a minimum of forty-one hours a week in class or practicing their skills. "It's a really difficult thing to put all of yourself up for evaluation," Burka says.

"Everyone leaves there a little scarred."

While living in Montreal, Burka met and fell in love with Jon Tanaka. After she graduated they moved to Portland where jobs awaited them - Tanaka with a residential treatment facility for adolescents, and Burka with Pendulum. Tanaka's job did not work out, however, and after a few months he moved back to Canada. Burka remained in Portland with Pendulum, and also works part time at Ryan Artists, a Portland-based talent agency She holds two jobs because, as she says, "Even if you are a success as a circus performer you're still not a success financially" Burka's financial security seems to be more of a concern for her mother than for herself. "My whole goal is to do this as a living. I don't expect to get rich or famous," Burka says with a shrug. But for Pryor, a "reluctantly supportive" parent, knowing that Burka sidestepped a financially viable career for one that is less so has been difficult to accept. "I worry about her never being able to retire," says Pryor. She adds that Burka has always been conscientious when it comes to money; she saved up enough in college to pay for her own LASIK eye surgery In January 2008 Burka and Tanaka married, but have yet to live in the same country as husband and wife.

"It's really rough because the whole point of coming out here and taking this particular contract was to try and be together and have a home life and everything since I wouldn't be on tour," she says with a wistful smile. "But, you know, it happens to hundreds and thousands of

people that they happen to fall in love with someone who was born somewhere else." Despite their separate living situations, Tanaka admires Burka's career. While for some people, watching their spouse twist, flip, and twirl from the ceiling of a gymnasium may cause heart palpitations or sweaty palms, fear for her safety doesn't enter Tanaka's mind. "I love watching her because there's nothing more beautiful than seeing her do what she loves," he says.

661 want to look back when I'm eighty and say, 'Look at the insane crap 1 did:" Today, the level-headed Burka knows that being a performer, especially a circus performer, is a career with a relatively short shelf life, and certainly doesn't always lend itself to a stable lifestyle. The rebirth of circus as an art form has created a higher demand for performers like Burka, but many jobs require extensive travel. As her contract with Pendulum ends, she is preparing for a three-month stint in Turkey, performing several nights a week at an upscale hotel. When she returns in August, the search for a new contract will be waiting for her.

Despite the uncertainty of the future, Burka doesn't spend much time worrying about the next step: perhaps, like the star drop, slowing down long enough to realize the intricacies of the motion is scarier than just following its course. "Just knowing that I've managed to do what it is I dreamed of doing as part of my career - that's really all I was looking for," she says. "I want to look back when I'm ~ eighty and say; 'Look at the insane crap I did. '"

e

Below: Looking ahead to the completed project, Blank recruited Nina Pavlich in April 2008 to help with the artistic design of his website. This image - aseries of constantly moving cubes - is one possible way to display the world's ideas.

nJanuary 2008, Blank began a project modeled after Harris' 2006 program, We Feel Fine, a website that collects people's feelings and studies selfexpression. Today, Blank's project-in-progress taps into search tools and scans the world's newly posted blog entries for ideas - about anything. His program tracks blogging websites such as Blogger and WordPress, looking for sentences containing the words what if.

When it finds a fitting phrase, the program stores it in a database, along with details from the author's profile page.

The compiled information is then displayed on a website just seconds after the authors publish the thoughts to their blogs.

Blank envisions a design where his findings are displayed artistically One aspect of the site will have a spinning centrifuge of sentences that responds to the user's mouse placement, prominently displaying one idea at a time.

"The presentation is cutting edge," Blank says. "The website doesn't have any allure without it. If it were just a big table with all this data, it wouldn't be as interesting." When the project is finished, users will be able to use filter tools and categorize the

contents to discover the authors' demographics and the time of day when the ideas were recorded. Blank will be one of the first people to publish such an application.

He anticipates that the website will allow advertising students and professionals to understand what their audiences think about various ideas because it will prOvide raw, candid opinions. The project may even help ad professionals better develop their target demographics. Blank hopes this knowledge will further promote diversity and creativity in advertising. "It will make rapid development of ideas possible," he says. "[Professionals] can use it to instantly see how [their] ideas expand in the world."

Blank's role as a digital innovator places him firmly in a niche for young, savvy college students and graduates worldwide. In February 2004, former Harvard student

Blank's website will allow people to see how their ideas expand in the world.

Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, the trendy social networking site that connects users with messages, photos, games, social causes, and events. Today, at only

twenty-three years old, Forbes estimates Zuckerberg's worth at $1.5 billion. In 2005, twenty-two-year-old Stanford University dropout Sam Altman founded Loopt, a cell phone social mapping service to track the locations of friends. In 2007, BusinessWeek named Altman one of America's Best Young Entrepreneurs.

Blank predicts his Idea Project won't make billions by itself, so his goal is to become a recognized figure and travel the world speaking about similar projects.

"I love teaching," he says, "and people pay to watch those talks. That's where the money is." But profit isn't his only motivator. "A goal of mine will be to get invited to a TED Talk," he says. Each year at the TED conference, which sells out a year in advance, fifty of the world's most innovative thinkers share their ideas in front of one thousand people.

UO advertising professor Deb Morrison believes Blank will get there. "His learning curve is a beautiful trajectory," she says. "Many people are content to just take things in, but he's taking them in and inventing things -literally and figuratively - and that's huge." It's the main reason he was chosen for the Bedbury scholarship: "We wanted someone who was at the top of his game." lank first became interested in building websites when he was ten years old. His parents had given him and his thirteen-year-old brother, Seth, a Packard Bell for Hanukkah, and it sat upstairs in the corner of their playroom. Each day, after his homework was finished - that was the rule - Blank would concentrate on the screen for hours, assembling and perfecting the many websites he'd created about skateboarding, complete with tricks, photos, and directories for users to locate skate shops and parks nationwide. "It all started with both of us being interested in [web] stuff, going through our dad's books and goofing off together," Seth says, "and he's the one who carried it on. The web thing has always been a constant, no matter what else has changed in his life."

In 2003, Blank dove into more advanced web programming when he and his father opened Rock Gear, an online equipment vendor and virtual community for rock climbers. By 2004, Blank was programming the site with almost no help. The store closed in 2006, but it didn't hinder Blank's newfound enthusiasm for programming.

His first big break came in 2007. While searching Craigslist for job postings, he came across a woman who needed someone to create a simple website for her church; Blank did it for $100. His professionalism astounded her, and she offered him another job building a network for the online classes she taught. He created a site that charged participants $300 to sign up for her sessions. Within the first week, it brought in $13,000.

Clients began contacting Blank to construct websites for their businesses: a Portland hair salon, an organic cookie manufacturer, a luxury fur company, and a Portland catering group. Today, he grosses about $30,000 per

year while going to school.

"The money really gets reinvested right away," Blank says. He grabs his iPhone and declares, "This is work" - he uses it to communicate with clients - "but it's also kind of fun." He treats himself to luxuries such as a IS-inch MacBook Pro and a brand new Nissan Xterra, but he also pays for a large chunk of his tuition. Blank's Idea Project will bring in money based on the number of people who click the advertisements on his site. "The advertisers have deep pockets; they pay a lot of money for those. And [they] give that money straight to me, which is nice."

flux.uoregon.edu 39

Above: Unlike many university students, Blank says he prefers to spend free time working on his project or completing jobs for his clients here in his second home, the third floor of the UO's journalism school.

Opposite: An avid climber, Blank used to spend several afternoons aweek climbing at the Student Recreation Center, time that has been replaced by balancing classes, work for various clients, and trying to make history as a digital innovator.

40 flu X • 2008

Blank's industrious lifestyle doesn't allow time for relaxing. "I have very little life outside of work," he says.

During his freshman year at DO, he went to the Student Recreation Center nearly every day to climb the rock wall. Now, he admits, most days he'd rather work on his project or on his clients' websites than climb or spend time with friends. He only makes it to the rock wall once a week. Even when he doesn't have class or homework, he works in the journalism school for about six hours per day t was after 1 A.M. on Thursday; February 7, 2008, when Blank realized that collecting instantaneous ideas from around the world was nearly impossible.

He hunched over his desk in annoyance, his eyes burning a hole into a 23-inch monitor. He rummaged through line after line of seemingly frivolous code; where was the data he needed? Phrases like "I have a great idea" and "that was a bad idea" meant nothing.

Desperate, he e-mailed]onathan Harris and asked him how to collect relevant sentences. Harris wrote back the next day only to say that he built his own program and good luck. "I kind of thought, 'Well shit, what I am going to do now?'"

Blank worried he wouldn't finish before graduation.

"Time is my biggest fear because I have so much on my plate," says Blank, who must balance his time with clients

and deadlines and flying to and from New York for job interviews. But after fiddling with his search tools for more than a month, Blank captured his first string of relevant data: "It might be a good idea to give some thought to avoiding sources of indoor pollution." It was something, but wasn't great.

"I feel confident that I can collect good data," he says.

"I feel confident that I can display it in an artistic way But I don't feel confident that I can distill that data down to exactly what the idea is." To do this, Blank must teach his computer to perform a human task: recognize a big idea.

In April 2008, he met with Dejing Dou, a professor in the DO's Computer Information Sciences program. Dou had a hard time understanding Blank's American accent,

People don't usually use the word idea when expressing their revelations; they preface their thoughts with what if. and after repeating the word idea multiple times, Blank scribbled it on the whiteboard in Dou's office. The professor eventually grasped the concept, and asked Blank, "How many years do you have to work on this?"

"Years?" Blank panicked. "I have a month."

Dou explained that Blank needed to decipher the patterns in which people articulate their ideas and "explain" them to the computer. Blank realized that people don't

usually use the word idea when expressing their revelations; they are more apt to preface their thoughts with what if. He had been working for months on a dead-end project. "It was really discouraging," he says.

Today, Blank reads multiple books about "machine learning" while he watches what if sentences roll into his database. He studies their patterns, jotting down the ones that seem consistent. Blank toils at this task on the third floor of Allen Hall, home to the DO's School of]ournalism and Communication, at a round desk in a corner that he calls his "second home." His friends and classmates routinely stop by the table that they've coined "Zach's office" to say hello, slap high-fives, or chat before class begins. They know about his project, but they don't realize that he plans to change creative advertising.

The Idea Proj ect will get Blank one step closer to his goal: working for aNew York ad agency as an interaction designer, creating the user experience for web pages. "I love doing these big projects. I feel like I've never learned anything more from doing a Single thing," Blank says.

"The magnitude and difficulty of [the project] used to be a reservation for me, but as I get deeper into it and start flowing along, that fear kind of recedes."

His goal is to have one million users per day within the first month his site is published. For publicity, he'll Simply rely on word of mouth. "Interest alone will guide users to the site," he says.

After a pause, he adds: "It's a really cool idea." 0 flux.uoregon.edu 41

I

I

Previous: III have a hard time taking orders from someone I would normally be the boss of," says Nathan Miller, at work at the Teen Challenge Thrift Store in Lebanon, Oregon. III want to leave sometimes, but that is just my flesh talking." Above: Patrick Brazington moves into the twelve-person dormitory on his first day at the Teen Challenge center in Shedd, Oregon.

Brazington and the other students will learn to rely on one another and God to break the substance abuse habits of their youth. Middle: After two months of sorting donated items at the Teen Challenge thrift store in Salem, Oregon, Brazington was promoted to head cashier. When he leaves the program, Brazington hopes to rebuild his relationship with his wife and children.

Below: Students study the Bible and other Christian literature as the foundation for learning how to live a productive, substance-abuse-free life. Opposite: lIpraise Jesus in this house, even if you don't want to!"

Brazington says. Every Sunday, the students join the congregation at achurch in Brownsville, Oregon.

44 flu

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2008

"I'm tired of doing meth. My kids don't -want to see me when I'ID using."

Students come to Teen Challenge by free will to correct abusive behavior, rebuild family trust, circumvent jail, or all three. Though the program is called Teen Challenge, the in-patient students are adults. "People generally get into drugs and alcohol at a young age," says program director Ron Winning. "When we get them they have the coping skills of a teenager."

Sheep farms and open grassland surround Teen Challenge's pale stucco fac;ade. Inside the concrete hallways and tiled walls - deterrents to impulsive punches - the rehab program uses the Bible as a foundation for behavioral change. Each day starts at 6 A.M. and lights go out at 10:30 P.M. Students work six days a week and go to church on Sundays. "Many of these people never had structure in their lives," says Winning. "We are teaching them how to be successful in the working world."

Brazington and Miller came to Teen Challenge in October 2007. Both have tried secular rehab without success, disheartened by the "once an addict, always an addict" attitude. Once they accepted Christ, the two friends sa~ they began doing what he wants them to do. "Pat would never come to Teen Challenge," says Brazington, referring to himself in the third person as his fellow students do - a reflection of their submission to Christ and the relinquishment of abusive pasts. "I'm tired of doing meth. My kids don't want to see me when I'm using," he says. "I used to steal from my own momma to support my habit."

"You knoW' you're going to die, and you hope that sOlDeone will COIne and save you."

Above: In an effort to get him away from drugs and alcohol, Miller's grandmother, Marcella Kennedy, took him on trips across the country and around the world. However, Miller continued to use drugs.

Below: Days at Teen Challenge start at 6 A.M. and require everyone to help out. Most days Miller works the janitorial shift, also known as the "house mouse." Opposite: Miller embraces his grandmother during his family's first visit to the Teen Challenge center.

"She keeps reminding me why I'm here," he says.

46 flu X • 2008

Miller never knew his biological father, but the man he calls "Dad" made questionable parenting decisions.

"I went hunting in first grade and [my dad] didn't bring any milk for my cereal," he says. '''Don't worry; son,' my dad assured me. 'There is plenty of beer. '" Miller's mother sent him to live with his grandmother, Marcella Kennedy, to get him away from drugs and alcohol.

While Kennedy took him traveling and bought him nice things, Miller's drug habit continued. "I've seen thirtynine states and thirteen countries, but I threw it all away to drugs," he says.

More recently, Kennedy took her grandson to the Oregon Coast on a day pass from Teen Challenge, reminding Miller why he's in the program. "Addicts are selfish people," he says, "but now I'm learning how to think about other people."

The coming months will test the determination of Brazington and Miller. Both men say they shun substance abuse and try to focus on each day as it comes.

Brazington wants to rebuild his relationship with his wife and children and take them to Hawaii. Miller aims to attend Portland State University or a Bible college with the intention of counseling youths who've had similar experiences. "I don't want him to be Mr. Famous," says Miller's mother, "but I'd really like him to take this experience and help other kids." Now, each man has faith in his ability to do so - faith in his recovery

e

Four anonymous athletes, one famous face story Katie

Cornell

photos

Conner Jay

ecapitated Donald Duckinspired heads line wood shelves, and a rosy pink fat suit rests on a table. A bottle of fabric freshener sits next to a pair of large, plastic webbed feet with built-in athletic shoes. Before any game, tryout, or event on University of Oregon grounds, a small, musky storage room is the official dressing area of the Duck mascot. After about fifteen minutes of assembling the suit, one of four students will emerge from the dusty hideaway as something other than himself.

To fans, there is only the Duck. Dressed in a green and yellow sailor suit, the feisty fowl entertains hundreds of thousands of spectators each season, riding around Autzen Stadium on a Harley-Davidson, flirting shamelessly with cheerleaders on the basketball court, and joking with fans. During the off-season, he attends countless charity fundraisers and community events statewide. While the Duck is the most recognizable figure at UO, very few people know the names of the men who occupy the suit. Not even Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny or UO President Dave Frohnmayer could pick these guys out of a line-up without the 5-pound head, and although the men behind the mask agreed to talk about the Duck mystique, they won't reveal their names. We'll call them Kyle Smith, Todd]ohnson, Danny Bowman, and Evan Adams. "When I put that head on and somebody calls my name, I ignore it," Smith explains. "Once I am in costume, I'm Duck."

Above: "After five minutes all the other guys' sweat will be yours," says one of the Ducks after taking off the sweat-soaked suit, which costs about $3,000.

The head alone weighs 5 pounds.

50 flu X • 2008

Since the seventies, the Duck has adopted a few personas. He's been a flirt, a philanthropist, a risk-taker, and the embodiment of UO school spirit. In the past year, the adrenaline junkies inside the costume have turned him into something more: a rebel.

"My goal is to get kicked out. Then you know you're pushing the limit - you know, steppin' on some toes," Smith said in June 2007. And that he did on September 1, 2007: the Duck became a notorious overnight celebrity in sports media after an impromptu fight against the University of Houston Cougar at the Oregon football season opener. The punches and kicks started after the Cougar mocked a Duck trademark move - push-ups after each Oregon touchdown - propelling Smith into a feathered frenzy Bowman, who donned the suit dUring the second half, ended the dispute with a spectacle of total Duck domination: a pelvic thrust to the feline's snout.

The mascot melee resulted in a two-game suspension for Smith and Bowman. The scene was captured on video and

replayed everywhere from YouTube to international sports satellite channels.

Following the infamous Cougar brawl, the Duck became a targeted figure on other college campuses.

Entering the Stanford University stadium for a November football game, Smith was stopped by police officers before he stepped onto the field. "We know what you are up to, Duck," said one of the uniformed men as another policeman pulled out a breathalyzer. (Stanford University had cracked down on mascot protocol after an inebriated Stanford Tree was escorted off the basketball court in 2006.) Concerned with protecting his secret identit~ Smith was reluctant to take the test, but officials threatened that Smith wouldn't be able to perform without it. As the police huddled around him, Smith crouched down, lifted the head, and blew into the apparatus. It turns out the Duck isn't a drunk, just a wild waterfowl.

But the Duck hasn't always been so naughty: More than a century ago, UO students started identifying themselves as "Webfoots." While some accounts trace the name back to a band of patriotic Massachusetts fishermen, others believe the Webfoots came from a local tale that people became so adjusted to the Eugene rain that they literally developed webbing between their toes. A live duck named "Puddles" began traveling with the football team in the twenties. By 1932, students and faculty pushed to shift the school's persona to a more menacing mascot - all of the suggestions failed. An agreement between the first UO athletic director, Leo Harris, and Walt Disney in 1947 resulted in the university's use of an image resembling Donald Duck. UO offiCially kicked off a new Duck Era in the seventies with memorabilia and merchandise that has since made the Duck an iconic UO character.

Since his debut, Duck has made some costume changes including a stint early this decade as the futuristic RoboDuck, Mandrake. Garbed in a sinister black suit and sporting six-pack abs, the extraterrestrial bird was quickly usurped by a loveable, chubby prankster in kelly green and sunshine yellow attire.

Executing the motorcycle rides, push-ups, and charity appearances are men who believe being the Duck is an honor as well as a thrill. "Only four people out of an entire university get to do this and practically nobody knows my name. It's heightened my college experience," says Bowman. Other than a small scholarship awarded to the captain dUring the first six months of the school year, the students commit to the physically demanding gig with no financial compensation. But don't expect to hear any complaints; the mascots love losing themselves in the smelly suit. "The whole world is your playground. I just have fun. The suit leads me," says Adams.

Johnson explains how he can waddle by someone in the suit and get away with stealing a skateboard, but he would never do it as himself. Bowman enjoys knowing that there are people who want him to hold their firstborn child for a picture. "It can be kind of awkward," he admits. "But it:S like 'Wow, they want me to hold their kid.'" Though he gets nervous holding infants with the huge fleece hands, he's pleased to say he's never dropped

After a student is accepted as a Duck, the transformation into the character begins. Smith watched endless hours of Donald Duck cartoons to study the character's body language: stomping when Donald is mad, baby steps when he is being snea~ and scratching his head when he is confused. Johnson took a different approach.

He walked around with a paper bag over his head (with a hole cut out so he could breathe) to prepare for the limited eyesight in the costume head. For Adams, it is all about improvisation. "I act first and apologize later," he explains. However, they all agree that synchronizing their interpretations of the character is important. "You lIThe whole world is your playground:' know you are doing your job if the people see the character, not the person inside of it," says Smith.

There is one way to find out who's behind the beak, never speaks - and after impressing the veteran with his but it's rather personal. Each Duck, except for Adams, natural ability to transform into character, Johnson was who awaits a trip to the ink parlor, is branded with a pair asked to try out. of duck feet on his torso, celebrating the transition from The current mascots all judge the would-be Ducks' being a sideline fan to a certified athlete. interviews and seemingly random assignments, includAlthough their mascot resumes are impressive, none of ing the task of getting a girl's phone number. "Nobody the guys plan to enter the profeSSional world as NBA masever gets a number," explains Smith. "The girls always cots or Disneyland characters. They simply enjoy seeing sa~ 'How are you going to call me, Duckie?'" Recentl~ the world through a screen in a large orange bill. Bowman though, one auditioner brought back a piece of paper smiles as he explains that he's finishing his mascot career. decorated with hearts and a number, area code and all. He got the second audition.

"I'll leave it for the glory days." " one. Adams loves attention and being in the spotlight.

Smith feels confident that he is doing the job if he gets a reaction. "It's a success if you make people laugh or really piss them off," he says.

The process of becoming the Duck is more rigorous than some may expect. While a lucky few are recruited to try out, others show up on a whim, hoping for the best.

Smith auditioned twice before he made the team. Johnson was recruited by a veteran Duck who jokingly asked him to put on the suit and simply run around. The Duck relies on exaggerated mannerisms to evoke emotions - he

Below: The four Ducks wait in the wings before the Spring 2008 football game. During the game, each of them will take a turn inside the suit, but cheering fans will only see one mascot.

II

nished Three Oregon soldiers face consequences for refusing to deploy story

Libby Whittemore photos Conner Jay

Previous: Three local families stand in support of their children, all of whom have been designated as deserters and wartime resisters.

From left: Sara Rich and her husband, John Buckendahl; Bob Watada and his wife, Rosa Sakanishi; and Eric and Helen Burmeister.

Above: In 2006, Watada and Sakinishi toured the United States for five months telling the nation about their son's plight.

Back home in Pleasant Hill, Watada is forced to wait for the outcome of his son's trial.

54 flu x • 2008

Lieutenant Watada's legal counsel has advised him are currently tied up in the court system. Now all that against attracting media attention, but he has made Lieutenant Watada can do is wait. "They're just holding official appearances at events such as the 2006 Veterans him," Bob Watada sighs. "It's like Guantanamo Bay" For Peace National Convention in Seattle, Washington.

The Watadas aren't alone in their waiting: carbon "Though the American soldier wants to do right," he copies of Lieutenant Watada's case have popped up stated, "the illegitimacy of the elsewhere in the state. occupation itself, the policies Eugene resident Sara Rich 66No one knows the of this administration, and waited in legal limbo for six the rules of engagement of months after her twentydesperate field commanders three-year-old daughter, war more than the veterans:' Suzanne Swift, also refused will ultimately force them to be party to war crimes. Noone to deploy to Iraq. Swift knows the devastation and suffering of war more than the deployed for a year in 2004, during which she filed veterans, which is why we should always be the first to formal reports that commanding officers had sexually prevent it." harassed and raped her on multiple occasions. Swift knew Because Lieutenant Watada refused to deploy with his if she deployed a second time she faced another round of unit, the military charged him with "missing a movement" the same treatment. She missed the movement and the and "conduct unbecoming of an officer," two counts military sent her to prison for thirty days and stripped her that collectively carry a maximum sentence of four years of her rank. There would be no more jail time, they said, in prison. His trial, which began in February 2007, has if she would sign a statement saying she was never raped. become a tangled mess: the prosecution called a mistrial, The army eventually released Swift from prison in the defense yelled double jeopardy, and the proceedings January 2007, but since then she has received countless

devastation and suffering of

death threats. Rich will not disclose her daughter's current location, only saying she is working at a U.S. military fort.

For a short time, Swift was aSSigned to Fort Lewis with Lieutenant Watada, who has supported her and whom she regards as an older brother. "The army is pretty much above the law to do whatever they want. They're doing it deliberately to punish [Lieutenant Watada] and make an example of him," says Rich of her daughter's and Lieutenant Watada's court martialings. "I think if they were going to let him go, they would have by now."

Bob Watada hopes a new administration in 2008 will pressure the military to examine his son's case more justly "There is no fairness in the military system. I'm pretty convinced that the orders for trying Ehren have come all the way from Cheney's office," he says.

Though he feels powerless to help his son on a daily basis, Bob Watada hasn't sat at home for two years waiting by the phone. For five months in 2006, he and his wife, Rosa Sakanishi, traveled across the country as far east as Maine and Florida on a speaking tour to raise awareness for Lieutenant Watada. On their busiest day they spoke at six different engagements. Recognizing the support they have received from their neighbors and fellow Oregonians, the Watadas have taken every opportunity to raise local awareness as well. At a March 2008 rally at Eugene's federal courthouse, Watada spoke publicly on stage with fifty-three-year-old Cheshire, Oregon resident Eric Burmeister, whose son also faces court martialing and jail time.

Three hundred U.S. soldiers, including twenty-threeyear-old Junction City High School graduate James Burmeister, have fled to Canada since the start of the Iraq war. Burmeister, who has auditory nerve damage in his right ear from an lED explosion, returned to Oregon from Iraq for a week in February 2007 with shrapnel in his face, the residual effects of a concussion, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

"We, his family, worked to try to keep him from being re-deployed because of his injuries but the army said, 'No, you're going back.' James decided he couldn't do it," Eric Burmeister recalls. "He's killed people, he's had to shoot people, he has seen civilians be killed. The kid's in bad shape mentally" When the army ordered Burmeister to return, he ran.

After an eleven-month stay in Ottawa, he turned himself in to the army in March 2008 because his PTSD had gotten worse and Canada, which has tightened its immigrant restrictions, would likely have rejected his application for refugee status. For three weeks, Burmeister sat in a holding faCility doing virtually nothing. He's since been released and is stationed in Fort Knox, Kentucky, waiting for the army to court martial him.

"We're playing a game of cat and mouse with the army," Eric Burmeister says. "We've been waiting since March. But the waiting game now is for him to get out so he can heal."

Local support for Burmeister, Swift, and Lieutenant Watada has not waned. "I told Ehren he will always have a dinner plate at our table," says seventy-nine-year-

old National Guard veteran Larry Davis, a neighbor of the Watadas in Pleasant Hill, Oregon. "I back the kid one hundred percent."

Local support, political pressure, and media attention, Eric Burmeister believes, can help soldiers like Lieutenant Watada, Suzanne Swift, and his son James recover their lives. "These guys, what they've seen and what they've had to do - they'll never forget. They'll be haunted by these ghosts for the rest of their lives," he says. "The military families are really suffering. I just want my kid home."

To complicate matters further, Ehren Watada could face additional charges for missing a second movement if his unit deploys to Iraq again. "I'm just going to have to be patient, sit it out and wait, and see what happens," Bob Watada says. "

Below: Rich, pictured with Buckendahl outside of their Eugene home, won't discuss where her daughter is stationed because she fears a backlash.

Learning to Lose Enduring wins and losses off the hardwood story Peter

Barna

Onheiber

ndy was always the bigger

hand will act as a guide and keep the ball

sports fan. I was seven

straight when you shoot." He'd demonstrate,

when my brother intro-

jumping and letting the ball go as his body

duced me to the Portland

stopped gaining altitude. His tongue twisted

Trail Blazers in a losing

between his teeth as he concentrated on

effort against Detroit in game five of the

letting the ball roll off his fingertips. It was

1990 NBA Finals. We had the TV muted,

technically perfect. Then I'd try; and he'd

preferring the radio announcers instead.

critique my shot.

I didn't know anything about the Blazers.

Andy bought our oldest brother Tim

Andy just told me they were from the same

and me nosebleed tickets to Blazer games for

place we lived, and that was enough.

Christmas two years in a row. We'd spend

Initially I had a lot of questions about basketball. Why did they bounce the ball?

the first quarter of each game scouting the arena for three empty seats. Midway through

Was Kevin Duckworth's jersey number, 00,

the quarter we were practically sitting court-

how many points he scores? Andy was four

side. In total, Andy and I saw five Blazer

years older than I and had a lot to teach.

games together: the team won every game.

He took me outside and taught me on the hoop our father had attached to our old leaky one-car garage -

it was later torn

down and replaced with a two-story, four-

On January 8, 200S, just after I'd watched the Seattle Seahawks lose to the St. Louis Rams in the NFL Wild Card game, I woke Andy and told him. Andy raised his head

car garage, but the hoop was reattached.

from the pillow and murmured, "I don't care

Andy placed his left hand on the side of

about the Seahawks anymore." I shrugged

the ball while his right hand held it in

in agreement.

front of his face saying, "This way your left

56 flu x • 2008

photo Katie

That was the last time we spoke.

Sometime after midnight, while Andy was out drinking, he climbed onto the roof of McMenamins Edgefield through a bathroom window. He walked around the edge for a bit before slipping on a wet mossy spot and falling three stories. He died from massive head trauma.

A few months later the Trail Blazers fired head coach Maurice Cheeks. It got me wondering what Andy would have thought. I knew then that I would have to figure it out for myself.

This past season, I would have asked Andy who his favorite Blazer was. My choice would have been Brandon Roy: the most electrifying player, modest and humble, earning a spot on the NBA All-Star team. I'm sure Andy would have said Greg Oden, seeing past the savior hype and just loving the coolest Blazer off the court with a mohawk and a dog named Charles Barkley McLovin'.

Andy's appearance never screamed big sports guy He didn't crunch stats or participate in sports trivia. He tuned his car radio to alternative rock just as much as sports. He knew all the best indie bands, and with the exception of the last six months of his life, he spent about ten years in the drug culture. He quit smoking heroin the summer before he died, and through it all he was aware of his influence on me. When I was in high school, Andy gave me the "do as I say, not as I do" speech. I watched his first heroin-free night as he and his girlfriend twitched on the couch like bees were stinging them. But thanks to some new medication and his drive to quit, Andy and I were back in the driveway shooting hoops two days later. He was still watching my form, helping me improve.

In October 2004, I came home from an exhausting day of school, Andy asked, "What are you doing tonight?"

"I'm going to drink some PBR and watch the Red Sox win the World Series," I replied. Andy shook his head and presented two tickets to a Trail Blazers exhibition game. I might have wanted to see histor~ but a live game is more exciting. So we went to our last Blazer game together meeting Tim, who'd gotten his own tickets.

We'd given our mother instructions to call us the minute the Red Sox won. Before she could call, a silver-haired man who was watching the televisions in the luxury suites through his binoculars turned to us and said, "The Red Sox just won." Then Tim's phone rang. "It's Mom," he said. Several minutes later the Blazers PA announced the Red Sox victory The Rose Garden erupted into applause, collectively wondering if Portland could end the Sam Bowie, Michael Jordan curse. The Blazers beat the Toronto Raptors 97-95, and I've never been happier to miss a part of history in my life.

I didn't attend another Blazer game for three years. The team wasn't doing well, and I didn't want to revisit those haunting

memories of days spent with Andy watching the team we loved. Brandon Roy winning Rookie of the Year was great but not enough. I'd lost interest ... until they won the NBA Draft Lottery for the number one pick, ultimately selecting Greg Oden. But Oden went in for microfracture surgery and was out for the season. The excitement collapsed. That da~ along with game seven of the 2000 Western Conference Finals and Andy dying, was one of the worst days of my life as a fan.

Sunda~ December 9,2007, I turned on the TV and saw the Blazers battling Milwaukee. I watched until the end and learned that the Blazers had won three in a row.

Two days later, they beat Utah - at Utah - something the team hadn't done since 2003. I decided it was time to see a game in person again, and what better way than to do it the way Andy had done? I bought Tim, my dad, and myself $10 nosebleed tickets to see a game three days after Christmas against the Minnesota Timberwolves the first opponent Andy and I had seen together.

I spent the first quarter scanning the arena for better seats. I found three in the Rose Garden's most expensive section - but we were content to stay No one ever claimed those seats.

The Blazers won their twelfth game in a row and the streak peaked at thirteen before the team cooled off for the second half of the season, missing the playoffs but finishing with a 41-41 record. In that moment, I returned to the Blazers a passionate fan, proud to have channeled Andy for my first game in three years.

Today when I stand on a basketball court alone, trying to improve my shot, I think about the past, the Blazers, and conversations with Andy Our love for the Blazers bonded us beyond brotherhood, and now I carry that alone. I know that part of him so well that conversations I imagine us having aren't too lonely I'm doing things on my own, and learning for myself.

As I continue through life without Andy and new questions arise, before I search for the answers myself, my first thought is always, who would know the answer to this?

Andy would know. _

The Blazers beat the Toronto Raptors 97-95. I've never been happier to miss a part of history.

Previous: Growing up, Peter Barna spent hours playing basketball with his brother Andy. Now, three years after Andy's death, Peter practices his shot without the benefit of Andy's encouragement or critique. Right: Left to right: Tim, Andy, and Peter Barna - three brothers bonded by friendship, blood, and a love of the Portland Trail Blazers - pose for a photo in 2004 at their Portland, Oregon home.

850 Franklin Blvd Eugene, OR 97403 T (541) 344-0001 F (541) 686-1288 www.phoenixinnsuites.com

X•

2008

Indoor Heated Swimming Pool and Spa Fitness Center with Nautilus machines and free weights

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LOCATION The Phoenix Inn Suites - Eugene is located just a moments walk to the University of Oregon and Northwest Christian College. Downtown Eugene and its many great shops, restaurants, lounges, entertainment, and special event venues are also within walking distance. Our easy to find location enhances your stay in Eugene and makes the surrounding attractions convenient to enjoy.

MEETING FACILITIES & SERVICES 1600 Square Feet of Meeting & Banquet Space In House, and Outside Catering Available AudioNisual Equipment Rental Available COll1plimentary Wireless Internet Access

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58 flu

RECREATION

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( * ) - Notes Walking Distance

Mill Race

Sweet Caroline Was Here story Mindy

Moreland photo Ashley Baer

Some are remarkably concise: make turds not bombs. Others wax mysterious and vaguely philosophical: shadowboxing the apocalypse yet again.

In most places, demands are plentiful: Go vegan. Go ducks. For a good time call. The sexually overt is common, but metapoetics aren't unknown. Sitting on the bar's toilet, listening to the door-muffled thump of bass-heavy classic rock and contemplating the universe, you look to your right and see thick black letters scrawled on the wall: Clever Bathroom Graffiti.

There's something remarkably mysterious and appealing about bar bathroom graffiti. It's a form of self-expression borne of a particular combination of ownership, inebriation, and disrespect; an alchemy that inspires writing your boyfriend's name in 4-inchhigh purple Sharpie letters on the wall next to the toilet paper holder. With a big heart around it, of course.

On doors and walls, paper towel dispensers and the occasional mirror, you'll find them. There are the requisite "I heart" constructions, drawings of trees, flowers, swastikas. There are snatches of poetry - you may be repressed but you're remarkably dressed song lyrics, pop culture references. Someone has written I've got a Chuck Norris haircut, and one has to wonder if it's a boast or a complaint.

Some walls have a high school yearbook vibe, plastered with farewell messages from regulars who have moved away One patron even penned a sentimental farewell to the bar itself: You shall be in my thoughts & my heart with every beer. Love, Sweet Caroline. Whenever I visit that toilet, I wonder where Sweet Caroline is sipping her microbrew these days, and if she has pledged her heart to a younger, more glamorous tavern.

There are other places where all the tags have been painted over. Thick swirls of black paint ooze across every message in one bathroom. I imagine the bartenders have a ritual of restoring the walls' anonymity every day; another chore like changing out the IPA

omeone has

ritten I've got a Chuck Norris haircut, and one has to wonder if it's a boast or a complaint. kegs and making sure there are enough thrift-store-bizarro prizes for Monday night bingo. I peer closely at these black scribbles, trying desperately to read what's written beneath. An F? Some red ink? The unrealized voyeuristic thrill is simply agonizing.

When 32,OOO-year-old paintings were discovered on the walls of French caves in the forties, scientists scratched their heads over the meaning of the pictures. These were not domestic decorations; no evidence was found indicating anyone lived in the caves.

Theories about the paintings range from shamanic magic to a record of tribal history to the artistic representation of fantasies of the pre-

historic teenage male. (My personal theory holds with that last one: after all, this was before PlayStation.)

If explorers from another era were to stumble upon the cultural records being kept on our bathroom walls, I wonder what they might conclude about the time and space that we inhabit. Imagine the lectures given at Alpha Centauri Community College about this odd cult of Chuck Norris-worshiping, frantically sexual life forms who searched for meaningful existence in their toilet-shrines where love and poo were of equal significance.

Writing on a bathroom wall can be easily dismissed as simple drunken vandalism. But the privacy and anonymity of the space, combined with the oh-so-twenty-first-century urge to comment, often makes for some low-brow collaborative brilliance. Someone has scrawled I heart to poop! in green ink on the wall of one stall where the toilet won't stop running, to which someone else has added a small black sniff, just between poop and to.

Despite my fascination, I haven't yet joined in and added to the collective unconscious of the bathroom walls. Apart from the fact that I don't commonly visit the toilet with a concealed arsenal of permanent markers strapped to my thigh, what would I write? My hair-trigger writer's block is never more active than when I find myself staring at a promising blank space on a wall: I understand the overwhelmed sheepishness of the guy who wrote I thought I would have something clever to say.

Instead, I remain a happy reader. It's a highly satisfying hobby Discovering a particularly fantastic message (Must not sleep. Must warn others.) fills me with a delight only slightly less profound than if I had stumbled upon the Holy Grail sitting there beside the soap dispenser. I exit the bathroom humming the theme from Indiana]ones.

My greatest discovery? Only the single greatest piece of bathroom graffiti ever, residing inconspicuously in a certain Eugene bathroom.

It's just three words long, and you have to look carefully or you'll miss it. It's written very small, in all capital letters, on the wall directly above the dispenser for the toilet seat covers.

FREE COWBOY HATS. 0 flux.uoregon.edu 61

A Lone Voice

story Libby

Whittemore

photos

Benjamin Brayfield Hoff, a sort of renaissance fisherman, has emerged as a lone voice in a continuing debate about the environmental pricetag of Columbia River dredging. The dredging project involves the deepening of the river's channel from 40 feet to 43 feet for larger, modern ships. Every summer since 2002, Hoff has watched as crabs die, littering Oregon's beaches by the thousands. He's also watched the oxygen levels in Oregon's seawaters plummet right along with the sand level and his seafood sales. "This time last year, we would have already done four times the amount of razor clams as we've done now," he explained in May 2007.

Since the first major Oregon dead zone in 2002, mainstream media has ticketed the phenomenon as a ripple effect of global climate change. But a team of oceanographers and marine ecologists, including Francis Chan, a biogeochemist at Oregon State University, performed studies on Oregon's ocean waters approximately ten days out of every month in 2007, but did not find enough evidence to conclude that global warming is to blame. Though they haven't

determined the root of the problem, Chan says, researchers have not ruled out climate change as a possible cause. Hoff, who has dedicated his life to solving the mystery, says it's not climate change or wind patterns. It's iron.

Hoff believes the iron causing massive hypoxia along Oregon's coast arrives in annual correlation with each Columbia River dredging project. In fact, officials from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife have admitted to Hoff in person that the dredging is killing the ocean life. However, he doesn't imagine they'll go on record as an organization anytime soon.

"It's not a global warming issue, it's an industrialization issue," Hoff says. "To change the environment, to change the way we live, we're going to have to have a transformation of thought, and the first step to solving a problem is recognizing it." 8

For the full story, go to flux.uoregon.edu

Above: John Hoff walks past the remains of the Peter Iredale on Oregon's Clatsop Beach. Hoff believes deep water dredging in the Columbia River has caused parts of the beach to erode, exposing more of the ship's skeleton and negatively impacting sea life.

Environm.ental activist and fisherm.an John Hoff insists that annual Colum.bia River dredging projects are killing the crabs on Oregon's coast. But even though he's got the figures to back it up, so far no one is listening.

62 flu x • 2008

our miles south of the Columbia River on Oregon's northern coast, fifty-five-year-old John Hoff stands on a dune of ebony sand overlooking the shipwrecked Peter Iredale.

Waves break gently around its rusted bow and barefoot youngsters in sweatshirts bounce nearby In 1906, the 285-foot Peter Iredale was bound for Portland carrying 1,000 tons in its hold when its captain miscalculated his entry and struck sand. The decaying remains of the Iredale rest just a few miles south of the river's mouth, in what is still known as the graveyard of the Pacific.

In May 2007, 10 feet of the ship's skeleton emerged from the water each high tide and slept in sand each low tide. By April 2008 though, after an unusually intense winter, a corroded shell of toppled masts and molded wood greeted beachgoers: the complete skeleton.

Oregon's coast has lost so much sand that a ship once completely buried has risen from its ocean grave. But maybe it's more than just a stormy season.

F

Above: The iron content in the sand found on Clatsop Spit is sometimes high enough that it will stick to a magnet. Hoff believes that the high iron levels are a result of Columbia River dredging three miles north.

flux.uoregon.edu 63

Redefining Identity

~ ffi

z z

o u

race

"For me, means confusion."

64 flu x • 2008

I

n this election year, pundits, campaign strategists, and pollsters are making a living dividing us into demographic pie charts. From a distance, they are trying to determine our identities. Are skin color, age, gender, or political affiliation accurate predictors of how we see the world?

In photographer Conner Jay's search for answers to that question, he found eight University of Oregon students - including Rachel Modica, pictured above - who confront racial confusion every day Jay captured their experiences in a three-minute video.

Hear what they have to say at flux.uoregon.edu ...