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CALL OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.BROOKDALELIVING.COM The Magazine of the University of Oregon Winter 2008 • Volume 88 Number 2 FEATURES DEPARTMENTS Here and There 26 26 2 EDITOR’S NOTE EVERYWHERE IS HERE LEttERS by Lisa Polito 4 A winter tragedy on an Oregon logging 8 UPFROnt | Excerpts, Exhibits, road raises difficult questions about tech- Explorations, Ephemera nology and boundaries. Thin Air, Fat People by Thomas Hager 30 Slithy Toves Gimbling in the by Bonnie Henderson GREEN MAKERS Gyre by Todd Schwartz Stephanie, 41 by Rosanne Olson Portland developers Bob Gerding and Mark Edlen incorporated energy efficiency 16 UPFROnt | News, Notables, and locally sourced materials into their Innovations commercial buildings before sustainability 30 Turning Green into Gold became a buzzword. Mental Floss The Global Classroom 36 Speaking in Native Tongues PROFile: Susan Verscheure K THE $7 BILLION CALL C White Stag Block Party BONI by Eric Apalategui Randy Wulff got in the middle of the KOPOL OLD OREGON largest insurance claim in history—the 40 DONA aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the World The Delight of the Duckie Trade Center. Better Late . HAEL DALY / / HAEL DALY C Pen Pal Pre The Expanding Classroom Jingle Bell Soundtracks IGIER / KEVIN / MI IGIER V Class Notes OLAS OLAS C I N 36 Mediating Disaster Decades ducK TALES COVER | Siskiyou National Forest at night— 56 Creative Commons photo by Nicolas Vigier Two Thumbs Up by Zanne Miller, M.S. '97 FROM TOP: CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTO BY PHOTO COMMONS CREATIVE TOP: FROM THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON 1 Editor’sNote | Guy Maynard, Editor The MagaziNe of The UNiVersiTy of oregoN Winter 2008 • Volume 88 Number 2 Steps in the Wilderness EDITOR guy Maynard Late this summer, I took a seventy-six-mile hike with three friends along the MANAGING EDITOR Pacific Crest Trail. It’s not the kind of thing I normally do. In fact, I’ve never done ross West anything remotely like that before, haven’t even done an overnight camping trip ADVERTISING DIRECTOR susan Thelen in at least twenty years. But these guys, professional colleagues that I admire, ART DIRECTOR asked me to join them, and it seemed like something I ought to do. So I started Tim Jordan wearing a pack with some books and bricks as I walked my dog up and down the CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS hills around my house and did weekly hikes up Mount Pisgah. I got a bit stronger Jack liu, John bauguess and all the obstacles I imagined would crop up to keep me from taking that week OFFICE MANAGER shelly Cooper away from work and home didn’t happen. PROOFREADERS So there I was at the Willamette Pass trailhead with a forty-pound pack on my John Crosiar, scott skelton back taking that first step that Confucius told us all journeys start with—and then INTERN Mindy Moreland another and another and another. Using my suspect mathematical skills, I figure it EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD took me around 166,000 steps over those seven days to get to McKenzie Pass. David funk, Cathy hamilton, Kathleen holt, Mark Johnson, ann Mack, alexandra Mock, I carried a little book (little because we tried to keep our packs as light as Michael redding, barbara West, Tom Wheeler possible) of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essays from which I read my first night in WEBSITE camp, “The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired, so oregonQuarterly.com long as we can see far enough.” OFFICE ADDRESS 130 Chapman hall My eyes were treated to some healing horizons, dramatic views of the Rosary 5228 University of Oregon Lakes and Charlton Butte and the Wickiup Plain and Opie Dilldock Pass. One eugene OR 97403-5228 Phone (541) 346-5045 night, I slept outside the tent and watched the stars come out around the South fax (541) 346-5571 Sister. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen further than that. Man, we live in a beauti- EDITORIAL (541) 346-5047 ful state. ADVERTISING But all those steps did make me tired—and sore. It was hard. My condition- (541) 346-5046 ing made the trip possible, but not easy. So, while my spirit rode the horizons of SUBSCRIPTIONS $30 per year domestic august peaks, towering treetops, sparkling blue lakes, and resplendent heavens, $40 per year international my feet—my body—lived step by step. E-MAIL It was that combination of the stunningly spectacular with the literally pedes- [email protected] trian that left me deeply enriched and thoroughly fulfilled at the end of that hike. OREGON QUARTERLY is published by the Uo in March, June, august, and November and distributed It was great and I made it. free to alumni. Printed in the USA on recycled paper. Copyright 2008 University of oregon. all rights As I write this, we’re caught in the worst worldwide economic crisis of my reserved. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect lifetime; we are in the last days of a presidential election in which change became the views of the Uo administration. the theme of both candidates; we are fighting two expensive and open-ended CHANGE OF ADDRESS alumni records, 1204 University wars; and we face ongoing energy, environmental, and health-care crises. A USA of oregon, eugene OR 97403-1204 (541) 302-0336, [email protected] Today/Gallup poll in early October found that only 7 percent of Americans are ADMINISTRATION satisfied with the way things are going in the United States. We can’t go on like President: Dave frohnmayer this. senior Vice President and Provost: James C. bean; Vice President for University advancement: allan Price; We’re in unknown territory, a wilderness of sorts. Are we ready? Vice President for finance and administration: frances I’m not sure what bricks and books we could load into a pack to prepare Dyke; Vice President for research and graduate studies: richard linton; Vice President for student affairs: us for the times ahead. But we can pull out that open-minded critical thinking robin holmes; associate Vice President for Public and (which I learned—and is still taught—at the University of Oregon, among other government affairs: Michael redding; executive Director of the Uo alumni association: Daniel rodriguez places) and try to carry it up a few of these long hills that stretch out in front of UO Information us. Look for new horizons to rejuvenate our vision. And start walking. It won’t (541) 346-1000 be easy, but we can make it. It just might be great. The University of oregon is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action institution committed to cultural diversity and compliance with the americans with Disabilities act. This publication will be made available [email protected] in accessible formats upon request: (541) 346-5048. 2 OREGON QUARTERLY | WINTER 2008 SEEKING FUTURE DUCKS The Office of Admissions invites you to tell us about your children, grandchildren, friends, and others who are searching for the right college.