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Camilla Mortensen is the longtime local editor of Eugene Weekly, the area’s alternative newspaper. The paper, which has been in print since 1982 (originally as What’s Happening) continues to print more than 27,000 copies a week in addition to its popular email newsletters and website. Camilla has a masters degree in folklore and mythology from UCLA and a doctorate in comparative literature from the University of Oregon. She has been a reporter and editor at EW since 2007 and teaches journalism at the UO in the mornings before heading to the Weekly’s office. She also teaches newswriting at Lane Community College and advises The Torch student newspaper.
As EW worked on its latest story on the issue of rape on the University of Oregon campus, HBO's Vice contacted us for permission to use our cover image from last year's story on sexual assault, created by our own Trask Bedortha. If you watch the intro sequence you will see EW up there with Time Magazine. Continue reading
Jon Krakauer doesn’t start Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town (Doubleday, $28.95) with one of the worst scenes in the book; he eases into it with the police pulling up to tell a young woman named Allison Huguet that her rapist has confessed. Only a couple pages later does Krakauer tell of the assault and of Beth Huguet’s horror when her daughter calls her at 4 am gasping with panicked sounds into the phone before screaming, “He’s chasing me! Help me! Save me! Mom!” Continue reading
Friday was bloody for some smaller papers in Oregon last week. EW hears through the grapevine that Lee Enterprises, owner of the Corvallis Gazette-Times and Albany Democrat-Herald cut City Editor Theresa Novak and Arts Editor Sarah Payne from staff at the Gazette-Times May 29. Also laid off were Albany Democrat-Herald's sports editor Les Gehrett and two staffers at the Lebanon Express, according to a tip EW recieved. Continue reading
“$30,000. That’s the going rate for rape these days.” When Laura Hanson settled her case against the University of Oregon for mishandling her allegations of sexual assault against a fraternity brother, the money was not the point. Hanson wanted — and still wants — the UO to fix its broken system of dealing with sexual assault and to support survivors. Continue reading
#ShellNo, #YouShellNotPass, #PaddleinSeattle. The hashtags were fun, but the protests May 16-18 in Seattle disputing Shell oil’s plans for Arctic drilling were calling attention to a serious issue — Big Oil and global climate change. The Obama administration gave conditional approval for Shell to drill in the Arctic earlier this month. Continue reading
A play structure at Shawala Point in Corvallis’ Riverfront Park will honor the short life of a little boy and pay tribute to the Kalapuya people who lived in the Corvallis area in pre-settlement times. Trish Weber has begun fundraising for the memorial for her son, Nigel Rose Weber, and says she hopes to raise $30,000 for the play structure, which will be in the shape of a traditional Kalapuya bowl. The bowl, about 4 feet tall, will have handholds for kids to climb on it. Continue reading
In 1998, Brenda Tracy reported to the police that she was sexually assaulted — gang-raped — by four men, two of them Oregon State football players. More than 16 years after the ordeal, Tracy is speaking out and working to change Oregon laws dealing with campus sexual assault. The University of Oregon Intercollegiate Athletics Committee is sponsoring a talk by Tracy on Thursday, May 14. Continue reading
I’m no oenephile. Don’t get me wrong, I like wine, but its niceties are lost on me, perhaps because in my college years my idea of “good wine” was strawberry Boones Farm, preferably after it had sat in the freezer long enough to give it a certain Slurpee-like texture. I’m still that chick who, when asked what I’d like to drink at an elegant restaurant, responds, “Give me your cheap red.” Continue reading
More horses affected, one with the "'neurotropic' form of the virus that is far more likely to cause serious, sometimes permanent neurological damage," according to OSU. See the update at the end of this post. ••••• Continue reading
As concerned Eugeneans are rushing to try to help the people of Nepal, it's hard to know what to do. Donating money is usually a sure bet, but how do you know what's a scam? The Better Business Bureau has sent out a list of what to look for (see below) and Charity Navigator does a nice job helping people to evaluate charities. Continue reading