HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 23, 2014 - City Council Newsletter
City of Eugene
125 East 8 Avenue, 2 Floor
thnd
Eugene, Oregon 97401
(541) 682-5010
(541) 682-5414 (FAX)
www.eugene-or.gov
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER
October 23, 2014
IN THIS EDITION
WHEN 911 IS NOT AN OPTION
“BIRD WORLD” WITH NOAH STRYCKER AT EUGENE PUBLIC LIBRARY
NEW CARSHARING COMPANY LAUNCHES IN EUGENE AND SPRINGFIELD
CITY TEAMS UP WITH LANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO BUILD LOCAL SOFTWARE LABOR FORCE
AROUND THE CITY
When 911 Is Not an Option
It doesn’t take long to get away from it all in Oregon. Research is rife with studies testifying to the benefits of being in
nature. In such a setting, one can go at a slower pace, relax and take time to marvel at the surrounding beauty.
At the same time, being in the wild also means being far away – often hours
Ȇ in the case of injury or sickness.
To solve this dilemma and allow more people to enjoy the wilderness,
regardless of how remote the location, Recreation’s Outdoor Program began
offering a course some 12 years ago to certify outdoor enthusiasts as
Wilderness First Responders (WFR). The 10-day course provides enrollees
with the tools needed to make critical medical and evacuation decisions in
remote locations. It’s perfect for hikers, fishers, mountain bikers, horseback
riders, outdoor guides, hunters, all-terrain vehiclers, snowmobilers, and just
about anyone who plans to be in the back country or lives where 911 is not
readily accessible.
Initially, the Outdoor Program offered the certification class only once a year,
but due to demand, it’s now offered three times a year and usually fills the 30
seats available. To date, nearly 500 people have been certified through the Outdoor Program’s WFR class; 360 people have
been recertified. The next class will be held Dec.12 - 21.
For more information, or to register for the December class, call Senior Programmer and wilderness emergency medical
technician (EMT) Roger Bailey at 541-682-5329.
“Bird World” with Noah Strycker at Eugene Public Library
Join expert Noah Strycker for an entertaining illustrated talk titled “Bird World: Insights for
Humans,” on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 6 p.m., at the Downtown Eugene Public Library. Admission is
free.
Approaching bird behavior from new and surprising angles, Strycker explores the astonishing
homing abilities of pigeons, extraordinary memories of nutcrackers, self-image in magpies, life-
long loves of albatrosses, particle physics of starling flocks, and other mysteries -- revealing why
birds do what they do, and how humans can relate. With humor and wit, this talk draws deeply
from cutting-edge science and anecdotes from the field.
Strycker is the author of the books “The Thing with Feathers” and “Among Penguins.” A well-
known and widely published writer and photographer, he is associate editor
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
October 23, 2014
of “Birding” magazine and has studied birds on six continents with field seasons in Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Hawaii,
Maine, Michigan, Australia, Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, and the Farallon Islands. Strycker also works as a naturalist
guide on expedition cruises to Antarctica and Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. His “life list” is approaching 2,500 species.
For more information, contact the Eugene Public Library at 541-682-5450 or www.eugene-or.gov/library.
New Carsharing Company Launches in Eugene and Springfield
On Saturday, Oct. 25, car2go, a carsharing company, will be expanding to include 10 square miles in Eugene and
Springfield. Car2go allows members to rent any one of the 50 car2go vehicles in Eugene by the minute, hour, or day, and
take it to their destination without having to worry
about returning the car where they found it. Vehicles
can be located using a smartphone app, the car2go
website, or simply by finding an available car2go vehicle
on the street.
An agreement with the City of Eugene and Springfield
allows the rentals to be parked on the street within the
10 square mile area. Car2go covers the cost of fuel,
insurance, maintenance and parking. Car2go members
can use cars in any of the 15 car2go locations
throughout the U.S. and Canada.
The car2go launch event will be held Oct. 25, at
Broadway Plaza, from 1 to 5 p.m. For more information,
please visit www.car2go.com or contact Jeff Petry at
541-682-5079
.
City Teams Up with Lane Community College to Build Local Software Labor Force
Area youth will be the beneficiaries of a demonstration project made possible by the City of Eugene’s Telecommunications
Program. The partnership between Lane Community College, City of Eugene, and Eugene School District 4J will develop a
Digital Dojo - a nationally connected and locally developed open source computer coding club - at Lane Community
College’s Downtown Center.
The dojo will provide a host of computer science-related educational opportunities and kick off with an open house on
Tuesday, Nov. 18, from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. at the Lane Community College Downtown Center, 101 West 10th Avenue, Eugene.
The public is invited. Youth at any level of computer skill are invited to visit to try coding and see the resources the dojo
will have to offer. All attendees are required to pre-register at the website: http://www.meetup.com/Eugene-Region-
CoderDojo-Hub.
The Digital Dojo partnership brings together instructional specialists with expertise in computer science from LCC and 4J
and a state of the art classroom in LCC’s Downtown campus with $50,000 of telecommunications funds aimed at digital
mentoring from the City of Eugene.
“The Digital Dojo is an investment in education for today’s students, and economic development for employers,
entrepreneurs and employees in the future,” said Senior Planner Nan Laurence, City of Eugene. “It will help us strengthen
the creative and technical skills needed to build a highly qualified and flexible workforce in the expanding software
employment cluster and retain and grow high tech businesses in our region.”
The dojo creates a dynamic learning environment that brings at least a dozen computer industry employees into the
classroom, employs computer science faculty, and focuses on middle and high school students to create an interest in the
field early in the students’ school career. Eugene-Springfield area youth are welcome; females and under-represented
youth are particularly encouraged to participate.
Dojo sessions will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m,. beginning
in December. The project can accommodate approximately 800 students over the course of the 2014-15 school year.
Beginning in November, youth will be able to sign up online for sessions in advance.
For more information, contact Nan Laurence at 541-682-5340.
EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 2
October 23, 2014