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AuCoin melds two sides of hot issue Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli REAL Corps director Bill Fleeger, right, stands next to a pond in Ashland's North Mountain Park where volunteers Erin Wyman, left, and Tim Aldinger have worked to recover the natural habitat of nearby streams. He recently began the AuCoin Institute at SOU, dedicated to getting environmentalists to understand politicians, and vice-versa By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune On one side there are environmentalists, on the other side, politicians - and often they're at odds. On both sides you've got Les AuCoin, former congressman, environmentalist and professor of political science and business ethics at Southern Oregon University. With his feet in many camps, AuCoin recently began The AuCoin Institute at SOU, dedicated to getting environmentalists to understand politicians, and vice-versa. "We've got people with an excellent technical education, fully versed in science," said AuCoin. "But a lot of them say, 'No one told me how to interface with irate property owners.'" AuCoin lists goals for institute at SOU In the next three to five years, Les AuCoin has a list of goals for The Les AuCoin Institute: Fund research for social science and natural science faculties to help publish articles in nationally known publications. Have enough financial wherewithal for faculty members to be released from their normal assignments to tackle team projects - basically on-campus sabbaticals. Create a visiting scholar program. Continue a series of short courses with government agencies to deal with problem-solving in the community. Build on programs like REAL Corps, which tackles local environmental projects like clearing fuels from the Ashland Watershed. Provide scholarships to do research articles. His institute's main purpose will be to bridge the gap between environmentalists and the community, to make science understandable to laymen. "There is a failure on the part of education to produce scientists who see the sociology in these kind of issues," he said. But this problem is something of a two-way street. "The scientific illiteracy in Congress, in city councils and with elected officials is phenomenal," he said. The institute, made up of SOU professors, will encourage meetings between natural scientists and the community, between environmentalists and political groups. Twice a year on Rogue Valley Television, the institute will broadcast meetings on subjects such as the Klamath Basin water controversy, national monument designations and the endangered salmon issue. At this point, the institute has a lot of backing, but awaits funding, hoping to get a $100,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency next year. On its national advisory committee, the institute has former U.S. Sens. Mark Hatfield from Oregon and Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin, as well as Bruce Babbitt and Cecil Andrus, former secretaries of the Interior. AuCoin expects the EPA's two-year grant will allow the institute to begin some of its planned projects. Bill Fleeger, an SOU professor, REAL Corps director and member of the institute, said environmentalists and community members often become polarized over controversial issues. Some support clearcutting, but others are opposed to cutting any trees. Under a $195,000 grant, students in REAL Corps are thinning out trees in the Ashland Watershed to get rid of potential fuel for a wildfire. "Some of our students have come 180 degrees around in understanding the complexities of the problem," said Fleeger. It's this sort of education that Fleeger and AuCoin hope for out of the programs that will be offered by the institute. SOU student and REAL Corps member Tim Aldinger of Ashland said the AuCoin Institute should be helpful in making people aware of complicated environmental issues. With AuCoin's political background, Aldinger said, "This should help bring in a lot of different perspectives to the university." Another student, Erin Wyman of Ashland, said, "A lot of what we learned in REAL Corps makes you realize that you don't see the big picture." The AuCoin Institute, which hopes to bring in scholars and politicians from around the country, hopes that everyone gets the big picture. AuCoin wants environmentalists and community members in the Rogue Valley to get together to discuss issues that affect this area. "All this is designed to help the university education program that is rooted in this incredible landscape of Southern Oregon," he said. While AuCoin will help the institute get on its feet, the 59-year-old Ashland resident does have plans for retirement. "I'm just hoping to put in a couple of years of my effort then step back and let others take over," he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.