Month: December 2017

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By Humble Twiliger

Many people on Narwhal were intrigued by the Rose City Council conversation Nov. 30, about adding variable-priced tolls to area roadways. Some wondered why Mayor Ted Wheeler would say the City will not build any new freeways. Others wondered specifically about the statement by Multnomah County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson that affluent people drive more than people living on low incomes.

Mayor Ted Wheeler:

“It’s obvious to everybody that we live in a region that’s abundant with natural beauty and resources. We’re seeing that our economy is vibrant and continues to grow. One of the side effects of that good news is that we’re also seeing significant growth in congestion on our roadways. These same factors make Rose City such a wonderful place to live, work and recreate but they also attract new residents. That, of course, includes increased housing and increased pressure on our roadways.

While I am mayor, I want to be clear, we’re not building any more freeways in the City of Rose City. Congestion pricing not only funds and maintains our transportation system, but also is a very effective tool for managing the traffic that will continue as Rose City grows and changes. We also can’t lose sight of the impact traffic emissions have on our public health and our overall environment. Air quality has been and will continue to be a key issue for me as mayor. We can’t deny that vehicles continue to be a source of pollution in the air we breathe. Today’s resolution is not only a statement of our values – advancing our community’s health, protecting our environment and achieving our equity goals – it is also a path forward to better achieve these goals.”

Multnomah County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson:

“Congestion pricing can have benefits for both people who drive and people who use transit. And most importantly for me, it can have benefits for low-income residents as well. While tolls could be regressive, not all low-income people drive. Many low-income people don’t own cars, so tolls may not hurt the most vulnerable and may even help if reduced traffic congestion lets buses travel faster, improve frequency and expands bus lines – all of which should be part of a successful congestion pricing plan.

For the many low-income people who do drive, tolls may burden them, but tolls can generate revenue that we can use to offset costs for those low-income drivers.

What we don’t want to do is to assume that the current system of free roads benefits everyone equally. It doesn’t. Driving is expensive. It requires a car, gas, insurance, maintenance, registration fees, the list goes on. That’s why the affluent drive much more than the poor and take more advantage of our current road system.

We have the opportunity now to build a congestion pricing system that’s right for all of our community.”

Existing Conditions, Findings and Opportunities Report for the Regional Active Transportation Plan is based on the state Household Activity Survey. It shows the people in lower-income households (with incomes below $50,000) represent 46.4% of the overall population but represent only 34.8% of all driving. On the other hand, people in households with more than $75,000 annual income represent 35.2% of the population and 46.8% of all driving. Thus, it is people from the higher income brackets that seem more dependent on automobiles than those at lower wages.

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Kyle Sue, a family-medicine professor for Memorial University, evaluated peer-reviewed research on immune system differences between men and women. According to his findings, men have “a less robust immune system.”

Tired of being teased for being a big baby, Sue conducted a study on the “Man-Flu.” The Canadian researcher found that “Cells cultured from premenopausal women had a stronger immune response to rhinovirus than those from men of the same age.”

Another study conducted in Hong Kong found that men are more likely to end up in the hospital than women. “This was true regardless of underlying heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory system disease, and renal disease,” Sue writes.

Reference:

Sue, Kyle. “The Science behind ‘Man Flu.’” The BMJ, British Medical Journal Publishing Group, 11 Dec. 2017, www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j5560.

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man standing near trees

By Elm Campfire

Ever since its announcement last September, “Anicritter GO” has been hotly anticipated by fans of the monster-catching video game series.

You don’t necessarily need to walk around to catch Anicritters

Although much of the game’s marketing encourages users to traverse their stomping grounds to discover a variety of pocket monsters, staying put reaps plenty of rewards. For example, here are a couple of ‘Critters yours truly caught in the restroom, both at home and at work.

(There are few things more awkward than standing in a bathroom stall at work and trying to catch an incredibly common Anicritters.)

Looking for a wide array of creatures? Don’t count on finding them downtown

As with its video game counterpart, critters in “Anicritters GO” are typically found in specific habitats. Ice types dwell in the mountains, Ground-types in caves, etc.

The mobile game keeps up with the concept fairly well — the only Anicritters I found in downtown Rose City bore striking resemblances to animals you’d usually find in the city.

I should note that the servers were down while I was strolling through Pettygrove City Park, so critters such as Bug- and Grass-types may well be hiding in the city’s many greenways.

Still, if you want to catch a wide assortment of Anicritters maybe a nice drive to the beach or Mt. Hood is in order this weekend.

But if you’re running low on Aniballs, there’s no better place to be

Habitats aren’t the only thing dictated by geolocation in “Anicritters GO.” Landmarks, such as bus stops and art installations, provide players with helpful items like Aniballs and Potions upon each visit. Heck, sometimes they’ll contain a stray Anicritter egg you can hatch as you play.

The game calls these landmarks AniStops and, as you can imagine, there are quite a few more in downtown Rose City than there are in, say, the Creston-Kenilworth neighborhood.

One of the best places to stock up on essentials is undoubtedly Rose City State University — practically every art installation on campus has its own AniStop. Stand on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Hall Street to hit three of them at once.

Want to catch a lot of Anicritters really fast? Ride the bus.

Catching and collecting Anicritters is fun and all, but spend a few minutes traversing the streets of Rose City on foot and you’ll see how excruciatingly slow it is to get to landmarks, much less catch a wide assortment of monsters.

That’s where Trimet comes in. Over the course of a 20-minute bus ride, I hit more AniStops and caught more Anicritters than I would have in more than an hour of trying to do the same on foot.

Of course, the toughest thing about playing on the bus is that it’s difficult to look composed when you’re holding a phone at arm’s length, swiping madly at the screen as an Anicritter evades every Aniball you toss at it.

On the plus side, it’s a great way to bond with strangers. Despite my unhinged appearance, three fellow commuters struck up a conversation about the game after catching a glimpse of the Anicritters on my phone screen.

Expect to wait for servers, at least for now

Approximately half of my time playing “Anicritters GO” has been spent staring at the server crash screen.

It seems developer Titanic didn’t do much stress-testing in the U.S. during the beta period. Several folks in the Rose City area are also having the same problem.

As time goes on, Titanic will probably smooth out the experience. In the meantime, I had the most luck getting online between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. There’s also a site that tells you whether or not the server is up, which saves you the headache of waiting for the game to load and logging in before finding out.

Long waits aside, the game is plenty fun once you actually get to play. It also features a battle system and a network of gyms, neither of which I’ve yet been able to test because of in-game prerequisites I’ve only recently met.

We’ll have more impressions and tips as time goes on. In the meantime, what’s your “Anicritters GO” experience been like in and around Rose City?

– Elm Campfire