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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1978)
Civic m Commission approves civic center bond center for June ballot, decision rests with Council By MARK STEWART Of the Emerald The Eugene Civic Center Commission voted Tuesday to recommend to the Eugene City Council that an $18.5 million bond issue be placed on the June 27 ballot to finance construction of the Civic Center project. Civic Center development director Dean Baumgartner will make the recommenda tion to the city council today at noon. The project includes a 2,500 seat concert hall, a 500-seat multi-purpose theater and a rehearsal center, underground parking and plaza decking. Two commission members feared that placing the bond on the June 27 ballot would be too soon after the 4-J School Dis trict $5.9 million bond vote Tuesday and the vote for $29.5 million in waste water bonds set for May 23. Commission member Scott Fletcher said the commission should take more time to develop the bend proposal and member Arlen Swearingen told the committee he had reservations about the June 27 date. “I hope we can keep the bonds separate from the other money issues,” said Swearingen. Another reservation Swearingen has about the date is a lack of time to solicit private funds for the center. “We need more time to make a stronger attempt to solicit private funds and gifts," he said. Commission member Nils Hult told the commission that the potential for private funds would not develop until the facility is built. “We won’t get one nickel in private funds until there is an assurance that the thing will be built,” said Hult. Another problem, seen by commission member Horace Robinson, is the total cost of the facility (about $23 million) is "more than adequate ' Robinson said voters would be more inclined to pass the bond if it were for less money. Commission chairer Les Anderson, former Eugene mayor, told the commission that he's “never found a good time to submit a budget,” and feared that placing the bond on the ballot after the suggested June 27 date would give the bond less of a chance of passage. Anderson also said that the issue of cost could be overstudied and that would lead to voter confusion. “We’ve had debates and come to the conclusion very democratically.” said An derson. "It’s time to get together and sug gest a package. $18.5 (million) is only an architect's figure. The facility could be built for $12 (million) or $25 (million) or whatever figure the voters arrive at.” The commission changed the wording of me recunimwiuauun iu enmmaie reter ences to phases of the project to keep it understandable for the voter. The recommendation: • Says the civic center should include all phases previously proposed (the concert hall, the theater, underground parking and the banquet/convention facility). • Urges the city council to apply for fed eral Economic Development Assistance funds. • Urges the city to encourage private de velopment of a hotel west of the center site and arrange for the issuance of funds for the banquet/convention facility. • Encourages the city to establish a non-profit corporation for the purpose of sol iciting private funds for the center. • Urges the city to pursue the method of financing which would promote the most timely and financially advantageous com pletion of the center. Are you ready for Taco Fever? r\ _ r\ _ 30 Country Club Rd. behind the Turkey Inn Open 8:30 am to 11 pm Page 4 Section A Safe driving course decreases accidents SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Are Oregon state employees better drivers because Gov. Bob Straub got a speeding ticket three years ago? Straub was ticketed for speeding during the 1974 election cam paign. In 1975, he took a safe driving course offered by the state Highway Division. He thought the course was beneficial and ordered all state em ployees who drive on the job to take the course. Three years later, 10,000 employees have taken the course. “The results have been startling,” says Gil Bellamy, administrator of the Oregon Traffic Safety Commission. In 1975, the accident rate among state drivers was 4.9 for each million miles driven. In 1977, it was 3.2 per million miles. The industrial rate, says George Wolnez, coordinator of state safety programs, was 7.4 accidents for each million miles. One state employee was killed last year in a motor vehicle acci dent. In past years, says Bellamy, three or four state employees were killed annually. Wolnez credits the program for a reduction in accidents and medi cal and repair costs. The course emphasizes defensive driving. It is offered every other month in Salem for about 100 employees. They have an eight-hour class, four hours one day and four the next, at the Employment Division auditorium. Many of the instructors are law enforcement personnel or ambul ance attendants. The defensive driving course is not an expensive state program mandated by the Legislature. The students are given a $1.25 workbook distributed by the National Traffic Safety Council. There are films and posters. About the only other expense to the state, other than the employee's time lost from work, is a portion of the salaries of Wolnez and Bellamy and their secretaries. The program is a small part of their jobs. In the course, drivers are told about the effects of liquor and drugs, where to watch for pedestrians, the need for seat-belts and about tailgating, or following too closely. They hear about the two-second rule. “When you’re driving, pick out any object,” says Wolnez. “A utility pole, a sign. Count one thousand and one, one thousand and two after the car in front of you passes the object. If you pass the object faster than two seconds, you’re following too closely.” Another fine point of defensive driving, Wolnez says, is when you’re making a left turn at an intersection, do not turn the steering wheel until you're ready to go into the turn. “That way,” says Wolnez, “if someone hits you from behind; you won’t be pushed in front of an oncoming car. "And don’t assume the other driver is going to stop at a red light “Personally,” he says, “I assume that everybody else driving is an escaped mental patient." The students are drilled on reaction time. Tests show that at 55 miles per hour, you will travel about 200 feet before stopping — if you react quickly, have good tires and brakes and a good road surface. Employees who regularly drive on the job are asked to take the course every three years. “It’s like a booster shot," says Bellamy. Assembly to discuss ROTC The University Assembly will hear two proposals regarding ROTC and one motion concerning faculty general elections at today’s meeting. j The POTC motions, made by 1 Andy Thompson of the University Counseling Center, concern the ROTC advisory committee and the appointment of ROTC instruc tors. The meeting will be at 3:30 p m. in Room 150 Science.
