Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 1981)
harry esteve The scariest ride in Eugene TWO A.M. The night sky is pitch black, rainclouds blotting out any hope of a moon Franklin Boulevard lies empty save a lone bicyclist riding toward Springfield He exits on to the bike trail that crosses the Willie Knickerbocker bridge That's his first mistake His second is not turning around A right turn after the bridge and the rider bursts into solid, utter darkness Eugene bike trails are among the best in the country — wind ing river banks, thick woods, grassy parks They take a cyclist off the main streets, and into the c reenways of Eugene, away from the noise, air and traffic of the city. They also take him away from the lights, people and protec tion of Eugene — not to be taken lightly at two a m when the rib bon of asphalt disappears into blackness and a twig has just snapped from behind THE CYCLIST brakes hard as he feels his bike sink into soft earth and feels a sticky spider web break across his face Feeling for the trail with his foot, he finds asphalt and stares ahead Nothing This particular section of bike trail is a "real oldy," says Diane Bishop, bicycle coordinator for the the city of Eugene When the county first built it they "didn't realize there would be night commuters," Bishop says So they left out the lights Now certain stretches, the ones that pass through the small woods, rank among the scariest places in the city at night In the early morning, men with unwashed beards and tattered duffle bags come out of the brambles along the Willamette River and stroll along the path In early evening, small fires dot the river banks as transients settle in for the evening Night falls like a soggy blanket "God, it's dangerous," says Gary Darnielle. a member of a group of joggers called "Trail Observers " Darnielle's group lobbies for lighting and upkeep of the city's and county's jogging and bicy cle trails He says he doubts the county parks department will install any lights along the unlit trails because of problems they have had with lighting other trails "Vandals tear them down as fast as they put them up,' Dar nielle says "They have zippo funds for improvements " FIVE HUNDRED yards of un certainty lie in front of the cy clist He Knows the twists and turns almost by heart from daily commuting, but the darkness is confusing A sound like garbled voices comes from the direction of the river — a rustling from behind Marcia Morgan works as a crime specialist for the Lane County Sheriff s department, on the rape prevention team She says not to sweat it "It is not a haven for rapists." Morgan says There is not a high percentage of crimes in that area " Morgan says she would like to see more people use the paths at night to give the area a better reputation "The less people use it, the more isolated it will be," she says Her advice is to ride very quickly and travel in pairs THE CYCLIST is riding again, slowly His eyes have ad|usted and by straining he can distin guish the edge of asphalt from the edge of — for all intents and purposes — the void Slowly, he maneuvers the curves and dips Finally a thin beam of lamplight strikes against the path Entering the street from the bike path is like finding a friend in a foreign place The glow of the streetlight shows the way home jzirn Cultural Forum Presents Tex-ITiex music comes to fugene with flaco Jimenez and his band flacol the king of the Tex-Mex accordion he packs the dance halls down in San Antonio Texas. & keeps them lumping all night1 described as “the Chuck Berry ot the squeeze box" by Rolling Stone magazine he s appeared on "Saturday Night Lhre” and "Austin City Limits" he s toured the US and Europe with Ry Cooder & played on his "Chicken Skin Music” & “Show Time” albums Conc€rt/Danc€ Sunday, riovcmbcr 8. 8 p.m. emu Ballroom on th« UO compos in fugcrx Tickets $5.50 General Public $4.50 UO Students Available at • EMU Mam Desk • Lights for Music in Springfield • Mr Mike s Really Reusable Records downtown CIS department adds sections In order to alleviate the crush of students trying to schedule lower division computer science classes, the computer and information science department has added two sec tions to its curriculum Another section of CIS 201 will be offered winter term, and an additional section of CIS 203 will be offered spring term The two added sections are part of an introductory program that is a prerequisite for the upper division CIS classes Robert Berdahl, dean of the arts and sciences college, says that the names of approximately 150 students who tried, unsuc cessfully, to register for CIS 201 classes this fall were collected Those students currently are being notified of the course ad ditions Each of the sections will have a capacity of 300 students and will use microcomputers in stead of the University's main computers Both Berdahl and Steve Hedetniemi, head of the com puter science department, say with the addition of the two sec tions. the demand from students will be met However, Hedetniemi says the solution is only short-term "We have no answer for the wave of students that will hit the following year in the upper divi sion classes," Hedetniemi says Hedetniemi says his depart ment still is very optimistic about the effect of a "bulge” in enroll merit "The demand is not just from students who are majoring in computer and information science," he says "The demand is also coming from students majoring in other fields " The money for the classes was scraped together from many of the programs in the arts and sciences college. Berdahl says Hedetriiemi says the CIS department likes to be optimis tic, but it may be wishful think ing to believe that more crowding problems won't arise "We may never be able to handle the full potential capaci ty of students interested in the program," he says Economic conference planned Small business concerns and economic growth in Lane County are just two of the topics to be discussed at an economic development conference Nov 19-20 at the Lane County Fair grounds Frank Cappiello, of the public television series ‘‘Wall Street Week,” will be the keynote speaker at the conference, which is entitled "Lane Coun ty's Economy The 80 s and Beyond " The more than a dozen work shops and 50 panelists will cover topics such as local en ergy source development, ways of attracting new industry, for mation of small business capi tal, the role of tourism and ex pansion of foreign and domestic markets Those who register by today will pay $30, including three meals or $15 without meals After today, the fees will rise to $40 with meals or $20 without meals The conference is sponsored by the Lane County commis sioners, the Lane County Private Industry Council, the Lane County Chamber of Com merce and the Lane County Department of Employment and Training For more information, call Dave Fidanque or Bev Holman at the county employment and training department at 687-3626 or 687-3822 Puma Parkas Versatile, warm, dry and reasonably priced. 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