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
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