Oregon daily emerald., May 28, 1982, Image 1

Friday, May 28, 1982
Eugene, Oregon
Oregon daily
Volume 83
Number 161
emerald
i
Bike ’thieves’
By Ann Portal
And Harry Eatave
Ot th» EmmrtM
A number of students watched as a
locked bicycle was stolen in front of the
EMU last week in the middle of a week
day afternoon The man who stole the
bike simply picked it up and carried it
across campus No one tried to stop
him.
The theft was just one of five separate
incidents last week in which University
students stood by while bikes were
stolen at four campus locations.
Thieves carrying two-foot-long bolt
cutters walked across campus in the
middle of the day A student rode away
on an unlocked bike leaned against the
University Bookstore.
No one called the police.
The "thefts'' actually were part of a
University journalism class field exper
iment Six journalism students in Prof.
Galen Rarick's "Precision Journalism”
class wanted to explore just how easy it
is to steal a bike on campus
The students, who stole their own
bikes, were surprised and worried by
the results In five attempts, the bike
thieves carried, rode away on or walked
away with their target every time None
of the theives" was approached or
questioned by passersby.
The students were shocked, but Sgt
Rick Allison of the Eugene Police
Department wasn't
' I would have made a bet that
nobody would have called.” .Allison
said when told of the experiment's
results. The journalism students had
notified both Campus Security and the
Eugene Police Department of the ex
periment before it began, afraid that
they might be stopped or assaulted
But according to Allison, no one
called campus security, the Eugene
police or the state police
Security officers on campus have
been frustrated by students who ignore
or who won't report suspicious or
criminal activity, Allison said.
“Until the student body — at least a
majority — gets involved, we're never
going to be able to show a decrease in
crime on campus,” he said.
To give students a good opportunity
to see the crimes, all five took place
May 20 between 9 a m. and 5 p.m. The
journalism students avoided leaving
the bikes in covered or sheltered areas,
where they thought the bikes might be
too protected and easy to steal.
The first theft, at the beginning of the
9:20 a m. class change, took place at
the 13th Street bike racks. Class
members Harry Esteve and Marian
Green walked up to a bike that earlier
had been locked to the rack. Bolt cut
ters protruded from Green's pack. She
removed the cutters and handed them
to Esteve, who clipped the lock.
According to a third journalism
student who observed the theft from
across the street, "A student in a red
flannel shirt walked up to claim his bike
and paused as he saw Marian and
Harry fingering the lock. He continued
to watch as they cut the lock, which
cracked loudly but didn't draw the at
tention of any other students.
During the noon hour, a student
Photos by Bob Baker
A recent journalism class experiment showed just how easy It Is to steal bikes at
the University campus. None of the bystanders called the police, no one
questioned the ‘thieves.’
parked his bike near the front entrance
of the EMU building and secured it by
locking a cable around the front wheel
and the frame. Shortly afterward Greg
Kerber picked the bike up and walked
away with it without incident.
At 2 p.m., the lock was clipped on a
bike locked to a tree near the EMU bike
racks The class member rode away
while students watched.
Kerber said he noticed students sit
ting at tables on the Fishbowl patio and
contacted one of the organizations the
next day to see if anyone remembered
witnessing a bike theft.
One student did remember seeing
the lock being cut, but told Kerber he
felt bad that he didn’t have time to
report it, Kerber said.
The final theft, in front of Carson Hall,
happened at 5 p.m. Feeling more as
sured by this time, Esteve walked
across campus swinging the bolt cut
ters. He clipped the lock for a final time
and rode away, still swinging the cut
ters.
The number of campus area bike
thefts average two per day, but during
spring and summer the average in
creases to about five per day.
Allison said he suspects many of the
thieves are members of the campus
community. Thefts increase in the
spring because students want to take
bikes home to sell or use during the
summer, he said.
Allison said Campus Security is "to
tally willing” to work with students at
any time — day or night — to take
reports of thefts. Anonymous reports
are fine, he says, and students
shouldn't worry about causing any in
convenience.
"Don't be concerned about bother
ing us, because that’s our job,” Allison
said.
Allison urged students who witness
anything that could be a theft or other
crime to call the public safety office at
686-5444.
Atiyeh, leaders plan budget compromise
SALEM (AP) — Gov Vic Atiyeh and the
leaders of the House and Senate agreed
Thursday on a way to rebalance the
state's budget
After spending most of the day in
meetings, Atiyeh and legislative leaders
emerged from the governor's office and
announced a compromise plan to make
up for an estimated $100 8 million short
fall in state revenue over the next 12
months
Earlier, the Executive Department es
timated a $107.8 million deficit would be
created by the revenue shortfall, but that
figure counted on an approximately $7
million ending balance on June 30,1983
Atiyeh said he would call a special
session, but he said he wouldn't pinpoint
the date until legislative leaders get a
commitment from their fellow lawmakers
to support the compromise plan.
The governor said if a consensus is
achieved, he'll call the special session
between June 14 and June 21.
The legislative leaders agreed to sup
port the package, but only if it is taken as
a whole. It calls for:
• Making $30 million worth of cuts in
state agency budgets.
• Reducing state support for public
schools by $13 million.
• Lowering property tax relief by
about $30 million.
• Delaying the changeover to new
income tax withholding tables. That
should provide $34 million in revenue
before the budget year ends June 30,
1983.
Senate President Fred Heard, D
Klamath Falls, and House Speaker Hardy
Myers, D-Portland, said they would urge
Democrats to accept the package as a
fair compromise.
House Minority Leader Paul Han
neman, R-Cloverdale, was less
enthusiastic about the plan, but said he'd
do his best to persuade the 27 members
of his caucus to accept the compromise.
Atiyeh said he planned to get back
together early next week with Heard,
Myers, Hanneman and Sen. Tony
Meeker, R-Amity, the assistant Senate
minority leader.
Under the compromise budget plan,
the amount available to aid homeowners
would drop from $171.2 million to $141.2