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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1982)
Eugene has third television station KMTR returns NBC to area after month-long hiatus By David Brown Of Hit Emerald Eugene-Springfield's newest television station finally got on the air Monday, as KMTR began broad casting after a week s delay While the target date to begin broadcasting was September 27, KMTR News Director Donn Doak is satisfied It is not unusual to be over target date by quite a few weeks, he says. The Springfield station, which will broadcast on UHF channel 16 and cable channel 6, brings to three the number of television stations broadcasting in the Eugene metropolitan area And it's about time, Doak says. Many television markets with a smaller population than Eugene Springfield are three-station areas. Doak says As an NBC affilliate, KMTR will fill the gap in local broadcasting left when KVAL-TV switched to CBS The new station's newscasts are different from its two competitors. Doak says Two 30-minute broadcasts of local news sandwich the half-hour of NBC national news which begins at 6 p m And rather than using two people to anchor the news, KMTR will use Doak as the only anchor f KMTR's 5:30 p m newscast will be short, sharp local coverage, Doak says The 6:30 p m slot leaves an additional opening for local coverage to center on specific issues, he says Although the "grief" in the news must be reported, Doaks says "We re going to find the fun, the humor and the irony in the news " In addition to local news, KMTR plans to insert features selected from a wire service which provides stories not covered in the NBC national broadcast Doak hopes that further independent programming by the station will include something along the lines of a Meet the Press format This area audience is sophis ticated and hungry for such a format in local program ming, he says. The KMTR news staff is smaller than its two com peting stations We re 14 people," Doak says, but "we re going to look like 24 out there " The staff energy is "tremendous," and the news cast will be "up and alert," he says. The station intends to reflect the positive atmos phere of the community, Doak says Despite a reces sion, improvements such as the Hult Center for the Performing Arts and renovated downtown transit sta tions are underway in Eugene-Springfield, Fred Meyer KMTR TV16 EUGENE SPRINGFIELD Graphic courtesy of KMTR is building a new store and KMTR is on the air, Doak says Doak reported and anchored the news for a Wa shington, D C., station for 11 years while freelancing for NBC on weekends He then moved into an NBC office down the hall from David Brinkley and worked with the network for seven years. Brinkley has since moved to ABC and Doak is in Eugene heading the KMTR news team KMTR Inc grew from three separate companies which merged after applying individually to the Federal Communications Commission for licensing about four years ago The corporation now consists of 22 share holders The total capital investment was three million dollars 1 Animal research thrives at University By Sean Meyers Of th« Emerald If an election were ever held to de termine which mollusk people would least like to meet while trolling for tomatoes in their garden, giant slugs might very well top the list In case you've never been so fortu nate as to meet a giant slug face-to face. they can often reach the size of a rodent More precisely, a rat "Some are even considerably larger than a rat," admits Marvin Gordon Lickey, an associate professor of psy chology working in the University's newly-formed Institute for Neuro science Before you swear off gardening for ever, it should be noted that giant slugs aren't native to the Eugene area Gor don-Lickey is familiar with them because a high school student that lives in Santa Monica, Calif., where the slugs thrive in the warm-water ocean, combs the beach for them and sells them to University for $10 apiece That may not sound like such a good deal, but another supplier wants $17 50 While the Gordon-Lickey has worked with a several species of slugs, one in particular, Aplesia. has contributed to some of the more significant discover ies in neurological research. "Aplesia was the the first animal in which a bona fide biological clock was identified," he says. "It turned out to be in the animal's eye." Gordon-Lickey made what he terms his most significant discovery in more than 16 years of slug research when, working in conjunction with a Texas laboratory, he determined that Aplesia has not one, but two or more biological clocks which sometimes get out of synchronization with each other It is possible that humans also have more than one biological clock, and that they also get out of synch with each other and contribute to such problems as manic-depression, troubles shift-workers have adjusting to new schedules and "jet-lag" or fatigue when suddenly changing time zones "What we find out in Aplesia will be a good hypothesis for humans," Gor don-Lickey says. “It can’t be exactly the same, but we ll know where to look after we find it in simpler animals." In his early years of animal research, Gordon-Lickey chose the slug as a favorite specimen partially because he didn't want to work with a higher species with which he might develop an emotional attachment. "When I was a graduate student and an undergraduate I worked with cats,” said Gordon-Lickey “I didn't like it because I like cats, and I didn't like performing surgery on them With a lower species, you develop perhaps less empathy " But Gordon-Lickey says he's not try ing to create the impression that those who do work with certain higher species are mad scientists In fact his wife, Barbara, also an associate professor in the neurology lab. per forms experiments on felines “I'm not opposed to it on moral or philosophical grounds," says Gordon Lickey. "But I personally would t want to do it Many of the advances in science in the last century has been because of animal research — I think that is its justification ” Consequently the University, like many other schools in the country, places a strong emphasis on animal research But despite the importance of the work, it is a relatively low-profile program here is because of a certain undesirable element that animal re search seems to attract, according to Greg Stickrod, director of laboratory animal services “We get a huge amount of, I wouldn't say vandals exactly, but curiosity seekers," says Stickrod. “But if a student has a legitimate interest in animal research, that is another thing entirely.” Many of the animals that are used in research could be found on most beaches, barnyards and backyards: crabs, fish, chickens, rats, cats, mice, hamsters, common reptiles, sparrows and locusts Various veins of research at the University include using rats for re searching the workings of neuro-trans mitters, the chemical messengers of the brain. The University is also studying en dorphin and enkephalin, chemicals which Stickrod says have gained recent national attention in such pub lications as Time and Life because they have been found to be substances produced within the body which, among other things, suppress pain. University biologists are using mice to study the evolution of the brain from the embryo to full development. Ecologists are interested in deter mining what importance a certain species of mosquito has in its ecosys tem. “It's important to note that these types of research are not just guys that go out and watch animals for a couple of hours and reach a conclusion about the significance of a certain movement or action,” Stickrod says. "They put a lot of research hours into their Psychologist Marvin Gordon-Lickey works with slugs at the Institute of Neuros cience, because cats, he says, invoke too much empathy from him. specialized fields." In his 11 years at the University, Stickrod has noted several research projects that have used unusual types of animals. About five years ago, a professor had wolves brought in to study their social ordering within packs. "Perhaps the single most exotic an imal we've had, in a novelty-interest sort of way, would be Chinese Giant Salamanders,” Stickrod says. The salamanders, about two feet long and relatively rare, were used in genetic studies. But exotic animals are the exception, not the norm. Even rhesus monkeys, which can each cost $1,000 or more, aren't used at the University. Instead, the school has been breeding a less expensive variety of monkey, Cyn omologus, for the past six years. Even when it comes to cat research, exotic animals are out. "We look for the very normal, alley-type cat. That's the line we wish to maintain," says Stick rod. Don’t get the wrong idea. The vast used in research are those breeded in the animal labs, not waifs kidnapped from streetcorners. And to the feeble-hearted who might believe that animals are being stretched on racks and submitted to untold and nearly unimaginable forms of torture, rest assured that almost all animal research performed at the University must be approved by the Animal Welfare Comm **-'0 Composed of Stickrod, a veterinarian and representatives from the biology, chemistry and pyschology depart ments, the committee has even been known to come to the rescue of insects Stickrod said that about 1V4 years ago, an univited swarm of bees set up residence outside a science building, and some people wanted them des troyed because they were supposedly a threat to passersby. Others thought they were harmless and should be al lowed to remain "We finally reached a compromise,” Stickrod remembers. "We had a bee keeper come in and remove them to a place out in the country where they wouldn’t be in anyone’s way.”
