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.”