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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 1985)
>'l Who are these dastardly villains? See review Page 2 Oregon daily em era d Tuesday, January 8, 1985 Eugene, Oregon Volume 86, Number 72 Mayor Obie, city councilors sworn in By Cynthia Whitfield Of the Emerald Eugene Mayor Brian Obie unveiled his four-year agenda for the city Monday night after he and five city councilors were sworn into office before a large au dience downtown at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts. In his state-of-the-city address, Obie emphasized his committment to facilitating economic diversity in the area. Obie urged council members to “grasp the opportunity to reject the status quo and make a meaningful difference in the future of this community. “Tonight you will be asked to take ac tion that will change the course of events in this city. I ask you not to take small steps where big ones are required, not to be timid when boldness is necessary'. . . you are chosen not just to represent, but to lead,” he said. . Obie. who begins a four-year term as mayor of Eugene, has served on the City Council for eight years. Incumbent coun cilors Ruth Bascom, Cynthia Wooten, Debra Ehrman, as well as newcomer Roger Rutan were sworn in for four-year terms on the City Council. Jeffery Miller, who replaced former Bethal-Danebo councilor John Ball, was also sworn in, but his term will expire in January. 1987. Obie said the University, the Eugene Water and Electric Board, Lane Com munity College, the city of Springfield and legislative and congressional delegations must work together to assure the future success of the area. “If we do not grasp on every oppor tunity to use each of our strengths and abilities... we will be doomed to a morass of turf battles, inefficiencies, mediocrity and economic hardship,” he warned. Obie said he was particularly pleased with the “new awareness” that the University could play major roles in both job creation and economic diversifica tion, praising the proposed University riverfront science park as an example of the “growing diversification of our economy.” Obie said that outgoing Mayor Gus Keller was a prophet eight years ago when he said, “ ‘...let's not forget the dreadful reality of being jobless. If we do not, in the very near future, make every effort to diversify our economy, the number of jobless among us may soar.’ ” Obie listed four main components of Eugene’s “new beginning.” These in cluded improvement and expansion of Eugene’s airport terminal and facilities because, he says, “We cannot compete in — nor with — a world we cannot readily access,”; the University science park; the revitalization of the Eugene downtown area; and, “perhaps the most important element, the widening and ex tension of key arterials throughout our community, including the central city itself,” Obie said. Obie said he will ask the Eugene City Council to place the repeal of the “ex pressway amendment” on the ballot, "at the same time we vote on (the) widening and extension of Sixth and Seventh avenues.” The expressway amendment, passed in 1972, requires a public vote before any freeway or limited-access highway can be built within city limits. ASUO, OSL protest Board’s tuition ruling Members of the ASUO are cir culating a petition protesting a recent decision by the State Board of Higher Education to spend extra tuition revenue on legal expanses. “It (the petition) urges the board and the Legislature to re-examine tui tion policy and to examine the ap propriate uses of tuition,” said Rebec ca Roby, ASUO state affairs coordinator. Enrollment figures for 1983-85 at the University and Western Oregon State College are higher than previously projected, resulting in a $1.6 million tuition revenue surplus. The petition was sparked on Dec. 14 when the board decided unanimously to use $900,000 of the surplus tuition fees to help cover the cost of defending three lawsuits. A landmark sex-descrimination lawsuit filed seven years ago, Penk vs. State Board of Higher Education, was the most expensive suit, costing the Department of Higher Education $40 million. The petition, designed by members of the Oregon Student Lobby, is being circulated for signatures at seven of Oregon's institutions of higher educa tion, Roby said. Nearly 100 people signed the petition Monday at the ASUO table set up near the EMU Ballroom. Rebecca Roby “It would be nice to have the peti tion (ready) for the first day of the Legislature on the 14th (of January),” Roby said. Roby said the board’s decision is a “bad precendent” for higher educa tion in Oregon. The petition cannot reverse the board’s decision to spend the surplus tuition revenues on legal expenses, but it will urge legislators and board members to take a closer look at the way tuition is used in Oregon, she said. Photo by Kirk Hirota As the newly sworn-in Eugene mayor, Brian Obie may have to fill more than his size 15 pair of sneakers, a gift from former Mayor Gus Keller Monday night following Obie’s state-of-the-city speech at the Hult Center. Keller also presented a state-of-the-city address, stressing Eugene’s ac complishments over the past few years, including the Hult Center, the council’s committment to further economic diver sification and last month’s trade delega tion from China’s Fujian Province. After wishing Obie and the new city councilors well in the year ahead, Keller said he refused “to run again for anything.” Keller presented Obie with an “award” — a pair of size 15 running shoes. “1 know they will be hard to fill, but I know that you will fill- them,” Keller said. Official faults students in gypsy moth plague By Stasia Scarborough Of the Emerald Incoming University students are in directly responsible for at least part of the outbreak of gypsy moth infestations currently plaguing Lane County, says a local Department of Agriculture official. Not all the infestation problems can be traced back to their sources, but some problem areas are probably the result of students bringing gypsy moth egg masses with them after moving here from other infested areas, says Bob Ober mire. Lane County gypsy moth inspector. Amazon Park, a gypsy moth quaran tine area in South Eugene, seems “cer tainly a result of students,” Obermire claims. Although some agriculture officials say pinpointing the cause of outbreaks is impossible, Obermire backs his claim by citing other outbreaks that seem to have clear causes, including a previous out break in Corvallis, another area with a high student population. Whatever the cause, battling the moths is a two-part effort requiring fighting moths already here and keeping out new egg masses, he says. A decision on an approach to fighting the current moth population is expected within the month from a committee of forestry officials, en vironmental groups, and state and local agencies. But keeping new moths out is more problematic, Obermire says. Possibilities include contacting and convincing new University students moving here from other gypsy moth areas — particularly the East Coast — to have their incoming furniture inspected. Obtaining student records to track down such students may be explored in the future, Obermire says, but so far no special effort has been made to single those students out. However, obtaining accurate informa tion of every student’s previous address would be nearly impossible, says Herb Chereck, University registrar. Directory information, the only information the University is allowed to release, is only “70 to 75 percent accurate,” Chereck says. Since directory information is given voluntarily, University records would not provide a complete list of students moving here from other gypsy moth areas, Chereck says. Requests for directory information is handled on a case-by-case basis and released only if the request seems logifimate Chereck savs His office is willing to “sort” the list for students with permanent addresses in problem areas, as well as on a case-by-case basis. The gypsy moth problem has put some 1,100 square miles of Lane County in state and federal quarantine, requiring all plant material or outdoor furniture shipped outside the quarantine area to be inspected by Department of Agriculture officials.
