Inside:
•Stress, Page 5
•Chad Bennion, Page 8
•Rugby, Page 9
—--Oregon Daily- -
Emerald
Tuesday, October 27. 1987
Eugene. Oregon
Volume 89. Number .19
Student delegation attends
conference on harassment
By Jeff Morgan
Emerald Reporter
Seven University students at
tended the five-state Northwest
Coalition Against Malicious
Harassment. Inc., last weekend
in Coeur d'Alene. Idaho.
This was the coalition's first
conference, which focused on
racial and religious harassment.
The delegation included
students from the Native
American Student Union, the
Gay and lesbian Alliance and
the Black Student Union. The
delegation was lead by Harry
Hintsala. ASUO Minority Af
fairs Coordinator and co
director of NASU.
The northern Idaho-based
coalition formed to address the
problem and threat of religious
and racial harassment and
violence in the Northwest and
to form an informational net
work to combat religious and
racial hate groups throughout
the United States
The member states of the
coalition arc Oregon, VVashin
ton, Idaho, Montana and
Wyoming, which are the five
states in which the Aryan Na
tions group, which is based
near Coeur d'Alene, wants to
form a "racially pure" nation.
Hintsala said he hoped the
conference would help address
the "intitutional racism" at the
University, noting the low
number of minority faculty and
students, and what he called in
adequate minority retention
programs "Even here they
(minority students) are disen
franchised," Hintsala said.
Although pleased with the
conference. Hintsala expressed
concern over the representation
of the group, saying there was
little racial diversity among the
board of directors. This he
found surprising because of the
large Native American popula
tion in northern Idaho.
His concern was echoed by
GAI*A co-director Tim Hughes,
who said he presumed the con
ference would be a "coming
Lucky Ducks
Grand Prixe winner of the University Bookstom's Lucky Duck Giveaway. Ghao
Yen Ghent left), stands next to her new Honda Spree, as Patricia Lon Kim Hunn. who
won a VO sweatshirt, and Judy Grenatstein, who received a Sony Walkman, display
their prizes
Photo by Chris Chabaudie
Literacy programs become a 'plus' for adults
By |ohn Henrikson
Emerald Contributor
Robert Gilliam was like many
other American adults. He com
pleted high school, supported a
family and held several good
jobs.
And like about 25 million
other American adults, in
cluding 21.000 in I-ane County,
he never learned to read beyond
a grade school level.
But Gilliam. 41, is changing
that now last February he
enrolled in Lane Community
College's Adult Basic Education
program to pick up where he
left off as a child.
Now he is reading at a high
school level and is improving
his spelling. Enthused about his
progress. Cilliam began en
couraging other adults like
himself to improve their literacy
as well.
Earlier this year he was
chosen to represent Oregon at
the National Student Literacy
Congress, held in I’hildelphia.
Pa. last August
“They're just now beginning
to realize what shape the nation
is in as far as adult literacy."
said Gilliam, who discussed the
problem with fellow adult
students at the Literacy
Conference.
The Literacy Congress is one
of many efforts to improve adult
literacy across the country in
conjunction with Project
Literacy U.S.. or PLUS.
Sponsored by the ABC and
PBS television networks. PLUS
is a two-year plan designed to
increase awareness about the
problem of adult literacy while
providing resources for a na
tional network of local literacy
programs.
The Lane (bounty Literacy
Coalition is one such program,
coordinating the efforts of local
business, education and social
groups to promote literacy. The
Coalition also functions as a
referral service for adults seek
ing help in learning reading
skills.
According to Marjorie Smith,
coalition coordinator, basic
reading skills are more impor
taut now than ever before
because of a trend away from
labor-oriented jobs toward ones
that require more reading and
writing
"It's not a problem of the
younger generation,” Smith
said. "The older the population
is. the larger the percentage that
have poor basic: skills.”
Lucielie Lamoreux, who has
taught adult Itasic education at
IX1C for 18 years, thinks literacy
is more important now because
Worst drought of century keeps loggers on hold
By Christopher Bldir
Emerald Contributor
Oregon, famous for its rainy
reputation, is now experiencing
its worst drought in almost 1(H)
years.
The culprit appears to be a
recurrence of the warm ocean
current El Nino, which occa
sionally makes an appearance
off the West Coast, according to
KKZ1 TV meteorologist John
Pisher.
"It seems that two-thirds of
the time, and that's actually
quite an exact figure, if El Nino
Inversion adds to smog level
While the unusual dry
weather is cauing problems
for farmers, loggers and
firefighters across the state, it
is also contributing to a
moderate but growing air
pollution problem in the
Willamette Valley.
Colder October
temperatures traditionally
mean more smoke from
woodstoves. and according to
KEZI TV meteorologist John
Fisher, some unseasonable
weather conditions are ac
cumulating the smoke and
keeping it in the area
“What we have right now
in the valley is called an in
version. Warmer air is rising
lo about three to four thou
sand feet, while the colder
nighttime air sinks to the
ground." he said.
The inversion, as well as
the hills surrounding Eugene
on three sides, are keeping the
smoke and other normal
pollutants “bottled up."
Fisher said.
Air pollution readings on
recent days have been at or
above a high moderate figure
of 75. said Ralph Johnston of
the Lane Regional Air Pollu
tion Authority (LRAPA).
The daily air pollution in
dex is used by IJRAPA to in
form the general public, via
the media, the quality of the
air outside. A reading of zero
to 49 is considered satisfac
tory. 50 to 99 moderate, and
100 and above unhealthful.
appears it tuna ns a very wet
winter,” Fisher said. "Hut right
now. it seems that the opposite
is true. We did have one of the
wettest July's on record this
year, but what followed was a
very dry August. September
and October."
"In 1983, when we last saw
El Nino, we had a very wet sum
mer. so it can go both ways." he
said.
Signs of the resulting dry
spell are apparent in many
facets of Oregon life and the
state s economy.
The local wood products in
dustry, prohibited from sending
logging crews into tinder-dry
forests, either are running out of
logs to process or have stopped
production altogether.
1-arger companies, such as
Weyerhaeuser, are down to a
one-week log supply.
Weyerhaeuser's Springfield
sawmill, which employs 4(H)
workers, will be forced to lay off
"over a hundred," operations
manager Rich Hanson said.
"Usually by October we have
a four- to six-week inventory so
that we have logs to work with
when the snow fails. We’re hop
ing that the rain will start so
that we can get out and put
some logs in front of the plant,"
he said.
Times have been harder on
smaller lumber operations,
which have bean closed out of
logging areas due to extreme
fire dangers. Many, such as the
Starfire Lumber Company in
Cottage Grove, have been forced
to shut down all but mill
operations.
“We're only running one
shift of the three that we operate
normally, and that's even only
been for the past five days. The
week before we didn't operate
at all," Starflre's vice president
Robbie Robinson said.