_Inside_ • Ducks lose a dose one. Page 5 • The Bach of Rock. Page 6 • College Bowl kicks off. Page 3 • Grapplers down BYU. Page 12 Oregon Daily- - Emerald Friday. February i, 1980 Kugene. Oregon Volume ‘10. Number 04 Snowball fight escalates to unruly mob scene Students defy police officers, attack motorists By Don Peters Emerald Assw iate Editor The first major snowfall of the year sparked violence among University students Wednesday night, resulting in hundreds of dollars in property damage. According to witnesses at the scene and the official police re port. the incident started at about 9:30 p.m. as a snowball fight between dorm residents on the "Humpy Lumpy" field in front of Hamilton complex. The snowball fight quickly escalated until approximately 200 students lined Agate Street at the 15th Avenue intersec tion. pelting passing motorists and bicyclists with all types of compacted snow. Capt. Tim Birr, Eugene Po lice Department public infor mation officer, said officers went to the scene at approxi mately 10:05 p.m. in response to complaints from University public safety officials and pass ing motorists. According to the report, the IT'ffFlilf-i Photo b( |«mr« M«rU Unidentified students bombard a passing tar with snowballs at the interset tion of 15th Avenue and Agate Street on Wednes day night. Security officials called the snowball incident one ot the worst in memory. officers stopped about too feet from the crowd to halt south bound traffic on Agate Street They were assaulted with snowballs bv the crowd and left the scene in fear for their own safety “What we had was mob psv ( hoiogy at its worst . " Hirr said "Cars literally had to run a gauntlet to get through." Ki< hard Tanner assoi iate di rector of the University Office of Public Safety, said the near riot resulted in one i ar sliding into |«mm M0 degrees below zero or worse in Alaska has arrived hi Oregon, putting Kugene under a layer of snow However, the University will continue classes and ser VICOS. The winter weather, includ ing temperatures below the 20s and between three and five inches of snow, will get colder and will be around for awhile, said Kick Wagner of the U.S. Weather Service. "We'ro looking for it to lit* cold for at least the next five days,” Wagner said, “It'll moderate, but that's basically it." The brunt of the Art tic cold front was still on its way south Thursday afternoon. Wagner said. The temperature at the airport l p m. Thursday was 19 degrees, compared to high -its in downtown Eugene As the air moves south, tem peratures will drop to high PhuUt ht Andrv K«nt«l Douft Maker, a graduate student in business, excavates his ve hide after snowfalls. teens today and as low as zero tonight. with the hitter tent peratures continuing into next week. Wagner said. As the mercury falls, the air will dry out and the snow which has blanketed Kugene and the University will gradu ally stop falling, stopping alto gether by Saturday or Sunday The blustery weather is un usual. but nothing the Univer sity Physical Plant can't han dle. said Ted Burns, the Physi cal Plant's assistant director for services Aside from increasing steam heat to (forms, classrooms and offices, .old increasing side walk-clearing patrols, Physical Plant personnel have the situa tion under control. Burns said Snow and winter tempera lures can cause a lime of cele brat ion for children when schools lake one or more days off to wait for the snow to melt The University, however, ts a different story It lias c losed be cause of snow only once since HIM, and that was the day after Thanksgiving when many stu dents were home with their families anyway It would have to net "pretty bad" lor the I'ni versitv to shut down bee ause of weather. Williams said "I really don't know what it would lake." Williams said. "So many of our students, fac ultv and staff live either on or c lose enough to c anijius that coming to school isn't a prob lem. Turn to Weather, Page 4