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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1996)
Annual Membership Offer Includes: ■ Free Introductory Course ■ Complete Weight Room ■ Treadmill & Stairmasters ■ Locker & Shower Facilities ■ Free Monthly Technique Clinics Need to sell your stuff? Can ODE Classifieds @ 346-4343 with you for life Dr. Martens. The top. Always have been. Always will be. why? No hype. There's no need. Put them on and you know. The best leathers, Air-Cushioned sole. Craftsmanship Made in England. Made to last. SttQC A-M04IC 957 Willamette > LAZAR'S BAZAR 57 W. Broadway 687-0139 13th Avenue sweeps stopped for now ■ MAINTENANCE: Some business owners and residents say the problem is under control and they’re relieved By Jean Bond Community Reporter The initial sweeps of the 13th Avenue area have stopped, but more sweeps will continue as needed, said police officials. “What’s happening now is more of a maintenance,” said Sgt. Dave Poppe, Eugene police offi cer. “There’s no significant group assigned to the area now.” The Eugene police depart ment’s Rapid Deployment Unit swept 13th Avenue between Kin caid and High Streets in late Sep tember. The sweep's came in re sponse to business and resident complaints about vagrancy and drug use in the area. The unit made 137 arrests dur ing the recent sweeps. Police ar rested 34 people on felony charges, most of which were drug-related violations, said Sgt. Rick Siel of the Rapid Deploy ment Unit. An additional 103 misdemeanor arrests for crimes such as panhandling and loiter ing were also made, he said. Poppe said, now that the prob lem seems to be under control, police will continue to monitor the area, but the Rapid Deploy ment Unit has been assigned elsewhere. These sweeps were prompted in part by the occurrence of crimes in the area that were hurt ing people, such as aggressive panhandling, physical attacks and drug transactions, said Bev Mason, community service offi cer at the West University Public Safety Station. Drug traffic, littering and va grancy also have been problems in the West University area for some time. “It’s real clear that this has be come the place to hang out,” Ma son said. "I’ve talked to people who came here from back East ■ ■ It’s real clear that this has become the place to hang out. I’ve talked to people who came here from back East specifically becaue they were told this was a good place to hang out. — Bev Mason Community Service Officer at the West University Public Safety Station -93 specifically because they were told this was a good place to hang out.” Police said area response to the sweeps has been positive. “We’ve certainly received a lot of positive remarks from busi nesses and residents in that area,” Poppe said. “Visible activi ty has gone down, and the vol ume of complaints has gone down as well.” “We’ve received about a dozen calls and visits from people who want to tell us ‘thank you,”’ Ma son said. “We’ve even received flowers.” “It’s cleared up the area quite a bit,” said Ryan Hartman, manag er of Coffee People on E. 13th Av enue. “It’s definitely better than last year. The store is more acces sible to our customers with not so many people hanging around.” The sweeps have vastly im proved the area, said Richard Greene, oWnCtr of Rainbow Op tics. “It has been absolutely won derful,” he said. “People who wouldn’t come down here before are coming here now. Basically, the sweeps have made this a safe area for people to come to.” Maintaining the area will have to remain a priority, Mason said. “We all know it has to be maintained,” she said. “Sweeps will continue, although probably not on the same scale. We’ll do them as often as necessary.” Global Ecology, Global Economy, Global Security: Making Linkages The International Studies Association - West 1996 Conference Thursday through Saturday, 10-12 October 1996 Erb Memorial Union, University of Oregon Generous financial support has been provided by the Carlton Raymond and Wilberta Ripley Savage Visiting Professorship in International Relations and Peace, the International Affairs Advisory Council, the Junior Professorship Development Program, the ISAk Environmental Studies Section, the University of Oregon’s Institute for a Sustainable Environment, the Department of Political Science, the International Studies Program, The Environmental Studies Program, the Oregon Humanities Center, the Department of Geography, and the Office of Student Academic Progress. Admission is free for students. Conference registration begins Thursday at 9:00 a m. outside the Gumwood Room For more information, visit the Conference Home Page at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/-rmitchel/isawest.html