Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, October 08, 1997, Image 1

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    TRAFFIC
Avoiding bike tickets
Eugene police are cracking clou 'n
on bicyclists, issuing $115 tickets
for violations of traffic laws
PAGE 3
SPORTS
Running back battles injury
After recoveringfrom a knee injury, UCLA’s Skip Hicks
returns to the field this year for a winning season
PAGE 7
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1997
TODAY
Toda y is the last da y
to add a class or to
change from audit
to credit orfrom
credit to audit
WEATHER
Today
Partly cloudy
1 ligh 60. Low 47.
Thursday
Rain
I ligh 57. Low 47.
Tandem Taxi gains popularity
The student-nm hike service
offers a change from walking or
driving and can also help with
maintenance questions
By Michael Hines
Student Activities Reporter
While most people would consider the
Olympics a time to watch world-class
athletes on television, one man saw the
Games as an opportunity to educate oth
ers.
David Niles of Eugene’s Green Gear
Cycling traveled to Atlanta with a friend
in the summer of 1996 to help the At
lanta Bicycle Campaign raise awareness
about alternative transportation.
“I saw that as a great opportunity to
BIKE SAFETY:
Bicyclists must obey
traffic laws or face
stiff penalties
PAGE 3
show just how benefi
cial bicycles can be to
people who might not
have a bicycle with
them,” Niles said.
Niles said he had
heard Atlanta authori
ties were encouraging the use ot bicycles
and that the campaign was providing se
cure bicycle parking. Niles called and of
fered his services; he was accepted.
In ten days, Niles and his friend gave
200 rides to people. This experience in
spired Niles to keep the idea alive.
The University gained national atten
tion when Niles teamed up with the Of
fice of Public Safety to create the free,
three-bike Tandem Taxi service.
The service, which uses two triples
and one tandem donated by Green Gears,
employs six students. The service offers
rides to all campus areas, as well as to
some limited off-campus locations.
“We try to be available if somebody
needs a ride and sees us,” Niles said.
“They can flag us down.”
Tandem Taxi drivers expect students
to help with the peddling. The service
might add hand-cranks to its bikes for
riders with special needs.
The service, which students can also
call for a ride, built a following last year,
Niles said, and he hopes to improve that
this year by starting in the fall.
“We did give many rides last year, and
we’re able to give a lot more,” he said.
'Ihe Tandem Taxi operates in and around the University area,
sealer hikes are available for rides during the evening hours.
WENDY FULLER/ Emerald
Two- and three
He estimates that the taxi service gives
20 rides per night, mostly by flagging.
“It’s a good resource for people at
night,” Tandem Taxi driver Carrie Skin
ner said. The red triples and tandems at
tract attention.
The service also serves as an OPS look
out. Drivers have radios and cellular
phones to contact officers. Niles said
Tandem Taxi drivers will also escort bi
cyclers or walkers on campus.
One more perk is that drivers carry
tools and tubes for other bicyclists who
have problems.
“It seems people who we gave rides
last year are appreciative,” Niles said.
He also said he is excited about this
Taxi facts
■ HOURS: 8:30 to 11:15 p.m., every night.
■ PHONE: 346-TAXI
■ SHUTTLE: To Ducks' Village and Chase
Village from the gazebo at 13th Avenue and
University Street at 8:30 p.m.
■ EXTRAS: Bike repairs, walk-ride escorts
year.
Bicycling Magazine named Eugene the
No. 3 city for bicycling in its August 1997
issue — behind Chico, Calif., and Duran
go, Colo.
“With innovations like Tandem Taxis,
Turn to TAXI, Page 3
OSPIRG joins
fight against
proposed bill
OSPIRG campaign coordinator
Carolyn Whipple said a new hill
could jeopardize 20 years of
consen >ation progress
By Chris Kenning
Freelance Reporter
An unusual alliance of environmental
groups gathered Tuesday at Alton Baker
Park to announce the release of a report
which details the extent of habitat loss to
endangered species locally and nationally.
Representatives from the Sierra Club, Liv
ing in Harmony, a Christian environmental
group, and the Oregon Student Public In
terest Research Group (OSPIRG), gave
statements to a group of reporters.
The release of the report coincides with
an upcoming vote in the U.S, Senate on a
proposed bill which would significantly
weaken the Endangered Species Act of
1973, according to Carolyn Whipple, OS
PIRG campaign coordinator.
“Their proposals will turn the crown
jewel of the environmental movement into
junk jewelry and jeopardize over 20 years
of progress in conservation," she said.
Charlie Oglu, the Sierra Club’s regional
coordinator, said the proposed revisions,
which are backed by industries such as log
ging and manufacturing, would make it
easier for development to take place on
land that contains habitats for endangered
species.
“In Oregon, industry could develop in
areas where the coho salmon are already in
trouble,” Whipple said.
Despite Oregon’s 32 threatened or en
dangered species and loss of 96 percent of
its original coastal rain forest, the coalition
noted the proposal is endorsed by Sen. Ron
Wvden and President Clinton.
“Since 1989, the anti-ESA industries
have contributed nearly $75 million to po
litical candidates, and it looks like they got
their money’s worth,” Ogle said.
Speakers pointed to Endangered Species
Turn to ACT, Page 6
Local residents call for community involvement in policing
Some Eugene
residents who
say they feel
less safe now
than they used
to spoke out at
a town hall
meeting
By Michael Burnham
Community Reporter
A crowd of about 30 Eugene residents
from all walks of life had their first chance to
discuss local crime-related issues surround
ing community-oriented policing with city
councilman Bobby Lee and their neighbor
hood police officers. The discussion took
place in a town hall meeting at the Eugene
Public Library Tuesday evening.
Many of the citizens applauded the con
cepts of greater officer involvement in their
communities, and they also looked back to
Eugene’s “better" days when referring to the
current policing tactics and various crime
issues in their neighborhoods.
“Eugene used to be a very safe place to
be,” said T.J. Siekierka, a resident from the
West University area.
Siekierka and other residents said they do
not feel as “safe” in Eugene as they used to
because of the increased numbers of crime
and drug problems in their neighborhoods.
Beth Medler, who has lived in the 13th
Avenue area of Eugene since 1963, said she,
too, is disturbed by the activities happening
in her area and supports greater community
involvement in policing.
“I am tired of the police having to do what
citizens should do,” she said.
Bobby Lee, the city council representative
for the area the town hall dealt with, en
lightened the crowd to the sources of some
of these problems.
He said that as population increases, as it
has in Eugene’s case, behavior problems
may increase and put more of a demand on
public safety.
He added that often the community re
sorts to the police to solve all of the prob
lems affecting the neighborhoods, when the
problems may just be personal in nature.
“Public safety is not just a police issue, it
is a community issue,” Lee said.
Many of the speakers called for an in
creased amount of police involvement in
their “beats,” but at the same time they
called for the neighborhood citizens to help
fight crime in their neighborhoods.
Captain Jim Hill of the police department
defined the term “beat” as the area that an
officer patrols and is most familiar with.
Turn to SAFETY, Page 6
((I am tired
of the police
having to do
what citizens
should do. »
Beth Medler
Eugene resident