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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 1998)
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon FINANCE I Programs profit Three programsfaced the ASUO Programs Finance Committee with their 1998-99 budgets; two left with budget increases PAGE 3 BASKETBALL Women’s race open Stanford leads the Pac-10, but important losses and crucialfuture games leave the rest of the conference jockyingfor position PAGE 5 TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1998 TODAY The University be gins charging $10 per transaction for changing or drop ping classes. WEATHER Today Rain High 50. Low 41. Wednesday Rain High 50. Low 40. They can only win with international support. ^ John Groves CISCAP volunteer WENDY FULLER/Emerald Maura FurJ'ey (left) andJen ny Smith are trying to raise awareness of the plight of Chiapas in Mexico. 'Ihe vigil was held Monday at noon on the comer of 13th and Kincaid. Vigil honors victims of Chiapas massacre A Eugene grass-roots group wants to end the violence in the southern Mexican state By Michael Burnham Community Reporter A crowd of almost 40 people braved a winter day and gathered for a vigil Monday to acknowledge the recent massacre in southern Mexico. The vigil, which was organized by the Committee in Solidarity with the Central American People, a Eugene grass-roots or ganization, was held at the corner of 13th Avenue and Kincaid Street in recognition of an "International Day of Action” aimed at stopping U.S. military aid to Mexico. “We’re calling for the demilitarization of Chiapas,” said Scott Miksch, a CISCAP staff member. Miksch said this could be ac complished if the Mexican government pulled its army out of Chiapas and if the United States ended military aid to its war torn southern neighbor. “There is a definite connection between U.S. military aid to Mexico and the recent massacre in Chiapas,” he said. He added that weapons used to prevent drug-traffick ing are leaving government hands and are being used by paramilitary groups such as the one believed to be responsible for the massacre. The massacre occurred Dec. 22 in the vil lage of Acteal, Chiapas, when attackers, whom the Mexican government believed to be paramilitary rebels from a neighboring community, gunned down 45 unarmed Tzotzil Indians with AK-47s. The Indians were believed to have been sympathetic to the Zapatistas, who are cur rently involved in an anti-government movement. The movement sprang up in Turn to VIGIL, Page 3 MAH GARTON/Emerald Military grant aids artificial intelligence research A $1.1 million grant will enable UO researchers to develop problem-solving PCs By Nicole Kristal Higher Education Reporter While some new forms of technology have brought about such controversial pro cedures as cloning, researchers at the Uni versity have developed more practical technological advancements through the use of artificial intelligence. The Computational Intelligence Re search Laboratory has received a $1.1 mil lion grant from the joint Defense Ad vanced Research Projects Agency and Air Force Laboratories Planning and Decision Aids program to continue its research in the field of artificial intelligence. “We’re finding more effective ways to exploit machines and solve harder and harder problems,” senior research associ ate Matthew Ginsberg said. The laboratory aims at making schedul ing and planning more efficient in corpo rations and small businesses. One of the institutions that benefits from these ad vancements is the military. “There is a tiny bit of trickiness in taking defense department money,” Ginsberg said. The military can use the laboratory’s technology to help build aircraft and move troops in the Middle East more efficiently. Ginsberg said he finds it fortunate that the work supported by the defense depart ment has a general-purpose application. “If we were just moving troops, our work couldn’t be used for important peacetime applications,” Ginsberg said. While it can take the military almost two days to solve problems on production lines, for example, the system developed by the laboratory can produce an optimal schedule in two and a half minutes. “Our system can run on a PC,” laborato Turn to GRANT, Page 4 Blood aid marrow needed The ASUO, University Alumni Association and the Lane Memorial Blood Bank are hold ing a blood drive today and Wednesday in the EMU Fir Room. The drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Interested students, faculty and staff can also register to be bone marrow donors at the blood drive. The drive is in response to a national shortage of minority donors. After the forms are screened, the blood bank will perform blood tests and tissue typing to determine if a person is eligible to be put into the National Marrow Donor Program Registry on Feb. 3. This service is free for minorities, but otherwise the fee is $20.
