TRAFFIC COURT
Board hears appeals
Students can appeal their traffic and parking
tickets infront ofthe OPS Appeals Board and
have their fines imived or reduced
PAGE 5A
SPORTS
New rules for wrestlers
After the recent deaths of three urestlers trying to make
weight, the NCAA announced new restrictions on the
ways wrestlers can drop pounds before competition
PAGE 7A
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1998
-1
TODAY
A discussion on so
lar access laws unit
be held at 177
Laurence Hall
from 7:30 to 9p.m.
WEATHER
Today
Some rain
High 48. Low 38.
Thursday
Partly sunny
High 50. Low 40.
Child Care
i_ m_—I im
LAURA GOSS/Emerald
Sophomore Suzi Sathan-Art, reads to Jackson, 2, and Molly, 2, at the EMU Child Care Center.
Parents support UO day care
Students
and parents
say campus
child care
eases the
stress of
going to
school and
raising kids
By Kristina Rudinskas
Student Activities Reporter
Imagine all the stresses of college life:
late night studying, classes, homework,
term papers, finals and research.
Then imagine having to do all that and
take care of a child. Imagine packing
lunches, kissing skinned knees, soothing
scary nightmares, buying new clothes and
helping with homework. It’s almost impos
sible to determine all the responsibilities
that student-parents have to maintain on a
day-to-day basis without worrying about
where to find day care.
In 1969 University students held a sit-in
at the president’s office and demanded that
the administration devise a system of child
care for students and employees. Since
then the student body and ASUO have ac
tively supported University child care and
development centers and eased the respon
sibilities for student-parents through af
fordable and flexible programs.
“It’s the main reason I came to the Uni
versity,” said Jenna Wasson, whose son has
been in the program for three years. Her
family looked at the University of Denver,
which didn’t have on-site child care, and
then decided on Oregon.
“When I first came here 1 didn’t know
who to trust or what was a good day care
center,” she explained. “My child had nev
er been in a day-care center before. ’’
Student interest in maintaining day care
has been a concern on campus for a long
time. Approximately 10 percent of overall
funding goes to support University day
care through the ASUO subsidy program,
EMU budgets for Child Care Development
Centers, funding for cooperative care and
student incidental fees.
"I don’t think the general student body
is aware of how much is happening in
terms of child care on this campus, and
how much has happened for a long time,”
Turn to CARE, Page3A
Campus hate crimes
often underreported
Linty j.j bate crimes
a year are reported to
OPS, but some say the
actual figure is higher
By Chris Kenning
Student Activities Repo/tei
When Neyna Thompson ar
rived at college, she hoped she
had left behind the gay-bashing
that had forced her to leave her
high school.
But what she hoped would
n’t follow her to the University
did.
When she saw the words
“Dyke Bitch” scrawled on her
Hamilton Complex door,
Thompson knew she hadn't es
caped the harassment and bias
that has followed her through
out her life.
“My first instinct was to
erase it or cover it with paper. 1
didn’t want to report it because
I felt embarrassed,” she said.
Thompson, who is one of
Hamilton’s program assistants,
said she eventually did call the
Office of Public Safety.
“Things like this happen a
lot. This campus is not hostile,
but it’s not exactly welcoming,”
she said. “Unless they’re re
ported, incidents like this will
continue."
Between 1994 and 1996, OPS
reported an average of only 3.3
harassment bias crimes a year,
with two assaults associated
with bias or hate.
“1 can’t believe those num
bers,” said Glen Banfield, direc
tor of the University’s Race
Task Force. "Easily 90 percent
of hate crimes don’t ever get re
ported."
Banfield said he knew of
many bias crimes that were
never reported because of a
lack of trust in police and the
trauma involved with reporting
such crimes.
Hate or bias crimes, defined
by state law as those motivated
by prejudice based on such per
ceived characteristics as race,
color, national origin and sexu
al orientation, are underreport
ed both on campus and off, said
Greg Rikhoff, director of Eu
gene’s Human Rights Commis
sion.
“Bias crimes are akin to do
mestic violence in number and
the fact that they’re incredibly
underreported," said Rikhoff,
who analyzes bias crime activi
Turn to HATE, Page5A
New program targets
undeclared freshmen
The Discover Oregon
Program will give first
year students time to
get academic advice
By Nicole Kristal
Higher Education Reporter
Residence halls.
Cafeteria food.
Introductory courses.
These ideas usually come to
mind when one thinks of fresh
men at the University.
But next fall term, a new pro
gram targeting freshmen hopes
to join this list: The Discover
Oregon Program.
“It’s an excellent idea,” said
Tom Dyke, associate dean of
the College of Arts and Sci
ences. "The purpose behind it
is to improve the experience of
first-year students.”
The program aims to en
hance the academic and advis
ing experiences of undeclared
freshmen, improving both their
performance and lowering col
lege dropout rates.
The idea for the program
originated in the College of Arts
and Sciences, headed by Dean
Joe Stone and Associate Dean
Jo Anna Gray.
“It’s one of several initiatives
in terms of attracting high-qual
ity students and supporting
them so they would stay here,”
Gray said.
Gray said, statistically, unde
clared freshmen are more at
risk for dropping out because
of their unsuccessful college ex
periences.
Sherri Argyres. assistant di
rector of Student Academic
Progress, said another benefit of
the program will be the small
class sizes.
"The class size will be 20 to
25 students,” Argyres said, “so
they can get to know each oth
er through quality interac
tion.”
She also said this will help
students “create a sense of be
longing on campus.”
Argyres said proponents of
the program hope to recruit
anywhere from 500 to 700 stu
dents.
The one-credit, year-long
program allocates time each
term for students to visit Acad
emic Learning Services and the
Career Center, as well as the
Advising Office to schedule
classes for the next term.
“It will help those students
find an academic home at the
University,” Argyres said.