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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1998)
Blind fate AMANDA COWAN/Emerald Ihis sculpture by Ted Obeli titled "Oedipal Tex is on display in the craft center. The art show starts today in the EMU Fir Room and will showcase student work. Investigation clears police of excessive force on June 1 The Lane County district attorney said 35 of 36 incidents involving the use of force were legal By Tricia Duryee Community Reporter Lane County District Attorney Douglass Harcleroad called a news conference Thursday afternoon to reveal the results of an extensive investigation into the use of force by Eugene police officers in the June 1 tree-cutting protest. Assistant District Attorney Curt Conover determined that out of the 36 different events involving the people protesting the removal of trees that day. 35 did not involve the use of excessive force. The one event in question that had what Harcleroad considered “conflicting evidence” will be re viewed by special prosecutor Jason Charlile, Linn County district attor ney. Harcleroad said he could have the decision in as little as two weeks. “In summary, we have conclud ed that in 35 of the 36 events the Eugene police officers’ use of force individually and collectively did not violate any of the criminal stat ues of the state of Oregon,” Har cleroad said. In determining the outcome, Har deroad said Conover spent over 300 hours analyzing the incident since receiving the information from the Oregon State Police in October. “He studied police reports from the Eugene Police Department and the Oregon State Police, still pho tographs obtained from private cit izens as well as the Eugene Police Department, video tapes from the Eugene Police Department, the news agencies and the ‘Cop Watch’ edited video.” However, a statement issued by Cop Watch said the evidence that Harcleroad and Conover used from the Oregon State Police investiga tion was not valid. "Police investi gating police is not going to get to the bottom of it,” said Tim Lewis, a Cop Watch videographer who taped the incident. Harcleroad said the public should come away from this expe rience knowing that they conduct ed extensive investigations, care fully made decisions and that “the police officers were verbally, phys ically abused and in some in stances exercised a lot of constraint in a lot of situations that we expect law enforcement to have.” Lewis didn’t agree with the analysis. “All of the violence that happened that day was precipitat ed by police actions. Period.” Curfew: Torrey talked with students ffl Continued from Page 1 people doesn't mean they are law breakers. They have a right not to be questioned by the po lice. “We are sending a bad mes sage to kids that just because of their status, they are a suspect.” Although Torrey said it may be an infringement of rights, he also thought a lot of other things could be as well. “I’m not going to argue with [the ACLU] on that,” he said. “I think what I’m going to try to ac complish before we bring an or dinance to the council is the ability to show sufficient benefit to the community, which in cludes the young people that are being impacted negatively.” The program begins on the street level. A truant or police officer would be able to pick up youths and ask them why they are not in school. The officer would then take the youths back to school and notify the parents. Nothing goes on their perma nent record. “It is not to crimi nalize,” Torrey said. “The pro gram allows the authority to pick up and take the child to school. It is a joint program, with the city of Eugene, police department, schools and par ents.” However, what Torrey didn’t anticipate, and what has made the curfew even more compli cated, is what to do with the children who have no parents or guardians, or have been sus pended or expelled because they disrupt school. By law, youth between the ages of 7 and 18 are required to attend school. “They have to be going to some school, and it is our re sponsibility to develop an alter native school," Torrey said. "We are not enforcing this right now because we aren’t able to.” Therefore, an alternative school or truancy center would have to be created to account for youth who can’t cope with a tra ditional school setting. Torrey visited Churchill High School ou Monday to address the concerns of students, and he will be going to other schools in the future to explain what would really happen if the cur few was enacted. "Stories get embellished," he said. Steve Copeland, who attend ed a meeting by the Committee on Homelessness and Youth, said that the youth are con cerned about the curfew. How ever, he didn't think it was that ((I am convinced the community is ready to proinde the sen 'ices, but they are also expecting in return that the young people will have so me respo i isihility for their action. ” Jim Torrey Eugene Mayor bad of an idea. "At least it’s on [the kids'] minds,” Copeland said. "It says, ‘They care about me,’ in a weird sort of way. It is something to think about before they go hang out in the mall. Now it’s, 'Wait a minute — they care.’” Although the daytime curfew has faced a lot of controversy, Torrey said: “I am convinced the community is ready to pro vide the services, but they are also expecting in return that the young people will have some re sponsibility for their action. "It is not sufficient in saying that they don't want to be [in school). ” Knight hours still up for debate One librarian proposed borrowing hours from the weekend to use during the week By Doug Irving Student Activities Editor The University Library Com mittee decided Thursday it needs more information before it can decide whether to change library hours. The committee discussed mi nor hour changes and created a special team to survey students and develop a more definite plan. It did not enact any actual changes. The proposal on the table, courtesy of the ASUO, asked that Knight Library be kept open from 7:30 a.m. to midnight. Oregon State’s main library keeps those hours. University librarian George Shipman quickly denied that re quest on financial grounds: He estimated it would cost thou sands of extra dollars each year. The University library system has overspent its budget by at least $400,000 each year, he ex plained. It’s also looking at a $600,000 budget cut next year. “I haven’t got it, I’m already in debt, I’m going deeper in debt,” Shipman said. Instead, he proposed borrow ing hours from the weekend and tacking them onto weekday hours. Specifically, he suggest ed keeping the library open from 8 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, but closing at 6 p.m. on Friday and Satur day. Student Senator Michelle Johnston, the only student gov ernment representative at the meeting, said she wanted more time to discuss that idea with the ASUO. She said students have brought grievances to the Senate about library hours, and she wor ried whether the proposal would answer those concerns. Committee member Lucy Lynch said the committee did n't have enough information to decide anything. She suggested a survey inside the library that would ask students the hours they’d use the library, what they’d use it for, and what stu dents would do with the extra time. An ASUO survey last term found that 97.2 percent of the students surveyed wanted Knight Library open at least un til midnight. More than half those surveyed said education at the University suffers because of the lack of places to study. That survey, though, may not be accurate enough to act on, committee member Jim Schombert said. The ASUO surveyed students outside the library — a sample that might not represent actual library users, he said. Library use also fluctuates during the term, with more use at the end and middle. Any survey the committee ap proves will likely last several months to take these cycles into account. Because of that, no hour changes are likely until at least next term. The ASUO will continue its campaign for longer hours, Vice President Ben Unger said, l! plans to resurrect its book dri ve, asking students to demand longer hours in writing on the covers of donated books. The books will be delivered to the provost's office in late Febru ary. The library committee is at least taking the ASUO seriously, Unger said. Still, its current time line won't help this term, and the ASUO had hoped for longer hours this week. “It seems slow," Unger said. “Sometimes it’s frustrating — you always think things can get done faster than they can. But it's a positive sign that they’re looking for creative solutions." f 9 MMr' New Celebration 9:45am First Christian Church 1166 Oak iMi 344-1425 TM Morning Worship 11:00am FOOTWISE REPAIR SALE Bring in your Birkenstocks during the month of February and save 10% on repairs.* ‘does not include modifications FOOTWISE THE BIRKENSTOCK STORE 181 E. Broadway • 342-6107 Mon-Sat: 10-6, Sun: 11-5
