ASTRONOMY
Asteroid will not hit
New information indicates that an aster
oid will pass the Earth at arou nd 600,000
miles rather than 30, OOO miles
PAGE 4
SPORTS
Oregon women aim high
Coach Jody Range and her team say they are not
feeling relaxes as they practice to win against Rut
gers in the NCAA Tournament in Ames, Iowa
PAGE 11
n
FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 1998
TODAY
A vigil for victims of
the School of the
Americas will be
held at 5:30p.m. at
the EMU Courtyard.
WEATHER
Today
Showers
High6(). Low 43.
Saturday
Mostly Cloudy •
High 59. Low 43.
Storehouse of knowledge
AMANDA COWAN/Emerald
Jim Wilson browses through books that are stuffed from top to bottom at the Eugene Library on Wednesday afternoon.
Public library too crowded
Despite complaints that it is
too noisy and crowded, the
Eugene Public Library has no
plans to expand or relocate
By Tricia Duryee
Community Reporter
It’s beyond crowded.
But the Eugene Public Library, 100 W.
13th Ave., has no plans to expand or re
locate to a new building in the near fu
ture.
I he bookshelves are packed, and from
now on every new book in means anoth
er book must be either checked out or
given away.
“We are at the point where half of the
collection has to be out,” said Nadine
Williams, head of adult services for the
library. Williams said the materials the li
brary does give away or recycle wouldn’t
necessarily be discarded if the library
had more space.
“When we buy new materials, we end
up getting rid of things that probably
wouldn’t go,” she said. “A lot of the
things are those that don’t get checked
out as often.”
Another difficulty the library has had
to battle is the separation of work areas
that would normally be in close proximi
ty. In addition, most of the library’s seat
ing was given up a long time ago to make
room for more shelving.
Turn to CROWDED, Page 3
Court decides
not to remove
Miner, Unger
The Constitution Court ruled
that failure to fulfill one duty
did not warrant removal
By Doug Irving
Student Activities Editor
The Constitution Court announced Thurs
day it would not remove the ASUO presi
dent and vice president from office.
It had heard arguments Wednesday from
Scott Austin, who brought the case; and
ASUO President Bill Miner and Vice Presi
dent Ben Unger.
Miner and Unger had failed to appoint a
justice to the Constitution Court within the
30 days required by the ASUO Constitution.
They had also said they preferred an under
graduate for that position.
Austin’s case revolved around two claims:
Miner and Unger should be removed be
cause of nonfulfillment of duties; and they
should be held responsible for violating anti
discrimination laws because they discrimi
nated against law students.
The court issued its decision unanimously.
Justice Emily Lerma could not be reached be
fore the court made public its decision, so her
name was not included in the decision, Chief
Justice Joel Corcoran said. Corcoran issued a
concurrence to the majority decision. A con
currence agrees with the decision but higlilights
or clarifies different points.The court dismissed
Unger from the case, saying he had no appoint
ment duties and could not be held responsible
for Miner's failure to appoint a justice in time.
“It’s like getting a call from the doctor after
getting checked for cancer, saying it’s be
nign,” Unger said.
The court found that Miner’s delay had
“caused unnecessary problems for the court"
and could not be considered a “harmless error.”
Miner had argued that only the Student
Senate could impeach the president. But the
court said it has the power to act on viola
tions of the constitution and could remove a
Turn to COURT, Page 4
PFC grants additional money to three groups in special session
\jfuy iviuutfi
United Nations
did not receive
additional
funding in this
appeals session
oy uins Kenning
Student Activities Reporter
In its last official hearing, the Programs Fi
nance Committee heard appeals from three
student groups that claimed they were grant
ed insufficient funds.
The Jewish Student Union, the Interna
tional Students Union and the ASUO Execu
tive were all granted extra money during
Thursday’s special session.
ASUO President Bill Miner and Vice-Presi
dent Ben Unger argued for additional funds to
pay consultation fees to a company known as
Student Empowerment Training. Unger and
Miner were granted $1,050. The money will
help ease the transition between ASUO gov
ernments by providing a professional consul
tation service for next year’s student leaders.
"It’s hard to get off on the right foot when
you get a new student government because
they’re often a little green,” Unger said.
Although they were already granted
$4,200 for transition costs earlier this year,
they said the extra money was necessary to
complete the program.
“If you’re going to drive a car, you need the
whole thing,” Miner said. You can’t go for a
drive without the wheels. This part of the
program is like the wheels.”
PFC member Mark Hemingway opposed
the extra funds, saying the benefits of the
program were untested.
“It’s a lot of money, and we don’t know if the
wheels work—they may be square,” he said.
Also contesting earlier PFC decisions was
the Jewish Student Union. The JSU was
granted a $20 increase in their directors’
monthly stipend — half of what they asked
for. JSU representatives claimed that despite
putting on over 50 programs a year, their di
rectors were paid comparatively little.
“I’m upset because we put on so much
good programming,” said Angela Favero, di
rector of the JSU.
JSU member and ex-director Rachel Stevens
was disappointed with the decision: “We’re
used to being disappointed with the PFC. ’ ’
The group receives nearly $11,000 a year.
The PFC also granted the International
Students Association $433 to pay for addi
tional programming. The increase raised the
total ISA budget to $15,119.
“The amount [the PFC] gave us [initially] just
wasn’t fair,” said ISA director Amita Malakar.
The Model United Nations was the only
group that applied for an appeal hearing but
did not receive one. Of the $16,000 it re
quested, it was granted only $4,575.
“It’s pretty obvious the PFC doesn’t like
us. Plus, it’s ridiculous and ludicrous that
you have to appeal to the same board that de
nied you in the first place,” said Dave Kel
lett, director of MUN.
ASUO Programs Advocate Courtney
Kroupa determined their appeal brought no
new information, and therefore did not war
rant further action.
PFC members said the total budget still
came in under the 2 percent increase bench
mark, set in 1997.
For more information, see the program
funding graphic on page 4.
“It's
ridiculous and
ludicrous that
you have to
appeal to the
same board
that denied
you in the first
place. »
Dave Kellett
Director of the Model
United Nations