CITY COUNCIL
Someplace better
The City Council responded to youth’s re
questsfor “someplace better to go’’ by
funding a series of summer programs
PAGE 3
SPORTS
Ducks find new nests
Former Oregon football players, such as Pat
Johnson, Blake Spence and Saladin McCul
lough, are beginning new careers in the NFL
PAGE 7
TUESDAY. APRIL 21. 1998
TODAY
A free forum on
environmental
justice unll beheld
in 100 Willamette
at 7p.m.
WEATHER
Today
Partly cloudy
High 69. Low 42.
Wednesday
Partly cloudy
High 71 Low 43.
Art Exhibit
r—
LAURA GOSS/Emerald
Graffiti artist Steve Lopez stands in front of a spray-painted mural of bis mother on display in the Laveme Krause Gallery.
Artistic Cicmse.
Student
artist Steve
Lopez goes
beyond the
norm as
a practicing
graffiti artist
of 11 years
By Kristina Rudinskas
Student Activities Hepoder
The music was bumping in the
Laveme Krause Gallery last night
to celebrate the opening of a new
exhibit highlighting the work of
five student artists this week, in
cluding Steve Lopez.
Lopez, 22, has been a practicing
graf— or graffiti — artist since he
was 11 years old and living in East
L.A.
“ A graf artist is an outlaw and an
artist at the same time,” Lopez ex
plained. "It means to be out of the
norm and really avant-garde — not
through art but in everyday life.”
The exhibit is open in Lawrence
Hall from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday through Thursday and 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday
“The color of skin impacts it
even more,” Lopez said, adding
that when people ask him where
he is from, he tells them East L.A.
As a 22-year-old Latino, race, age
and background already mark him
in other people’s eyes.
Lopez started practicing graffiti
art in 1987 with a couple of
friends. He submitted seven
Turn to ART, Page 5
Student vote
to determine
OSPIRG funds
OSPIRG is asking for $147,390
in student incidental fees for
next year on Ballot Measure 1
By Chris Kenning and Kristina Rudinskas
Student Activities Reporters
John Baldwin, an associate professor of
planning, public policy and management,
has been on campus for 18 years. During that
time he has seen controversy over the Ore
gon Students Public Interest Research Group
(OSPIRG) come and go several times.
He remembers when the issue came up
five years ago. The debate grew and finally
spurred a hearing in the basement of Pacific
Hall. Students and faculty packed the hall to
give testimony. The questions were re
solved, but only temporarily.
The issue returned this year with Ballot
Measure 1. Students will be asked to vote
this week on the measure, which will deter
mine the continued existence of OSPIRG, a
program on campus since 1971.
OSPIRG, an environmental, consumer
and social advocacy group, is requesting
$147,390 in student incidental fees for 1998
99. The group’s request, second in amount
only to the ASUO Executive office, does not
represent an increase over last year.
OSPIRG has chapters at the University of
Oregon, Portland State University, Lewis and
Clark College and Lane Community College.
Traditionally, OSPIRG has been on the
student ballot every two years. Group offi
cials said going directly to student voters
keeps their funding process democratic.
“Every other year we go to the ballot and
ask if this is something students still want,”
said Michael Olson, vice chair of the
statewide student PIRG. “For the past 26
years [the voters] have said yes."
Olson estimates there are about 40 consis
tent OSPIRG members and hundreds who
often work on only one campaign.
According to OSPIRG's 1997-98 budget
proposal statement, the group aims to in
volve students in community service, edu
cate students on social and environmental
issues, and train leaders to provide students
with an effective statewide policy voice on
environmental, consumer and government
Turn to OSPIRG, Page 5
Court says banner and table gave candidates unfair advantage
Five
candidates
who ran
against
members of the
Progressive
Slate will
return to the
ballot for the
general
election
By Doug living
Student Activities Editor
The Constitution Court reopened the
doors to the general election Sunday, let
ting five candidates back onto the ballot.
The court was acting on a grievance filed
by Autumn De Poe, which said members of
the Progressive Slate had illegally put up a
table and banner in front of Columbia Hall.
The Progressive Slate is a group of candi
dates running on similar platforms.
That illegal table gave candidates on the
Slate an unfair advantage that could have
swayed their elections, the court ruled. Be
cause of that, five candidates who had lost
in the primaries will return to the ballot for
the general election.
The Progressive Slate filed a request to
stop parts of the court’s decision from tak
ing effect. Dave Koch, acting as the repre
sentative for the candidates named in the
grievance, based that request on two argu
ments.
First, he said the candidates had not had
enough time to answer parts of the griev
ance. De Poe had filed several amended pe
titions, and the court did not give the can
didates enough time to respond to them, he
said.
Chief Justice Joel Corcoran agreed in a
decision late Monday that the candidates
may have misunderstood the process be
cause of miscommunication by the court.
The court had ordered the Progressive
Slate to publish an advertisement explain
ing the situation — a requirement that Cor
coran agreed could unfairly harm the can
didates.
Second, Koch pointed out that three of
the affected races were decided in the pri
maries by margins of more than 100 votes.
He asked the court to dismiss three of the
five candidates the court had let back into
the election.
But Corcoran rejected this part of the mo
tion, saying that would produce an even
greater injustice by not allowing students
to decide these races in the general elec
tion.
Turn to COURT, Page 3