Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 8, 1998)
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon An independent newspaper Volume 99, Issue 167 HEALTH Protect yourself The female condom offers an alternative form of birth control that is roughly as effective as traditional condoms PAGE 4A SPORTS Across the finish line A fourth-placefinish by Micah Davis and a fifth-placefinish by Marie Davis were some of the Ducks' marks at the NCAA Championships PAGE 13A MONDAY, JUNE 8, 1998 TODAY This is the last day the Emerald will be published until June 23- We ll miss you. WEATHER Today Sunny High 75. Low 45. Tuesday Mostly sunny High 72. Low 48. Charity Ride LAURA GOSS/Emerald Andrew France, Paul Basile, John Schumacher and George Kostin arrive at the Pi Kappa Phi house Sunday afternoon on their cross-country tour from Florence to Washington, DC., raising moneyfor PUSH America. On the road again Pi Kappa Phi members are biking across the country to raise awareness for disabled services By Michael Hines Student Activities Reporter The project is circular. Eight members of the Pi Kappa Phi frater nity from across the country received a po lice escort out of Florence on Sunday morn ing to start' their coast-to-coast tour. They will receive a police escort on Pennsylvania Avenue as they pass in front of the White House on Aug. 15. Sweaty bikers began to trickle into the University chapter at 14th Avenue and Agate Street at 4:30 on Sunday afternoon af ter their 75-mile first leg of the long journey. This isn’t just a joy ride—the bikers are on a mission. This year’s Pi Kappa Phi "Journey of Hope” marks the 10th anniversary of the ride across America. “The message is not about cycling,” said four-time participant Paul Basile. “It’s the tool. The mission is to raise awareness for disabled services in the communities we go into and to raise awareness about the ser vices and projects that PUSH America of fers.” PUSH America is the Pi Kappa Phi frater nity’s philanthropy organization for the se Turn to CHARITY, Page 12A ((It gives you a purpose for being here. • Paul Basile Pi Kappa Phi Volunteers offer help to at-risk youth The Looking Glass New Roads program supplies temporary housing, counseling and free meals to homeless youths By Kristin Gibb Freelance Reporter Seanna Brown has seen a homeless teenage girl foraging for dinner in a dump ster, a 10-year-old boy reaching out for a hug, and a homeless mother pushing a near naked baby around town in a stroller. All in a day’s work. As a volunteer with the Looking Glass New Roads program. Brown hits the streets every week to meet homeless youth. She tells them how to find a hot lunch, a place to stay and a free condom. And if they are interested, she can help them look for a job and an apartment. “This is not the time for judgment,” said Brown, a psychology major at Lane Com munity College. “This is the time for change. You just have to take the blinders off and see everything in full light." “Everything” for homeless youth in Eu gene could include repeated rape, drug use, abusive parents and young mothers unable to care for their babies. Brown was motivat ed to start volunteering four months ago by the visible population of homeless youths in Eugene, she said. One of the most difficult conversations she has had was with a group of young girls who were rummaging for lunch. “I was watching them eat out of a dump ster,” Brown said. One 17-year-old told Brown she had been eating out of dumpsters for five years. “This was a way of life for them, like an animal looking for food ... just trying to stay alive.” New Roads specifically serves homeless youths from ages 16 to 21, offering counsel ing, a drop-in center, a free phone, a mes sage board, job and housing information and access to pregnancy and STD testing. Youths can also receive free meals and tem Turn to ROADS, PagelOA Oregon business may influence higher education curriculum The growing emphasis on high-tech skills has many concerned about the future of education By Ben Romano Higher Education Reporter The Oregon business commu nity and the Oregon University System are teaming up to change education. Through ties with business, insufficient Oregon university budgets are being sup plemented and students are learning specialized, high-tech skills that are in demand. However, the effect of these ties; on students is an issue of de bate among business leaders, University faculty and educa tional policy-makers. An emphasis on professional programs that teach students skills in areas of high demand may not be in the students’ best interest in the long run, said Ed Whitelaw, University economics professor and founder and presi dent of EcoNorthwest, an eco nomics consulting firm. Presently, there is less student interest in gaining the long-run, transferable skills often found in a traditional liberal-arts curricu lum, Whitelaw said. Whitelaw defines some of these transferable skills as the ability to write and communicate clearly, critical thinking and rhetoric and grammar skills. Whitelaw maintains that these skills, while they may not be as effective for landing that first job, are the skills that will serve stu dents in the long run by allowing them greater flexibility. “Your ability to advance on down the road depends on your ability to think critically and communicate effectively — skills learned in a broad-based liberal arts education,” he said. Students are often more inter ested in the short run, Whitelaw said. After investing four years and thousands of dollars in high er education, many students are saddled with debt and are anx ious to begin careers. This has motivated many students to en roll in professional schools and specialized degree programs, Whitelaw said. The hope is that they will be employable immedi ately upon graduation. “For getting a job right away, some professional programs will make sense,” Whitelaw said. “Other courses might pay off more handsomely down the road.” Businesses want to channel students into specialized and of ten high-tech curriculums, Whitelaw said. Business benefits from having graduates that are trained and ready to work in the high-tech industry, which is presently scampering to find skilled workers. Oregon’s booming high-tech industry, which has long since overtaken agriculture and timber as the state’s leading industry, is creating more jobs than there are skilled Oregonians to fill them. High-tech engineering and man ufacturing employment is ex pected to increase 29 percent from 68,700 workers in 1997 to 88,400 workers in 2003, accord ing to a March 15 article in The Register-Guard. To fill this gaping demand, business leaders and higher-edu cation policy-makers are working together to begin reshaping cur Turnto BUSINESS, Page 11A
