Thursday, November 5,1998
Weather forecast
Today Friday
Showers Showers
High 53, how 42 High 52, Low 44
Democrats dominate
Democrats win most of the local state
house seats but are still a minority in
the legislature/PAGE 3
Ernst and White team up
Early contentions have smoothed into
a winning relationshipfor Oregon’s
top volleyball scorers/PAGE 7
An independent newspaper
Volume 100, Issue 48
University of Oregon
Kugene, Oregon
Torrey and Frohnmayer discuss causes, solutions
The mayor
and University
president
agreed that
alcohol and
media
coverage
contributed to
the riot
By Felicity Ayles
Oregon Daily Emerald
It could have been worse.
That’s the attitude after a meeting be
tween University President Dave Frohn
mayer and Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey about
Saturday’s riot in the West University
neighborhood.
Frohnmayer and Torrey were joined by
city officials including the acting Chief of
Police Jim Hill, Councilman Bobby Lee and
various on-campus student leaders.
Mayor Torrey said he is looking to in
crease sanctions for those people involved
in the riot. The current sanctions are not
strong enough for the actions that took
place, he said.
The City of Eugene is looking to enhance
penalties and impose community service
for these crimes instead of fines. A dollar
fine doesn’t have much impact because it’s
really easy to just write a check, Torrey said.
"Community service will immediately be
a better deterrent than a fine,” he said.
Frohnmayer echoed the mayor’s com
ments, saying that people involved in the
riot should be punished to the limits of the
law.
Students will receive the same sanctions
as anyone else, Frohnmayer said. “Students
will receive no special privileges.”
Mayor Torrey began by clarifying that the
Turn to FROHNMAYER, Page 4
(( We simply
have to be even
more creative
and work even
harder. >>
Dave Frohnmayer
University president
Amanda Cowan/Emerald
Steve Owen, Director of Jazz Studies, has made many positive changes in the music school in his 10 years at the University of Oregon.
Musician and award-winning jazz teacher
Director oj Jazz Studies Steve
Owen has taken the program
far in the 10years since its
addition to the music school
By Sarah Skidmore
Oregon Daily Emerald
Some consider teaching a musical
genre that is based on spontaneity an oxy
moron.
Steve Owen does not.
Owen is an associate professor and the
director of jazz studies in the University
School of Music. In 1988, Owen, a widely
recognized musician and composer, came
to the University to begin the Jazz Studies
Program.
“It is kind of misleading,” Owen said. “I
think that it is many people’s impression
that jazz is all about getting up there and
making something up on the spot.”
But playing jazz takes a lot of work, he
said. “To get to that point, that means
you’ve taken care of so much leg work,”
Owen said.
That kind of leg work makes up the cur
riculum of the Jazz Studies Program,
which includes a variety of classes on the
ory, improvisation, repertoire and compo
sition among others.
His work on the jazz studies program,
expertise as a musician and talent as a
professor have gained Owen the admira
tion of his colleagues and students.
“Since arriving here, Steve Owen has
built one of the very strong jazz programs
on the West Coast,” said Gary Mitchell,
assistant dean of the music school.
Owen said he believes that the program
is strong, but “it should go up one full
notch.” He would like to see the program
ranked as one of the top five in the nation.
Owen said there were three primary
steps between beginning the program and
hitting the high note it’s on now: finding
the resources for the program, developing
a clear curriculum, and keeping the mu
sic school enthusiastic about the program.
Creating the curriculum was the most
difficult step, Owen said. Although there
were some jazz classes in place before his
arrival, Owen had to develop most of cur
riculum.
"It is like changing light bulbs — as long
as you are putting something in, people
are going to respond,” he said.
Despite his lighthearted attitude, Owen
worked intensely on the program. His
work as a musician has been put on hold
for several years, which he jokingly refers
to as a “healthy amount of time.”
“The biggest concern to him is to keep
a positive atmosphere in the program,”
Turn to JAZZ, Page 6
Hult Center
celebrates
ownership
Mure than 600 residents joined
performers and artists in the
celebration that included
burning the center’s mortgage
By Tricia Schwennesen
Oregon Daily Emerald
The thin, orange flame licked at the bot
tom edge of the parchment bond, ignited
and consumed it in a matter of moments.
The charred remains were left on display in
a wide-rimmed copper howl in the lobby of
the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.
Last night’s mortgage burning was a sym
bol for the city of Eugene-a symbol of own
ership.
About 600 Eugene residents attended the
gala event to celebrate citizen ownership of
the center and the retirement of the bonds
that funded its construction.
The Hult Center, which cost about $25
million to build, was partially funded
through an $18.5 million bond issue passed
by Eugene citizens in November 1978.
i ne rest ui inti uunaing costs were runaea
through private contributions.
“This is truly a community facility,” May
or Jim Torrey said. “When this facility first
went on-line, I don’t think anyone knew
what that would mean for the community."
Torrey said the Hult Center is “the crown
jewel of our city” and could only be rivaled
by the new library to be built in the next
couple of years.
"It’s a beautiful building and an impres
sive endeavor on the part of Eugene,” said
Tess Catalono, the secretary for the depart
ment of Religious Studies. "I think it’s a
great show of community support.”
Last year, cultural events at the Hult Cen
ter contributed $13.7 million to the city’s
economy.
“There’s a lot of support for the arts and
for programs that involve youths,” said Er
ick Hoffman, the marketing and program
ming manager for the center.
Jim Johnson, Eugene city manager, said
the Hult Center will continue to be a place
of learning and a place where diverse
groups can meet.
“When I first moved here I was really dis
connected,” said Julia Neufeld, an adjunct
faculty member who leads the University
Gospel Choir.
Turn to HULT Page 4