Friday. November 13, 1 l)9S
6
Weather forecast
Today Saturday
Cloudy Cloudy
High 58, Low 43 High 56, Low 47
UO sends Aussies down under
The Oregon men’s basketball team
breezed past an Australian team 103
53 Thursday night/PAGE 9A
Ducks vs. Sun Devils
Tony Hartley and the Ducks
go for their eighth win against
Arizona State/SECTION B
An independent newspaper
Volume 100, Issue 54
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Lecturers
to dispute
crop circles
Oregonians for Rationality
examines unexplainable
phenomena in lectures once
every quarter
By James Scripps
Oregon Daily Emerald
When crop circles started popping up
years ago, there was an immediate on
slaught of believers on one side and skep
tics on the other. Some scientists claimed
no plausible explanation for their creation,
and the fascination grew. It was the begin
ning of an international scientific and so
cial debate.
But Oregonians for Rationality, a non
profit group founded to question the legiti
macy of “pseudo-scientific” phenomena,
thinks the debate surrounding crop circles
has gone too far.
Tonight’s lecture and presentation,
“Crop Circles — Graffitti of the Gods,” will
attempt to expose the truth about crop cir
cles. It is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the EMU
Walnut Room.
Ted Clay, a statistical consultant and
computer programmer from Ashland, has
organized a presentation that will feature
audio, video and slides that raise questions
about the science behind the claims that
surround crop circles.
“It’s amazing the amount of evidence
that disputes the legitimacy of crop cir
cles,” Clay said. "There are even Web sites
for the people that make them. I even won
der if the frequency of their formation goes
up on the weekends."
Since it was founded four years ago, the
group has hosted numerous lectures in
the Willamette Valley and hopes to ex
pand further in the Northwest. Lectures
usually take place once a quarter and fea
ture a topic in the realm of unexplainable
phenomena.
“It’s about bringing rationality to the dis
cussions of extraordinary claims that are
becoming more and more frequent in our
society,” said Josh Reese, president of Ore
Turn to CROP CIRCLES, Page 4A
Moshofsky dies at 78
Former University of Oregon football
player and long-time supporter Edward W.
Moshofsky, who provided the lead financial
contribution toward the construction of the
recently completed Ed Moshofsky Sports
Center, died Wednesday night due to heart
failure.
The 78-year-old Moshofsky, who was a
1943 business graduate of the University,
donated $2 million toward the Ducks’
$14.6 million indoor practice facility, which
was officially named in his honor in June
1997.
“We at the University of Oregon are
deeply saddened by the loss of a dear
friend, Ed Moshofsky,“athletics director
Bill Moos said Thursday.
Hate Crimes
University of Wyoming liranding Iron
“We know the
incidence of
hate crimes
in society is
at an
unacceptably
high level. ”
Dominick Vetri
UO law professor
The suspects in the
murder of Matthew
Shepard, a gay Uni
versity of Wyoming
student, appear at
their arraignment.
Wyoming has re
peatedly refused to
pass laws against
hate crimes.
Anti-hate laws combat prejudice
Although hate crimes are still
on the rise, the laws are a step
in the right direction, some say
By Nicole Garton
Oregon Daily Emerald
When Joel Corcoran heard about
Matthew Shepard’s death on a Wyoming
fence several weeks ago, the image trig
gered an old memory.
A native of the Midwest, Corcoran re
membered a practice among ranchers of
ridding their property of varmints.
"If a wolf has been bothering their
sheep, they will shoot it and string it up
on their fence to impart two messages:
first, to boast to their neighbors that
they’re getting rid of the pests, and sec
ond, to serve as a warning to other
wolves,” he explained.
“By tying Matthew Shepard to that
fence, I can’t help but think the two guys
were trying to send some signal.”
The murder of Shepard, a gay student
at the University of Wyoming, has
sparked national attention both because
of its brutality and because it is believed
to be related to his sexual orientation. His
death on Oct. 12, one day after National
Coming Out Day, signifies for many a
tremendous lack of tolerance in a state
that has repeatedly refused to pass anti
hate crime legislation.
To Corcoran, president of the Universi
ty’s Student Bar Association, the murder
demonstrates why hate crime laws are im
Turnto HATE CRIMES, Page 3A
University pays tribute to its ninth president
Family and friends mourn the
passing offormer president
Owen Meredith Wilson, who
died Nov. 7 of a brain tumor
By Teri Meeuwsen
Oregon Daily Emerald
When late University president Owen
Meredith Wilson arrived at the Eugene Air
port with his family on March 5,1954, his
youngest daughter, Margaret, was clutching
a stuffed yellow duck as she and the rest of
the family walked off the plane.
Some of the others in his family saw the
plane ride as an adventure because it was
their first time flying. But all of them, in
cluding his wife Marian, his three sons and
three daughters walked in front of Wilson
toward his term as the University president.
The same family, friends and many oth
ers from the University will be saying their
goodbyes to their father, their friend and
their late University president on Sunday,
Nov. 15 at 3 p.m. in the Alumni Lounge in
Gerlinger Hall.
Wilson died Saturday, Nov. 7 of a malig
nant brain tumor. He died peacefully at his
Eugene home at the age of 89.
Wilson was the ninth president of the
University from 1954 to 1960.
"Meredith Wilson was one of the Univer
sity of Oregon’s greatest presidents," Uni
versity President Dave Frohnmayer said.
“His tenure at this institution was marked
by significant growth and distinction. He
was loved by faculty, staff and students
alike.”
And Wilson loved the University in re
turn, said his son, John Wilson.
“I believe he felt there was a great deal of
potential in the University,” he said. “Dur
ing his term, 1 think Father felt it became an
outstanding University and that he helped
move it in the right direction."
Wilson must have enjoyed Eugene as
well, John said.
“It’s very telling that he and Mother
chose to retire here,” he said.
While he was University president, Wil
son was credited with transforming the
graduate school to emphasize the combina
tion of research and graduate education. He
also imposed stricter tenure requirements
for faculty, created the Institute of Molecu
lar Biology, opened the Museum of Art to
the public and mandated the integration of
fraternities and sororities on campus.
When Wilson stepped down from office
in 1960, he became the president of the
University of Minnesota, where he served
seven years before becoming the director of
the Center for Advanced Studies of Behav
ioral Sciences in Stanford, Calif. He re
Turn to WILSON, Page 4A