Tuesday, December 1,1998
Weather forecast
Today Wednesday
Rain Rain
High 48, Low 37 High 49, Low 45
Men’s Basketball
TheMinnsota Golden Gophers came back
from a halftime deficit to give the Ducks
theirfirst loss of the season/PAGE 9
Millrace improvements
Landscape architecture students u >orked
to restore the eroded waterway across
from the Onyx Bridge /PAGE 6
An independent newspaper
Volume 100, Issue 64
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Asian crisis
burdens
UO students
An economic crisis has made it
more difficult for international
students to attend the University
By Erin Snelgrove
Oregon Daily Emerald
Leo Harten is a senior taking 18 credits.
He works 38 hours a week and hasn’t slept
in two days.
Harten is only one of hundreds of inter
national University students affected by
the Asian crisis. With the changing global
economy, many international students are
forced to work, apply for scholarships and
take out loans in order to continue their ed
ucation in the United States.
“My daily life has definitely changed,”
Harten said. “1 feel like I don’t have a life
anymore. I spend all my time working,
studying and going to class. Having a nap,
to me, is the closest I get to having fun.”
Since the economic crisis, countries in
Asia have experienced lowered stock
prices, bank failures and plummeting real
estate values. The currency exchange rates
for Asian countries began to rise dramati
cally. The cost of living for international
students is now as much as six times more
expensive than it was a year ago.
The currency for Harten’s country, In
donesia, is the rupiah. In March, 1997,
2,000 rupiah equaled $1, but today, 15,000
rupiahs are equal to one U.S. dollar. So, for
example, if rent used to be $200 a month, it
would now be equivalent to $1,200, he said.
Since last year, the total number of inter
national students enrolled at the University
has dropped significantly, with Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand
showing the greatest decrease in enroll
ment. This year, there are 83 less interna
tional students compared to the 1997 fall
term.
Ginny Stark, assistant director for the Of
fice of International Education and Ex
change, believes this decrease is directly
linked to the Asian economic crisis. Stark
acknowledges that international students
Turn to CRISIS, Page 4
Storms bring leaks, damage
Scott Hamett/Kmemld
The second floor of the EMU gets a clean up after rain soaked its floors this past weekend.
The University suffers from
minor storm damages,
and prepares for more rain
By Felicity Ayles
Oregon Daily Emerald
When it rains, it pours. Especially in
Eugene, and the University is sticking a
plug in leaks all over campus.
So far, the University has sustained
only minor storm damage, University
Facilities Manager Dana Winitzky said.
“With all the rain, the drains are
working overtime,” he said. In the EMU,
the second floor of the Skylight Lounge
has experienced some flooding, and
there are a few leaks in the roof on the
EMU main floor, he said.
For the past week, Oregon has been
pounded with a series of storms that
continued through the Thanksgiving
weekend. These storms have brought
uprooted trees and downed power lines
but the University has remained intact,
for the most part.
"There is only minor damage to the
EMU so far, and there is the potential for
the amphitheater to flood, but the Uni
versity is in good shape this year,”
Winitzky said. “There have been much
worse storms in the past.”
Greta Pressman, campus relations
manager, said the University is doing all
it can to prepare for and prevent flood
ing. It can become a real challenge, she
said.
Before the Thanksgiving weekend, a
drain became blocked in front of the
Bowerman building, causing a large wa
ter backup that University storm crews
were unable to fix.
The University then called in the City
of Eugene, which used its equipment to
dislodge a 17-inch ball of tree roots that
were blocking the storm drain. Press
man said.
The last week and a half has been
pretty stormy, and it is encouraging that
the University didn’t lose any trees, she
said.
Pressman attributed the lack of up
Turn to RAIN, Page 4
Tree serves as memorial to AIDS victims
In conjunction
with World
AIDS Day, the
health center
will plant a
tree and set up
jars to collect
money for the
HIV Alliance
By Peter Breaden
Oregon Daily Emerald
A tree will be planted at tire University Stu
dent Health Center as a memorial for students
at the University who are suffering from
AIDS. The planting is part of several activities
on campus that recognizeWorld AIDS Day.
“It serves as a living reminder of the AIDS
epidemic and that we need to do something
about it,” said Mariah Bowden, a peer health
educator at the Student Health Center.
During World AIDS Day, the health cen
ter hopes to collect money for the HIV Al
liance and the commemorative tree in jars
placed around campus.
The “Change for Change” jars haven’t col
lected much money yet, but she hopes the
activities around campus this week will
bring awareness to the seriousness of the is
sue, Bowden said.
The HIV Alliance is a local group that pro
vides HTV education and prevention services.
The health center’s activities begin at
noon in the EMU Amphitheater where
ASUO President Geneva Wortman is sched
uled to deliver a speech. There also will be a
performance by the University Gospel Choir
from the main stage in the amphitheater.
World AIDS Day is a chance to learn about
HIV and to help build awareness, said
Joanne Frank, director of health education.
“About 20 minutes is all we ask,” Frank
said. “People want to know how they can get
on board and what they can learn.”
Turn to AIDS, Page 5
m
Scott Barnett 'Emerald
Peer Health Educator Holly Morrison Works in the Health Center along side a near
empty donation container.