Thursday, December 3.1998
Weather forecast
Today Friday
Showers Mostly cloudy
High 43, Low 36 High 42, Low 33
Center of attention
Mike Carson is able to take a second
shot at his senior season because of
medical hardship last season/PAGE7
Wrestlers aim high
The Ducks hope to improve their
record afterplacing third in last
year’s championship/PAGE 7
An independent newspaper
Volume 100, Issue 66
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Private donors’ influence on University debatable
Questions arise
over whether
private
donations are
determining
curricula or
stifling
research
By Eric Collins
For the Emerald
The changes are evident all around cam
pus. A new law school is rising out of a
grass lot. Students now study in a sports
marketing department in the business
school. Majors such as Judaic Studies have
developed out of nowhere.
They have all come from private dona
tions to the University. As of Oct. 31, the
Oregon Campaign had raised $237,588 mil
lion in its six-year fund-raising effort that
concludes Dec. 31.
Tapping alumni, corporations and other
sources for donations, the campaign is seen
by the administration and UO Foundation
as necessary to make up for uncertain state
tax support for higher education. Officials
say that to make improvements to the Uni
versity, private funding must be solicited.
What is debatable, however, is what ef
fect private money might have on the aca
demic environment.
Critics of the program see private money
as a threat to academic freedom and believe
private donors will emphasize particular
programs and departments on campus,
leaving others without funds.
While there is no consensus among fac
ulty, a few professors spanning the disci
plines generally approve of the money but
are wary of potential abuses.
Turn to DONATIONS, Page 4
(( People
contribute to the
University and
ask for little in
return. ”
Duncan McDonald
UO official
Art program brings beauty to buildings
Copper gargoyles and other
art found in, on or near
newer campus buildings are
the result of a special state law
By Tricia Schwennesen
Oregon Daily Emerald
Madame Curie looks a little melan
choly, Sir Isaac Newton can see East
13th Avenue and Einstein sticks his
tongue out at those who pass beneath
him. In some places, a fruit fly, a zebra
fish, a giant bear and a raven stare out
protectively from their roof-top perches.
There are 12 hammered-copper gar
goyles that reside atop of five campus
buildings: Willamette Hall, Cascade
Hall, Deschutes Hall, the Museum of
Natural History and Streisinger Hall.
They are all works of art acquired as
part of the State of Oregon’s 1% for Art
in Public Places Program that is admin
istered by the Oregon Arts Commission,
University spokesman Ross West said.
Building projects attract artists from
across the country who compete with
one another to have their artwork com
missioned and accepted into the pro
gram.
Oregon legislators enacted the 1-per
cent-for-art law in 1975 recognizing that
“art has enabled people of all societies
better to understand their community
and individual lives.”
In the introduction of the law, legisla
tors stated they wanted to “insure that
appropriations for the construction or
alteration of any state building in an
amount of $100,000 or more shall in
clude 1 percent of direct construction
costs for the acquisition of works of art.”
Fifty other pieces of art, from sculp
tures to paintings and photographs,
were acquired by the program and are
continuously on display throughout the
University science complex, which was
completed in 1990.
Forty works of art were acquired from
the 1 percent set aside from the Knight
Library renovation budget.
The zebra fish gargoyle adorns
Streisinger Hall, one of the science com
plex buildings. The building was named
for George Streisinger, a scientist who
was the first to clone the zebra fish in
1980. The zebra fish was the first verte
brate animal cloned and is used for ge
netic and biomedical research.
Turn to GARGOYLES, Page 3
* mm,
\>m m
u Art
really is a
spiritual
thing
between the
artist and
his tools.
It’s a real
tool
oriented
field. ”
David Thompson
Artist
Artist David
Thompson stands
next to one of his
Four Seasons
sculptures near the
downtown mall.
Scott Bamett/Emeruld
We lvojor Art program recruits local artists
to create pieces for new campus buildings
By Tricia Schwennesen
Oregon Daily Emerald
His studio looks like an oversized
wood shed.
The inside is cold, wide-open
space with metal working tools scattered
around five large, ominously black gas
forges and one old-fashioned coal forge.
Statues and hanging art pieces fash
ioned out of industrial scrap metal line
all four walls of the studio.
A copper-looking sign, buried between
older pieces of art, announces that this is
the studio of David Thompson, artist and
blacksmith.
"Art really is a spiritual thing between
the artist and his tools,” Thompson said.
“It’s a real tool-oriented field.”
Thompson is currently working on two
steel box lanterns, and their final resting
place will be on four-foot concrete pillars
outside the new William W. Knight Law
School. His work has been commissioned
by the State of Oregon’s 1% for Art Pro
gram. The program was implemented in
1975 after legislators decided that one
Turn to ARTISTS, Page 3
El Salvadorans
left jobless for
holiday season
Company owners lay off their
employees to avoid paying a
mandatory> Christmas bonus,
then rehire them afterward
By Erin Snelgrove
Oregon Daily Emerald
In El Salvador, company workers are
finding themselves without a job during this
holiday season.
This lack of employment is not because of
poor performance or bad behavior, but is in
stead because of the unwillingness of com
pany owners to give employees a mandato
ry Christmas bonus. This year the average
bonus is $40.
"There is a law in El Salvador that forces
employers to give their workers a Christmas
bonus,” said Scott Miksch, coordinator of
the Committee in Solidarity with the Cen
tral American People. “To avoid giving this
bonus, company owners will often fire their
employees and rehire them after the new
year.”
Because of this injustice toward El Sal
vador’s workers, CISCAP is joining forces
with the Committee in Solidarity with the
People of El Salvador to create an educa
tional campaign about these Christmas fir
ings. Throughout the nation, petitions and
informational tables are being set up hoping
to persuade U.S. companies, such as Calvin
Klein and L.L. Bean, to change how they in
teract with El Salvador’s textile industries.
Sarah Jarmon, a CISPES hind-raising co
ordinator in San Francisco, believes Ameri
can garment companies need to be held ac
countable for their actions.
"The issues of sweat shops and labor
rights are important to the American pub
lic,” Jarmon said. “We all have a responsi
bility to question the power of U.S. corpora
tions and to make sure the law is followed
in regard to international business deal
ings.”
As a part of the CISPES campaign, Jarmon
said Dec. 10 has been declared a national
call-in day. CISPES officials from around
the nation will call U.S. corporations that
conduct business with El Salvador compa
nies. Calls will also be made to the U.S. em
bassy in El Salvador and the El Salvador
embassy in America.
“We know this process of winning labor
rights is not quick,” Jarmon said. “But we
will continue in our struggle until these
Turn to EL SALVADOR, Page 6