Task force seeks solutions to prevent riots The community group joins with police to try to stifle future incidents By Felicity Ayles Oregon Daily Emerald Warmer weather equals more parties, and more parties equals more riots. At least that’s what the Campus Community Relations Task Force agreed in its meeting Thursday night while brainstorming ideas for riot prevention next year. “Spring becomes a more active time in terms of parties,” said We ston Morrill, dean of student life. “We're not against parties, we’re just against the riots that result from them.” Eugene Police Officer Julie Boyd said the campus unit of the Eugene Police Department is try ing to better its relationship with partygoers. There were 120 minor in pos session citations given out in Jan uary at various parties, but EPD Officer Edward Tsui said there is no quota for police officers to fill. “If you’re breaking the law and the person standing next to you is breaking the law, I’m going to cite you both,” he said. “I think we’re pretty consistent.” Eugene police Sgt. Rick Gilliam stressed that the EPD only shows up at parties when responding to complaints. “We are not out there looking for parties,” he said. Jan Oliver, assistant vice presi dent for institutional affairs, said she thinks crime in the West Uni versity area has increased despite all the police department’s pre ventative activity. “Even if you take out all the party problems, what has been equally as troublesome have been crimes of assaults, thefts and crimes against persons,” Oliver said. Whatever the crime, Morrill said, students need to realize they must comply with officers’ re quests. "We talked to a number of stu dents after the problem at Hal loween,” he said. “If the officer gives a command in these circum stances and the individual does not follow that, they are at risk of being arrested.” Efforts to de-glamorize the riots should be a top priority for stu dent groups, Tsui said. Students have told him the riot was a rite of passage because it was an expect ed, annual thing, he said. Laura Blake-Jones, associate dean of student life, said the Of fice of Student Life has collected data to find out what students re ally think about the Halloween riot. She said there was a 37 per cent increase since last year in students who feel the University is concerned with alcohol abuse on campus. She also said 93 percent of stu dents surveyed said they ap proved of the activity of the police on Halloween night, and 78 to 80 percent said they would leave the area or move back if asked by po lice. The survey was conducted only among first-year students living on campus. Blake-Jones said the Office of Student Life is working to prevent a riot next Halloween and is try ing to find funding for student groups involved in prevention. Overall, Boyd said, the relation ship between students and police should be changed so the riots are not repeated. "That’s in the past. Let’s pro hibit it and create a better rela tionship between students, police and the community,” she said. Officer Pete Aguilar, visiting from Boulder, Colo., said the Boulder Police Department is see ing some balance this year after past riots. He said the police have often been hurt by out-of-hand ri ots because they waited too long to respond to the problem. Aguilar said many officers have been injured in the line of duty while dealing with riots, and the Boulder Police Department now implements civilian observation teams to help with surveillance. "We are relying on that as pre vention,” he said. Another agenda item of large concern was that of speeding traf fic on Alder Street. Campus Co-op representative Benjamin Cutler said he has observed speeding traffic numerous times on Alder Street and asked for police to help with the problem. He suggested adding speed bumps or stop signs to reduce traffic speed. uass will teach heritage speakers or Spanish to read and write Formal instuction gives native speakers skills not learned at home ByG. Jaros Oregon Daily Emerald iHablas espanol? There’s a new class at the Uni versity designed for people who understand the question, but might not know how to spell it. For the first time, the Depart ment of Romance Languages is of fering a class aimed at people who can speak Spanish but didn’t learn it in an academic setting. Many people have been raised in Spanish-speaking homes or neighborhoods or were raised in Spanish-speaking countries and then moved to the United States. They often learn to speak Spanish without knowing how to read or spell in that language. “Many of these people don’t want to come into our regular classes because they already know how to speak,” said Shelley Merello, the instructor teaching the class. The new class, for “heritage speakers,” is being offered spring term. Heritage speakers are Amer icans of Hispanic origin. The class will emphasize the students’ development of Spanish writing skills, building vocabu lary and the discussion of literary and journalistic texts. Students also will develop an awareness of the many varieties of Spanish. There are different re gional and social dialects as well as a more or less international standard used in newspapers and books, Merello said. “We are assuming, since His panic numbers are growing in Oregon, the need for this will grow,” Merello said. Oregon leads the Pacific North west with a 99.1 percent increase in its Hispanic population, according to the U.S. Census and Larson Northwest Hispanic Media & Mar keting in Portland. That is the sixth highest growth rate in the United States, according the census. There were 11,513 permanent Hispanic residents in Lane Coun ty and 189,809 in Oregon, accord ing to 1998 figures. “This number is believed to be an undercount of 9 to 14 percent and doesn’t include migrant His panics,” said Ron Larson, owner of the media and marketing com pany. Nearly 75 percent of the re gion’s Hispanics are under age 35, Larson said. The Hispanic population in the United States is more than 29 mil lion people, or 10.9 percent of the population, according to the 1997 Census. Most of these people are born and educated in the United States, said Robert L. Davis, direc tor of the University Spanish Lan guage Program. Because their ed ucation has primarily been in U.S. schools, they develop limit ed proficiency in reading and writing Spanish, he said. The class is listed in the Spring 1999 Schedule of Classes as “Spanish 399 Espanol Hispan.” For more information, call Davis at 346-0956. Need help selecting a major? finding a career? sharpening your study skills? Take a 1 -credit DiSCOVQT OrOQOTl course and explore an interesting academic topic in a small group. These courses are open to all first-year students. SPRING 1 999 PREFIX ANTH 199 CIS 199 CLAS 199 EALL 199 EC 199 EMS 199 GEOG 199 GEOL 199 HIST 199 HUM 199 J 199 LING 199 MUS 199 PS 199 PSY 199 SCAN 199 TA 199 DISCOVER: Social Science Perspectives on Human and Cultural Origins The Universal Machine Sports, Games, and Shows in the Ancient World A World of Literature The Growing Interdependence of Our World Research in Exercise and Movement Science Humans and the Natural Environment The Science & Politics of Earthquake Prediction and Hazard Mitigation Private and Public in Modern America The Humanities The News Language and its Relation to Society The Musical Arts Women and Electoral Politics New Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychology and Education "Hot" Issues in the "Cold" North The Arts -— For more Cinrormation, see \ page 60 in the I pring UO Schedule J ^or Classes DISCOVER OREGON PROGRAM 372 Oregon Hall • University of Oregon • 346-1136 freshsem@oregon.uoregon.edu An equal-opportunity. aftnmtttt-action uutituticn committed to cultural d amity and compliance talk Hit Americans u-ith Disabilities Act Today’s Events Friday, March 5 ■ Rim: “Repulsion,’’ 8 p.m. in 180 PLC. $2 students, $3 general public. Sponsored by the UO Cultural Fo rum. Call 346-4373 for more infor mation. ■ The annual Land Air Water confer ence will begin Friday in the EMU Fir Room at 4 p.m. The conference will discuss issues related to environ mental law. The conference will run through the weekend. ■ The Center for the Study of Women in Society will present a lec ture on the narratives of Jewish gen der from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the EMU Rogue Room. ■ Saturday and Sunday, the Kappa Delta sorority is holding their 5-on-5 Basketball Tournament. The cost is / $50 per team of ten. 80 percent of the proceeds go to the Looking Glass Shelter of Eugene; 20 percent go to national Kappa Delta and a children’s hospital in Richmond, Va. To sign up or to ask questions, call 484-5846. ■ A presentation on African-Ameri can history and black women’s histo ry in the United States will be pre sented Sunday. Through the language of music, dance and spo ken lyrics, “Keepers of the Dream,” will portray the saga of black women through history. A 3 p.m. show will be held at Central Presbyterian Church on 15th Avenue between Pat terson and Ferry streets. Admission is free. Contact Sharon or Bettie at 687-3463 for more information. | JADE PALACE CANTONESE & SZECHUAN CUISINE Professional Wok Cooking ^Seafood^ ^ Buffet M Friday-Saturday 5 :00-8:30pm all you can eat ““ Vegetarian & Regular menu served everyday. VetfeiaA4a*t. AoailaUe. luei. & *7JuvU 5:00-8p*n _906WJ7th, Eugene • 344-9523 * Closed Mondays 0regotv«r€meral& The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Mon day through Friday dunng the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer hy the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University ot Oregon, Eugene. Oregon. A member ot the Associated Press, the Emerald operates in dependently ot the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. 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