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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1999)
Monday, April 5, 1999 Weather forecast i Today Showers High 53, Low 38 Tliesday Mostly Cloudy High 56, Low 37 Diabetes dilemna The FDA and the medical community debate restrictions on the new diabetes treatment that causes l it er da mage /PAGE 9A Cougars dominate meet The Oregon men and women fall to Washington State but manage to defeat Idaho over the weekend/PAG E 11A An independent newspaper Volume 100, Issue 124 University of Oregon www.dailyemerald.com Tobacco suit sparks debate University law professors disagree on what the Oregon settlement means for the tobacco industry's future ((In the long run, this case is a very small drop in a large bucket of lawsuits. » Wayne Wessling Law professor By Amy Jennaro Oregon Daily Emerald The landmark settlement against Philip Morris in Portland sent shockwaves through the legal community and University. A jury ruled against Philip Morris on Tuesday for deliberately deceiving Portland resident Jesse Williams about the harmful effects of tobacco before his 1997 death from lung cancer. The family was awarded $81 million. “This is a major case because the tobacco industry had been winning these cases for years,” law professor Caroline Forell said. Forell said the case is particularly impor tant because Oregon’s tough laws make it difficult for plaintiffs to reap benefits. Under Oregon law, the plaintiff must be held less than 51 percent liable in order to win any money, she said. “If a case like this could win huge money in a state like Oregon that has such Dracon ian statutes of limitations, it could win any where,” she said. But other professors are less sure about how widespread the effects of this case will be. “In the long run, this case is a very small drop in a large bucket of lawsuits,” law pro fessor Wayne Wesling said. “There will be a process of gradual change.” There is also disagreement about what steps the tobacco industry is going to take now that two major settlements — the other one in San Francisco — have been settled in favor of the smokers. Law professor Dominick Vetri said he thinks Philip Morris will go to Congress to try and bundle up the lawsuits against them, instead of trying to litigate each case indi vidually. “The company sees it in their interest to come to some sort of settlement,” he said. But Forell thinks this route may be closed to the tobacco industry. “In the past, there was a lot of sympathy in Congress for the tobacco industry, but it’s not as attractive now,” she said. “The scene has changed.” Forell said she thinks the tide is turning against the tobacco industry and that the re lease of industry files documenting how the tobacco companies lied to the public about the harmful effects of smoking is damaging Turn to TOBACCO, Page 6A Civil war softball sweep met Nick Medley/HmeraUi Holly Ray throws to first for an attempted double play after making the out at second in Oregon’s second game against Oregon State at Howe Field on Saturday. The No. 13 Ducks earned a dramatic sweep over the No. 12 Beavers. For story, see Page 11A War hits Emerald healdlines in 1910s 1910-1919 In the 1910s, the Emerald’s soft focus changed with its coverage of issues such as World War I By Teri Meeuwsen Oregon Daily Emerald In the beginning of the 1910s, the Ore gon Emerald, not yet a daily, didn’t cover much hard news. A flood of stories about where the Glee Club was heading for the weekend, the day’s football practice and a concert put on by some “pretty co-eds”, covered the pages. But as the decade went on, not all the news in the 1910s was good. World War I, presidential campaigns and bribes offered to the track coach began to grace the Emerald’s pages. The increasing enrollment was always big news with the “highest numbers in history” of 200 students on campus early in the decade. Most of these students attended the three- to five-minute speeches of the presi dential candidates running in 1911. Presi dent Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt and President William Taft stopped in Eu gene’s train depot to talk to students. The Emerald reported, “Greeted by the famous ‘Boola Boola’ of Yale, supplement ed by several rousing Oregon ‘Oskey Wow Wows,’ Taft stepped onto the rear plat Turn to HISTORY, Page6A Courtesy Lritrersity AnJjtves University members of the U.S. Naval Reserve pose for a portrait during World War I.