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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1999)
Wednesday. April 1W Weather forecast Today Thursday Showers Showers High 53, Low 37 High 46, Low 37 ASUO candidates speak out The office-seekers have big plans for the future of the University and the organi zation of the ASUO/?AGE 3 Women’s tennis Led by Andrea Petrovic, the Ducks hope to overcome tough competitors /PAGE 9 Ail independent newspaper Volume 100, Issue 126 University of Oregon www.dailyemerald.com Senior Indira Rice does jumping jacks with her morning ROTC class in Esslinger. Rice is a member of the Army ROTC program on campus, which pays for her college education in exchange for her enrollment in the armed forces after graduation. Rice will begin her four-year commitment in September. In the army now The KOTC program offers both leadership experience and scholarship possibilities By Erin Snelgrove Oregon Daily Emerald After donning freshly ironed fa tigues and shiny black boots, Uni ver sify seniors Indira Rice and David Nash start their days before sunrise. In addition to juggling their time be tween work, school and extracurric ular activities, Rice and Nash also have responsibilities that are not common to most college students. They have to know how to salute properly and how to take apart an M16. They plan field training exer cises, and they discipline their sub ordinates. They do these things be cause they are members of the Army ROTC, an organization that pays for their college educations in exchange for committing themselves to the armed forces aftergraduation. Because they each received an ROTC scholarship, the army pays for all their college expenses. However, this gift is not without a price. Start ing next fall, they will both begin serving as officers in the military. "They’ve given me a lot of money, and they really expect me to show them what I can do,” Rice said. “Once you sign on the dotted line, you need to be sure. If you’re not, don’t do it. You let a lot of people down if you end up dropping out. ’’ Rice will begin her four-year com mitment in September. Nash, on the other hand, will serve one year in the army before he begins medical school. After he finishes his educa tion, he will be a physician for the armed forces for about nine years. “The ROTC is a stepping stone for me,” Nash said. “It will contin ue to pay for medical school while also giving me a monthly stipend. I don’t know of very many organiza tions that pay you to go to school, but this one does.” More than 350 University students take Military Science courses. How ever, only 22 of them are currently re ceiving an ROTC scholarship. Turn to ROTC, Page 4 Play touts non-violent message Bang, Bang, You ’re Dead' is based on school shootings and hopes to avert more tragedies By Tricia Schwennesen Oregon Daily Emerald Shots rang out from somewhere in the dis tance. The sound found its way to some history students studying the Korean War at Thurston High School, hi the previous week, they had watched several graphic films that featured bloodshed and shooting violence. But these shots were different — they weren't movie blanks but shots fired from near the school. Investigators were never able to find out from where or by whom. The random shots fired last December, just prior to finals week, were not an unfa miliar sound to Thurston students. They had already joined the ranks of school-yard shootings May 21, 1998, when 15-year-old Kipland Kinkel opened fire in the school cafeteria killing 2 classmates and injuring 23 others. Police later found both his parents dead at their family home. Thurston students are hearing shots again rouay. This time the shots are part of a play. “Bang, Bang, You’re Dead,” a play initiat ed by the Thurston shootings but a compos ite of several school shootings and youth vi olence, will premiere today at 5 p.m at the Hult Center. Tickets are sold out. “First of all, the play is not about Thurston and the shooting at Thurston,"said play pro ducer Celeste Anlauf. “There are parts of this play that come from everywhere.” Playwright Bill Mastrosimone said the play is meant to be a tool to help kids help one another. Thurston students helped the playwright develop his idea and are starring in the cur rent production. The central character in the play is a boy named Josh who shoots five of his class mates and his parents. “The kids come back to haunt him like Turn to THURSTON, Page 4 Westmoreland residents fed up with crime problem Residents say that security is lacking in the University-run family housing complex By Michael Hines Oregon Daily Emerald Shelly Richardson had known for a couple years that crime was a problem in Westmoreland Family Housing, but she became fed-up with it all when a former Universi ty football player reportedly as saulted several of her neighbors last month. It was March 13 when former Ducks wide receiver Damon Grif fin told Eugene police he was high on “shrooms” and attacked several Westmoreland residents, accord ing to police. Eugene police even tually restrained him and charged him on four counts, including one count of attempted assault. That was enough for the West moreland Tenants Council to ask representatives from the Eugene po lice, University Office of Public Safety and University Housing to at tend its monthly meeting last week. “It’s that idea that people feel they can come in here whenever they feel like it,” said Richardson, a Westmoreland resident. “I feel Turn to WESTMORELAND, Page 4 Westmoreland family housing: distant from campus Some residents a< the apartments are displeased with security coverage and response times. XXXXAimemld