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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 22, 1999)
Nnirsdav. \pril 11 I c)()1) Weather forecast Today Friday Sunny Sunny High 60, Low 40 High 69, Low 41 Finding solutions A University institution studies causes for school violence such as in Colorado and Springfield— and ways to prevent it/PAGE 4 A Batter up Freshman Missy Coe continues to shine at the plate even as her catching game improves/PAGE An independent newspaper Volume 100, Issue 137 University of Oregon www.dailyemerald.com .-I Scott Bamett/Emerald University students and members of the community try out their folk dancing skills during a German-language retreat last weekend. At retreats, English is verboten Total immersion gives students practical experience in foreign languages in retreats offered for fun and course credit By Felicity Ayles Oregon Daily Emerald Paries frangais, sprich Deutsch, parli italiano, hablas espanol — but don’t speak Eng lish. For the past 17 years, the Ro mance and Germanic languages departments have been offering foreign language retreats for stu dents. The retreat counts for one upper division language credit, and the only assignment is to get immersed in a foreign lan guage and avoid speaking Eng lish at all costs. Retired German professor Helmut Plant has been coordi nating the retreats from the be ginning. Plant said he came up with the idea for a retreat when he was a teacher for the summer session at Lewis and Clark Col lege in Portland. “I taught there in the summer of 1981 and got the idea to do it here on a small scale for the weekend,” he said. Plant began teaching at the Turn to RETREATS, Page 6A Now I know I could survive in France with no problem. » Sara Kolsky Junior history major Student senator faces trial today Michael Dixon is charged in two cases of theft and burglary By Jason George Oregon Daily Emerald Student Senator Michael Dixon has been indicted on charges of theft and burglary of University property and ser vices totaling more than $5,000. Dixon, 19, who was re-elect ed to the senate business seat last week, faces charges for two separate incidents. Dixon goes to trial today at the Lane County Courthouse for the first case. He is charged with three counts of burglary in the second degree and one count of theft in the first degree. All four charges are Class C felonies. He has not entered a plea. In the other case, he is charged with one count of theft in the sec ond degree. That charge is a Class A misdemeanor. His trial is set for May 3. Dixon pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. Dixon declined repeated efforts, including one in writing, from the Emerald asking for comment. His court-appointed attorney, Lisa Gallo, also declined to comment. Student Senator Jamila Sin gleton spoke in support of her friend Dixon. “It’s really hard for me because I am a really moral person, and I really believe that the law is for a reason and we are supposed to follow these rules that are imple mented,” she said. “But I also know Michael Dixon, and I know that he is one of the strongest leaders that I have come in con tact with on this campus.” The first case alleges Dixon unlawfully entered the Bean Complex three times between Editor’s note The Emerald learned of the charges against Student Senator Michael Dixon last week during a public records search at the lane County Courthouse, The Emerald searched the records of all prima ry election winners and the candi dates who are back on the ballot for the general election. No other candidate had been charged or convicted of a felony. June 1,1998, and Oct. 27,1998. Dixon is charged with steal ing University property valued at more than $5,000 during those incidents. The property included: computers, cam corders, a television, a video cassette recorder, cleaning equipment and other items, ac cording to court documents. If convicted on all four counts, Dixon could face up to 20 years in prison and a $400,000 fine. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Although there are four co-de fendants in the indictment, Dixon is the only one indicted on all three burglary charges and is the only individual charged in the theft of the University property. In the second case, Dixon is charged with one count of theft in the second degree for using a University long-distance account to make unauthorized phone calls valued at $50 or more be tween or on Aug. 1, 1998, and Feb. 24,1999, according to court documents. If convicted, he could face up to one year in prison and a $5,000 fine. The Student Senate is a gov Turn to TRIAL, Page6A Elections grievance filed over Nader’s appearance on campus Scott Austin contends the ASUO used student fees to promote OSPIRG’s campaign By David Ryan Oregon Daily Emerald Student activist Scott Austin and ASUO President Geneva Wortman were in agreement Wednesday. They both agreed the ASUO paid a speaker’s fee so Ralph Nader, one of the founders of the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group, would come to campus to give a speech. Nader spoke about student activism to a crowd of more than 150 students in the EMU Amphitheater Tuesday. Austin, a junior majoring in politi cal science, cried foul and filed a grievance with the Constitution Court asking for the OSPIRG measure to be removed and the ASUO Executive to be censured for paying Nader’s speak er’s fee. Nader’s speaker’s fee is between $5,000 and $10,000, said Brett Paben, director of Land, Air, Water, a law stu dent group that aided in the coordina tion of the Ehvironmental Law Con ference. Paben said Nader always asks for a speaker’s fee, which is why the coordinators of the Environmental Law Conference do not have him speak at their event. OSPIRG has a measure on the elec tions ballot asking for $128,000 in stu dent fees to help support the organiza tion, which works on environmental, social and student issues. Austin filed his grievance under ASUO elections rule 6.12, a rule that bans an individual from disrupting class time to promote a candidacy or ballot measure. Nader spoke in the amphitheater around 10:45 am using a microphone. Austin also pointed to ASUO Exec utive rule 82.4, which states the ASUO Executive cannot use student incidental fees to support the cam paign of any individual, party or pub lic office. Wortman, a former OSPIRG mem ber, said Nader was not brought to support OSPIRG, but was brought as an environmental speaker for the Earth Week celebration. “At no point did Ralph Nader say, ‘Vote yes,’” Wortman said. Nader praised OSPIRG in his speech and told students, “You’ve got some im portant issues coming up in this week’s election.” Wortman said she did not see any thing wrong with Nader speaking in support of OSPIRG. She said other speakers at the Envi ronmental Law Conference in early March had supported OSPIRG and nobody had complained about that. Joel Corcoran, former Constitution Court chief justice, said Austin’s grievance raised a good question. “In my opinion, he has a pretty good case,” Corcoran said. But he said Austin’s case depends on if he can prove the ASUO knew Nader was going to speak in support of OSPIRG. “The classic smoking gun scenario would be Geneva [Wortman] saying, ‘Oh yeah, we brought Ralph Nader here to support OSPIRG,”’ he said. More likely, Corcoran said, the court Turn to ELECTIONS, Page 6A Voting The general elec tions continue today for studenfsto vote on two ASUO student representative seats arid six ballot mea sures. Students may vote at any ofthe four potting booths from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The potting bootte are lo cated in the courtyard in front ofGilbert Hal, in front of Chapman Hail, inthe lobby of Carson Hall and in the EMU Amphitheater.
