Tuesday
September 28,1999
Volume 101, Issue 21
Weather
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
An independent newspaper
www.dailyemerald.com
Ducks rule Emerald Valley
Kylie Wilson and Pam Sowden lead the Oregon women’s
golf team to a first-place tie during day 1 of the Oregon
Invitational at the Emerald Valley Resort Golf Club. PAGE 19
City coucil gets railroaded
Eugene begins proceedings to take over ownership of the
downtown Amtrak station and land in the surrounding area
PAGE 13
■ The new and improved Student
Recreation Center opens to much
acclaim despite a tew minor
complications
By Ben Romano
for the Emerald
A steady flow of students and faculty
streamed into the sun-drenched entry
way of the new Student Recreation Cen
ter at Esslinger Hall Monday, as the re
modeled doors were opened for the first
time.
A set of shiny, silver turnstiles greet
ed the students and in some cases reject
ed them because they swiped their cards
improperly.
“We’re only going to have to do this
17,000 more times,” joked Peg Rees, di
rector of physical education for Physical
Activity Recreation Services, as she
showed a student the right way to swipe
her card.
Man, clad in sharp new green polo
shirts, helped students negotiate the
card swipe turnstiles. One of the few
problems the staff faced was outdated ID
cards that could not be read by the scan
ner.
Cards issued before Nov. 18, 1998,
won’t work and need to be updated at
the ID card office downstairs in the
EMU, Rees said.
Once through the entrance, students
were guided to their classes, the weight
rooms or to the locker checkout desks.
Lockers rent for $10 a term for a small
locker and $15 a term for a larger one.
Day use lockers are available for free.
With the formalities out of the way,
students feasted on the plethora of new
exercise equipment and facilities.
The stair-steppers, treadmills and oth
. u ... . .. Catharine Kendall Emerald
Dru Hall tests new climbing routes for the climbing wall in Esslinger’s new Student Recreation Center
er cardiovascular machines in the
Strength and Fitness West room were in
almost constant use. Separated from the
chaotic entryway by a full wall of win
dows, the room affords a great view of
the comings and goings of the new recre
ation center.
“They obviously spared no expense,”
said senior Ben Gotlieb. Gotlieb was
checking out the remodeled Leighton
Pool, which wasn’t open because the
water temperature was not yet up to
code.
The full court, pick-up basketball
games started before lunch and were
rolling on all three of the center’s new
courts by mid-afternoon.
Gonzalo del Real, a soccer and tennis
instructor, took a break from helping
Turn to Esslinger Page 11
DDS director fired for alleged misuse of fees
Senior Brandon
Smith allegedly
spent student
fees on stereo
equipment for
the DDS office
and shuttle vans
By Jason George
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Designated Driver Shuttle — the ser
vice that delivers inebriated students to
their doorways — is without a director af
ter he was fired by the ASUO Executive.
Brandon Smith was terminated by
ASUO President Wylie Chen and Vice
President Mitra Anoushiravani on Aug. 16
because of an alleged misuse of student fees
while running DDS. Summer service halt
ed temporarily, but the program has re
sumed its normal schedule.
Smith, who has since moved to Portland
and stopped taking classes at the Universi
ty, could not be reached for comment for
this story.
As one of the groups financed by the stu
dent incidental fee, DDS reports to the
ASUO, the representative body of the stu
dents.
“We found a lot of unneeded things,”
Chen said, citing excessive stereo equip
ment for the office and the vans.
Smith, a senior majoring in business
management and political science, was also
making purchases without authorization,
said Jennifer Neiwert, ASUO accounting
coordinator.
Turn to Smith Page 11
Financial aid
cuts concern
students
■ Federal funding for higher
education declines as student
reps discuss possible resolutions
with members of Congress
By Simone Ripke
Oregon Daily Emerald
Just in time for the beginning of fall term,
the ASUO teamed with OSPIRG on Monday
to call on Congress to reverse the long-term
decline in Federal Student Aid, specifically
the Pell Grant.
“While both houses of Congress have re
cently passed resolutions calling for signifi
cant increases in student aid funding, Con
gress has yet to provide the dollars to back
the resolutions up,” said ASUO President
Wylie Chen, who partnered-up with Jereme
Grzybowski, ASUO student senator and OS
PIRG higher education campaign director.
Chen said 3.7 million students currently
depend on Pell Grants to finance their edu
cation. A proposed cut of 18 percent, which
Congress will vote on this fall, would force
students to increase their loan burden in or
der to stay in school. Chen and Grzybowski
expressed concern about students being
even more restricted financially when it
comes to higher education.
“This rise in student borrowing is caused
by the long-term decline in federal funding
for student aid,” Grzybowski said.
In 1976, the maximum Pell Grant paid for
75 percent of the average cost of attendance
at a public four-year university and one
third of the cost of a private four-year uni
versity. Today, the maximum amount of the
Pell Grant students can be eligible for cov
ers only one-third of a public institution’s
cost and one seventh of a private universi
ty’s cost.
Considering that the government is cur
rently looking at a budget surplus, Chen and
Grzybowski called on U.S. Rep. Peter De
Turn to Funding, Page 17
Kinkel sentencing
date set for Nov.
The sentencing hearing for KipJand P. Kinkef is
slated to begin Nov. 2 at die Lane County Cour
thouse, with Circuit Court Judge Jack Mattison
presiding.