Tuesday
November 2,1999
Volume 101, Issue 46
Weather
Wednesday
RAIN POSSIBLE
A tale of inspiration
A local dog with a prosthetic leg and his owner travel to area
hospitals and schools throughout Oregon to share their
story of overcoming obstacles. PAGE 6
Ducks on Droughns’ back
When senior tailback Reuben Droughns is healthy, the
Oregon football team almost always win, and Droughns is
the healthiest he’s been all season now. PAGE 7
, ■ Dia de los Muertos gives
v students a chance to revere and
remember relatives and heroes who
have passed away
By Simone Ripke
Oregon Daily Emerald
Trilce Navarrete carefully set up brush
es, paint, water, a pallet, chocolate, fruit
and a candle on the colorful altar in the
EMU Fir Room on Friday.
Navarrete, a first year graduate student,
is also a member of MEChA, the Chicano
student union, helping students prepare
for the Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the
Dead celebration. The holiday is a Mexi
can tradition honoring dead relatives and
heroes. The actual celebration is on Nov.
2, but students have set up an altar and
organized activities regarding the holiday
for the entire week.
Students will bring photos to the altar
throughout the week of those they want
to remember. Navarrete brought a photo
of Oswaldo Guayasamin, an Equadorian
painter who recently passed away. The
items she placed by Guayasamin’s photo
represent his life.
When candles on the altar go out or
when items are moved, people believe
the spirits of the dead visited the altar,
she said.
Although remembering deceased rela
tives can make people sad, the celebra
An altar in the EMU Fir Room is one of several activities organized by the Chicano student union in preparation lor the Dia de los Muertos
bration. Students will bring photos to the altar throughout the week of people they want to remember who have passed away.
Jeffrey Stockton Emerald
,or Day of the Dead cele
tion is far from morbid, said Alma Lla
mas, a senior majoring in Spanish and
business. Llamas, who is the program co
ordinator for MEChA, said the celebra
tiorr;-which includes poetry, music and
traditional food makes most participants
happy rather than sad.
Llamas said Mexicans believe death is
a part of life rather than its end and peo
ple like to keep alive the memory of loved
ones.
MEChA started celebrating the holiday
in 1981 and plans to continue the tradi
tion in the future.
“Dia de los Muertos is really important
for us to remember in terms of our culture
and our heritage,” said Sylvia Gil, a senior
Turn to Day of Dead, Page 5
Grant will fund prevention program
■ The First Steps program will be
funded by a $500,000 grant from the
Legislature as part of an effort to
reduce violence in children
By Stefanie Knowlton
Oregon Daily Emerald
The University Institute on Violence and
Destructive Behavior, a youth violence pre
vention research facility, received a
$500,000 grant from the Legislature this
session to implement an early childhood
prevention program at public schools
statewide.
The institute was established in 1995 to
find solutions to growing youth violence in
the country, and researchers at IVDB have
been working on the early childhood inter
vention program for the last seven years,
implementing it in a few schools in the Eu
gene area.
“We are extremely pleased and very en
couraged ... it shows that they are interest
ed in this program,” said Hill Walker, IVDB
co-director and creator of the program.
The grant is designed to implement First
Steps, one of the only prevention programs
geared toward kindergarten and first-grade
children.
The goal is to target students who may
have a little trouble listening and following
L L We are extremely pleased and
very encouraged... it shows that they
are interested in this program. ■ ■
Hill Walker ^
Institute on Violence and Destructive
Behavior co-director
directions, and turn this behavior around
before it become problematic, Walker said.
There has been a higher success rate with
younger children in the programs initiated
by the institute, he said.
There are three reasons the program is
more successful, he said.
One, it starts early when children are just
entering school and forming attitudes about
teachers, fellow classmates and themselves
in the learning process, he said.
Second, the program involves parents.
Third, at five or six years old it is easier
to learn good behavior patterns than at age
16.
At the end of the program students feel -
better about themselves and they get along
with teachers and peers better, Walker said.
The initial results from the program in Eu
gene schools showed students retained 60
to 80 percent of the positive gains they
made during the program.
Annemieke Golly, program coordinator
who works with teachers and educators to
implement the program, explained that it
involves the entire class and is presented as
a fun activity.
For example, “Johnny has volunteered to
help and try very hard to do his work ...
Then Johnny becomes the star for appropri
ate behavior where before he was known
for inappropriate behavior,” she said.
The teacher will use a flashcard that is
green on one side for good behavior and
Turn to First Step, Page 5
Frohnmayer recovering
after cardiac suraerv
University Presi
dent Dave Frohn
mayer is recovering
after surgery Mon
day at Suburban
Health Care Systems
inBethesda.McL
“The procedure to
|| implant a defibrilla
Jj tor went well and
9 Dave Frohnmaver
FROHNMAYER continues to im
prove,” according to
a hospital statement. A cardio-defibrilla
tor was implanted in the president’s chest
and will monitor his heart’s rhythm.
Frohnmayer suffered a sudden heart
arrhythmia while attending a National
Institutes of Health conference in Bethes
da on Oct. 22. The defibrillator will de
liver an electric shock to Frohnmayer’s
heart if another arrhythmia occurs.
It is still unclear when Frohnmayer
will leave the hospital or return to the
University.
—Q n 1 h A-w p h
www.dailyemerald.com