ASUO adds five new positions for academic year
■ Ihe positions have been
created to more evenly and
specifically allocate
existing responsibilities
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
Five new ASUO positions for
the 1999-2000 academic year will
offer services to student groups
and the community on a range of
issues including multicultural af
fairs and student housing rights.
As Community Outreach Direc
tor, Marian Fowler said she is
working as a liaison between the
students and the Eugene commu
nity. This being her first year in the
ASUO, she said she hopes to im
prove the rights of student renters
in the community.
“There’s a state housing code for
student renters but not an enforced
one for the city,” Fowler said.
She said she also plans to im
prove relationships between the
students and the Eugene Police De
partment.
UO Housing Advocate Matthew
Lieuallen said he will work on a
variety of housing issues, includ
ing helping Fowler with the hous
ing code for student renters. He
also plans to increase the ASUO’s
presence in the residence halls.
“I want to get ASUO information
to housing students so they have a
better idea of what we do and how
to get involved,” he said.
Lieuallen said one of his goals
for the year is to make the buy-out
clause in the housing contract
more flexible for students who
have a bad situation in the resi
dence halls. Currently, students
who want to break their housing
contracts must pay $9 for every day
the contract is broken.
Greg Danielson is the new Pro
grams Outreach Director, a posi
tion that stemmed out of the exist
ing Programs Administrator spot,
currently held by Sydney Abbate.
“Last year, the administrator job
was too broad and covered too
much, so my position was created
to make sure programs are getting
funding and resources from the
ASUO and other sources,” Daniel
son said.
Jennifer Creighton is the new
Accounting Coordinator, and she
said it is really two jobs in one.
“I act as a budget
counselor to both
help the Projects
Finance Commit
tee and student
programs,” she
said. She also
checks to make
sure purchase or
ders by programs
are used correctly and tracks how
the student incidental fee is spent.
Creighton is currently working
on a transition manual, which
would include important informa
tion on decisions made in the pre
vious year so incoming student
senators could quickly transition
into their new roles on student gov
ernment.
The final position, multicultur
al associate, has yet to be filled.
ASUO President Wylie Chen said
the position will work with the
multicultural advocate but focus
on areas such as students with dis
abilities.
“With multicultural issues such
a high priority, we wanted more
people working on the issue,”
Chen said.
He said they are currently inter
viewing applicants for the position.
For more information about
these positions or the ASUO, call
346-3724.
Killer of gay student avoids death penalty, sentenced to life
By Robert W. Black
The Associated Press
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Aaron McKinney,
who beat gay college student Matthew Shep
ard and left him to die on the prairie, avoided
the death penalty Thursday by agreeing to
serve life in prison without parole and
promising never to appeal his conviction.
Shepard’s parents agreed to the deal.
“I would like nothing better than to see
you die, Mr. McKinney, but now is the time
to begin the healing process,” Shepard’s fa
ther, Dennis, said in court.
“Every time you celebrate Christmas, a
birthday, or the Fourth of July, remember
Matthew isn’t. Every time you wake up in
that prison cell, remember you had the op
portunity and the ability to stop your actions
that night.”
McKinney, 22, a high school dropout and
drug dealer, is the second defendant in
Shepard’s slaying to get life in prison. Rus
sell Henderson, 22, pleaded guilty to mur
der earlier this year.
McKinney was convicted Wednesday of
murder, aggravated robbery and kidnapping
for luring Shepard from a Laramie bar, rob
bing him of $20, lashing him to a fence and
cracking his skull with blows from a pistol.
Investigators said robbery was the main mo
tive but McKinney and Henderson singled
out Shepard because he was gay.
The jury was to begin hearing arguments
Thursday on whether McKinney should get
the death penalty or life in prison. Instead,
he accepted a deal that his lawyers had pro
posed to prosecutors Wednesday.
"I really don’t know what to say other than
that I’m truly sorry to the entire Shepard fam
ily,” McKinney said in court. “Never will a
day go by I won’t be ashamed for what I have
done.”
Dennis Shepard said his family wanted
the trial to show that “this was a hate crime,
pure and simple, with the added ingredient
of robbery. ’ ’ He also asked Congress to pass a
stronger hate-crime law.
“You screwed up, Mr. McKinney,” Shep
ard said. “You made the world realize that a
person’s lifestyle is not a reason for discrimi
nation, intolerance, persecution and vio
lence.”
He also said he supports the death penalty.
Prosecutor Cal Rerucha said he didn’t
want the deal at first, but Shepard’s family
wanted to show tolerance because their son
believed in it. Rerucha also noted the family
won’t have to endure years of appeals.
“There has to be an end to this,” he said, call
ing the appeal process “almost inhumane. ”
As Shepard spoke, he paused at times to
wipe away tears, his voice breaking. Several
jurors wept, along with members of both le
gal teams, spectators, Shepard’s mother,
Judy, and friends of the Shepards.
McKinney’s eyes welled up at times as he
listened. McKinney’s stepsister walked out
crying, her head resting on McKinney’s fa
ther’s shoulder.
Shepard was a 21-year-old freshman
studying political science at the University
of Wyoming.
McKinney’s attorneys argued that McKin
ney flew into a drug-influenced rage after
Shepard grabbed his crotch while they rode
in a pickup truck. The defense claimed the
alleged advance triggered memories for
McKinney of a childhood homosexual as
sault.
District Judge Barton Voigt barred the “gay
panic” defense, ruling that it was similar to
temporary insanity or a diminished-capacity
defense—both prohibited under Wyoming
law. Rerucha called McKinney’s “gay pan
ic” strategy “pathetic.”
“That’s a defense that is atrocious,” the
prosecutor said. “It should not be used in
any court in these United States. It gives peo
ple an excuse to harm another person.”
Rerucha also said he found it ironic that
the defense proposed the deal and asked the
Shepards to “give some relief, some type of
pity to a person who had murdered their
son.”
“I will never get over Judy Shepard’s ca
pacity to forgive,” he said.
The best shopping around is at
Valley River Center. And the
best way to get there is
S. F. and Portland?
Well pick you up at the LTD Station (across from the
U of O Bookstore) or from 1 3th & Agate, for a direct ride
on the bus to a shopper's paradise of more than 140 stores
and great places to eat. It departs every half-hour Saturdays 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
and Sundays 11:00 am - 5:00 pm through December 12. And best of all it's
completely free with your student ID.
Take a Free Ride, Get a Free Lunch 423^
where the
current
is always
Ride the Valley River Center's Shuttle 'n Shop and
get a free lunch, good pt any of our fast food restaurants,
including McDonalds, Taco Time, and Arby's.
While quantities last, get details on the bus.
Bon Marche • JCPenney • Meier & Frank • Wards • Copeland Sports • Emporium
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10:00am-9:00pm • Sunday 11:00am - 6:00Pm