Friday November 12,1999 Volume 101, Issue 54 Weather RAIN LIKELY Saturday MOSTLY CLOUDY University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon An independent newspaper www.dailyemerald.com Oregon’s charged and ready The Ducks begin thier quest for the “Big Dance ” as they kick off their 1999-2000season tonight at McArthur Court against the Basketball Travelers. PAGE 7A Cottage Grove commute Lane Transit District will offer service between Eugene and Cottage Grove throughout the week beginning in February to better serve distant commuters. PAGE 5A At the coffee counter The Buzz employee Jason Lanning serves Tara Payne, a senior business major, a cup of coffee. Jeffrey Stockton Emerald By Brian Goodell Oregon Daily Emerald Coffee has been a staple of the American diet for years. And for years, the health effects of caffeine have been a source of heat ed debate. But one fact is without question — the coffee industry is brim ming with delight as sales are up across the board, and the University is no exception. Coffee consumption on campus has shown a dra matic increase from last year. EMU Food Service, which manages all coffee outlets on campus not associated with University Housing, reports a first-quarter increase in coffee sales from $47,087 in 1998 to $63,238 in 1999. Victoria Varble-Goss, EMU as sistant food service director, at tributed the increase to java savvy freshmen. “In the last several years, if you walk into any high school, they have espresso bars, Varble Goss said. “When those students come to college, they already know exactly what they want.” Fred Babcock has served as di rector of food service for Univer sity Housing since 1979 and has noticed a significant change in coffee consumption. “I’ve recently noticed an in crease in consumption as fresh man become more familiar with coffee,” Babcock said. “Students coming to school now have already been exposed to the coffee culture.” Babcock said that when he first came to the Uni versity, students were not really into drinking coffee. University Housing now conducts surveys every year to measure coffee preferences of students. “They’re drinking a lot more of it now,” Babcock said. Nutritionists are not convinced that this recent boom is a good thing, but they are reluctant to condemn coffee consumption, as long as it’s done in moderation. “There are no studies that show caffeine in small doses has ill health effects for an individ ual," University Health Center Dietitian Kristen Olmos'said. Although caffeine has been linked to heart disease, cancer, os Turn to Addiction, Page4A Coffee consumption among University students has increased dramatically within the last year New grievance filed in senate ■ University student Scott Austin accuses five student senators of breaking ASUO rules and demands they each be removed from office By Jeremy Lang * Oregon Daily Emerald Five hours and $25 might not be the only punishment for the student senators ac cused last week of breaking ASUO rules. On Thursday, student Scott Austin filed an eight-page grievance with the ASUO Consti tution Court against summer-session Sens. Jessica Timpany, C.J. Gabbe, Jereme Grzy bowski, Spencer Hamlin and Andrew Schnei der. Austin accused the five senators of break ing ASUO rules by not holding office hours and abusing power by allocating $400 to fami ly housing, a non-ASUO recognized group. Austin also demanded in his grievance that all five senators be removed from office for non-fulfillment of duties and pay back the $75 stipend they received for their work on the summer senate. Gabbe said he disagreed with the charges and spent more than adequate time during the summer working on student issues even though he didn’t post office hours. “The accusations of nonfulfillment are unreasonable,” Gabbe said. “I went above and beyond what was required of me, and it’s unfortunate that this is about whether I posted hours and not what I accomplished over the summer. ” As of late Thursday, Grzybowski and Hamlin said they didn’t have a chance to read the grievance and would not comment Turn to Grievance. Page 4A f Student Senate Timeline Nov. 3: Former Student Senator Autumn DePoe files a grievance against four sena tors for failing to hold office hours. Nov. 10: In re sponse, the senate demands the sena tors return $25 of the $75 received in stipends during summer session. Nov. 11: Student Scott Austin files a grievance against five senators for not fulfilling ASUO responsibilities, suggesting they each be removed from office and re pay the entire $75. African student group to foster community ■ Junior Aleyao Binioube is looking to re-establish an organization for African students in Eugene By Edward Yuen Oregon Daily Emerald Diversity on campus will soon be broadened with the ad dition of a new ethnic student group at the University. Aleyao Binioube, a junior ma joring in international studies, is trying to re-establish an organi zation for students from Africa. The organization will tentative ly be called African Student As sociation, Binioube said. Binioube, who is from the Re public of Togo, has been work ing in different African coun tries for various international organizations, such as the African Refugee Committee and ADIS (Afrique, Action for Inte gral and Sustainable Develop ment in Africa in Benin and Togo). Binioube came to the Univer sity in September and decided he wanted to establish the group so students from Africa can share their experiences with other African students and for learn more about African is sues. Binioube also said he has many goals for the student group. He said he wants to build an African community at the Uni versity through the group. He said the student group will pro vide information to students in Africa about studying in the United States. In addition, the group will provide career infor mation for African students in their home countries. Turn to African. Page 4A other students to Diversity issues