Ducks ready to
rock the Pit
Head coach Ernie Kent empha
sizes the importance of Ore
gon's first homestand during
Pac-10piay. PAGE 7
The Flash
Wet weather not as bad as it
seems to students
Rain isn’t exactly uncommon in Eu
gene, and these last few days are no
exception. But students can take
heart that The Emerald City is actual
ly experiencing lower-than-average
rainfall since October.
The drizzles are projected to contin
ue through the week, but due to in
creasing temperatures even some
snow has dusted the tops of South
Eugene and the Coburg hills. Traffic
advisories are in effect throughout
the state. PAGE 6
Deputy secretary of defense
to leave Pentagon
WASHINGTON (AP)—John Hamre,
the deputy secretary of defense who
oversaw the Pentagon’s largely suc
cessful inoculations against theY2K
computer bug, is resigning to be
come head of a major think tank.
Inannouncing the surprise move
Monday, Defense Secretary William
Cohen said he had recommended
that President Clinton nominate
Rudy de Leon to replace Hamre. De
Leon has been the Pentagon’s under
secretary for personnel and readiness
for the past two years and previously
was under secretary of the Air Force.
Hamre, 49, came to the Pentagon in
1993 to be com ptrol ler d u ri ng the
late Les Aspin’s tenure as defense
secretary.
No woman is too old for the
blessing of children
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP)—At an age
when most women are going
through menopause, 54-year-old
Arcelia Garcia is once again dealing
with diapers and night feedings.
She gave birth to triplets over the
weekend — 16 years after her last
child was bom.
Garcia, of Sunnyside, delivered three
healthy girls—Arianna, Brianna
and CeCelia — by Caesarean section
at about 5 p.m. Saturday at Yakima
Valley Memorial Hospital. The ba
bies were conceived without fertility
drugs.
Garcia and her husband, Guillermo,
60, now have 11 children and 13
grandchildren, with two more
grandchildren on the way.
Weather
Today Wenesday
high 42, low 38 high 42, low 37
Tuesday
January 11,2000
Volume 101, Issue 73
o n_l lL _e_web—-►
www.dailyemerald.com
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
An independent newspaper
Estimated student aid by source
for academic year 1997-98
National figures show that federal money makes up
72.69 percent of all money awarded
federal
.Pell Grants
1031%
llUp state grant
money
^federal
campus-based
/3.90% other federal
W programs,
3.30% non-federaMoani
Percent
to college students
State Grant Institutional
Programs and Other
Financial aid
deadlines near
■ Officials say no applications will
be accepted after Feb. 1
By Jessica Blanchard
Oregon Daily Emerald
Time is running out for students who want
to take advantage of the millions of dollars in
scholarships available for the next school year.
In the next few weeks, the University Office
of Student Financial Aid expects to be inun
dated with thousands of University scholar
ship applications, according to Jim Buch, the
associate vice president for student academic
affairs and interim director of financial aid.
Searchable on-line scholarship databases
have taken a lot of the hassle out of searching
for scholarships. That fact, coupled with the
increasing cost of a college education, trans
lates into increasing competition among stu
dents for scholarship dollars.
For example, last year only 2,575 students
out of the roughly 5,500 who applied for schol
arships from the Oregon Student Assistance
Commission actually won awards. The com
mission awarded approximately $6.3 million
in scholarships last year. In general, not many
scholarships go unclaimed, said Alan Baas, a
scholarship coordinator for the commission.
“It’s kind of a mythology people use to sell
books,” he said, referring to the current mar
ket for scholarship help books.
At the University, about 3,000 students are
expected to apply for the general scholarships,
according to Buch. But only about 25 percent
of those who apply will receive awards.
Buch said the best way to stay competitive
with other students is to follow basic rules:
Read the application directions, follow them
and avoid the common errors of forgetting to
spell check and proofread applications.
“It’s very hard to give scholarships to peo
Turn to Scholarships, page 6
University
general
scholar
ships
The deadline is
Feb. 1. No excep
tions will be al
lowed, so plan
accordingly.
3,000 students
are expected to
apply, but only
25 percent wilt
receive awards.
Watch for
spellingand oth
er common er
rors, and proof
read closely.
Read application
directions care
fully.
For applications,
go see the Office
of Financial Aid
in Oregon Hall.
ASUO elections to debut on-line voting
Democracy
goes digital
with the
premiere of
Duck Web
voting for
upcoming ASUO
elections
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
When University elec
tions begin in late February,
polling booths will once
again pop-up across cam
pus.
But for the first time ever,
the entire voting process
will be conducted via com
puter. Polling booths will
remain on campus, housing
two computer terminals
each on which students can
vote. Students will vote for
the ASUO Executive, stu
dent senators, ballot meas
ures and committee mem
bers using the Duck Web
system in both the primary
and general elections.
ASUO Elections Coordi
nator Ken Best said he
hopes the added conven
ience of computer voting
will improve voter turnout,
a major goal of this year’s
elections board.
“Polling booths are only
Turn to ASUO voting, page 6
Timeline for the 2000-01 ASUO
Elections:
Jan. 21: Deadline for can
didate filing and voter’s
guide statements.
|an. 24: Deadline to turn
in ballot measures requir
ing signatures to the Con
stitution Court.
Feb. 1: Deadline to turn
in ballot measures from
the ASUO Executive or
Student Senate to the
Constitution Court.
Feb, 23 and 24; Primary
elections held on Duck
Web.
March t and 2: General
Elections held on Duck
Web.
SOURCE: ASUO Elections Board
Communication breakdown bogs campus
A malfunction
in campus
messaging
systems briefly
stifles access to
voice mail
By Ben Romano
Oregon Daily Emerald
The campus awoke to find half of
its voice mail systems malfunction
ing Monday.
“Early this morning people start
ed reporting the problem,” said
Aaron Tar It on, assistant director of
University Telecommunications
Services.
According to Tarlton, two comput
er chips in Audix One died. Audix
One is one of two large computers
that control the entire campus tele
phone and voice-mail system. This
resulted in a system failure, he said.
Lucent Technologies, the compa
ny that provides telecommunica
tions hardware for the entire Oregon
University System, dispatched a
technician from Salem to fix the
problem and by late Monday after
to be in excess of $3,000. The Univer
sity has a maintenance contract with
Lucent Technologies, which covers
the cost of replacements such as these.
“Everyone who had a voice mail
box in [the Audix One system] could
noon the sys
tem was back
on-line.
The two
computer
chips had to be
replaced at a
cost estimated
neither receive nor access voice
mail,” Tarlton said.
Callers attempting to leave voice
mail messages were told by a record
ed message that their call was being
transferred to the appropriate mail
box., They were then put on hold.
And they stayed on hold indefinitely.
Accessing voice-mail was a prob
lem, too.
“I’ve got a blinking light that tells
me I’ve got messages,” said Ross
West, assistant director for science
and technology in the office of com
munications. “I’ve got a Pavlovian
response when I see the blinking
light. My first instinct is to respond
Turn to Malfunction, page 6