I Ducks in first!
i
| Oregon moves in to a four-way
tie for first after avenging last
| season's last-second loss to
CISC, stopping the Trojans
| down the stretch in a nail-biter
| at the Pit, 68-67. PAGE 7
The Flash
OSPIRG meeting kicks off
winter term
A group of about 45 students attend
ed a meeting Thursday that marked
the beginning of the Oregon Students
Public Interest Group’s campaign for
this term.
OSPIRG will focus their energy on
campaigns concerning renter’s rights,
hunger and homelessness, clean wa
ter, earth day and eliminating ATM
surcharges. Page 3
Clinton delivers his last
State of the Union
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Clin
ton proposed a $350 billion tax cut,
big spending increases for schools and
health care and photo ID licenses for
handgun purchases Thursday night as
he offered the final agenda of his
presidency. “The state of our union is
the strongest it has ever been,” he
boasted.
At the start of an election-year, Clin
ton rebuked Congress in his last State
of the Union address and called for
action. “For too long this Congress has
been standing still on some of our
most pressing national priorities,” he
chided.
The president noted that next month
the United States will achieve the
longest period of economic growth in
the nation's history, and called on
Americans to “set great goals.”
Another step taken
in attack on AIDS
WASHINGTON (AP)—Scientists at drug
giant Merck & Co. have opened a long
awaited target in the hunt for new
ways to attack the AIDS virus.
It will take years of additional work to
create a usable medication from the
finding, experts cautioned.
But Merck’s research with an enzyme
called integrase gives scientists a long
awaited new place to aim against HIV,
at a time when many researchers are
frustrated in the hunt for novel AIDS
drugs.
Weather
Today Saturday
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January 28,2000
Volume 10T, Issue 85
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wwwdailyemerald.com
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
An independent newspaper
Prevention pays off
i
Catharine Kendall Emerald
Lane County’s John Serbu Youth Campus, located at 2727 Centennial Blvd., is the future sight for a new juvenile offenders processing center.
Lane County juvenile crime declines
Intervention
services are
partly
responsible
for the
overall drop
in juvenile
crime since
1999
i
[
I
By Sara Lieberth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Tiie juvenile, crime rate
for Lane County appears to
be on a steady, though
slight, decline, according to
preliminary figures released
this week by the Depart
ment of Youth Services.
Some agency officials be
lieve the decrease can be
substantially attributed to
identifying at-risk youth be
fore their behavior turns
criminal.
Both violent juvenile
crime and overall crime
committed by juveniles in
cluding those against prop
erty decreased in 1999. To
tal juvenile crime dropped
7.6 percent last year, contin
uing a downward trend be
gun in 1996.
Violent crimes, which in
clude assaults, homicides
and sex offenses, decreased
only slightly from 480 to
477 reported in 1999. Prop
erty crimes, involving ar
son, burglary, robbery,
shoplifting, auto theft and
trespassing, are the most
prevalent among young of
fenders. These infractions
experienced the greatest
overall decline, dropping
11.7 percent from 1,955 to
1,726 in 1999.
Other crimes such as dis
orderly conduct, weapons
possession and drug and al
cohol offenses dropped as
well by a margin of 4.1 per
cent.
As the director of Youth
Services for Lane County,
Steve Carmichael stressed
that although these recent
statistics show a definite
improvement, when viewed
over a longer period they
also indicate a need for con
tinued work.
“If you look at the num
bers year to year, it’s encour
aging,” he said. “But over
the last 15 years, for in
stance, we’ve seen some
higher levels.”
Carmichael also cited the
specific attention being
placed oh at-risk youth by
county agencies in the last
few years. He said the com
Tum to Crime, page 6
ii if you
look at the
numbers
year to
year, it's
encourag
ing.
Steve
Carmichael
Lane County
Youth
Services
director
Executive, child care
budgets approved
■ Programs Finance
Committee members
also approve three other
budgets Thursday night
By Edward Yuen
Oregon Daily Emerald
Tears and shouts of frustra
tion characterized the second
to last of almost a month of
emotion-wrenching Programs
Finance Committee meetings
Thursday night.
After more than three hours
of argument, with an hour in
terruption to hear the tabled
budget of the ASUO Childcare
Subsidy Program, PFC mem
bers approved a budget of
$222,197 for the ASUO Execu
tive, only 2.01 percent of the
executive’s requested 16.01
percent increase. “The PFC has
done the students a disservice
today, by not supporting the
executive budget... The exec
utive budget was created to
support the entire student
body,” ASUO Vice President
Mitra Anoushiravani said.
More than 40 students, includ
ing representatives from other
Oregon Student Association
schools, attended the PFC
meeting and supported the
ASUO Executive.
The ASUO Executive pro
posed a budget of $252,684,
which includes the funding for
a part-time executive coordina
tor position. However, PFC
members did not support
funding for this staff addition.
“It is just a tough decision
that PFC had to make,” PFC
chairwoman Shantell Rice
said. “And we did the best we
could. Basically we were asked
to fund a brand new position
for something that would ap
Turn to PFC, page 3
Gay Day to place issues
on table for discussion
■ Organizers hope
talking about
homosexual issues and
concerns will strengthen
gay communities
By Cathlene McGraw
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Bridges program held
Thursday at the YWCA aimed
to promote awareness of issues
within the homosexual com
munity, a theme that will be
further examined during the
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender Alliance’s Gay
Day on Saturday.
The Bridges workshop pro
vides a way for people to be
come more visible and a way
for allies of the homosexual
community to show their support.
“It’s hard to build a commu
nity when its members are in
visible,” LGBTA volunteer
Nina Thompson said. “There is
no way for me to tell just by
looking at you if you are queer
or straight.”
Bridges participants share
their coming out stories with
audience members interested
in coming to
terms with
their sexual
ity or dealing
with their
homopho
bia.
L G B T A
members
and supporters participated in
a coming out panel discussion
during the workshop. Billy So
lis, a Bridges workshop partici
pant and biochemistry major,
said he feels heterosexuality is
more accepted in society and
that straight people have more
freedom to discuss their sexu
Turn to Gay Day, page 4