Polls diss Ducks
The Oregon men are ranked
No. 23 in the AP poll, but are
unranked in the ESPN poll; the
women are No. 50 in the all
important RPI ranking. More
in Oregon notes. PAGE 7
The Flash
Prevention the best
crime-buster
The University has dealt with a rash of
bicycle and car thefts over the last
week, but to help protect against fu
ture crimes Office of Public Safety offi
cials say that prevention is the best
weapon. Students can use simple
crime-prevention tips to check if they
are really being the safest they can be.
The tips, offered by Crime Prevention
Officer Bob Guse, will run alongside
Crimewatch weekly in the Emerald.
Page 4
Oklahoma City coordinator
to help Thurston
SPRINGFIELD (AP)—A Portland land
scape architect who helped build a
memorial honoring victims of the
1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City
federal building will advise a group
planning a memorial to victims of the
1998 Thurston High School shootings.
Paul Morris, a 1984 University gradu
ate, will advise a Springfield School
District committee that is planning the
memorial.
Morris also helped the task force that is
planning a memorial to the victims of
last year’s shootings at Columbine
High School in Littleton, Colo.
Three bound tor Eugene in
Alaskan Airlines crash
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — An Alaska Air
lines jet carrying at least 70 people
plummeted into the Pacific Ocean 20
miles northwest of the Los Angeles air
port Monday after reporting mechani
cal problems. Three passengers were
bound for Eugene, an airline official
said.
Flight 261, heading from Puerto Val
larta, Mexico, to San Francisco and lat
er to Seattle, was reported down about
3:45 p.m. It had been diverted to Los
Angeles to attempt an emergency
landing, the Federal Aviation Adminis
tration said.
“Right now they are searching for sur
vivors,” said Coast Guard Lt. Jeanne
Reincke. Several bodies were found,
Coast Guard Lt. Chuck Diorio said, but
he could not give a specific number.
Weather
Today Wednesday
high 47, low 37
high 45, low 42
Tuesday
February 1,2000
Volume 101, Issue 87
n n the_w £_fa_
www.dailyemerald.com
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
An independent newspaper
Black history takes center stage
Events are
staged for Black
History Month,
ranging from
conferences to
musical
performances
on and off campus
By Brian Goodeli
Oregon Daily Emerald
February might be just an
other month to some people,
but for others it is a chance to
recognize and celebrate the
important role African
Americans have played
throughout history. A num
ber of events are scheduled
throughout the month on
and off campus to honor this
history and its impact.
Mother Kali’s Books is
sponsoring a number of pro
grams throughout the
month emphasizing the im
portant role African-Amer
icans have played in history
and popular culture.
“It is important at ever op
portunity to expose and af
firm the true history of the
United States,” Mother
Kali’s co-manager Tova
Stabin said. “Thus, it is im
portant for all people to cel
ebrate Black History Month
to at least take the time to
say out loud and explore the
truth about the quintessen
tial role black Americans
Turn to History, page 5
BLACK
HISTORY
MONTH
Putting technology to use
Say goodbye to those boring orientation
magazines; a new CD will now show newly
admitted students the ropes at the University
By Brian Goodell
Oregon Daily Emerald
The days of the clueless
freshman are numbered.
On Friday, representa
tives from the University
and Sony Disc Manufactur
ing unveiled “The UO Ex
perience,” an interactive,
multi-media CD-ROM de
signed to bring newly ad
mitted students up-to
speed about the University.
The CD features 13 virtual
reality environments, an in
teractive trivia game, a sys
tem of scalable maps and
links to the University net
work. Nearly all of the pro
duction and design work
was done by University stu
dents and faculty.
“We created ‘The UO
Experience’ to produce a
much-needed resource
that would help engage
newly admitted students
in the UO environment,”
University Provost John
Moseley said. “The CD
ROM is designed for stu
dents who have been ad
mitted to the University.”
After an initial mailing
of 2,500 CDs, the Universi
ty Office of Admissions
will distribute another 500
to 1,000 copies per week
during the peak period of
admissions activity.
Since many incoming
students are admitted to
more than one institution,
the admissions offide saw
this as an opportunity to
increase the retention rate
of students already admit
ted to the University.
“We put a great deal of ef
fort into talking with pro
spective students to find out
what they are really interest
ed in and concerned about,”
Director of Admissions
Martha Pitts said. “We put
together ‘The UO Experi
ence’ to address those needs.
The unveiling of the
new CD came just three
days after The Oregonian
concluded it’s three-part
series “Majoring in Medi
ocrity.” The series blasted
Oregon universities for not
placing enough priority on
technology in education.
“It’s true we’re not as
good as we could be, but
The Oregonian article was
Turn to CD-ROM, page 3
Series misleading,
Frohnmayersays
FROHNMAYER
■
■ A study of the state of higher
education in Oregon misrepresents
the success of many schools,
according to the University president
By Ben Romano
Oregon Daily Emerald
An Oregonian series criticizing the con
dition of higher education in Oregon has
sent shockwaves through the Oregon Uni
versity System.
University President Dave Frohnmayer
called the title of the report, “Majoring in
Mediocrity,” grotesquely unfair. It is “real
ly a kind of blame-the-victim syndrome,”
Turn to Frohnmayer, page 3
Despite resolutions,
diversity still concern
■ A bias response team was created
to deal with student concerns
about discrimination, and a Web
site about diversity is in the works
By Simone Ripke
Oregon Daily Emerald
Despite recent efforts of diversity interns
to make the University more conducive to
diversity, some ethnic students groups feel
that problems are far from being solved.
Seven months after 10 diversity interns
were hired in response to a May 18 John
son Hall sit-in sparked by a racial response
in a class e-mail discussion, a diversity
Turn to Diversity, oaee 6
This is the second of
a three-part series
exploring diversity
on campus.
Monday: Retaining
a diverse faculty
Today: Diversity in
terns’efforts with
student groups
Wednesday: John
son Hall protester
update