City Council eager to approve library plans
■ Mayor Jim Torrey,
however, feels the council
might be overzealous and
ignoring parking issues
By Sara Lieberth
Oregon Daily Emerald
In a 5-2 vote Wednesday
evening the Eugene City Council
accepted the proposed project and
financing plans for the city’s new
library, for which construction
bids are expected to commence
early this summer and completion
is slated for early 2002.
Planners boasted of their suc
cess in creating a design space
largely from citizen input gleaned
from four community workshops
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over the last year, as well as up
ping the capacity for parked bikes
from 43 to 156 and creating an en
ergy-efficient interior operating at
30 percent below
building code re
PPBMImI quirements.
The new four
story building will
be located at West
10th Avenue and
Olive Street and
will cost at current estimates more
than $32 million.
Several present on Wednesday
referenced a Feb. 16 Register
Guard article in which the new li
brary was reported to be much
larger and more expensive than
what was called for in the pro
posed tax levy voters passed in the
1
November 1998 general election.
“I think from studying the proj
ect it is on budget, but it has been
pushed to the ends of its budget,”
councilman Gary Rayor said.
“There’s a certain amount of trust
the public has that we’re building
them a better library, and it’s im
portant we do what we told them
we’d do.”
But the added costs have come
from a number of sources, includ
ing cleaning contaminated
groundwater at the new site and
an expanded design that includes
33,000 square feet of fourth-floor
office space approved by the
council last March.
The new 127,000-square-foot
building will be about 3 1/2 times
larger than the current 37,000
square-foot library built in 1959.
Proponents of the expansion first
submitted a report to the City
Council in August of 1987 re
questing a new, larger facility.
Excited about the progress
made to date, Council President
Bobby Lee said the draft design
will be an enticing spot for city
residents, himself included.
“I know exactly where I’ll be sit
ting, next to the coffee station,
reading my newspaper on Sunday
mornings,” he said.
The issue of parking availability
dominated much of the discussion
during council’s work session,
with concerns raised over the ex
pense and logistics of the planned
underground space for 70 vehicles.
As the existing library has 110
parking spots, Gary Pape called
the proposed plan “woefully in
sufficient” considering future use.
Mayor James Torrey also cau
tioned the council from acting
hastily in approving the plan be
cause of similar concerns he said
he had over inadequate parking.
“I am very concerned that we
are too anxious to move forward,”
he said. “I hope before we put this
to bed somebody can assure me
we can do this.”
But Lee answered by motioning
to approve the plan as it stood say
ing that any additional spaces can
easily be negotiated at Monday’s
council session, where the issue
will be readdressed.
“I really think we are almost
there,” he said.
Robberies
continued from page 1A
years of age, six-feet tall, weighing
150 pounds with shoulder-length
black hair. He was last seen wear
ing a three-quarter length leather
jacket over a green collarless shirt,
black pants and a green stocking cap.
Just a few hours later, a second
robbery occurred at the Little Y Mar
ket, 603 W. 19th Ave. at 8:54 p.m.
The suspect in this case, still at large,
displayed a handgun and demand
ed money from the store’s clerk. He
fled on foot after the robbery. The
second suspect was described as a
white-male adult, approximately 25
years old, six-feet-four-inches tall,
with a heavy build and blonde hair.
He was last seen wearing a dark-col
ored baseball cap and a long-sleeved
sweater with blue pinstripes.
Jan Power, public information
Media critic
continued from page 1A
bers to look at the language in mag
azine and newspaper coverage and
fairness in viewpoints presented.
He offered Time magazine as an
example of a major publication
that presented lop-sided coverage
of the protest. To Solomon, the
magazine’s pro-WTO coverage
would have been fine had there
also been another side presented
in the Dec. 13,1999, issue.
Traditional journalists operate
within constraints, which is why
they present narrow viewpoints,
Solomon said. This constricted and
assistant for the Eugene Police De
partment, said the two robberies
were considered unrelated be
cause the suspects did not resem
ble each other. Both store’s man
agers did not wish to comment.
Power said it is not that uncom
mon for two seemingly unrelated
robberies to occur so close togeth
er in Eugene.
“This wouldn’t happen on a
monthly basis, but I do see it from
time to time,” Power said.
Nevertheless, reports from the
EPD’s West University police sub
station say overall crime is down.
Officer Randy Ellis, who patrols
13 th Avenue and works out of the
West University Station, said cam
pus-area safety is a lot better than
it used to be.
“It may not seem like that be
cause crime still happens in the
area, but overall crime is down,”
he said.
narrow coverage results in inaccu
rate reporting of events, he said.
Solomon will urge audience
members to support alternative me
dia, which have fewer constraints.
There are journalists doing good
work, but it is an “island swamped
by an ocean of dreck,” he said.
The Register-Guard carries
Solomon’s weekly syndicated col
umn “Media Beat,” in which he
criticizes different aspects of the
media. “As a progressive media
analyst, my voice is almost the
only one [in mainstream media]
taking a strong progressive view
point,” Solomon said.
Carl Bybee, associate professor in
Despite these incidents, Univer
sity Bookstore General Manager
Jim Williams said 13th Avenue is a
relatively safe place to do business.
“I’ve been here for 30 years, and
the amount of armed robbery in
the area has been fairly small,”
Williams said.
Although crime is down, Ellis
said crime is still a problem in the
West University area.
“There are people I know for a
fact who are heroine addicts who
prey on students’ backpacks at
Knight Library and go sell their
books at Smith Family [Book
store],” Ellis said. “Personally,
people are much safer than they
have been. Property wise, stu
dents need to be more careful with
their personal belongings.”
Anyone with information re
garding either of these robberies is
encouraged to contact the EPD’s
Violent Crimes Unit at 682-5111.
journalism and communications,
said he appreciates Solomon’s
work. Solomon will visit Bybee’s
communication and democracy
class Thursday to discuss the cover
age of the WTO protest.
Bybee, who also teaches media
criticism, said it is important for
students to understand the impor
tant role politics plays in mass
media coverage because the me
dia is critically involved in politi
cal and social change.
Solomon said all people, not
just journalists, can make a differ
ence. It is important to challenge
complacency because that is how
things will change, he said.
Calendar
Thursday, Feb. 17
“Medieval Scribal Psychology: Clues
from Medieval Gospel Manuscripts.”
A presentation by Dr. Sergejus Tem
cinnasfrom the University
of Vilnius in Lithuania will be held at
4 p.m. in the Oregon Humanities
Seminar Room, 154 PLC.
Human Resources Workshop: “ Rec
ognizingthe Signs and Symptoms:
Acting to Prevent Violence in the
Workplace.” Pre-registration re
quired. 1 to 5p.m. Room 163B, Pub
lic Safety Conference Room. For in-:
formation, browse
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~hu
manres/train99.htm or call
346-3159.
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