I Get the hip
hop groove
University and Lane
Community College stu
dents have formed a
Hip-Hip Student Union,
and they want more
venues in which to
groove. PULSE
The Flash
ASUO General
Elections continue
The ASUO general elections
continue today at 9 a.m.
through 5 p.m.
This year’s elections will be
conducted entirely on Duck
Web. Students can submit
their votes through any com
puter with Internet access.
Several voting booths with
computers will be stationed
on campus for added con
venience.
Law conference
begins Thursday
At the Public Interest Envi
ronmental law Conference
more than 3,000 environ
mental leaders and social ac
tivists will hear keynote
speakers David Brower,
founder of Earth Island Insti
tute; forest activist Julia But
terfly Hill; animal rights ac
tivist Rod Coronado; Carrie
Dan, executive director of
the Western Shoshone De
fense Project; and Bill Mead
ows, president of The Wilder
ness Society. More than 100
panels and workshops are
set from Thursday to Sunday.
For schedule, locationsand
costs, call 346-3828.
Gunman kills two,
wounds three
WILKINSBURG, Pa. (AP)—A
gunman who reportedly
flew into a rage over a bro
ken door went on a rampage
Wednesday, shooting a
maintenance worker at his
apartment and customers at
two fast-food restaurants be
fore surrendering to police
during a hostage standoff.
Two people were killed and
three critically wounded.
Ronald Taylor, 39, of Wilkins
burg, was arrested in an office
building after he kept police
at bay for about two hours,
holding four or five people
in wheelchairs hostage at a
senior hospice center.
Weather
Today Friday
RAIN POSSIBLE
RAIN
high 51, low 41 high 41, low 35
Thursday
March 2,2000
Volume 101, Issue 109
n n_t h ft_w fi h
www.dailyemerald.com
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
An independent newspaper
The new
Defazio Bike
Bridge
creates a
new path
for bikers
and
pedestrians
to cross the
river
By Brian Goodell
Oregon Daily Emerald
Pedestrians and bicyclists
got a preview of the new $2.8
million DeFazio Bike Bridge
Friday before the official dedi
cation takes place in April.
Located just east of the newly
remodeled Ferry Street Bridge,
the DeFazio Bike Bridge re
mained open for the weekend
but will close occasionally for
touch up and repairs prior to the
dedication.
In 1997 the Eugene City
Council voted unanimously to
approve former Mayor Ruth
Bascom’s recommendation to
have the bridge named after
DeFazio. The three-year-old
project comes from the same
$23.7 million in federal money
that Rep. Peter DeFazio, D
Springfield, helped acquire to
improve transportation in Eu
gene, which is why the new
structure now bears his name.
The bridge got mixed re
views Friday. Cyclists and
pedestrians marveled at the
unique design, but some won
dered why it was built so close
to an existing bridge. Although a
trek across the Ferry Street
Turn to Bridge, page 4A
Bike bridge
The newly buift DeFazio Bike Bridge is now open for public use, but its grand opening isn’t until April.
Mexican strikers determined to prevail
Mexican
protester
Margarita Diaz
Lara spoke to
the University
and Lane
Community
College last
week regarding
labor in Mexico
By Serena Markstrom
Oregon Daily Emerald
It has been 224 days since
workers at the Congeladora del
Rio (CRISA) frozen fruit plant
in Irapuato, Mexico, went on
strike. On that hot July day 200
workers were fired. Now those
workers are trying to form an
independent labor union.
This issue has risen to com
plicated legal levels at the cost
of more than 150 jobs filled by
workers from another town.
The legal complication lies in
Mexican labor laws and the
laws governing the right to form
a union.
Margarita Diaz Lara is one of
those workers who has been in
limbo since the strike began —
five days before her 21st birth
day. Tuesday she returned to
Mexico after touring the North
west to raise awareness of the
struggle.* Lara’s visit was spon
sored by the Mexican Solidari
ty Network in conjunction with
the Committee in Solidarity
with the Central American Peo
ple. Lara visited the University
and Lane Community College
last week.
The workers’ demands are
threefold: They want the fired
workers reinstated, they want the
right to freely associate with the
union of their choice and they
want better working conditions.
Lara had worked at the
Turn to Strike, page 6A
44 If I have
to die for it, I
will die.
Margarita Diaz
Lara
worker on strike
_n
Support services available for assault victims
Sexual Assault
Support
Services and
the EPD are
working to
combat
problems of
sexual
violence
IS
By Darren Freeman
Oregon Daily Emerald
Sexual violence is one of the
state’s most punishable offens
es, but it’s also one of the most
commonly unreported crimes.
Measure 11, passed in 1994,
intended to crack down on
sexually motivated crimes by
requiring minimum sentences
ranging from 75 to 100 months
imprisonment. Most sex
crimes, however, go unreport
ed to the police.
“Out of any ten women we
work with, probably only two
or three report to the police,”
Teri Gutierrez, advocacy serv
ices coordinator for Sexual As
sault Support Services, said.
While 3,439 people, some
repeat callers, contacted SASS
in 1998, the Eugene Police De
partment charged only 286
people that year with sex of
ing only 32 people vPith com
mitting sexually motivated
crimes in the University area.
SASS community education
coordinator Elizabeth Mc
Cravy said victims of sexual
assault often refuse to file re
ports because they fear public
scorn, are wary of the criminal
justice system and sometimes
blame themselves.
“When someone comes for
fenses.
A concerned
motherspeaks
out for support
for rape victims.
PAGE8A
Inside
Almost
700 of
S A S S ’ s
callers were
University
students, but
the EPD re
ports charg
ward to say they’ve been
abused as an adult or a child, a
lot of the focus and blame falls
on the victim,” McCravy said.
SASS strives to ensure vic
tims that attackers are to blame
for the assault, no matter
where victims were, what they
wore or who they were with.
“We try to convince victims
that there’s no such thing as a
rape-able offense,” McCravy
said.
Many crime victims, howev
er, refuse to press charges be
cause they’re apprehensive
about the justice system and
public criticism on the witness
stand, SASS spokeswoman
Janet Fiskio said. “The whole
reporting process can be very
Turn to Services, page 7A
This is the second
installment of a
three-part series
about sexual as
sault.
Today: Avdvocacy
efforts for victims
and presecution of
offenders
Friday: Women
empowering them
selves through pre
vention and coun
seling.