Sweet, sweet
garden days
j An annual event put on
by KLCC radio station
j tours the most won
j drous private gardens
] of Eugene. Tickets for
the event are on sale
now. PAGE 5A
The Flash
Music festival
at Dexter Lake Friday
Several bands will show- I
case their musical stylings at j
“A Day at Dexter Lake,” a
one-day outdoor musical j
event. Bands include Left
] over Salmon and Yonder
Mountain String Band. Food I
\ booths such as Genesis Juice j
Co-op and Mike’s Magic j
Mushroom will serve up culi
nary stylings to round out the
music jam. PageSA
ASUO Senate votes
for money transfers
Members of the ASUO Sen
ate met Tuesday night for
their first meeting of the
1 summer session. The ASUO
Executive, ASUO Senate, the
j Solar Information Center, the
Women’s Center and the Uni
versity Future Lawyers’ Asso
ciation all asked to move I
money from various ac
counts to meet summer i
needs.
The Women’s Center pro
posal dealt with the largest
sum of money, $2,526, which
will go toward the purchase
of two new computers to
help the development of in
ternships and Women’s Cen
ter programs.
Officer convicted of
lying in case
NEW YORK (AP)—A police
man was convicted Wednes
day of lying to investigators
to avoid becoming a “rat” in
the case against patrolmen
who tortured a prisoner in a
precinct house’s bathroom.
The jury deliberated two
days in Brooklyn federal
court before delivering a split
verdict, finding Francisco
Rosario guilty of two counts
of conspiring with his partner
to make false statements to
the FBI six weeks after the
1997 assault of Abner
Louima.
Weather
Today Friday
high 85, low 54 high 89, low 60
1
Thursday
June 22,2000
Volume 101, Issue 2
—G—n-L—b e_w r h ^
www.dailyemerald.com
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
An independent newspaper
Deadline looms to save on student loans
■With interest rates set to
rise, analysts urge students,
especially recent graduates,
to consolidate student loans
By Kristy Hessman
Oregon Daily Emerald
In response to the increase in
interest rates beginning in July,
the Department of Education an
nounced last week that it would
guarantee current interest rates to
any loan applicant who submits
a loan consolidation application
by July 1, 2000.
On that day, interest rates on
student loans will soar once
again. Rates could go as high as
8.25 percent, the statutory cap,
affecting new and old loans.
“It’s not because of anything in
legislation or administration, it is
simply due to an increase in the
cost of money,” said Ivan Frish
berg of U.S. PIRG, the national
version of Oregon Student Public
Interest Research Group.
To afford the expensive costs
of college, students often need to
take out more than one loan.
Now students can combine their
loans by consolidating and lock
into current lower interest rates.
“You could always consolidate
your loan, but now what it does
is take the variable rate and turn
it into a single loan rate which
can be locked in,” Frishberg said.
Individuals who may benefit
most from this type of loan are
students who have just graduat
ed.
“People who need to know
about this at the University of
Oregon are recent graduates,” Fr
ishberg said. “Graduates have a
six month grace period (to start
paying) their loans; if they con
solidate now they may be able to
receive their in-school rate
which is typically below 7 per
cent.”
Many students are unaware
that interest rates will increase or
that the consolidation option is
available.
“We are working with finan
cial offices as well as sending e
mails to get the word out on the
Internet,” Frishberg said.
Apparently, not many students
here at the University are aware
of the consolidation issue.
“We haven’t gotten to much
traffic about that issue,” Finan
cial Office Associate Director Jim
Gilmour said. “The information
came out kind of late.”ASUO
members think that students
should find out student loan in
formation on their own.
“It is not ASUO’s responsibili
ty to make sure that students pay
their loans,” Senate President
Loan consolidation
Deadline for applying for lower in
terest rates on student loans is July
1,2000.
For more information, contact
www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov or
call 1-800-557-7392.
SOURCE: U.S. PIRG
Lindsey McLean said. “Students
need to make their own deci
sions about it.”
While consolidation may not
decrease interest rates for all stu
dents, it is an option that is
worth looking into.
“Whether you are eligible or
not depends on each individual
and their situation,” Frishberg
said. “But it is a very good idea to
look into.”
Kiddie monies
A**
Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald
Hanah H. enjoys the play area at the Birth To Three center, which benefits several local families.
Grants to program enable
more services for families
■ Grants from various groups
enables Lane County’s Birth to
Three program, the only of its
kind, to implement new programs
By Rebecca Newell
Oregon Daily Emerald
Kids don’t come with instruction man
uals, but Birth to Three is providing the
next best thing to parents.
And after several years of diligent plan
ning and research by the staff, Birth to
Three has been rewarded for its efforts, re
ceiving several grants to expand their cur
rent child development curriculum.
“We wanted to be supported by Oregon
foundations,” Birth to Three’s executive
director Minalee Saks said. “Each foun
dation came through at the level that was
requested, which is very rare.”
The grants were awarded by local state
organizations, including the Ford Fami
ly Foundation and the Meyer Memorial
Trust. The awards, in the form of
$520,000 in grants, will allow Birth to
Three to implement a new program in
child-development curriculum.
Before submitting grant proposals,
Birth to Three spent two years planning
the new program, which concentrates on
the development of children from birth to
3 years of age. The program is called
“First 3 Years.” The organization recruit
ed the help of University professor Mary
Rothbart, who has been instrumental
with the organization since its creation,
for the grant writing.
Research concluded that there were no
similar programs in existence, and a
working model, which was funded by a
seed grant from the Oregon Community
Foundation, was developed to submit for
the grant proposals.
“I was so happy ... this is really going to
be a tremendous opportunity not only for
parents in this community but beyond,”
Rothbart said.
The core program is split into three sec
Turn to Birth to Three, page 4A
Accounts shared
of police actions
■ Representatives from various sides of last
weekend’s anarchist protest speak out
about their perspectives of the incident
By Jack Clifford
Oregon Daily Emerald
The fallout from this past weekend’s “Carnival
Against Capital” rally in downtown Eugene took a
- more administrative spin Wednesday as city offi
cials worked to inform the public on how to file offi
cial complaints against police officers.
That action, led by City Manager Jim Johnson, fol
lowed a Tuesday press conference at the Lane Coun
ty Jail where about a dozen
people claimed police made
random arrests of innocent
bystanders and used exces
sive force against some of
those arrested or witnessing
the action. Although Eugene
Police Chief Jim Hill said he
did not attend Tuesday’s
event, he denied the charges.
“I’m not aware of anything
like that having occurred,” he
said, adding that each police
officer involved in any week
end confrontation has writ
ten a police report. “If [people] were arrested indis
criminately, that would have popped up [in the
reports], and I haven’t seen anything like that.”
One speaker at Tuesday’s meeting, Eugene resi
dent Darrell Olson, said he repeatedly expressed his
non-violent views to a police officer during a con
frontation and was eventually “violently wrestled
to the ground.”
“I am very disgusted about what can happen to
innocent people,” Olson said.
Various news reports from Saturday and Sun
day’s confrontations between police and protesters
referred to some members of the media who were
caught in the conflict. KLCC reporter Monika Haus
mann was at Tuesday’s press conference at the jail,
and although she didn’t speak to the entire crowd,
she did offer her side of a situation that took place
Sunday night at Eighth Avenue and Oak Street.
Hausmann was recording the protest sounds
with an extended microphone, while wearing her
headphones, after police in riot gear moved in to
stop protesters from playing a game of Red Rover in
the middle of the street. A small skirmish had bro
ken out about five to 10 feet away from her, she said,
when she felt a police baton ram into the back of her
head.
“It seemed like a double-hand [grip], like a base
ball bunting [motion],” Hausmann said. “The blow
was full-force. I feel like he hit me as hard as he
Turn to Rally accounts, page 4A
CC lam very
disgusted
about what
can happen
to innocent
people, yy
Darrell Olson
Eugene resident