Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2000)
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford Associate Editors: Rebecca Newell, Jeff Smith Newsroom: (541)346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu Thursday August 3,2000 Volume 102, Issue 13 Emerald Residents and businesses sur rounding Autzen Stadium are right fully concerned over proposed ex pansion plans, especially in light of the fact that the University is seeking to increase seating capacity at the venue without offering more on-site parking spaces for those extra 12,100 fans. But administration officials and city planners have worked diligently to ease those worries and we ap plaud their efforts — with a few caveats. The University’s goal is to lighten the parking space requirement via an amendment to Eugene’s Land Use Code — Section 9.586 for the purists, which requires one parking space for every 4.4 seats in the stadi um. Even with a current 50 percent reduction allowance in place, the University would have to find a way to provide 1,375 extra spots on-site, and with expansion costs already es timated at $80 million, the less mon ey spent, the better. However, as anyone who lives or owns a business within a mile radius of Autzen knows, congestion is al ready a nightmare in the area on game days. Mobile quacker-backers spill over from the stadium site and park in just about any empty space they can find, creating headaches for prop erty owners and residents in the area. To tackle the issue without throw ing extra cash into a parking struc ture or some other unsightly alterna tive, University architects and a private traffic consultant firm in Portland have designed a Trans portation Demand Management Plan. The strategy received its first official OK Monday when the Eu gene Planning Commission voted Points to ponder prior to praising parking plan unanimously to accept it as sound and ready for consideration by the City Council. The 74-page document is geared toward highlighting several travel al ternatives for fans making their way to Autzen, including a focus on mak ing pedestrian access safer along Centennial Boulevard, creating more convenient bicycle access for those inclined to arrive on two wheels in stead of four and encouraging more people to use public transit. In fact, the plan aims to increase that usage from approximately 6,000 spectator bus trips per game to 11,200 specta tor trips. All is good with the plan to this point. The problems — those pesky caveats referred to earlier — arise in exactly how to accommodate the in creased transit patrons. In its TDM Plan, the University has done what seems like an adequate job of provid ing for the extra service. There are proposals to expand by anywhere from 34 to 39 the number of buses in operation to shuttle fans from off-site park-and-ride facilities. The University would also devel op an effective signage plan on major approach routes to Autzen, so that out-of-town fans could be directed to those lots. There was also discussion at Monday’s commission meeting suggesting that those bus rides be made free to fans. However, once in the Autzen area, the plans take a controversial turn. Three options focused on bus stag ing areas — places where the buses would discharge fans before the games and pick them up post-game — are offered in the TDM Plan. Two of the choices are on University prop erty, either along Leo Harris Parkway or in a lot just northwest of Autzen. The third alternative — and the one that both University officials and city planners prefer — would be situated on city property currently leased by the Willamette Science and Technology Center. Two potential wrongs are attached to this third plan and we all know about the “two wrongs” cliche. Firstly, WISTEC has for the past several years been generating rev enue by selling season parking spaces to football fans; under this option that money may evaporate and WISTEC will suffer. Secondly, the bus staging area as designed could affect East Alton Baker Park, a habitat for native vege tation and wildlife. The park is situ ated close enough to the bus area such that diesel fumes from idling buses and general noise pollution might impact the environment and disturb park-goers. (Yes, people do engage in other activities not related to football on game days.) University and WISTEC officials both say that they would like to ne gotiate a fair deal in regards to the parking lot issue. City Manager Jim Johnson has met with both the Uni versity and WISTEC to help hammer out a deal, although the two princi pal parties have yet to sit down and discuss matters. We have not seen nor heard any information to the contrary, so we expect the University to be fair and just in its meetings with WISTEC. The Autzen Stadium expansion plans already suffered one major public relations disaster when Nike CEO and President Phil Knight with drew his financial pledge to the proj ect; we don’t need another negative situation to occur. We also strongly recommend that the University reach out more to members of the East Alton Baker Park Citizen Planning Committee, the organization in charge of park maintenance. At Monday’s meeting, at least one committee representa tive said he thought school officials could do more in fully understand ing the issues surrounding Alton Baker Park. In general, there is not much op position to the city granting the Uni versity’s request for a parking code amendment, which goes before a public hearing on Sept. 25. And as far as bulky, official documents go, the TDM Plan is easy to follow and heads in a direction that the commu nity-at-large should embrace; less dependence on automobiles in get ting fans from Point A, home, to Point B, Autzen.Stadium, to cheer on the Ducks. Along the way, however, Universi ty officials should make certain to stop,Jook and listen to all those in volved in the party planning. this editorial represents the view of the Emerald editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon.uoreeon.edu. Similar to Monica, President Clinton sucks at politics President Clinton can be a lot of things to a lot of people, but he al ways was and will continue to be his own worst ene my. After being impeached and besmirching a presidency that otherwise would have been recog nized by histo ry as one of great prosperi ty, Clinton will again harm his legacy by pre venting Vice President Al Gore from being elected this November by continually inject Bret Jacobson ing himself into the campaign. Clinton’s most recent intrusion into the presidential campaign came through a mocking of Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s run for the presi dency. Clinton mocked the affable nature of the governor and the younger Bush’s ties to his father, who incidentally has grown in stature in the minds of Americans since being voted out in 1992. But Clinton’s efforts to help his col league will only end up damaging the legacy the president has been said to hold so precious. It is clear that Americans don’t want to change di rection, but they are tired of having a negative, attack-orienfed leader who reminds them that we no longer have any integrity in the White House. And by attaching Bush to his father, a now-popular past president, Clinton is only drawing a clearer distinction between his administration and the governor. So every time Clinton pops up with his antics, it seems Bush’s poll numbers rise. It makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is why Clinton keeps trying. There is another reason for Clinton to keep quiet. There is a long tradition of Ameri cans thinking of their vice presidents as yes-men and men not suited to ward leadership. This is obviously a direct result of the demands of the position — to be an attack dog, a par ty whip and a yes-man to the presi dent. But when it is time for the veep to convince Americans he can be their leader, it takes time and an un derstanding boss who will get out of the way and let the vice president demonstrate his abilities and ideas. But when Clinton keeps acting as the attack dog, as he is this week while Gore vacations in North Caroli na, he reminds voters that he is still in charge and Gore is still number two. None of this is new, however. Clin ton always is a slash-and-burn politi cian and will always be his own worst enemy. This time he will hurt his legacy by ensuring Gore won’t be elected. Bret Jacobson is a columnist for the Oregon Daily Emerald. His views do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. He can be reached at bjacobson@gladstone. uoregon.edu. Thumbs To the Post Office for finally realizing the magn itude of online transac tionssuch ase mail.TheU.S. Postal Service is testing a variety of e-services for Americans, includ ing assigning everyone an e maiI address based on their address and a I lowing cus tomers to pay bills online through the USPS web site. To police over time ruses Portland police who worked Cen tral Precinct drug missions were coached by ser geants on how to be discreet claim ing overtime yet finishing work early. An investi gation by Internal Affairs found problems, includ ing officers who did not show up to work were list ed and paid as having worked, and ieaving after roll call. Editorial excerpts from around the United States and the world July 29, The Columbus (Ohio) Dis patch, on Fourth Amendment protec tions: In the United States, the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects the homes, effects and persons of citizens from unreasonable searches. That applies in Ohio, too, unless you want to buy more than four kegs of beer. Under a new rule promulgated by the Ohio Liquor Control Commission, any body who wants to buy five or more kegs of beer, for a wedding reception, company picnic, block party or the like, must agree to surrender his or her Fourth Amend ment protection. As a condition of purchase, these keg buyers must sign a form giving state offi cials and police carte blanche to crash the party to see whether anybody is doing anything illegal, no warrant and no proba ble cause required. The new rule is well-intended but ill conceived. No Ohioan should have to give up a basic constitutional right in order to throw a party or drink a beer. State officials would do well to rethink this one. Aug. 1, Los Angeles Times, on Napster and the Internet: From the days of player pianos to radio and now the Internet, copyright holders — those artists and others who produce creative works — have looked on new technology as a natural enemy. They have confronted the source of unauthorized copying and tried to litigate or legislate it out of existence. The recording industry’s lawsuit against Napster, the San Mateo (Calif.) based online music swap meet... will not erase the technology that Napster has made so popular. As is always the case, copyright owners and the new technology will have to learn to live with one another, and that’s where their energies should be directed. The Internet does, indeed, pose a threat to the recording giants and their iron grip on the distribution of recorded music in various forms. Freely available MP3 com pression technology has made download ing music easy and fast, and ... putting Napster out of business will not end the peer-to-peer music swaps that the compa ny pioneered. Already, half a dozen or more other Internet... (sites) offer similar services.... Clearly, the recording industry, rather than mount a legal assault on the new medium, should look for ways to team up with it, while preserving artists’ rewards. ... A new world is opening for sound and picture distribution that, cannot be stopped by litigation. Aug. 2, The Nation, Bangkok, Thai land, on American foreign policy toward Southeast Asia: With the Republican National Conven tion in full swing, one issue that is not fea turing all that much is foreign affairs. Dur ing a teleconference held yesterday at the U.S. Embassy (in Bangkok), Stephen J. Hadley, foreign policy adviser for the George W. Bush campaign, spoke from Philadelphia. He did not shed any light at all on the overall directions of Bush’s poli cies towards most of Asia... The next U.S. president has to pay more attention to Southeast Asia, the region where the U.S. has been able to safely maintain a military presence since World War II. Throughout the Clinton adminis tration, Washington has failed to come to grips with the changing political land* scape in this area, which has resulted in a growing groundswell of anti-American sentiment... If Southeast Asia continues to be ignored or taken for granted, the next American leader may find a different ide ology flowering in the region, one into which it will not easily fit or be able to in fluence. Associated Press
