Making a break for it: planes, trains and alternatives
By Suzanne O’Kelley
for the Emerald
For a city of roughly 120,000
people, Eugene has a lot of enter
tainment and diversions to offer.
But for term breaks, three-day
weekends and even day trips, it
can be a refreshing break to get out
of the grasp of tie-dve, anarchy and
Valley River Center. And thanks to
a comprehensive mass transit sys
tem, no car is necessary.
Though Greyhound is generally
{ { / don’t have a car, so I
take Greyhound and Am
trak equally.
Amelia Simmons
University sophomore
believed to be the most economical
way to get out of town, Amtrak is a
close second. To compare, a round
trip ticket to Portland on Grey
hound costs from $13.50 to $20.50,
and takes two and a half to four
hours. Eight buses travel from Eu
gene to Portland daily.
r
To travel to and from Portland
on Amtrak, however, costs be
tween S14 and $33, making the
trip in just over two hours. Four
trains leave Eugene daily, and Am
trak buses leave six times a day.
“I don’t have a car, so 1 take
Greyhound and Amtrak equally,”
University sophomore Amelia
Simmons said. “Amtrak is more
cushy, but Greyhound is usually
cheaper and easier to get to.”
Both Amtrak and Greyhound
tickets can be purchased even
more cheaply if consumers pur
chase ahead or look for discounts.
Amtrak’s “Rail Sales” program
continually offers cheaper fares to
varying destinations. For example,
from Oct. 2 to Oct. 31, one-way
tickets to Seattle are only $22.50,
down from the usual price of $34.
Greyhound offers specialized
discounts from general tickets in
stead. With the Student Advantage
Card, Greyhound will take 15 per
cent off the bus fare.
If a more distant destination is de
sired, air travel is always an option.
Unlike most nearby cities, Eu
gene has an airport serving four
Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald
Travellers wait to board an incoming Amtrak train at the station in downtown Eugene. Many people take advantage of the alterna
tives to driving when leaving town for a weekend or extended break.
commercial airlines and about 40
flights daily.
United, United Express, Horizon
and America West fly to Denver,
Portland, Seattle, San Francisco,
Los Angeles and Phoenix.
Though a trip to a much bigger
city than Eugene or Portland, such
as Seattle, is cheaper by train, the
13-hour bus trip to San Francisco
might make a plane ticket worth
the extra cost. At between $200
and $300 for a round-trip flight,
San Francisco is not as unattain
able as it seems.
From Portland, airfare to San
Francisco goes as low as $138, but
the hassle might outweigh the
2001 Summer Session
Short courses, seminars, and workshops begin
throughout the summer.
Summer Session begins June 25. Duck Call starts May 7. The I/O
Summer Session Catalog will be available in early April. You can
speed your way toward graduation by taking required courses
during summer.
2001 Summer Schedule
First four-week session: June 25-July 20
Second four-week session: July 23-August 17
Eight week session: June 25-August 17
Eleven week session: June 25-September 7
UNIVERSITY of OREGON
SUMMER
SESSION
333 Oregon Hall
1279 University of Oregon
Eugene OR 97403-1279
Telephone (541) 346-3475; toll free (800) 524-2404
http://uosummer.uoregon.edu
t
money saved.
Airport administrators acknowl
edged that the advantage of the
Portland airport is that more flights
mean more competition and lower
fares. But, of course, getting to
Portland takes time and money.
And those are two things college
students never have enough of.
Kitzhaber
challenges
doctors to
show vigor
EUGENE (AP) — The Oregon
Health Plan needs doctors to rein
vigorate it with their energy and
leadership — and if they don’t,
managed care in the state will die,
according to Gov. John Kitzhaber.
“It’s time for doctors to stop re
acting and start leading,” Kitzhaber
told 150 Lane County doctors at a
meeting Sept. 12 of the Lane Coun
ty Medical Society in Eugene.
“Where we’re heading today is
not where we want to go. It’s not
good for doctors, it’s not good for
patients, and it’s not good for the
state of Oregon,” he said.
Kitzhaber emphasized similar
themes Sept. 13 at a daylong Ore
gon Health Plan summit also in Eu
gene.
The governor convened the sum
mit early this year to work out a
proposal for the 2001 Legislature
that would move Oregon toward
universal health coverage.
An emergency room doctor,
Kitzhaber has supported the Ore
gon Health Plan for more than a
decade. The statewide plan insures
low-income people not covered
through traditional government
programs.
More than 400 people attended
Wednesday’s summit, including 16
state legislators, and Kitzhaber
challenged them to build on the
successes and fix the flaws of the
Oregon Health Plan.
One of the challenges in health
care is that employers are facing
the steepest premium increases
they’ve seen since the early ’90s.
Average costs rose 8.3 percent in
1999, up from 4.8 percent the pre
vious year, according to a recent
national survey by the Kaiser Fam
ily Foundation.
The governor made no specific
proposals for controlling costs or
solving the health care problems of
the uninsured.
Instead, he called on lawamak
ers and groups including the
health care industry and consumer
advocates to commit to a series of
goals, including seeking ways to
provide access to health care for all
residents — not just the very poor.