Cash or credit?
Credit cards can lead to debt and a
rating for the unwary. PAGE 4A
#
poor credit
Locals going for gold
Eugene and the entire state of Oregon have many
participants representing their country. PAGE 12A
Since 1900
University of Oregon
Eugene
Oregon
Friday
September 29,2000
Volume 102, Issue 23
Weather
TODAY
high 65, low 55
Elections 2000
Al Gore's Senior Environmental Policy Advisor, Katie McGinty, speaks at the Erb Memorial Union on Thursday. She discussed environmental policy with a large group of students and community memberT*"EmeraW
Gore environmental adviser
speaks on campus
Green Party
supporters
and a dead
fish greeted
Kathleen
McGinty in
the EMU
Thursday
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
When Kathleen McGinty, the
top environmental adviser for
A1 Gore, came to campus for a
town hall meeting Thursday,
she probably expected to have
an easy time talking policy. Af
ter all, Oregon voted Democrat
ic in the last three presidential
elections.
But this is Eugene and the
University of Oregon, which
also makes it a major Ralph
Nader stronghold. A handful of
the Green Party candidate’s sup
porters came wearing T-shirts
and buttons supporting the
Green Party candidate, who
holds a liberal platform of envi
ronmental conservation.
They challenged McGinty
with tough questions about
Gore’s environmental record.
She also had an unexpected
confrontation with a large, dead
fish.
About 200 students and com
munity members packed them
selves in the Ben Linder Room
in the EMU for a chance to
voice their concerns to McGin
ty, who has been Gore’s envi
ronmental policy adviser since
the vice president was a Ten
Turn to McGinty, page 9A
Kathleen McGinty has been an environmental
adviser for A1 Gore for more than a decade. She re
signed from her position as a senior environmen
tal adviser for the Clinton administration in 1998
and lived in India with her husband for 15 months.
Q: What was there for you in India?
A: Well, if you work on environmental issues
for a while, you really begin to realize that the
Turn to McGinty Q&A, page 9A
GTFs, University satisfied
with health care agreement
Graduate
Teaching
Fellows won
full individual
coverage this
summer, but
some question
the stability of
the plan
By Kristy Hessman
Oregon Daily Emerald
Imagine being a single mother
living on a salary of less than
$400 a month — before taxes.
This scenario is reality for
some Graduate Teaching Fellows
here on campus, and they wel
come the agreement on full indi
vidual health insurance cover
age, part of their contract with
the University. The health-insur
ance agreement was reached in
September.
“It is an issue for all GTFs, but
for those with dependents, it is
really important,” said Charli
Carpenter, a political science
GTF and single mother. “It is
nice to have that safety net.”
Carpenter is just one of the
l,140GTFs on the University
campus who are excited about
the decision, which came after
controversial negotiations be
tween the University and the
Graduate Teaching Fellows Fed
eration this summer.
The negotiations began in
June, when about 100 GTFs and
other students protested outside
Chapman Hall in demand of bet
ter coverage.
In early September, the Uni
versity and the Graduate Teach
ing Fellows Federation struck a
deal in which the University
agreed to cover the entire cost of
health insurance for individual
TurntoGTFs, page 5A
Safety officers stationed in
attempt to build trust
■The Department of Public
Safety will set up a sub
station for officers in the
residence halls.
By Emily Gust
Oregon Daily Emerald
There were many changes over
the summer for the University Of
fice of Public Safety.
One of the modifications is that
its name is no longer Office of
Public Safety. It is now called the
Department of Public Safety.
The traditional uniforms of
white shirts and dark pants are
being swapped for more official
looking blue uniforms, and en
forcement of parking fines on
University streets was relaxed for
two weeks at the start of fall.
In addition to the name and
wardrobe change, there is an even
bigger change that is affecting
some University students a bit
closer to home.
Soon, three DPS patrol officers
will occupy a sub-station in the
University residence halls. Aim
ing to put on a friendlier face, DPS
hopes the officers’ presence will
increase the comfort level in the
halls while also improving rela
tions between itself, residents and
student staff, DPS Director Tom
Fitzpatrick said.
“It is our hope that by having
DPS in the buildings on a regular
Turn to DPS, page 7A
This is the first
of a two-part se
ries about
changes at the
Department of
Public Safety.
Today: Public
safety officers
move into the
residence halls
Monday: New
patrol cars with
red and blue
lights