Setting up for a win #
The volleyball team looks to end its 5-game con
ference losing streak. PAGE 5
Gore vs. Bush, round one
Al Gore and George W. Bush met Tuesday night for
the first of three presidential debates. PAGE 4
Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Wednesday
September 4,2000
t Volume 102, Issue 26
Weather
TODAY
high 75, low 45
Fledgling WRC group endures
growing pains
The labor
watchdog
consortium is
rocked by the
unexpected
resignation of
its chairman
By Simone Ripke
Oregon Daily Emerald
University representa
tives returned from the
Worker Rights Consor
tium’s second governing
board meeting Tuesday
with new impressions of
where the labor watchdog
group stands.
Vice President of Public
Affairs and Development
Duncan McDonald and
marketing professor Lynn
Kahle are not on the
WRC’s 15-member gov
erning board, but attended
the meeting, which took
place in Washington, D.C.,
as observers. Both said
they came back with the
feeling that much remains
to be done before the
group can begin function
ing as a labor monitoring
group, especially after the
group’s chairman unex
pectedly resigned.
“I think the viability of
the group continues to be
in question just because of
the slowness of the
progress,” McDonald said.
“But it may not be for a
lack of trying.”
He said the WRC still
has not received impor
tant incorporation papers
that would make it an offi
cial non-profit group and
would allow member uni
versities to begin paying
fees.
“There is not a group to
pay,” McDonald said.
“The group needs to grow,
but in order to grow, they
need to show they’re vi
able.”
Thus, the WRC is in a
peculiar position, trying
to gain momentum and
support while still in the
process of getting off the
ground and having few
concrete accomplish
ments to show. The WRC
is also still looking to re
place the group’s interim
executive director, Maria
Roeper, with a permanent
director. Roeper could not
be reached for comment
by press time.
Kahle, who said he and
McDonald were able to
have some input about the
meeting through interac
tion writh the governing
board’s university repre
sentatives, said the group
has already scaled back its
goals on how to conduct
monitoring.
While the group passed
its bylaws as expected,
Kahle and McDonald said
they were surprised to see
the board’s chairman,
George Miller, D-Rep.
Calif., resign from his po
sition and the WRC over
all.
“The fact that he was
pulling away from this
group certainly takes
away some of the luster,”
McDonald said. “That cer
tainly hurts the WRC.”
Daniel Weiss, Miller’s
chief of staff, said the con
gressman continues to
support the WRC, but did
not feel that his obliga
tions as a U.S. representa
tive allowed him to meet
all expectations of a WRC
chairman.
Turn to WRC, page 3
(( There is
not a group
to pay.
Duncan Mc
Donald
Vice President
of Public Af
fairs and
Development
yy
University will join other universities
in refusing to ban access to Napster
Officials will
not change
the current
policy
regarding
copyrighted
material
By Kristy Hessman
Oregon Daily Emerald
To some students, the word
Napster is synonymous with
“free music,” but to many uni
versities it may mean “lawsuit.”
The University has been
added to the handful of uni
versities across the country
that have received letters from
Metallica and Dr. Dre’s attor
ney, Howard E. King, urging
them to ban access to Napster
on their campuses.
Napster, the computer pro
gram that allows users to
download and upload a num
ber of MP3 music files, many
of which are protected by
copyright law, has been the
center of a growing controver
sy, especially on college cam
puses where students have ac
cess to faster computer net
works.
In his letter, King stated that,
“an estimated 20 million users
regularly commit copyright in
fringements through Napster,”
and he also referred to the activ
ity as “piracy on a massive
scale.”
In April, King filed a lawsuit
on the behalf of the two music
artists against Napster, also
naming Indiana University,
the University of Southern
California and Yale University
as co-defendants. The lawsuit
against those schools was
dropped when they agreed to
block Napster access on their
campuses.
In the letter that was sent to
the University on Sept. 8, King
stated that the University had
a “moral, ethical and legal ob
ligation to take appropriate
steps to assure that it is not a
willing participant in the theft
of intellectual property.’’
The University will respond
to the letter in much of the
same wav as other universi
ties.
“We are drafting a response
right now,” said Melinda Grier,
general legal counsel for the
University. “It will be consis
tent with the policies we have
had in the past.”
The University has never
blocked Napster use in the
past but does have a code
which deals with illegal
downloading of copyrighted
material. There currently are
no plans to block access to the
Turn to Napster, page 3
Campus brightens
up to safety issues
■ Facilities Services,
ASUOand DPS install
lights on campus
By Brooke Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
It is an issue that affects all
University students: the
need to feel safe walking
around campus at night.
In an effort to make stu
dents feel safer, Facilities
Services started working on
an extensive lighting project
to improve certain areas
around campus.
“My main concern as a
woman on this campus is
sexual assault,” said Jennifer
Eliot, a former ASUO safety
advocate. “Many students
have evening classes, and the
campus is spread out.”
Concerns like Eliot’s have
prompted the completion of
the fifth phase of the campus
lighting project, which is
concentrated on the east side
of the campus and includes
the residence halls.
Facilities Services began
the project at the beginning
of the summer and works
with the ASUO and the Uni
versity Department of Public
Safety to repair the lighting
around campus.
According to Bob
Springer, Facilities Services
electrical supervisor, phase
five should be completed by
next week.
Facilities Services in
stalled lights along Agate
Street and near the EMU.
Two new lights were also in
stalled north of the Walton
Complex, two new lights
near the outdoor tennis
courts, one new light near the
Agate Street crosswalk and
two replacement lights on
What: Phase five of the Cam
pus Lighting Project
Locations of new lights: Two
lights north of Walton Com
plex, two at the outdoor ten
nis courts, two lights east of
Earl Complex
Funded by: Facilities Ser
vices, ASUO Senate and Uni
versity Housing
Future improvements: Park
ing lots 19 and 20
the east side of Earl.“The
more lighting, the better,”
said Sean Strahon, a Univer
sity patrol sergeant. “I think
it will definitely help student
safety.”
In addition to these im
provements, Facilities Ser
vices replaced and moved
several lights in the area be
tween Agate Street and the
EMU.
To determine areas of the
campus that still need better
lighting, the ASUO and DPS
meet frequently with repre
sentatives of Facilities Ser
vices. Together, the three
groups decide where lighting
improvements need to be
made.
Future lighting additions
include the area between the
Bean Complex and Agate
Street and the parking lot
south of the EMU. Springer
also hopes to tackle parts of
parking lots 19 and 20 this
fall - areas he said need im
provement.
As for funding the campus
lighting improvements, the
ASUO Senate has alreadv
contributed $7,500 and Uni
versity Housing has con
tributed $12,000. Facilities
Services will begin the next
phase of the project this fall.