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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 2000)
Leafing through the sewer systems of Eugene ■ In order to combat this fall’s leaves, Eugene offers its residents disposal alternatives By Lindsay Buchele Oregon Daily Emerald Leaves can be deceiving. To the average Joe, they are mere ly brightly covered indicators of the fall season, but to Eugene Public Works, leaves can create a major disaster to sewer and river systems. “After falling from trees and onto the streets, leaves often get into the sewer systems and decay, causing additional pollutants to be added to the river system,” said Richard Zucker, maintenance crew supervi sor for the City of Eugene. So how can the city handle these little menaces? Due to a citywide ban on outdoor leaf and debris burning, options may seem limited. First and foremost, the city encour ages residents to use their leaves for mulch and fertilizer, Zucker said. For those lacking a green thumb, the city’s 20-year-old leaf collection program offers another alternative. “We allow people to put their leaves in the street, at a reasonable distance from the road and bike lanes, and we will come along and pick them up,” Zucker said. Picking up leaves is one of the main things the city can do to keep storm drains clean. Last year, about 3,375 tons of leaves were collected by the city, Zucker said. In the early 1990s, the program became considered a storm water service, Eugene Public Works spokesman Eric Jones said. “It became time for cities the size of Eugene to do more with storm water,” Jones said. Funded by the fees residents pay for sewer maintenance, the pro gram is able to use tractors, front loaders, and dump trucks to gather and distribute leaves, Jones said. “None of our equipment is high ly sophisticated, but it gets the job done,” Zucker said. The city is divided into five sec tions, with each section visited twice during a 10 week period, Zucker said. After the leaves are picked up, the city does one of three things with them. The first and most pop ular is to deliver the leaves to Eu gene residents who will use them for mulch and fertilizer. “People can notify us if they want leaves delivered and we’ll take the leaves to their homes im mediately after we pick them up (from other locations),” Zucker said. The second option is to drop the leaves off at one of the commercial recycling centers, such as Lane Forest Products and Rexius Forest By-Products. The third option is to stockpile the leaves at one of the newer parks where unwanted yard debris can be separated from the leaves and then picked up by one of the commercial recycling centers. The collection crews emphasize they will only pick up leaves. Any other yard debris, such as grass clippings or pruned branches, will be left behind. “The residences we deliver to have a high demand for leaves, but not yard debris,” Jones said. “We only want clean loads.” The University does not use the city’s program, but has it’s own recycling method. “We collect our own leaves and put them into a compost program that is used for the entire campus,” University landscape maintenance supervisor Tim King said. King said the main objective is to keep walkways and bike paths clear for the safety of students. “Because the campus has so many oak trees, along with other trees that lose their leaves PLAV games and Wet Lands k 922 Garfield Street Wednesday, November 1 9 PM - 1 AM * ■ * I ■ ■ BELTLINE »»»**—«—JmaXWELL) CENTRAL iEUGENE !11TH AVE. source: City of Eugene Public Works Department 2000 LEAF COLLECTION Oct 30 - Nov 3 Central Nov 6 - Nov 10 Southeast Nov 13-Nov 17 Southwest Nov 20 - Nov 22 West Nov 27 - Dec 1 North Dec 4 - Dec 8 Central Dec 11 - Dec 15 Southeast Dec 18-Dec 22 Southwest Dec 26 - Dec 29 West Jan 2-Jan 5 North progressively through the winter, our job starts in early fall and lasts all the way through April,” King said. Although the campus remains independent from the city’s pro gram, the city still picks leaves in the areas surrounding campus. One more week to go By Ron Fournier The Associated Press A1 Gore reminded voters in pivotal Great Lakes states Monday that eco nomic good times returned to Ameri ca under Democratic leadership and said changing course could ‘‘drive our economy into the ditch. ” Republican George W. Bush coun tered that a big-spending Gore would squander the nation’s economic rich es but said the election rests on bigger questions: “Can we bring America to gether? Can we move beyond petty arguments to get real results for the American people?” Thus both Bush and Gore began the final full week of their nip-and tuck campaign, fighting on Democ ratic turf and honing their close-the sale messages. “He’s not ready to be president,” Democratic running mate Joe Lieberman said of Bush while intro ducing Gore in Wisconsin. Florida is considered vital to Bush, though nervous GOP strate gists now say he could win the pres idency without the state’s 25 elec toral votes by snagging Pennsylvania (23 votes) or Califor /Tonoooooor nia (54 votes) from Gore’s column. Polls show the Pennsylvania race tied or Gore ahead, and give the vice president a lead of 5-to-10 percent age points in California. National surveys put Bush ahead or tied with Gore in the popular vote, and the race for electoral votes is just as tight. Neither side can af ford to let an attack go unanswered. Gore’s campaign denied reports that he told Arab-Americans in a pri vate meeting Sunday that he, unlike Bush, opposes moving the U.S. Em bassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Jewish groups, important in states like Florida, were sure to ob ject so Gore aides rushed to clarify: The vice president, they said, told the group he has not supported moving the embassy at this time, but did not rule it out in the future. In a speech in New Mexico, a tossup state with just 5 electoral votes, the Bush criticized Gore’s plans for schools, taxes, Social Security and the military. “Should I be elected president, I’m going to confront the hard issues,” he said. “I won’t take the easy way — the Washington way. I will act. And I will lead.” xDnnnnorN "e'oVeVeVeV Calendar Tuesday, Oct. 31 — Model United Nations: Weekly meeting offers students an opportu nity to learn about various cultures, current international issues and how the United Nations works. 5 p.m. Cen tury Room D, EMU Free. vere'ere'e'erere' — International Film Festival: France's “Ma Vie En Rose” is part of a “Coming of Age" series of films shown in their original language with English subtitles. Will be shown from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Room 122, Pacific Hall. Free. Oregon Daily Emerald P.O. Box 3159, Eugene OR 97403 The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the Uni versity of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. A member of the Associated Press, the Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is pri vate property. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. NEWSROOM — (S41) S46-SS11 Editor in chief: Jack Clifford Managing editor: Jessica Blanchard Community: Darren Freeman, editor. Lindsay Buchele, Rebecca Newell, reporters. Freelance: Serena Markstrom, editor. Higher education: Andrew Adams, editor. Kristy Hessman, Brooke Ross, reporters. Student activities: Jeremy Lang, editor. Emily Gust, Beata Mostafavi, Lisa Toth, reporters. In-depth: Ben Romano, reporter. News aide: Suzanne O'Kelley. Perspectives: Michael Kleckner, editor. Jayna Bergerson, Bret Jacobson, Pat Payne, Eric Pfeiffer, columnists. Pulse: Monica Hande, editor. Josh Ryneal, Mason West, reporters. Sports: Jeff Smith, editor. Scott Pesznecker, asst, editor. Peter Hockaday, Adam Jude, Robbie McCallum, reporters. Copy: Sara Lieberth, Katie Mayer, copy chiefs. Jessica Davison, Lori Musicer, Tom Patterson, Jessica Richelderfer, Rebecca Wilson, copyeditors. Online: Carol Rink, editor. Timur Insepov, webmaster. Design: Katie Miller, editor. Azle Malinao- Alvarez, Brooke Mossefin, Russ Weller, designers. Bryan Dixon, Giovanni Salimena, illustrators. Photo: Catharine Kendall, editor Dan Brunell, Kevin Calame, Erin Swanson Davies, photographers. ADVERTISING — ^6-S712 Becky Merchant, director Doug Hentges, Nicole Hubbard, Trevor Kuhn, Jesse Long, Adam Rice, Hillary Schultz, Chad Verly, Lisa Wood, sales representatives. Erin O’Connell, Van Nguyen, assistants. CLASSIFIEDS — (541) 346-43# Trina Shanaman, manager. 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