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Men’s hoops debut *
The Oregon men’s basketball team cruises, 102
59, in its exhibition opener. PAGE 5
Since 1900 University of Or
Tuesday
Beyond cute
Artist Kelly Newcomer exhibits her latest works in
the EMU Adel I McMillan Gallery. PAGE 4
November 7,2000
Volume 102, Issue 50
Weather
TODAY
high 51, low 42
Fairgrounds primed for Election Central 2000
Local
candidates,
organizers will
converge on
the downtown
convention
hall to watch
as election
results are
reported
By Emily Gust
Oregon Daily Emerald
The tables have been set up, the chairs wiped
down, and the red and white tablecloths are be
ing placed. When the doors of the Lane County
Fairgrounds’ Performance Hall open at 6 p.m.,
everything will be ready to ring in the election
results during Election Central 2000.
Election Central has been held for “probably
close to 15 years,” said Linda Roz Smith, sales
and events manager for Lane County Fair
grounds. This year, 48 tables, two big-screen
TVs and lots of concessions are highlights of the
Fairgrounds’ festivities.
“About 300 people are likely to attend, in
cluding representatives from political action
committees and candidate supporters,” said
Thomas Markham, event coordinator for Lane
County Fairgrounds.
Those scheduled to show up include mem
bers of the No On 9 campaigns, State Rep. Vicki
Walker D-Eugene, who is up for re-election in
District 41, and contenders for the District 40
representative spot, including Democrat Phil
Barnhart and Republican Dr. Bill Young.
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., and the De
mocrats have their own private room reserved,
and because the group wants to watch Fox Re
gional News during the event, cable had to be
installed. Republicans had a room reserved but
later decided against it, though Markham said
he wasn’t really sure why.
Most of the action, however, will take place in
the large hall, where 33 of the 48 tables are re
served by campaigns and committees, said
Sharon Kimball, operations lead worker for
Lane County Fair Board. That leaves about 15
tables for the public.
Even though the deadline to reserve tables at
the event was Oct. 23, about a quarter of the
calls came in just last Friday.
Turn to Elections, page 3
Knee-deep in a complex Newtonian proof, Professor Richard Koch holds the attention of his Mathematics 411 class asking, “Isn’t that pretty?”
‘Saint in residence’ makes math fun
Math professor
Richard Koch’s
enthusiastic
approach to
teaching keeps
students'
interest
multiplying
-ft
By Kristy Hessman
Oregon Daily Emerald
Some students may not think the words “math”
and “fun” belong in the same sentence, but those
students have never taken a math class from pro
fessor Richard Koch.
“He is always asking questions aloud like, ‘OK,
Richard, what does that mean, repeat it again,’”
said Gulden Karakok, graduate teaching fellow for
Koch. “Sometimes, he hits his head and call him
self stupid, he runs from one part of the blackboard
to the other. He is really full of energy.”
Karakok added that students appreciate Koch’s
enthusiasm.
“He can easily see places where students are
struggling,” he said. “They like to be in his class
no matter what grade they Eire getting. ”
Koch joined the University staff in 1966, after
teaching two years at the University of Pennsylva
nia. Currently, he’s teaching Math 231 and 411. His
research specialty is geometry.
“A colleague of mine had come to Oregon and
told me that there were jobs,” he said. “It was al
most a fluke that I came, but I am so glad
Koch’s happiness with Oregon has also been re
vealed in his dreams.
“I keep having a recurring nightmare where I
have just received my degree and the only job
openings are in the Midwest,” he said.
Koch originally planned to go into the field of
physics, but ended up taking a math class with an
inspirational teacher at Harvard, who made him
decide to study math. Koch went on to graduate
from Princeton with a Ph.D. in mathematics.
According to Koch, people go into teaching be
cause it is a challenge, and the next step for people
who are fascinated with math is to teach it.
“I don’t dance or sing, well, sometimes sing,”
Koch said. “I just tell the mathematics and it’s his
tory and the math speaks for itself. Mathematics is
far more interesting than people imagine.”
It is this enthusiasm which students like Peter
Dolan say keeps them interested in math.
“He is very interactive and always cuts to the es
sentials,” he said. “He will also offer you money if
you can prove something—and he gives it to you
if you do.”
, , .*.QW } ,,,,,
OSPIRG keeping
active, focussed
■ Due to a membership boom
this year, OSPIRG focuses on
making their events visible
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
It’s been a busy term for OSPIRG ac
tivists — jamming the White House
switchboard, encouraging students to
register to vote and dressing up as corn
for a Halloween press conference on
genetically engineered food.
OSPIRG is the Oregon student chap
ter of the national Public Interest Re
search Group, which handles issues
involving the environment, public
safety and health, among other public
concerns. The group has been more ac
tive this year compared to last year,
due in part to the wide variety of proj
ects and issues it’s tackled so far this
term.
Chapter Chair Michelle Ternus said
the group is more active this year in mak
ing their events visible on campus and
addressing a broad range of issues, be
cause of their increase in membership.
Most recently, the group donned
Halloween costumes Oct. 31 to discuss
the dangers of gene enhanced produce.
Organic food experts and OSPIRG ac
tivists met outside Johnson Hall to
warn people that some genetically en
gineered foods pose as a health hazard
because they are not safety-tested.
“We wanted to educate people and
make them more aware of what they
are actually eating,” Ternus said.
But the group has always made the
environment its biggest focus. This
year is no exception: OSPIRG has fo
cused attention on educating students
about the National Heritage Forests
Campaign.
“The goal [of the campaign] is to get
[President] Clinton to protect the
forests from logging, mining, road
building, drilling and to have a strong
roadless policy,” Ternus said.
Research is currently underway on
the environment and endangered
species at the Fall Creek site in the
Willamette National Forest. The site is
known for tree-sitters who protest the
cutting down of old growth trees.
(( The goal
[of the
campaign]
is to get Clin
ton to pro
tect the
forests from
logging,
mining,
road
building,
drilling and
to have a
strong
roadless
policy.
Michelle
Ternus
Chapter Chair
OSPIRG . .
i