Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2000)
0019471 Lave Alternative Music!I New Expanded Menu Food & Beverage Specials! Authentic Chinese Cuisine RESTAURANT & LOUNGE 947 Franklin Blvd. 343-4480 cocktail Research 683-8101 • 11 th & Charnelton • Eugene DIRECT PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS (DR INFO AND DPOAIES CDll DR VISIT IH! WEBSITE 1503] 817-3431 [8BB] 376-0067 WWW.DIRICIPRODDCIIDNS.COM fm ADVANCI UK«! USriNX (503) 274 4400 M Al H0US( Bl RECOUPS. SUBJECTED SERVICE CHARGE i«mKi[fis«wn souts ft! Hi SfMCKSftYf WILD DUCK vmawrn little Caesars Weekend Special! Saturday & Sunday Hot and ready 1711 Willamette 343-33^0 Raw Talch-t. The Oregon Daily Emerald is always looking for young writers who want to learn and grow at a real newspaper. For information on how to freelance for the Emerald call346-5511. mmmi Laura Smit Emerald During an academic session at the Knight Law Center, Ricardo Juarez (left), a first-year law student, talks to Oregon high-school students about opportunities to study in college. Minorities look to future ■ A diverse group of high school students visited the University to broaden its horizons By Will Wyer For the Emerald The University gave about 600 Oregon high-school students of col or a taste of college life as part of the annual Gateway to the Future pro gram Thursday. The program, sponsored by the Office of Admissions, helped intro duce students to the possibilities of a college education. Lerisha Harris, a high-school stu dent from Salem, said the event helped her focus on her future. “A lot of people don’t have that chance to go to college,” Harris said. “I’m gonna try to take advantage of the opportunity.” That is what event organizers aim to have the students come away from the event believing. Tana Atchley, an admissions counselor, said, “I think the most important thing is implanting in the minds of the high schoolers that college is a possibility for them.” “There are some students that are coming from communities where nobody even graduated from high school and for them to even begin thinking about college, learning about scholarships, financial aid and the different possibilities that are out there is a good thing,” Atch ley said. “It opens a lot of doors.” Harris fits Atchley’s description. “I’ll be the first person in my family to go to college so that’s a big thing to me,” Harris said. “Also, I’ll have a better life when I get older, a better job, a better understanding.” The event kicked off with a free continental breakfast followed by a performance bv the Gospel Ensem ble and a welcoming speech by Dave Frohnmayer. Students then moved on to a series of informative sessions about college life. Students and parents learned about admissions and financial aid, and students broke into groups, di vided by major. Students chose between campus tours or a visit to the Multicultural Center and the ethnic student unions. After lunch, they had the opportunity to attend specific aca demic sessions depending on where their interests lie. The day concluded with Univer sity student panels, where the par ticipants had the opportunity to ask questions of college students. For some of the volunteers, the Gateway program provides a chance to help high-school students relate to the volunteers’ own experiences. David Peterson is a University freshman who volunteered his time Thursday. “I know it was a hard tran sition for me and I knew from past ex perience that it’s not as hard as it seems,” said Peterson, who also par ticipated in Gateway in high school. “I want to be able to break the ice and let them know how it is. ” Peterson remembers attending the program last year and how it was instrumental in helping him decide which direction to take his own education. “Toward the middle of my senior year, UO was one of the universities that came to visit my high school,” Peterson said. “I was kind of lean ing toward community college, but then I was told that since I could af ford going to a university, I should go for it because it would be a better experience, more worth my while.” Organizers consider the Univer sity’s largest recruiting effort for mi nority students a success simply for getting younger students to realize that the option of education does not stop after high school. “I see people interested and that’s satisfying,” Atchley said. Racism continued from page 1 campus for Gateway to the Future, a program that has worked to recruit a more diverse student body to the University for more than 15 years. But this year, the program is part of University President Dave Frohn mayer’s top goal of improving diver sity on campus. “I just can’t fathom it,” said Jami la Singleton, a student volunteer for Gateway who witnessed the inci dent. “This isn’t OK to be happen ing on our campus. ” Singleton added that the students had free time to explore the campus when the incident happened. The Carson Hall lobby is un locked and open to the public, un like other residence halls that re quire a key for entry. One of the students stopped, Michael Hill, 17, said he and his friends were not dealing drugs and, regardless of the circumstances, he just wants to forget about his en counter with campus security. “The discrimination has to stop,” he said. ASUO President Jay Breslow, who was a student director in the Multicultural Center before being elected last spring, said he is furious about what happened. “It’s not DPS racial profiling, but it’s definitely still a racist incident,” Breslow said. “It’s a horrible thing to have happen.” A report about the incident has been filed with the Bias Response Team, a group of students and ad ministrators who advocate for vic tims of racism and educate the cam pus community about the case. Fitzpatrick, who met with mem bers of the response team Thursday afternoon, said DPS has a duty to stop people if they match the physical and clothing descriptions of suspects. “We simply identified the folks, talked to them, thanked them for their cooperation and wished them well,” he said. “We had a relatively positive contact.” Mark Tracy, assistant dean for di versity programs at the University and a member of the response team, said he wants to deal with the after math of the incident instead of plac ing blame, especially on DPS. “DPS did what they were sup posed to do,” he said. “We need to decide how we are going to deal with it as a University.” Frohnmayer released a brief statement late Thursday afternoon to say he discussed the situation with Fitzpatrick, members of the re sponse team and others. The three students received let ters from Fitzpatrick that explained what happened and why — but did not include an apology—and Tracy went to Gateway sessions in the af ternoon to discuss what happened and the resources available on cam pus for students who are victims of bias or racism. Breslow said the biggest disap pointment Thursday was the timing of the incident with the recruitment program. “Bottom line—it was a racist inci dent,” he said. “It happens every day, but we happened to catch this one. ” Black & white and READ all over campus.
