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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2001)
Team decides incident report not racially based ■ University Housing officials defend against discrimination claims during Finals Week of fall term 2000 By Jeremy Lang Oregon Daily Emerald A Bias Response Team investiga tion concluded during winter break that a University Housing employ ee’s report of a November incident involving three black high school students was not racially biased. During Finals Week, the team found that housing employee Silke Crombie reported the incident to the Department of Public Safety based on claims made by an unidentified University student who told her three high school stu dents tried to sell him drugs in the Carson Hall lobby. DPS officers stopped the three Jefferson High School students who matched that description about five minutes after the call was made. The students were among about 600 high-school seniors on campus for the annual Gateway to the Fu ture minority recruitment event Nov. 30. When the incident occurred, some members of the response team and Gateway organizers be lieved Crombie made a first-hand, racially biased account of the inci dent based on the students’ race and clothing. But they didn’t know her call to DPS was based on the account giv en by the unidentified University student to her. “There was no discrimination from the housing staff,” said Mark Tracy, assistant dean for diversity programs and a member of the re sponse team. Crombie declined to comment on the incident, but Housing Direc tor Mike Eyster, who is also on the response team, agreed his staff did not discriminate based on the stu dents’ race or dress, because Crom bie was reporting the University student’s claims. “Did my employees act in good faith? They did,” Eyster said. Before the team investigated the incident, University Housing did its own investigation, trying to piece together the events before DPS stopped the students. Eyster said three black students had a brief conversation with the University student. No one nearby, including a Carson Hall janitor, overheard the conversation, and the three students left. The University student then re ported the incident to Crombie, but he didn’t want to stay until DPS of ficers arrived. “He was really clear he didn’t want to talk to DPS,” Eyster said. “He was obviously sort of shaken by this.” Eyster added the janitor walked with the student across campus to the Hamilton Complex. Bend campus continued from page 1 posal, many said they will not make their final decision until com parison reports are compiled by University System Vice Chancellor Shirley Clark. “It continues to stay true over time that both proposals are excel lent,” said board member Jerome Colonna, superintendent for the Redmond School District. Colonna said the University seems to have the advantage in student financial aid and staffing, but he said he is attracted to OSU’s innovative academic programs. In terms of cultural ties, he said the University would better fit the Bend community, while OSU would be more attractive to outly ing communities in Central Ore gon like Madras, Prineville and Warm Springs. “It’s kind of like the difference between Eugene and Corvallis in terms of cultural and community ties,” he said. Advisory board member John Rhetts, a retired psychologist who trains horses in the Bend area, said the issue is not which is the better school, but which best answers Central Oregon’s education needs. “This isn’t a football contest,” he said. At this stage, Rhetts said he does not know which school should open the branch campus until he can evaluate each proposal further. Bank of the Cascades C.E.O. and Bend resident Patricia Moss said it was too early for her to choose which school should come to the Bend area. She said most of the differences between the two were philosophical. “You can’t apply a scorecard to it,” she said. She said it would be premature to say one school is better than the other because she expects many changes after the state board picks a university. Competing Proposals Gov. John Kitzhaber has ear marked $7.2 million in his higher education budget proposal that would help fund the new Bend campus. According to the University’s proposal, the branch campus would be named UO/Central Ore gon, and would be similar in or ganization to the Eugene campus’ professional schools. Instead of of fering degrees related to just one discipline, however, the branch campus would offer degrees in the University’s core programs of sci ence, social sciences, humanities The University has delivered a detailed plan to the Oregon University System in an effort to establish a Central Oregon branch campus tits* Brooke Mossefin Emerald and education. Several minors would also be offered, including chemistry, business administra tion, European studies and family and human studies. More minors would be included in later years. For fall term 2001, the Universi ty expects to offer 70 courses taught by seven University faculty members, five COCC faculty and three others, for 96 full-time stu dents. By 2005, the University projects there will be 875 full time students, 45 courses and 72 facul ty members. These projects do not include the courses and faculty members from other institutions already on the COCC campus. OSU’s plan would create Central Oregon State University, which would offer degrees in liberal arts programs and biological and phys ical sciences, social sciences and humanities. Like the University, OSU would expand upon partner ships with other Oregon institu tions, but it would also make Inter net education a key element of COSU. Both Schools Confident When the institution is finally picked, COCC President and advi sory board member Bob Barber said COCC will work closely with the chosen university to ensure Central Oregon’s four-year school is ready in September. He said either school would serve the campus well. “I truly believe that these are two strong universities,” he said. Barber added the board is only advisory and its preferences may be overruled by the state board if it believes it is not in accordance with the OUS’ greater mission. “Our biases and preferences need to be balanced with the sys tem,” he said. Despite the middle-of-the-road stance taken by those in Bend, both the University of Oregon’s and OSU's provosts who helped draft their school’s proposals are confident their institution will be given the green light for a branch campus. OSU Provost and Executive Vice President Tim White said COSU would be a “21st century campus” that would deliver exactly what Bend residents want. “This campus is going to be a campus that really attracts stu dents there and holds them there,” he said. White said OSU’s existing pro grams in the area show the school has the experience and resources to open a successful branch cam pus. After the state board makes its decision, White said OSU could incorporate elements of the Uni versity’s plan in its branch cam pus, but he said many of the Uni versity’s programs are already included in OSU’s proposal. “I think it is clear that we have included UO [programs! in our proposal,” he said, “but that does n’t appear to be the case as I read [the University’s] proposal.” University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs John Moseley said the University has the stronger proposal because it offers programs more beneficial to students in the long run, sets up a better working relationship with COCC staff and offers more bene fits for students. He also said the University could include some of OSU’s pro posals if the OUS felt it was neces sary, but said they initiated a joint effort early on that was rejected by OSU. The key element of the Universi ty’s plan, Moseley said, was that it would give Central Oregon resi dents a top-notch education in their own backyard. “Our vision is to provide the same quality education in Central Oregon as in Eugene,” he said. “It would be really nice if the stu dent would come forward,” Eyster said. The three high school students denied selling drugs. Tracy said they told him they were in the Car son Hall Lobby, which is open to the public, but it is unclear if they were the same three students seen in the lobby. But Tracy added that the Univer sity community shouldn’t instant ly dismiss the incident as a misun derstanding, and discrimination may have occurred with the de scription that the students were wearing “urban clothes.” Fitzpatrick said Crombie de scribed three black males wearing “urban clothes.” But Eyster said neither Crombie nor the student ever referred to them that way. Tracy said that with differing sto ries about who was involved and who said what, it will be hard to de finitively determine what hap pened and if DPS inappropriately responded to the call, without the help of the unidentified University student. “Nobody has really sat down and talked to the student,” he said. “No matter what, people perceived dis crimination.” He added that the response team and the University need to be care ful and respond to situations like this only after they have all the facts and understand the entire situa tion. Voted Best Breakfast in Town! By Eugene Weekly Open Daily KEYSTONE 7am-3pm v Breakfast Served 7am-3pm Lunch Served Monday-Friday 11am-3pm * Redeem for a FREE BEVERAGE of your choice * West 5th at Lawrence • 342-2075 Creative (Discussion (group (For Women Winter erm T'hursday’s 12-1 Century (Room C Weehfy meetings for non-traditionaC coCCege-age students, student parents, transfer students and students with eider care responsibilities. 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