Sideshow Ron m
The week in entertainment kicks off with an Xtra
special show at the WOW Hall. Inside section B
Ahead of the class
Education majors will benefit from expanding K-12
job market in Oregon schools. PAGE 4A
Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene,
Oregon
Thursday
January 25,2001
Volume 102, Issue 80
Weather
TODAY
high 50, low 40
Laura Smit Emerald
Katie Wong reads a foreign language newspaper in the recently refurbished International Resource Center in the EMU.
A room with a
world view
■A newly-updated
International lounge hosts a
grand opening this week and
celebrates the global village
By Brooke Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
Though they are far away from
their countries of origin, the Univer
sity’s international community now
has a place they can call home.
This week the International Re
source Center at the EMU is holding
grand opening activities for the new
ly improved International Lounge
that offers international students the
opportunity to stay informed about
their country’s news through com
puter hookups, international news
papers and satellite television, and
also provides travel information for
anyone interested in exploring an
other country.
Several events will be held in the
lounge today and Friday, including
an open house, guest speakers, a
Peace Corps slide presentation and
a showing of the film La Vie Est
Belle.
Tom Mills, director of the Office
of International Education and Ex
change will speak at the Internation
al Coffee Hour on Friday about the
history of the IRC. Mills said he
wants foreign students and faculty
to feel comfortable and at home at
the University.
“We really are an international
campus, much more than people re
alize,” he said.
But Mills said he hopes everyone
takes advantage of this campus re
source no matter where they are
from because of the opportunities to
explore international locations.
“It’s for everyone,” he said.
“Maybe a student learning French
would want to see a real French
newspaper, and they could do that
here.”
“This is a place where people can
interact and feel at home, so the Uni
versity campus experience is more
than just an academic one,” said
Anne Williams, IRC coordinator.
“Before, the University was lacking
a place where the international com
munity could get resources all in
one place.”
These new resources include
computers for international news
and travel Web sites and a donated
big screen television. And by March,
the lounge will also have a collec
tion of international newspapers
and magazines, Williams said.
The television provides continu
Turn to Lounge, page 3A
Seizure at wheel causes
crash, damage to bikes
■Astudent s vehicle rolled toward a
campus residence hall after the
driver went unconscious
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
Public safety officers spent Wednesday
afternoon cleaning up mangled tires and
severed handlebars after a University stu
dent apparently had a seizure at the wheel
and drove his vehicle into a bike rack out
side a residence hall.
The student, whose name is being with
held by the Eugene Police Department, suf
fered no injuries and voluntarily walked to
the University Health Center for further
evaluation.
According to an EPD report, the 18-year
old student had a seizure as he drove his
Jeep Cherokee through the intersection at
13th Avenue and Agate Street, heading to
ward Hayward Field. He slowed and
moved the vehicle to the side of the road
before blacking out.
The vehicle continued on the Agate
Street sidewalk parallel to the road until it
collided with a speed sign near the cross
walk and the bike racks outside Smith Hall.
As Department of Public Safety officers
tossed random, destroyed bikes and bike
pieces into the bed of a truck, maintenance
workers with University Housing used a
power saw to cut through the rack’s thick
metal bars to free other damaged bikes still
connected with locks.
Public safety officers at the scene and at
the DPS office wouldn’t comment on the
incident.
But EPD Officer Peter Aguilar said stu
dents who discovered Wednesday that
their bikes had been destroyed and im
pounded by DPS could get the student’s in
surance information from the police report
and file a claim.
Aguilar, one of the first officers on the
scene, said approximately 13 bikes suffered
major damage. The Cherokee sustained
about $1,000 in damage, and it will cost an
other $1,000 to repair the bike racks.
A number of other bikes had minor dam
age.
Mike Tardiff, facilities maintenance man
Turnto Bikes, page 3A
Autzen expansion kicks off,
generates mixed reactions
■ Recent approval of the transit
station could mean completion
of the stadium by the projected date
By Andrew Adams
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Athletic Department and University
Administration are confident thefe will be
12,000 more screaming Duck fans on hand
for the kickoff of the 2003 football season
now that they’ve been given the green light
by the Eugene City Council to move ahead
with their plans for expanding Autzen Sta
dium.
Some faculty members, however, are not
pleased with the University’s dogged deter
mination to put both the effort and financial
resources into the $80 million project.
Dave Williford, director of media servic
es, said he expects the expansion to be com
pleted by the expected date now that the
University has received approval for the
transit station.
“At this stage, yes,” he said. “That was a
major hurdle, yes, but so far, so good.”
He said the next stage of the project will
include some infrastructure improvements
to the building and the construction of new
ticket booths, though the University must
get through a long line of permits before it
can begin any of the work.
Dan Williams, vice president for adminis
tration, also said he is confident the project
will be completed both on time and under
budget. He said through his experience with
the Casanova Center building project and
other major capital campaigns, he is opti
mistic there won’t be problems.
“We’ve never failed to meet our obliga
tions,” he said.
Williams said the University has up to
$19 million in bonds to float the construc
tion project while charitable pledges are
paid off, and he expects donations to contin
ue to come in for the project. The current
stage of construction will cost about $10
million, he said.
Once the project is done, Williams said, it
will be enough of a financial gain for the
Athletic Department so the University won’t
have to worry about covering the depart
ment’s high cost or increasing ticket prices.
But James Earl, president of the Universi
ty Senate and an English professor, argued
that the project was “an interruption of the
educational mission” at the University and
was a poor choice of funding.
Turn to Autzen, page 3A