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Regrouping 0
The Oregon men’s basketball team is intent on
putting its blowout loss behind it. PAGE 7
Worth the cost
A survey found that Oregonians think college is
expensive but necessary. PAGE 4
February 7,2001
Volume 102, Issue 89
Weather
today
high 43, low 22
Brooke Mossefin Emerald
‘21 er’
scrapbooks
can celebrate
a coming-of
age birthday,
but they can
also be used
as evidence if
something
goes wrong
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Senior Kari Briscoe, like most
students when they turn 21, hit
the bars recently with a handful
of her closest friends. Drink num
ber seven was a tequila shot
bought by one of her friends. She
threw up at shot number 19 and
had her picture taken, but then
downed two more shots just to
prove she could make it to 21.
Briscoe used a “21er book,”
given to her by her friends, to
keep track of how many drinks
she had during the night, who
bought them for her and what
they were. The 28-page book in
cludes pictures of Briscoe and
her friends, along with humorous
quotes she blurted out during the
night, and her signature for every
time she finished a drink.
The 21er scrapbook can take
any form, and is usually decorat
ed with stickers, colorful pens,
photographs and a guest sign-in
section. But while the birthday
books serve as a creative way to
remember a 21st birthday, those
who contribute to putting it to
gether can be legally liable if
something goes wrong.
“It’s kind of a tradition we start
ed, and it goes along with the ter
ritory of turning 21,” Briscoe said.
“The people who are making the
books are your close friends. It’s
nice they keep track of how many
drinks you’ve had. They are
watching out for you.”
A scrap of paper or a napkin
may suffice as a guy’s memorabil
ia on his 21st birthday; the prac
tice of having of 21er book is pri
marily a female custom.
“Guys keep track of their shots,
Turn to Drinking, page 5
OSPIRG denied
all ballot bids
■The group’s proposed measures missed some key
points required by updated regulations, which the
Executive hasn’t published yet
By Emily Gust
Oregon Daily Emerald
When OSPIRG turned in eight versions of the same ballot
measure to the ASUO Constitution Court for review, it hoped it
was making the election process a little easier.
But Sunday, when the court rejected all eight of OSPIRG’s ver
sions of a measure that would determine whether it would get
funding next year, a vital element of the elections process was
missing.
An updated version of the Green Tape Notebook, the book of
rules governing the ASUO, would have included new regula
tions about what a ballot measure has to contain. Students ap
proved the new regulations for how ballot measures must be
written during last year’s election.
But halfway through this year, ASUO President Jay Breslow
still has not issued a new Green Tape Notebook with the updated
rules, even though it is a constitutional requirement that each
president do so every year. In using the old system of writing bal
lot measures, OSPIRG missed some key points it needed to cover.
The OSPIRG measures failed to include the amount of money
Turn to OSPIRG, page 6
EWEB hears public
comment on rates
■ Eugene residents gave their opinions on proposed
rate increase plans at the Eugene Water and Electric
Board’s Tuesday night meeting
By Lindsay Buchele
Oregon Daily Emerald
More than 30 Eugene residents attended the Eugene Water
and Electric Board’s meeting Tuesday night to voice their
opinions and offer suggestions as to how the board should
handle its inevitable price increase.
EWEB board members agreed that a price increase was in
Turn to EWEB, page 5
Sharon camp rejoices as exit polls project huge victory
By Laura King
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Jubilation
broke out at Ariel Sharon’s
headquarters after exit polls
projected him the winner of
Israel’s election on Tuesday,
giving the hard-liner an over
whelming victory over incum
bent Ehud Barak in the race
for prime minister.
Exit polls by Israel’s two
main TV channels said
Sharon won 59.5 percent of
the vote, compared to Barak’s
40.5 percent. The exit polls
give pollsters a large sample
— 50,000 out of an electorate
of 4.5 million. The margin of
sampling error is less than 1
percent.
The first official returns —
about 4 percent of the vote,
drawn from areas where
Barak is strong — showed
Sharon leading by a smaller
margin: 52.2 percent to
Barak’s 47.7 percent, election
officials said.
Sharon’s supporters at his
campaign headquarters whis
tled, clapped and blew horns,
waving blue-and-white ban
ners as they awaited his ar
rival. “The end of Oslo!” some
shouted, referring to the inter
im peace accord that Sharon
had always opposed.
Barak supporters were
plunged into gloom. “It’s a
disaster for Israeli democracy
and the Israeli people, be
cause they totally want some
thing Sharon is unable to de
liver,” said parliament
member Yael Dayan. At Barak
headquarters, a few downcast
young campaigners softly
sang a line from the national
anthem: “We have not yet giv
en up hope.”
Heading into the election —
widely seen as a referendum
on Mideast peacemaking —
Sharon had been heavily fa
vored, with public opinion
polls giving him a lead of up
to 20 percentage points.
Barak called Sharon soon
after the exit polls were an
nounced, and Sharon pro
posed a government that
would include Barak’s Labor
Party, a Sharon aide said,
speaking on condition of
anonymity.
In appearances earlier in
the day, Sharon said he hoped
to form an alliance with
Barak’s party. But Barak asso
ciates have so far rebuffed
those advances.
The 72-year-old Sharon, a
veteran hawk, says he will not
cede the Palestinians more
territory or a foothold in
Jerusalem. Barak had offered
Palestinians a state encom
passing most of the West Bank
and Gaza Strip, together with
a share of the contested city.
Officially, Yasser Arafat’s
Palestinian Authority says it
will work with any Israeli
prime minister. But some of
his top associates expressed
deep misgivings.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb
Erekat warned that Sharon’s
hard-line program for peace
talks was a “recipe for war.”
For many Israelis, neither
candidate was a satisfactory
choice — and the depth of
that frustration was driven
home by what election offi
cials called a historically low
turnout, just over 60 percent.
Traditionally, Israel’s voting
average is close to 80 percent,
among the democratic world’s
highest.
Israeli Arabs, who account
for 12.5 percent of the elec
torate and were a key source
of support for Barak in 1999
elections, stayed home in
droves. They were angry at
Barak over the fatal shooting
of 13 Israeli Arabs by police
during riots in October.
Barak, 58, was forced into
early elections after 19 turbu
lent months at the helm of an
ever-fraying governing coali
tion. He had hoped to the end
for a turnabout. “We’re busy
winning!” he told supporters
in Tel Aviv as evening fell.
Israel clamped an election
day closure on the West Bank
and Gaza Strip, where Pales
tinians have already been un
der tight travel restrictions
since the start of ferocious
clashes that are now in their
fifth month.
Palestinians declared a
Turn to Israel, page 5
Israel
election
Ariel Sharon won 59.5
percent of the vote,
compared to Ehud
Barak’s 40.5 percent.
Turnout was just over
60 percent.
Traditionally, Israel’s
voti ng average is close
to 80 percent, among
the democratic
world’s highest.
For the first time in
Israel’s history, voters
were choosing only a
prime minister. No
lawmakers’ seats were
at stake, so Sharon
inherits the same
sharply divided
Knesset,
or parliament.