Student cyclists ride for environmental change
■ Student Mass took Eugene
by storm this weekend with a
monthly ride through the city
By Lindsay Buchele
Oregon Daily Emerald
Rain lightly dotted nearly 40 stu
dent cyclists Friday afternoon as they
gathered at the EMU Amphitheater.
Their mission: Bike through Eu
gene, get some attention and show
that biking is fun and better for the en
vironment than driving a car.
The group of bikers go by the name
Student Mass, not to be confused
with the controversial Critical Mass
biking group, which has a history of
conflicts with the Eugene Police De
partment.
Student Mass, started primarily by
environmental studies major Robert
Maris, was not a protest against any
thing, but was just a way to get stu
dents involved with biking and to get
information out to the public about
the benefits of cycling.
“We’re showing that bicycle com
muting is a fun way to get around,”
Maris said, while waiting for cyclists
to show up for Friday’s 4 p.m. start.
Students heard about the ride from
fliers and other students.
“This is something really fun to do
with your friends,” cyclist Wendy
Martin said.
Maris had the idea for Student
Mass after attending the Kyoto Proto
col, an environmental convention in
The Hague, Netherlands, with 174
nations represented, Maris said.
Maris learned that the United
States makes up 4 percent of the
world’s population, but is responsi
ble for 25 percent of the world’s
greenhouse gas emissions, which
cause global warming.
“After the conference, it depressed
me that there is so much we can do
to change, but we don’t do it,” said
Maris, who acted as a U.S. youth del
egate at the convention.
There were 47 other colleges and
universities represented, and Maris
made it a point to contact each
school’s representative to suggest
Student Mass.
“A monthly bike ride is not only
environmentally based, but is also
fun student gathering once a month,”
Maris said.
Maris took the idea for the ride in
part from the group Critical Mass,
which organized similar bike
protests last Friday in Eugene, Port
land and Seattle. He stressed, howev
er, that Critical Mass’ problems with
Eugene police were not something
that would be mirrored by Student
Mass.
“Critical Mass works so well in
other cities like Seattle and San Fran
cisco,” Maris said. “But in Eugene,
the point has been lost due to the con
flict with the police. ”
Critical Mass members have been
arrested for blocking streets and have
been cited for breaking traffic laws,
EPD spokeswoman Jan Power said.
The Student Mass group made it a
point to follow traffic laws, Maris
said. Yet they were still trailed by
EPD officers in patrol cars and on mo
torcycles.
“The police were a menacing pres
ence because we had no intention of
doing anything wrong,” Maris said.
Before the ride began, Power said
there would be no officers assigned
to follow the group and officers
would respond only if they heard of
any trouble.
The EPD officers did trail the
group, at some points making pace
with the cyclists. Power said the offi
Tom Patterson Emerald
Junior Chuck Holding, who named his Boston-handmade bicycle Fat Chance, is look
ing at a route map of Student Mass, which kicked off from the EMU Friday.
cers decided individually to follow
the group, doing so because they ob
served a large group and were just
making sure nothing went wrong.
Maris said the group did not appre
ciate the attention, and cyclists were
even encouraging each other not to
break any laws.
“If it’s normal for the police to fol
low a group of cyclists obeying the
law, why don’t they follow a traffic
jam of automobiles?” Maris said.
Despite any discouragement from
EPD, Maris said the trip was a success
and will continue as a monthly tradi
tion.
“Once we arrived back at the EMU
everyone started cheering,” Maris
said. “We knew it was a complete
success.”
Harvard professor promotes breaking down barriers
■The speech launched a
three-day environmental
conference which aims
to bring scholars together
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
The environment is directly linked
to who and what lives there, and
what those living beings do to the en
vironment will determine how it
takes shape, s.aid Richard Lewontin,
professor of biology at Harvard Uni
versity.
Lewontin’s speech Sunday to a
crowd of more than 300 at the EMU
Ballroom began a three-day confer
ence, “Taking Nature Seriously: Citi
zens, Science and Environment.”
The conference aims to break down
the barriers that sometimes exist be
tween scholars in environmental is
sues. Through several discussions on
environmental issues, organizers
hope to bring ideas and scholars from
around the nation together.
In his speech, Lewontin addressed
the interactions between organisms
and their environment.
“Every organism creates its world,
in an advantageous way for itself,” he
said. “This is true of every organism,
not just people.”
William Rossi, associate professor
of English at the University, agreed
with Lewontin.
“We all, in one way or another, par
ticipate in the environment,” he said.
“We are all ecological citizens.”
Lewontin said there cannot be or
ganisms without the environment,
and the reverse is true as well. But of
ten times, he said, organisms can pro
duce the environment by their ac
tions.
“Organisms by their activities,
pick up bits and pieces of the world
and construct an environment,” he
said. “They also construct it by seek
ing it out and making it part of their
world.”
Lewontin said organisms control
how their environment looks. By
evolving, they make the environ
ment change with them. Just because
they can control their environment,
Lewontin said, does not mean they
won’t harm it.
“There is an environment out
there,” he said. “We can impact it
some way, but only by disturbing it. ’ ’
He said most living beings make it
harder for the next generation to live.
“Organisms tend to destroy theft
environment and make it hard for
their offspring to survive,” he said.
“We mustn’t think of ourselves as
unique in this.”
Lewontin said, while we may be
different in many respects, humans
and other organisms of Earth are
much alike. Organisms store food for
the winter while humans save mon
ey for times when they need it.
The conference focuses on the en
vironment and its effects on those
who live there, both human and non
human.
“We see this conference as only a
beginning, one that begins in rich di
alogue and patient listening as a first
step in creating common ground,”
said Nancy Tuana, a University phi
losophy professor.
“We need input from citizens,”
Rossi said. “We need to talk as citi
zens of the environment.”
Russell Tomlin, associate dean of
humanities at the University, said
this campus was a good location to
hold the conference.
“Oregon is a perfect environment
for holding such a conference,” he
said. “We have a particular excel
lence in the natural sciences.”
Tomlin said he hopes participants
in the conference are able to take
away with them a sense of self
awareness.
“The challenge is to remain self
critical in our views of ourselves as
we are of others,” he said.
Tuana said the conference is in
tended to break down the barriers be
tween scholars of different disci
plines.
It is important for “a renewed com
mitment to collaborative efforts to re
spond to environmental issues,” she
said, “and of the importance and pos
sibilities of alliances between citi
zens, scholars and activists.”
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: UO International Studies :
'SUMMER 2001 '
Course Offerings
INTL 240 Perspectives on
International Development
June 25- Aug. 17
Professor Mezahav
INTL 250 Value Systems in I
Cross-cultural Perspective |
June 18-July 13
Professor Proudfoot
INTL 410 Global Perspectives j
on Disability
June 25- July 6 '
Led by Susan Sygall
j INTL 407/507 Indian Society
through Film
! June 18-22, Professor Weiss
INTL 407/507 Women’s
Movements Around the World .
| July 9-13, Professor Weiss
1 I
] INTL 407/507 Southeast Asian
Culture Through Film
Aug. 6-17, Professor Carpenter J
INTL 407/507 Cross-Cultural j
• Images of Childhood in Novels
and Film
July 3- Aug. 3
i Professor Carpenter ■
! INTL 410/510 African Diaspora
l July 23-Aug 17
Professor Mezahav
INTL 410/510 Ecotourism
July 9-20, Professor Ringer |
INTL 432/532 Indigenous
Cultural Survival
* June 18-July 13 {
Professor Proudfoot
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
LINUS PAULING
CENTENARY CELEBRATION
February 26, 2001
Linus Pauling
Biographical Films
"Linus Pauling:
Crusading Scientist"
"Linus Pauling:
A Century of Life and Science"
Gilfillan Auditorium
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
I-2-•—I
February 27, 2001
Reading of the Play
"The Essential Bond"
A play about the life of
Ava Helen and Linus Pauling
Produced by Soka Gakkai
International-USA
Organized by the Pauling
Heritage Committee
University Theater
(Withycombe Hall)
7:30 p.m.
For more information:
http://pauling.library.orst.edu
All events free
Open to the public
La Sells Stewart\Center
February 28, 2001
9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
February 28, 2001
Campus Forum on
Linus Pauling
"A Liking for the Truth":
Truth and Controversy in
the Life of Linus Pauling
Keynote Speaker:
Ahmed Zewail
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry,
1999
"Timing in the Invisible"
Other Speakers:
Jack Dunitz
Tom Hager
Linus Pauling, Jr.
Robert J. Paradowski