Back to work
Rashad Bauman and the Ducks are back
action for spring football drills. PAGE 7
in
Someone to account on
ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton
provides her experience to help students. PAGE 4
Since 1 900 University of Orego n Eugene, Oregon
Tuesday
April 3,2001
Volume 102, Issue 119
Weather
TODAY
high 50, low 35
31
Peace Corps Urban Youth Development volunteer Jay Minert gathers a crowd of children in Belize, South America
Photo courtesy of Peace Corps
Peace Corps celebrates 40 years
The
University
ranks fifth in
the nation
among large
schools in
the number
of graduates
currently
volunteering
with the
Peace Corps
By Kara Cogswell
Oregoa Daily Emerald
It’s been 40 years, but faculty
member Georgeanne Cooper
still remembers the day former
president John F. Kennedy an
nounced the creation of a new
international service program
called the Peace Corps. Al
though she was just 16, Cooper
knew that one day she wanted
to join.
“As soon as I heard about
that I thought, ‘That's what I
want to do,’” said Cooper, the
coordinator for the Academic
Learning Services Teaching Ef
fectiveness Program.
Upon graduating from col
lege in 1968, she did exactly
that, and in doing so, she joined
the ranks of the more than
161,000 Americans who have
served in the Peace Corps since
it began on March 1,1961.
As the group celebrates its
40th anniversary this year,
Peace Corps campus support
ers have something to celebrate
as well: The number of volun
teers from the University has
increased significantly during
the past year.
According to a list released
March 9 by Peace Corps Acting
Director Charles Baquet III, the
University now ranks fifth in
the nation among large univer
sities for the number of gradu
ates in the Peace Corps, with 67
members currently serving.
The University made the
largest leap in the rankings,
moving up from 15th place last
year with 56 graduates serving.
Career Center Director Larry
Smith said the University’s
high ranking reflects an inter
nationally aware campus and
student body.
“The long-standing, high in
volvement of University of Ore
gon graduates in the Peace
Corps represents the outstand
ing qualities that the Universi
ty develops,” Smith said.
With 7,300 people serving in
the Peace Corps, volunteer in
volvement is the highest it’s
Turn to Peace Corps, page 3
Students travel
to OUS hearing
■The ASUO will offer transportation to Salem for
students who want to speak before the Oregon
Legislature about the higher education budget
By Jeremy Lang
for the Emerald
Wednesday will be the first day of a
showdown in Salem, not just over the
Oregon University System budget dur
ing the next two years, but the future of
the incidental fee at the University of
Oregon, which pays for student groups,
the EMU and athletic tickets.
Wednesday is the only day students
can testify before the Oregon Legislature
about the OUS budget, which is facing
cuts that could lead to an 8 percent tu
ition increase during the next two years.
“Bottom line, we need bodies there,”
ASUO State Affairs Coordinator Brian
Tanner said.
The ASUO and members of the Ore
gon Student Association lobby group
have seen the OUS budget battle coming
since last fall, when Gov. John Kitzhaber
released his proposed state budget. The
Legislature will debate each section and
come to a final number before the end of
the session.
But concerns about the incidental fee
arose last Thursday during a legislative
work session for the OUS budget. ASUO
President Jay Breslow, who testified
with University President Dave Frohn
mayer, said the discussion suddenly
changed from the budget to the fee, its
size and how it’s allocated.
Breslow said some legislators ques
tioned the fee’s validity when roughly
only 10 percent of the stud ents vote each
year for the groups and people who will
decide who gets the money.
“It raised some red flags,” ASUO Leg
islative Organizer Melissa Unger said.
Unger added that the Legislature first al
lowed schools to have a fee and has the
authority to put a cap on the size of the
fee or eliminate it completely.
Turn to OUS budget, page 3
a They
can do
anything.
Whether the
fee thing
goes down
or not,
Wednesday
is an incred
ibly impor
tant day.
Melissa Unger
ASUO
Legislative
Organizer^ y
ELF issues statement denying involvement with arson
■The Earth Liberation
Front’s statement says an
anonymous group is
responsible for the local fire
By Aaron K. Breniman
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Earth Liberation Front re
leased a statement to several lo
cal media outlets Sunday that
said an anonymous group op
posed to “gas-guzzling SUVs”
and “the techno-industrial state”
had taken responsibility for an
arson that destroyed several
sport utility vehicles Friday at a
Eugene Chevrolet dealership.
The ELF received a commu
nique from an unidentified
group that claimed responsibili
ty for Friday’s fire. The commu
nique suggested a link between
the fire and an arson that oc
curred at the dealership last June.
In the statement, released Sat
urday, the ELF said there was “no
indication” that this action had
been committed by members of
the ELF, “but rather one claimed
by an anonymous group of
unidentified individuals.”
Police said Friday’s fire, which
began shortly before 3 a.m., dam
aged 34 vehicles at Joe Romania
Chevrolet, located at 2020
Franklin Blvd. Eugene Police De
partment spokeswoman Pam Ale
jandre said that “incendiary de
vices” placed throughout the lot
were filled with gasoline. Howev
er, many of the devices failed to ig
nite and the damage to the dealer
ship, neighboring houses and
businesses could have been much
worse, Alejandre said.
The EPD, which is directing the
investigation, and the Bureau of Al
cohol, Tobacco and Firearms are
continuing to investigate the fire
and plan to pursue the ELF infor
mation to determine its validity,
Alejandre said, adding that the EPD
has received more than 100 leads
in the case so far.
The communique received by
ELF makes several references in
support of Jeffrey Luers and
Craig Marshall, respectively
known as ‘Free’ and ‘Critter.’
“The fire that burns within
Free and Critter burns within all
of us and cannot be extinguished
by locking them up,” the com
munique said.
Both Luers and Marshall were
charged with multiple counts of ar
son, criminal mischief and other
Turn to ELF, page 5
R. Ashley Smith Emerald
Jason Peterson, an employee at joe Romania Chevrolet, sweeps up the debris left from Friday’s
fire, which began about 3 a.m. The arson damaged 34 vehicles at the car dealership.