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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2001)
City Council undertakes task of redistricting ■The 2000 Census shows that Eugene’s eight wards have grown unevenly, and new districts must be drawn By Aaron K. Breniman Oregon Daily Emerald Certain sections of Eugene are growing rapidly, and it’s time once again for the City Council to ad dress those population variations. During a Wednesday work session, the council voted 7-1 to work out that redistricting itself, rather than leave the job to a subcommittee or public task force. The projected 2000 Census data presented to the City Council dur ing the work session reaffirmed two things about the city and its current wards: Eugene population growth greatly exceeded growth projec tions in certain wards, and ward boundaries will most likely under go massive change to ensure equal representation. Ward 3 Councilor Bonny Bettman, whose ward includes the University and much of the West University neighborhood, said the effect redistricting will have on stu dents hinges on how the new lines are drawn. But she also mentioned that the redrawing of the lines will attempt to ensure equal representa tion among students. While official figures from the 2000 Census will not be available until June, early estimated figures show that the population of Eugene has increased by slightly over 25,000 residents in the past decade. Wards 5 and 6, which are both lo cated in north Eugene, saw the largest population increases with nearly 9,000 and 6,0000 people re spectively, according to the figures supplied to the City Council. Dur ing that same time, the population in Ward 3 increased only bv about 400. Most of Wednesday’s discussion regarding the redistricting process was centered on facilitating public input. “There is going to be significant change this redistricting process,” Jim Croteau, the city of Eugene’s principal planner, told the Council. “We are recommending a more ex tensive citizen involvement process.” Public information will be avail able about redistricting from the city of Eugene Web site and the city manager’s office. “With regard to the process, I want to make sure we get public comment at the right time — before its too late,” Ward 8 Councilor Nancy Nathanson commented. The Citizen Charter Review Committee recommended that the City Council place instant run-off voting, or IRV, on the ballot. How ever, the exact ballot — either May or November — remains uncertain. The committee also recommended that the City Council consider and discuss the feasibility of increasing the number of wards from eight to 10. Instant run-off voting, committee Chairman Jon Belcher said, would have many advantages. He de scribed the cost implications of a single election and how IRV could eliminate the possibility of “spoiler candidates,” as Green Party candi date Ralph Nader has been called during the aftermath of Election 2000. IRV involves voting for candi dates using a preferential ranking system. “I don’t think [the system] is bro ken,” Belcher said, “but it does need some fixing.” Mayor Jim Torrey solicited the individual opinion of committee members in attendance after Belch er addressed the council. “Our community is growing more diverse socially and political ly,” committee member Ken Tol lenaar said. “I think IRV is a way to accommodate these larger charges within the community.” UO, OSU scolded by Senate for 2001 Civil War date ■The University Senate worries the December game compromises academics for lucrative network deals By Hank Hager Oregon Daily Emerald For just the second time in Civil War history, the Ducks and Beavers will square off on the football field in December, and some on campus don’t like it. The University Senate approved a resolution April 11 that essential ly scolded the athletic departments of both schools for scheduling a game so close to Finals Week. “It’s a huge distraction from what is first, which is academics,” said James Earl, English professor and senate president. Earl said he is not worried about the short term effects of the deci sion, but said it could be a problem if games are regularly scheduled this late. He said senate members were concerned because the University administration had sent a letter to all academic departments remind ing faculty to respect Dead Week, and right after this, the date of the game was scheduled at the end of the week. Scheduling athletic events dur ing important academic times at the University is not always avoid able, said Dave Williford, assistant athletic director of media services for the University. He said the Ath letic Department has a policy of not scheduling games during Finals Week, but sometimes it just can’t be helped. “The University of Oregon, be cause it is on a quarter system, is handicapped,” he said. “It’s still something that is completely out of our control.” He said games that are controlled by the NCAA, such as the basket ball tournaments in March, cannot be changed to dates that fit the Uni versity’s needs. Those dates are de cided upon beforehand and do not take into account the schools that participate. He said if a situation arises where University teams are required to play games on the road during a pe riod of test taking, there are differ ent ways to accommodate the stu dents. Williford said professors are con tacted by the Athletic Department to reschedule tests if possible, and if the student-athlete is not able to, a proctor will travel with the team to administer the test. He added that freshmen athletes, as well as all athletes who do not have a GPA of 2.0 or above, are re quired to attend a study hall throughout the year. Dan Williams, vice president for administration, said the lure of lucrative television rights revenue and national exposure prompted the date change for the Civil War. But, he added, changing the date of the game took serious consider ation. He said he understood the sen ate’s concern that the game may make Finals Week seem unimpor tant, but the advantages of playing in December had to be taken into consideration. “The advantages far outweighed the risk,” he said. He said athletic directors normal ly schedule pre-season games, but during Pacific-10 Conference play, the games are scheduled by confer ence officials. Earl said the payments made by the networks to push the game to a later date shows that athletics is play ing an increasing role in college. The date change is “a big red flag telling us athletics is so big now it is encroaching on academics,” he said. Earl said the importance for sports channels to show games on TV every day of the week puts even more stress on student-athletes and has a direct affect on their studying habits. He said the senate’s resolution is a message to the University to mon itor what happens in their schedul ing. “We were sending what we think is a shot across the bow,” he said. 400 officials prepare for McVeigh execution By Rex W. Huppke The Associated Press TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — From a command center in the federal pen itentiary, officials will oversee near ly 400 state, local and federal law enforcement officers during the days leading up lo Timothy McVeigh’s execution. The command center will open May 9, a week before McVeigh is scheduled to die by lethal injection for the 1995 bombing of the Okla homa City federal building, which killed 168. The number of officers in the area will grow as the execution date approaches, Warden Harley Lappin said at the prison Wednesday. All 30 schools in Vigo County will close that day, along with all coun ty and federal courts in Terre Haute. Some law enforcement authori ties and residents have expressed fear of some kind of terrorist attack wherf'McVeigh is executed May 16. “At this point in time, we don’t have any indication that any organ ized group is planning any sort of act in support of the tragedy at Okla homa City or in this case the execu tion of Timothy McVeigh,” said Robert Reilley, special agent in charge of the Indianapolis FBI office. Lappin said news organizations are expected to begin setting up on prison property between May 9 and May 11. By May 12, all roads onto prison grounds will be guarded and all vehicles will be checked. The day before the execution, death penalty activists will be al lowed to park at two different Terre Haute parks. Buses will take pro testers to the prison grounds at midnight on the day of the execu tion, which is scheduled for 7 a.m. EST. There are currently nearly 200 law enforcement officers in Vigo County. More than 200 additional officers, including FBI agents and federal marshals, will join them, Lappin said. The Bureau of Prisons will also send in more than 150 ad ditional personnel, bringing the to tal prison staff to about 650. Despite preparations for the exe cutions, the prison has been run ning smoothly, Lappin said. “We’re communicating quite a bit with the inmates, they watch the news every night, they know exact ly what’s going on,” Lappin said. “They know that for a period of time during this execution, they’ll be locked in their cells, and they understand why.” '.* - CONGRATULATIONS Women’s Club Volleyball players: Lisa Dohrmann Carli Halligan Jessica Mae Van Ourkerk Heidi Swanson Nicki Daman Kristin Layne Annie Pogue Stacey Terry Sara Sanzone Tina Austinson Coach: Cody Banner 011599 NIRSA National intramural and Recreational Soorts NATIONAL jqiale Qub CHAMPIONS! Championship Game UO vs. Purdue Kansas City, MO April 13-15