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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 5, 2001)
No-sweat continued from page 1 shirt made?” Dreiling said some of his stu dents designed the class project af ter hearing about Occidental’s campaign, and they formed a group called the Campus Coalition for Fair Labor. The students have gathered signatures for support of the no-sweat zone. He said the project is in line with the Univer sity’s mission statement, which is dedicated to making students “think critically, act creatively, and live ethically.” He said it is hard for students to live by the University’s mission when they do not even know where the bookstore’s products are made. The no-sweat zone will make students think about the is sue when purchasing merchan dise, he said. “Consumers can begin to under stand that some products are made under certain conditions and some are not,” Dreiling said. Dreiling also expressed concern about the State Board of Higher Education’s decision to pass a pol icy governing business agreements last February. The “business prac tice policy” says the seven Oregon University System institutions cannot “adopt limits” on business agreements unless based on the "ability to perform, evidence of il legal activities" or other criteria. This prevents universities from being members of labor monitor ing groups such as the Worker Rights Consortium and Fair Labor Association. “That policy made it difficult for the University to uphold its mis sion,” he said. “Which ethic do we stand by ... The free flow of com merce or the right of humanity?” Erik Amos, a senior sociology major working on the campaign, said he is excited for the no-sweat clothing to be available. “Most of the clothing we’re wearing was made under sweat shop conditions,” he said. “The no-sweat zone is a place where all products are union-made so we know conditions are decent.” Medication continued from page 1 people’s allergies. “Allergies are a tough thing to predict,” she said. “You can’t tell from one day to the next if it’s go ing to be rainy or sunny.” Dewsnup said Eugene’s grass pollen count was very high last week. “The weather and the grass pollen just soared last week,” she said. Pat McCormick, the health cen ter’s medical records supervisor, said about 275 patients suffering from allergies visited the health center last week. She said this is a higher number of patients than the health center has had in past weeks, but overall she does not think it is unusual for this time of year. { i Last week was a really bad week for allergies. Gerald Fleischli director, University Health Center n “I don’t think this number is dif ferent from past years,” she said. McCormick also said weather is a significant factor in making peo ple sick. “This week the numbers will probably drop off because we’ve had the rain,” she said. Dr. Gerald Fleischli, the director of the health center, said running out of allergy medicine is not that serious a problem for the health center because it can reorder deliv eries every day. He said this is nothing like last winter’s shortage of the flu vaccine. “With allergies it’s a very short-term thing,” he said. “Last week was a really bad week for allergies.” Coursebook Buyback Win a cool $20! If you’re selling books where the alarm cIock rings, you’ll automatically win $20 cash! Prizes are provided by Missouri Book Services. 3 BUYBACK LOCATIONS! ■ New Location! Moshofsky Center JUNE 11-15 ONLY! 11:00am - 3:00pm v / Main Store ^ JUNE 6-17 Regular store hours EMU Lobby A JUNE 11-15 ONLY! 8:30am - 5pm M-TH 8:30am-4pm Fri UNIVERSITY of OREGON All books are 10% off EVERYDAY for current UO students, faculty and staff. Number of liquor violations on campus 200 1999 2000 2001 SOURCE: Eugene Police Department (as of April) BUSTED continued from page 1 been referred to the second level of the program for repeat offenders. "It has worked pretty well," Mace said. Next year, Mace said, the course will continue to be held as often as demand is high enough to fill the class. And beginning in the fall, stu dents who receive University Hous ing alcohol citations will be required to go through the BUSTED program as well. Mace said she believes part of the reason why the program has been successful is that it focuses on raising awareness of alcohol-related issues without being judgmental of those who choose to drink. Because the EPD is not directly in volved with the BUSTED program, police spokeswoman Pam Alejandre said she could not comment on the effectiveness of the course. But, she said, “The Eugene Police Department is very supportive of any program whose goal is to reduce al cohol use among minors. ” The ten-hour course is open to any one cited for being a minor in posses sion of alcohol, for furnishing or sell ing alcohol to a minor, or for contributing to the alcohol consump tion of a minor. In return, participants can earn University credit, and their fine is re duced to a court fee of about $50. If it is a first offense, the violation will not appear on a criminal record. Although students must also pay a class registration fee of $35, the cost is still lower than the fines they would pay in court. The fine for an MIP can be up to $250 — and for violations such as furnishing alcohol to minors, offenders can pay up to $5,000. Mace, who teaches the class, said she tries to dispel many popular myths about drinking. For example, she said, many people believe that when a person "passes out" after drinking too much, they have simply fallen asleep. In fact, she said, it is an alcohol-induced coma. The point of the class is not to dis courage people from drinking, Mace said, but to tell them "if you choose to drink, these are the ways in which you can be safe." Kristen Grbavac, a junior exercise and movement science major, attend ed the class winter term and said be cause much of the class focused on alcoholism, many of the issues dis cussed did not seem to apply to her own life. But she said she is appreciative that the program allowed her to pay a lower fine and to avoid having the ci tation on her criminal record. “I’m glad it was there because it kind of made the whole thing go away,” she said. “It wasn’t painful or anything.” Abby Kment, a junior education major who received an MIP citation last year, said the BUSTED program seems to be a fairer and more effective way to deal with students cited for al cohol violations. "Being a poor college student," she said, "I wish that option was available to me at the time." Allergy continued from page 1 few weeks — people are ready to see the rain again,” said Jean Jensen, a registered nurse with the Allergy and Asthma Research Group. Much of the high concentration of pollen in Eugene and the Willamette Valley can be attributed to the climate, the “closed air shed” — so called be cause the area is sandwiched between mountain ranges — and the fact that the area grows about 90 percent of the world’s grass seed, Jensen said. Intensity differs every year based on the previous year's weather, cur rent weather and other environmen tal factors. Most people in the profes sion who deal with allergies said this year is not any worse than others, but that the onslaught of pollen came quite suddenly. The Sacred Heart Ask-A-Nurse hot line has seen a significant increase in the number of calls regarding allergies as well. “This is definitely the season,” said one of the hotline nurses, who is required to remain anonymous. “We give people comfort measures they can take to help them feel better until they can take more permanent actions.” The hotline fields an estimated 75 calls a day regarding allergies, many pertaining to medications that are not working effectively or from callers who have not been officially diag nosed but want to know what meas ures they can take to feel better. During May, pollen levels in creased from just 2 grains per cubic meter to 356, then peaking June 1 at 502 grains. The Allergy and Asthma Research Group in Eugene takes pollen counts three to five times per week, Jensen said. Depending on the cause of a per son’s allergies, the section of the coun try and the pollination periods, sea sonal allergic rhinitis may occur in the spring, summer or fall and last until the first frost, according to the NAB. When an allergen, such as pollen, is absorbed into an allergic person’s body, that person’s immune system views the allergen as an invader and a chain reaction starts. White blood cells produce antibodies, which at tach themselves to special cells, called mast cells, causing a release of potent chemicals such as histamine, the NAB says in the “frequently asked questions” section of its Web site. The NAB estimates that there are more than 18 million office visits to primary care physicians resulting in a diagnosis of sinusitis each year. Allergy specialists agree that over the-counter medications can help sufferers, but they recommend any one experiencing chronic symp toms see a physician.
