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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2001)
(Bittersweet Annie Murphy went from hero to the sideline after injuring her knee. Page 13 Calvin & Company Calvin Johnson, Mi rah, The Breeders and more come to Eugene this weekend. Page 7 http*y/www.dailyemerald.com Thursday, October 25,2001 Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 103, Issue 4 3 Fitting the hill ■ Donald Duck had a predecessor, and almost a replacement, as the University mascot Courtesy Photos By Helen Schumacher for the Emerald Looking onto the field at Autzen Stadium, students ex pect to see not only a winning football team, but also the marching band, cheerleaders, and, of course, an oversized Donald Duck dancing along the sidelines. Donald didn’t always pro tect the University’s athletes, however. Origi nally, the school had the Webfoots. That’s right — Webfoots. Local folklore documented by Jean Campbell reports that Webfoots was the nickname a traveling salesman gave resi dents of Western Oregon. While traveling north from California, he stayed at a farm house in Lane County. The salesman hat ed the rainy weather and commented to the woman who lived at the farmhouse that he wouldn’t be surprised if all the children in the area had webbed feet. Then the woman showed the salesman her baby’s feet — which were, in fact, webbed between the toes. The truth of the story is debatable, but the name stuck, and, according to a 1978 article in The Register-Guard, University students and alumni voted in 1932 to call themselves the Webfoots. A sports editor for The Oregonian suggested the name, an altered version of a common nickname, the Webfooters. Other choices at the time were Trappers, Pioneers, Yellow Jackets and Gorillas. Drawings in the University archives show the mascot as a man wearing a sweater with a large “O” on the front, a blazer and duck feet. But the name didn’t last long. By World War II, the term Ducks was as common as Webfoots, according to former University archivist Keith Richard. After a brief stint in which Turn to Mascot, page 5 The University’s mascot has undergone many changes over the years, changing fromaWebfoottoa mallard to a white duck (clockwise from top) before settling on Donald. UO workers face possible insurance troubles ■ Part-time classified employees may feel a budget pinch in the wake of mounting costs By Eric Martin Oregon Daily Emerald The burden of towering health-care costs is weighing on the University’s part-time classified workers, leaving many worried they’ll soon be empty ing their pockets to pay for basic cov erage. “It’s the first time this has happened in my memory; that a group of our people will be paying out of pocket for insurance,” said Bart Lewis, adminis trative specialist with business affairs and bargaining chair for the union that represents classified staff in contract negotiations. Mounting health-care costs will hit University classified workers hardest, because, of the 1,241 classified staff here, 288 are part-time — the largest number of part-time classified staff at any Oregon public university. Classi fied workers provide administrative assistance, facilitate health care serv ices and prepare residence hall meals, among other things. “Basically, we’re looking at a mas sive pay cut if we want insurance, anywhere from 10 to 40 percent,” said Constance Berglund, public service representative for the University Health Center. Some blame the Public Employees Benefit Board (PEBB) for failing to se cure an affordable health-care plan for part-time workers in 2002-03. PEBB provides health benefit plans for state employees “at a cost affordable to both the employees and the state,” accord ing to PEBB’s Web site. The agency Turn toOPEU, page 6 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 1 1 t » I I-1 m SOURCE: Helen Stoop, Human resources benefit administrator Officials warn U.S. to be wary of mail ■As three postal workers are hospitalized in Maryland, FBI , Director Mueller says odds of more attacks are‘very high’ By Martin Merzer and Tony Pugh Knight Ridder Newspapers WASHINGTON (KRT) - Postal au thorities advised Americans to regard their mail as a “threat” Wednesday, began offering protective masks and gloves to every mail handler in the nation and counseled enhanced vigi lance by everyone during the anthrax crisis. Three more postal workers were hospitalized in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington and a possible new case of anthrax was reported at the New York Post, bringing the num ber of confied or strongly suspected cases nationwide to 14. Three of those people have died. Postal officials moved to enhance safety systems, and said they soon will begin using high-tech equipment to neutralize anthrax spores and will dis tribute improved masks and gloves to as many as 500,000 postal employees who in any way handle mail. Turn to Anthrax update, page 4 City council to redistrict area wards ■The Eugene City Council will review redistricting options on Nov. 14 and decide on the final option Nov. 26 By Sue Ryan Oregon Daily Emerald Eugene City Councilors narrowed their city ward redistricting options from five to three plans Wednesday. The redistricting plans are designed to reflect changes in population from the 2000 census and will impact stu dents who live on and off the Universi ty campus as well as other Eugene resi dents. “Under all three scenarios, people who live on campus would remain in Ward 3,” said Keli Osborn, a planner for the City of Eugene. “But if you look at Westmoreland and Spencer View hous ing, as well as some other areas where students are concentrated in the com Turn to Redistricting, page 6
