Health Center director steps down
■ Dr. Gerald Fleischli surprised
coworkers with his decision
to leave at the end of the year
By Leon Tovey
Oregon Daily Emerald
After more than 10 years as
medical director of the Universi
ty Health Center, Dr. Gerald Fleis
chli is trading in his administra
tor’s hat.
Anne Leavitt, associate vice pres
ident of Student Affairs, an
nounced Friday that Fleischli is
planning to step down at the end of
the 2001-02 school year, and the
University will begin a national
search for a new director in March.
The announcement was made at a
Student Health Advisory Commit
tee meeting.
Dr. Fleischli cited personal rea
sons for his decision to step down.
He said he plans to continue prac
tiring medicine at the health center
but wants to move away from the
administrative side of the job so he
can focus on seeing patients and
spending time with his wife, Linda,
to whom he’s been married for
more than 40 years.
“For years my wife has been say
ing, ‘why don’t you retire?”’ Fleis
chli said. “I had a list of things I
wanted to do. ... I think I’ve gotten
things rolling.”
Fleischli has worked in student
medicine for more than 30 years,
beginning with an 11-year stint at
the University of Nebraska Medical
Center in Omaha. He worked as di
rector of the health center at the
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, for
10 years before coming to the Uni
versity in 1991.
His decision to step down leaves
the University with the task of ap
pointing a replacement who will be
able to work on current plans, such
as the expansion of the health cen
ter, while defining a new direction
for the center.
“(He) wants to leave by Sept. 1,”
Leavitt said. She pointed out that
since fall term is usually a busy
time for the health center director,
“it would be nice to have (the new
director) by July 1.”
But before the search for a new
director can begin, decisions have
to be made on the search criteria.
One of the key issues will be
whether the University hires an ad
ministrator or a physician for the
position, and Leavitt has asked the
SHAC for its input. Currently, Fleis
chli oversees the day-to-day opera
tion of the health center in conjunc
tion with medical administrator
Bob Petit, while continuing to see
patients almost every day.
“This is about looking to the fu
ture,” Leavitt said. “Are we going
to stay half administrator/half
doctor and one administrator, or
are we going to reorganize?”
Fleischii’s decision to step down
came as a surprise to members of
the SHAC, a group of students and
faculty who work with Fleischli on
issues relating to the health cen
ter’s programs. Chairwoman Amy
Biggs, a general science major, said
the line of communication be
tween Fleischli and the SHAC has
helped streamline the health cen
ter’s programs.
“The great thing about the
SHAC is that people with no con
nection to medicine have input,”
she said. “Sometimes students no
tice things the (Health Center’s)
staff doesn’t. For me, you want to
hire a physician who’s a good
physician but can also stay on top
of things.”
E-mail higher education editor Leon Tovey at
leontovey@dailyemerald.com.
People briefs
Rumsfeld: I’m no stud
Defense Secretary Donald Rums
feld shrugged off a magazine cover
labeling the 69-year-old as “The
Stud” and said his wife was
amused by the description.
Rumsfeld laughed heartily in a
television interview Sunday on
NBC’s “Meet the Press” when
asked about the conservative politi
cal magazine National Review’s
cover, which has a cartoon of the
defense chief and the banner head
line “The Stud. Don Rumsfeld,
America’s new pin-up.”
Asked whether he saw himself as
America’s stud at 69 years old, the
man in charge of America’s war effort
in Afghanistan retorted: “Come on,
r
get onto something serious, Russert.”
PETA gets catty at Versace show
With Madonna, Gwyneth Pal
trow and singer Sheryl Crow look
ing on, two anti-fur protesters
jumped on the catwalk during de
signer Donatella Versace’s haute
couture show Saturday in Paris, re
ports Reuters.
The demonstrators, who claimed
allegiance to People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA), were
tackled by security guards as models
continued to strut down the runway.
One unfurled a banner that said
“Fur Kills. Peta.”
The audience seemed
stunned, but then the mood re
turned to normal as Madonna
and Paltrow made jokes.
MLK Jr. on his side?
Danny Glover says the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr. would have endorsed the
actor’s anti-death penalty message.
The civil rights leader is a man
“who died committed to defending
the principles of nonviolence,”
Glover told a congregation at Christ
Unity Baptist Church in Modesto,
Calif., on Saturday.
Glover also clarified remarks
made during a November speech,
in which he was quoted as saying
that* Osama bin Laden should not
be executed, even if he was in
volved in terrorist acts.
The actor said he repeated his
opposition to the death penalty,
without referring to the prime sus
pect in the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Nowhere is Osama bin Laden’s
name mentioned,” said Glover,
who brought copies of his speech
for the audience.
Spinning his promotional web
Tobey Maguire, leaping into ac
tion films this summer with “Spi
der-Man,” says it’s the right time for
a superhero film set in New York, a
city of real-life heroes.
“I think people will be ready this
summer to watch a good guy in New
York who has fun and goes around
and beats up the bad guys,” he said.
The World Trade Center was featured
prominently in a trailer that was pulled
after Sept. 11. But the towers remain in
the skyline of Spider-Man’s New York.
Compiled by Michael Hamersly
©2002, The Miami Herald. Distributed by
Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
News brief
Pro-choice groups to hold
Roe v. Wade celebration
To commemorate the 29th an
niversary of the U.S. Supreme
Court’s Roe v. Wade decision and
awaken surrounding pro-choice is
sues, ProChoice Coalition of Ore
gon and Planned Parenthood will
hold their “Candlelight Celebra
tion” at 6 p.m. today in the First
Congregational Church, 1050 E.
23rd Ave.
Pro-choice politicians, such as
Oregon Secretary of State Bill Brad
bury, will be speaking and lighting
candles at the event, along with ac
tivists, health care providers, stu
dents and religious leaders.
“This celebration should be a call
to action for the pro-choice majority
to demand that President Bush
nominate, and the (U.S.) Senate ap
prove, only individuals who will
uphold Roe and a woman’s right to
choose,” said Kitty Piercy, a member
of ProChoice Coalition of Oregon.
In 1973 the court ruled to make
abortion legal. But with talk that
a justice might retire and with a
Republican president in the
White House, Piercy said this
could be the last Roe v. Wade an
niversary celebration.
The candlelight celebration will
also give organizers a chance to
urge citizens to vote if they want to
keep existing freedoms.
“The right to choose is in dan
ger at a national and local level,”
Piercy said.
Ken Henry, Central Presbyterian
Church minister, will also be
speaking on the religious support
for choice.
“It is very appropriate that the
voices of clergy be heard on this
auspicious day,” clergyman Greg
Flint said.
Ben Hughes
PHI DELTA THETA
THE STANDARD FOR
BROTHERHOOD!
Do You Have What it Takes to
Start Something Historical???
Phi Delta Theta is looking for Men who
have what it takes to Start a Fraternity, to
become Founding Fathers. A Fraternity
developed around the ideals of Scholarship,
Campus and Community Involvement,
Diversity, and a responsible Social
atmosphere.
Find out what it takes to be a Founding Father
When: Tuesday, January 22nd 8:00pm
Where: Umpqua Room in the
Erl) Memorial Union
For more information contact Jason
Julian at iason@nhideltatheta.org or call
346-3701. You may also visit our web
site at wwv.geocities.com/jxitatoregon