Campus drivers admit to speeding for sport
■ Police say many speeders
are simply distracted, while
others see the road as a track
By Marty Toohey
Oregon Daily Emerald
Radar Gun 5674 has seen a lot of
speeding in its day.
An invaluable member of the Eu
gene Police Department’s campus
patrol division, Radar Gun 5674’s
laser eye has caught many vehicles
speeding in and around the Univer
sity over the past few years. Some of
its victims have been late, some
have been angry and a few have
even been drunk.
Officer Pete Aguilar, Radar Gun
5674’s partner, has heard a lot of
excuses from people the gun spies.
He said it’s a common vice for stu
dents, and he thinks about 85 per
cent of campus drivers exceed the
15 mph campus limit. Sometimes
he even has to laugh at the “crazy”
things he’s heard from drivers he’s
pulled over.
A driver once told Aguilar that
pedestrians, bikers and automobiles
in Eugene have an agreement, and
therefore the driver could legally
run a stop sign. The most common
excuse Aguilar hears is that speed
ing rules don’t apply on campus.
“A lot of times I’ll laugh to myself
and say, ‘I don’t get it,’ and move
on,” Aguilar said.
If Radar Gun 5674 were a-person,
it would hate drivers who speed,
and it would dream of the day when
everyone obeys the speed limit. If
that day comes, Radar Gun 5674
might have a front-row seat in Ari
zona’s Bank One Ballpark clocking
the speed of Randy Johnson’s fast
ball, or a skybox at the Multnomah
Greyhound Tracks overlooking Ore
gon’s sport of kings.
Radar Gun 5.6.74 will probably
never make it there, though, be
cause speeding is such a common
phenomenon around campus.
Aguilar didn’t have exact speeding
figures available, but he said he
thinks that in addition to those ex
ceeding the on-campus speed limit,
about half of the drivers in the area
Fetishes
continued from page 3B
dominate someone else, as well as
watch others, Kamras said.
To get into the parties, Kamras
has a strict drpss code to ensure that
the people attending the party
know what will happen inside and
should be there.
“We do not let people in unless
they are dressed in all black or any
outfit that shows they have thought
about what their fetish is and what
they want to do before the party,”
he said. “We had one man come
wearing all pink before.”
People should wear clothing
such as PVC, which is black
patent vinyl, or Pleather, a fake
leather. Recently, clothing items
made out of latex or rubber mate
rial have become popular for
fetish parties, Delphina’s store
manager Jewel said.
Other fetish outfits include big
boots, leather corsets and dresses
made out of see-through mesh ma
terial, chokers, and bracelets, bras
and panties with spikes.
“Basically, it has to be sexy and
sensual, and that is how you get into
fetish parties,” Jewel said. “Someone
can’t just wear jeans and a T-shirt to
these parties and expect to get in.”
If someone has plans to attend a
fetish party, Delphina’s will help any
one put together an outfit, Jewel said.
Performances at Kamras’ past
parties have included people giv
ing themselves piercings and
Gars sometimes can be found speeding at the intersection of East 15th Avenue and University Street, which is also awash with bicyclists and pedestrians every afternoon.
surrounding the University go 5-10
mph faster than the speed limit.
Aguilar said the most common
speeding time comes during the
last fifteen minutes of each hour,
when classes are ending and stu
dents are late.
“It actually comes down to — the
time of day people speed is actually
the worst time to,” he said.
Jose Arevalos, a University stu
dent from Los Angeles, doesn’t
drive at school, but when at home
he sometimes speeds frequently. He
said a road near his California home
has a 50 mph speed limit, “and I go
70 (mph) on it all the time.”
“There’s a big corner on it, and
you just hit it fast and off you go,”
he said.
Arevalos said he thinks most stu
*
dancing with fire. For fire danc
ing, people dance with poi balls,
which are balls of flame, and they
can also have flames dancing from
their fingertips as well as breathe
fire.
“Fire can be considered a fetish
for many people,” Kamras said.
During Kamras’ last party on
Dec. 29, 2001, the showcase fea
tured one man wearing a full body
suit that prohibited him from hear
ing and speaking, while giving him
electric shocks and vibrations to
different body parts.
Another requirement for getting
into fetish parties is being 21 years
or older. IDs are checked at the
door, and a party usually costs
somewhere between $15 to $20.
Kamras said he would probably
hold another party in the fall or
winter of this year. Each party is
held in a different location, such as
a warehouse, and fliers are distrib
uted beforehand.
“We do not want to make it too
mainstream, but we like to keep it
vocal,” he said. “At first we were
hush about it, but than we realized
we wanted to get the message out
so the community could be more
involved.” Kamras said he believes
exploring fetishes is OK as long as
it’s between consenting adults.
Yants agreed.
“Overall, I believe that fetishes
can be fun and exciting if they are
kept in moderation,” he said.
E-mail reporter Danielle Gillespie
atdaniellegillespie@dailyemerald.com.
dents speed when they get their li
censes. He was no exception.
“You try to find out what the top
speed of your car is,” Arevalos
said. “When I first got my license, I
found out my Blazer had a (speed)
governor and wouldn’t go faster
than 95 (mph).”
Arevalos has never been pulled
over, but he had one close call. He
was driving 70 mph in a 40 mph
zone and slammed on his breaks to
stop for a red light.
“Then I saw there were cops on
both sides of the intersection, and if
the light had been green, I would’ve
been busted,” he said.
Aguilar said that most of the driv
ers he’s busted speed because their
mind isn’t on the road.
“The main reason I’ve found is
that people are already thinking
about what’ll happen when they
reach their destination,” he said. “It’s
like their mind is already there. ”
He said that anger can also affect
people’s decision to speed.
' “Aggressive drivers by nature
usually don’t clue in as much that
they’re taking risks,” Aguilar said.
John Edwards, a psychology pro
fessor at Oregon State University, said
the notion that speeding and other ag
gressive behaviors can release ten
sion is a myth, and tests have over
whelmingly indicated such activities
only build tension in a person.
“I can understand people think
ing speeding or other aggressive be
havior is cathartic,” Edwards said.
“It’s an old Freudian notion that’s
become ingrained in our society.
But it turns out it’s not the case. ”
Edwards said aggressive behavior
perpetuates itself and forms pat
terns of aggression in an individual,
instead of relieving it.
“You’re learning behaviors, and if
anything it’s more likely to increase
aggression,” he said.
Edwards said that aggressive be
havior is often accompanied by
emotional arousal, and that certain
activities, like running, can reduce
the arousal. He said the lack of phys
ical activity plus the additional at
tention necessary while speeding
do not reduce arousal, though.
“It probably winds you up more
than it winds you down,” he said.
E-mail reporter Marty Toohey
at martytoohey@dailyemerald.com.
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