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Wednesday, February 27,2002
Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 103, Issue 105
■ Hiiiod and tsuzbee say they II be
up to the challenge of changing
how ASUO is perceived, if elected
By Diane Huber
Oregon Daily Emerald
Between campaigning, helping at the
international student orientation, prac
ticing Swedish and working at an ear,
nose and throat clinic, ASUO presi
dential candidate Rachel Pilliod some
how finds time to volunteer in the
emergency room at Sacred Heart Med
ical Center on Saturday nights.
In fact, if there’s one weakness Pilliod
has, it is trying to take on too much, her
roommate Megan Hughes said.
Turn to Pilliod, page 8
ASUO
ELECTIONS
■ Ritchie and Babkes say they
hope to spice up ASUO a bit
with personality and leadership
By Kara Cogswell
Oregon Daily Emerald
Friends since their days together at
Eugene’s Roosevelt Middle School,
ASUO executive candidates Sean
Ritchie and Jason Babkes said the val
ues that have kept them close to their
families and high school friends will
translate to loyalty to the student body
if they are elected.
“We’re very loyal to our family, very
loyal to our friends, to all our relation
ships,” said Ritchie, who is running for
Turn to Ritchie page 7
uggling
Act
Student parents face
difficulties balancing
school schedules
with their kids’
childcare requirements
By Katie Ellis
Oregon Daily Emerald
T"\ enee Brobst, like many Universi
ty nontraditional students, strug
;les to balance the demands of
being a student with the demands of
being a parent. A mother of three,
Brobst depends on a University Child
Care and Development Center program
to look after her children while she at
tends school and her husband works.
The University’s proposal to offer tu
ition discounts for students who take
classes later in the day is appealing to
many on campus, but for nontradition
al students like Brobst, the proposed
tuition model is a double-edged sword.
In order to enroll in the later classes,
many student-parents would need ex
tended hours at one of CCDC’s seven
programs for toddlers, pre-schoolers,
kindergartners and first graders. “It’s a
great idea in theory, but it does raise
concern as far as child care,” Brobst
said. “I don’t know if the University is
going to accommodate my needs as far
as child care goes.”
Brobst, an education major, has
Turn to Juggling, page 5
Adam Amato Emerald
University student and mother of three Renee Brobst corrals her kids, Ryan (front), Jason (held)
and Haley (not pictured), on their way out of the Westmoreland toddler program.
EPD says trespassers
weren’t charged
with attempted rape
■The female resident of Spiller Hall said she did not
feel threatened by the unwanted sexual advances
By Marty Toohey
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Eugene Police Department said that two men who en
tered a University woman’s residence hall room and made un
wanted sexual advances during the weekend are not being
charged with attempted rape.
Officers arrested two men who are not University students
in Spiller Hall early Saturday morning after one entered a fe
male student’s room and made unwelcome sexual advances.
Eugene police arrested 18-year-old Micah Angelo Murphy,
of Salem, and 18-year-old Jaray Tyrone Ceasar, of Keizer, who
were accompanied by two other men.
Law enforcement officials stressed the incident was not an
attempted rape and the student was not threatened.
Eugene police arrested Murphy and Ceasar at about 3 a.m. and
charged them with criminal trespassing, interfering with police
and disorderly conduct, EPD spokeswoman Pam Alejandre said.
Police also charged Murphy with sexual abuse and inde
cent exposure. Earlier in the evening, he had knocked on the
door of the female resident, who said he could come in. Mur
phy asked whether a different student than the resident lived
in the room, talked with the resident and began making sexual
advances. He soon forced himself on her, but she eventually
persuaded him to leave the room, locking the door as he left.
The student was not fearful Murphy would rape her, Ale
jandre said. Shortly after Murphy left the room, another stu
dent complained of the four people’s noise and called the Uni
versity’s Department of Public Safety. Officers arrived and
detained the four, citing them for trespassing, DPS associate
director Tom Hicks said.
A student then told DPS of a possible rape attempt, which
forced DPS to call EPD. Eugene police soon arrived, arresting
Murphy and Ceasar after they refused to answer questions, belit
tled officers and said police actions were racially motivated.
The pair were extremely agitated, Alejandre said.
Murphy kicked out the rear window of a police cruiser, result
ing in minor cuts and bruises for one officer. DPS cited the two
men with Murphy and Ceasar for trespassing. One of them also
received a citation for minor in possession of alcohol, Hicks sai d.
E-mail reporter Marty Toohey at martytoohey@dailyemerald.com.
State Board member from SOU has found a place in government
Tuesday
Tim Young,
University student
and State Board
member, was
profiled.
Today
Erin Watari,
Southern Oregon
University and State
Board member,
is profited. >'.y % v»
■ Erin Watari, a student member
of the higher education board,
shows a passion for her job
By Eric Martin
Oregon Daily Emerald
Erin Watari is becoming a political
force as she approaches the halfway
mark of her term as a student member
of the State Board of Higher Education,
the governing body for the seven pub
lic universities in the Oregon
.University .System., , , , . , , , , , , . , .
But many students wouldn’t know it
if they met her at a party. The easy-going
21-year-old might mention the time she
and her best friend, Whitney Wong, hit
The Big Easy for a night of revelry dur
ing Mardi Gras. Or about the time she
and Wong packed skis into her 1984
Honda Civic and headed to Colorado for
some champagne powder on the slopes
of Breckenridge and Aspen.
But once the Southern Oregon Uni
versity political science senior starts
talking politics, there’s no question
she’s not a typical college student. Eaur
years in student government have left
their mark.
“Erin makes issues relevant to stu
dents,” said Sidney Simas, who
worked with Watari for three years in
SOU student government and now is
spokeswoman for the Associated Stu
dents of SOU. “She can turn an issue
into something you feel passionate
about. She makes students care.”
As vice president for ASSOU, Watari
helped fuel an effort to register a record
number of student voters and beseech
them to vote in the 2000 election. She
marched in Washington, D.C., with 300
other student leaders to lobby lawmak
ers for legislation that would eradicate
racial profiling by police. It was a pro
fessional and personal vindication for
Watari because the racial profiling is
sue became especially dear to her heart
while she was a freshman at Gresham
High School.
The Gresham, Ore., native said po
lice officers detained her and a group
of her friends who met at Jefferson
Turn to Watari, page 3