Oregon daily emerald., May 02, 2002, Image 1

Pulse
A downtown gallery offers a chance to
see Bigfoot—safely inside a building.
Page?
Sports
With five games remaining, the Oregon
softball team struggles to hit .500.
Page 13
http-yAvww.dailyemerald.com
Thursday, May 2,2002
Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 103, Issue 142
Union rally marks third year of labor dispute
■ Register-Guard employees gather
to voice concerns about negotiations
and three years without a contract
By Nicole Hill
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Register-Guard union organizers
and community members rallied
Wednesday to shine the spotlight on their
three years’ work without a labor contract
and on the dispute’s non-existent cover
age in The Register-Guard itself.
Newsroom, advertising, circulation
and other employees circled under blue
skies in front of the Register-Guard
building, marking the third anniversary
of grueling contract negotiations.
“There was a time I would have fought
tooth and nail to keep a job here,” features
reporter Kimber Williams yelled to a
crowd of about 200 people. Speakers took
turns hoisting each other up on the gas
tank of a semitrailer truck striped with a
gold Teamsters logo as the crowd chanted,
“How dare they,” while waving banners.
Williams’ last day was Friday, and she
said Register-Guard management made
t it easy to walk away.
“This is not the same place I came to
work for,” she told the demonstrators.
The newspaper has been charged with
16 unfair labor practice charges in its ne
gotiations with the Eugene Newspaper
Guild and the Teamsters Local 206, the
paper’s newest union. A year has passed
since a district court judge ordered The
Register-Guard to bargain with unions.
“It took a judge to make them just sit
down with us at the bargaining table,”
said Adele Berlinski, president of the
Newspaper Guild and a copy editor at the
paper. “The company is just anti-union.”
But Register-Guard human resources
manager Cynthia Walden said manage
ment signed contracts on other issues
with two smaller unions.
“I have all the confidence that we will
reach an agreement,” she said. “But this
Turn to Rally, page 5
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Thomas Patterson Emerald
Protesters against the labor practices of Register-Guard leadership sing union songs such as “Which Side are You On?”
during a rally outside the newspaper’s headquarters. Much of the ire is directed at publisher Tony Baker.
Cultural
Forum
hopefuls
cut to five
■ Finalists for the coordinator
position will have three sets
of interviews with the committee
as well as an oral presentation
By Kara Cogswell
Oregon Daily Emerald
A search committee has narrowed
down to five finalists the pool of appli
cants to replace UO Cultural Forum Pro
gram Coordinator Linda Dievendorf.
EMU Director of Student Activities
Gregg Lobisser said interviews will be
held in May for the following appli
cants: Leslie Scott on May 15, Richard
Kershaw on May 10, Donald Voss on
May 7, Katherine Bryant on May 9 and
Justina Parsons-Bernstein on May 16.
The finalists come from a broad range
of backgrounds. Voss is currently the
operations coordinator for EMU events
and technical services. Bryant is an as
sistant director for residential life at the
University. Scott is the general manager
of the Oregon Country Fair.
Two hail from out-of-state — Ker
shaw, who is the assistant director for
student activities at the University of
Maine at Farmington and Parsons-Bem
stein, who is an instructor at Arizona
State University.
Lobisser said the University received
more than 30 completed applications
for the position, which was advertised
Turn to Cultural Forum, page 5
ASUO hosts debate between Ward 3 City Council candidates
DAVID KELLY: City council’s
incumbent president says he is
running again to continue his work
By Oarren Freeman
Oregon Daily Emerald
David Kelly is the city councilor for
Ward 3. Kelly, a graduate of Massachu
setts Institute of Technology and a com
puter systems consultant, has been a city
councilor since 1999 and is currently
council president.
Q: Why are you running for the city
council?
A: The flip answer is that the alterna
tive would be sitting at home throwing
things at the television. I was motivated
to run the first time because I really want
to make a difference in a community I
love. I really want to continue my work,
and I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback
from constituents.
Q: What are they key issues facing
Ward 3 residents?
A: This ward has many characteristics
that are distinctive about it. It’s an older
Turn to Kelly, page 4
The ASUO will host Ward 3 city
council candidates David Kelly and
Maco Stewart in a debate at 6 p.m.
today in 125 McKenzie.
Russell Weller Emerald
MACO STEWART: He pledges
to give fellow students a voice
in city government if he’s elected
By Darren Freeman
Oregon Daily Emerald
Maco Stewart is a junior political sci
ence major and was a candidate in the
2002 ASUO Executive election.
Q: Why are you running for the city
council?
A: Students have no representation in
city government. I think it’s ridiculous
they pass ordinances that target students
exclusively, which I am against for any
group of people. City councilors don’t
pay attention to what students want, and
it’s not because they’re bad people; it’s be
cause they don’t understand. There’s not
a single person on the city council under
the age of 45, there isn’t a single recent
university alumnus. How are they sup
posed to understand what it’s like when
they don’t come from the same walk of
life as we do? Being a student, I think I
have a much deeper understanding of
Turn to Stewart, page 4