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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 24, 2002)
Online The first Duckling Street Fair will be held today in the EMU Amphitheater to recognize and honor children of student-parents. www.dailyem8rald.com Sports A dozen Oregon track and field athletes are invited to the NCAA Championships. Paae 5A Friday, May 24,2002 Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 103, Issue 158 Walk this way Adam Jones Emerald James Szczesny and Jessica Knight, right, enjoy a warm spring afternoon while strolling through the newly constructed maze that surrounds the Downtown Mall. The renovation of Broadway, which will reopen the street to vehicular traffic, won’t be completed until the fall. Rejuvenation through renovation ■ Establishments in downtown Eugene are looking forward to a newly remodeled business and shopping area in the fall By Brad Schmidt Oregon Daily Emerald Construction on Broadway has be gun, and city planners hope the reno vation — which will open the street to vehicular traffic — will rejuvenate downtown Eugene, bringing life back to the business district, enticing buy ers to shop at new venues and provid ing new local housing. During the first three weeks of con struction, however, the effects of the project have been the opposite. While remaining Broadway busi nesses expect the renovation, sched uled for completion in late August, to benefit them in the long run, sales have dropped in the wake of construction. “Most people don’t want to look at a construction site when they sip their coffee,” said Doug Randels, co-owner and manager of Theo’s Coffee House. Randels said business didn’t decline too much during the first week of con struction, but added it has since dwin dled by 15 to 20 percent. Randels said he expects the finished project to boost business, but right now it is difficult to gauge the end result. The Broadway Opening Project, ap proved by more than two-thirds of vot ers in the September 2001 Lane County special election, will open Broadway to motor vehicles from Oak to Chamelton Streets. The project, costing about $2.4 million, will create landscaped medi ans, 10-foot wide traffic lanes, wide sidewalks and street-side parking, said Bud DeSantis, engineering project man ager for the city of Eugene. DeSantis said the result will be simi lar to the section of Broadway between Pearl and Oak Streets. Jeff Passarelli, owner of Blooms on Broadway, said retail stores on Broadway have been declining dur ing the past five years. Many busi nesses, he said, were hurt by a lack of motor accessibility. Passarelli said the construction stigma has brought about a decline in his business. About 90 percent of the sales at his flower shop come from people who drive, he said. And while the business es’ parking lot isn’t on Broadway, Pas sarelli said he believes many locals think Blooms is closed. “They see the fencing and think businesses are inaccessible,” said Pas sarelli, who has been at his Broadway location for five years. “Perception be comes a reality.” Passarelli said it is too early to tell how construction will affect long-term business. After a busy Mother’s Day, the following months will be the most telling, he said. “The end result is going to be a good thing,” Passarelli said. “It’s just a mat ter of making it through the construc tion period.” City Councilor Scott Meisner, who represents the downtown ward, said Turn to Broadway, page 4A A congressman who has criticized | President Bush’s conduct in the war | on terrorism and who wants to create a national peace department will I speak on campus Saturday. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ghio, is | known for his activism in the areas of | human rights, worker’s rights and the environment. He is the chairman of the Progressive Caucus. Kucinich has introduced legislation to create a U.S. Department of Peace, a cabinet-level body that he believes would “make nonviolence an organiz ing principle in our society.” He will speak at 8 p.m. in Agate . . .■ Hall. Has appearance is sponsored by the Eugene Children’s Peac:e Academy, the Democratic Party of Lane County and the University’s Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics. For more information, call 685-1335. Brooklyn, Nair ready to give up ASUO positions ■The 2001 -02 ASUO Executives are preparing to hand over the reins to incoming Pilliod and Buzbee By Danielle Gillespie Oregon Daily Emerald For the past month, ASUO President Nilda Brooklyn and Vice President Joy Nair have posted a sign counting down the days left until they leave office.. The white butcher paper countdown is the biggest sign on the bulletin board behind their desks in the ASUO office, dwarfing small fliers for University events and student gov ernment programs. After three years working for different ASUO positions, Brooklyn, a junior, said she won’t be going near the office anytime soon. BROOKLYN NAIR I am done after spending the last three years there,” she said. Today, Brooklyn and Nair will hand over the executive office and all of its re sponsibilities to newly elected ASUO President Rachel Pilliod and Vice Presi dent Ben Buzbee. As Brooklyn and Nair leave office, they said they did not accomplish as many of their goals as they hoped, and left some partially completed. Despite successfully reducing the energy fee during the year, they fell short of their promise to eliminate the fee complete ly. Originally, the fee was $30 fall term, and was reduced to $20 for winter term, then to $15 spring term. The re duction in the fee was the result of stu dent efforts, lower natural gas bills and higher enrollment, and the women said they hope that effort continues. “We hope the fee will be eliminated next year,” Nair said. Brooklyn added that she is still proud that the executive established five new ASUO positions for energy conservation, paid for by the Provost’s office. Nair, a junior, said she plans to work on diversity issues next year with the Office of Student Life. Nair also hopes to earn the position of the Diversity Affairs Coordinator for En rollment Services. “I have built relationships with the people most directly involved with diversity issues on campus and that will be a foundation to work from next year,” she said. She and Brooklyn built that foundation during their term, in part by advocating for more representative multicultural requirements, although they said they did not accomplish as much as they had hoped. Brooklyn said they lobbied administrators and looked into how other universities implemented their multicul tural requirements. This spring, the Faculty Advisory Council agreed to officially explore revising the multicul tural requirement, but they hoped to do more than just “start a conversation.” “We simply wanted a review process for the multicultural requirements,” Brooklyn said. “The requirements are 10 years old, and a lot has changed in education.” Brooklyn said classes that fulfill the multicultural re quirement often fall outside of what many perceive as mul ticultural, and only certain departments offer these courses. One of Brooklyn and Nair’s campaign goals was to im prove ASUO “outreach.” ASUO Student Senator Peter Watts said he thinks the two did a good job of getting to know members from all the stu dent groups. “I thought they made all the student unions feel comfort able coming into the ASUO office and expressing their con cerns,” he said. But Brooklyn and Nair said it took the Thru ta Last day, page 3A
