http://www.dailyemerald.com
Wednesday, June 5,2002
Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 103, Issue 165
Oudden
Sculpture
■ Akbars Garden, the newest campus
artwork, now sits on the lawn across
from the Student Recreation Center
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
One day, there was just a dirt hole. The
next day, Akbars Garden arrived, al
ready assembled.
The sculpture was installed Thursday on
the patch of the EMU lawn at the corner of
15th Avenue and University Street, across
from the Student Recreation Center.
The stainless steel edifice, created by a
prominent Portland sculptor and donated by
the Schnitzer family, took a peculiar trip up
and down Interstate 5 to get to campus.
Sculptor Lee Kelly, who keeps his studio
in Portland, built the structure — with its
unsymmetrical, spiral designs that reflect
sunlight off the two silver arches —from
1983 to 1984.
Kelly’s sculpture stood for 17 years at the
Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, Calif. Denise
Grote, assistant of the vice president and gen
eral manager of the Claremont Hotel, said the
sculpture sat on a corner of the property
called the carriage entrance, on a hillside.
Grote said the hotel, built in 1915, was
owned by Harold Schnitzer, who is known
for owning one of the largest collections of
Pacific Northwest art — both old and new.
When Schnitzer sold the hotel in 1989, he
donated the sculptures on the grounds to var
ious places such as the University. Akbars
Garden was moved by truck to Kelly’s ware
house in Portland where it underwent re
pairs, including the addition of base plates on
the sculpture’s foundation, University archi
tect Chris Ramey said.
Former Associate Vice President Duncan
McDonald approved the sculpture’s location
with the help of the sculptor, donor and the
University’s sculpture committee.
Ramey said the sculpture’s location across
from Gerlinger Hall is also fitting because
alumni often frequent Gerlinger Lounge.
The structure stands out in its space on the
open lawn, which elicited mixed reviews
from passersby.
University grounds crew worker Jonathan
Stevens said he thought it was a good loca
tion, but added, “I’m wondering if it’s going
to get tagged a lot in the future.”
EMU Craft Center employee Ralph Wilson
said time will soften the sculpture in its
grassy location, which is not surrounded by
many trees. People will become used to such
a large, glossy sculpture.
Sophomore Jessyck Hereth said she thought
the sculpture was a nice addition to campus,
and freshman Leah Petit said she noticed the
hollow sound the structure made when she
knocked on the side of the lattice work.
“I really like the spiral design on the met
al,” Petit said, although she added that the
sculpture looks a little out of place and does
n’t quite mesh with its environment.
As a renowned leader in outdoor sculpture,
Kelly is known for his “aesthetic subtlety and
use of light” in his contemporary metal sculp
ture, said Laura Alpert, an art professor who
I nomas Patterson fcmerald
(Top) Akbars Garden, a donated sculpture recently deposited on campus, has drawn mixed reviews from passers-by.
(Above) Graduate student Katie McCarron likes the stainless steel surface but isn’t sure about the work’s asymmetry.
specializes in sculpture. Alpert is also on the
University sculpture committee, which deals
with selection and placement on campus of
significant pieces of artwork.
“It is an exceptionally high quality piece of
art for this campus,” Alpert said. Kelly was
unavailable for comment. Harold, Arlene and
Jordan Schnitzer donated the piece to com
memorate the completion of a private $255.3
million fundraising drive for the University
from 1992 to 1998 called the Oregon Cam
paign. Jordan Schnitzer is a 1973 graduate of
the University, and the money from the cam
paign went toward student scholarship, fac
ulty support, development of new programs
and new facilities at the University, according
to Janet Fratella, director of outreach projects
with the University Development Depart
ment.
Akbars Garden was not the Schnitzers’ first
major donation to the University.
Ann Mack, director of communications
with the University Foundation, said the
Schnitzer family of the Schnitzer Care Foun
dation in Portland has made several major
gifts to University, including creating the Ju
daic Studies Program in the College of Arts and
Sciences in 1998.
E-mail features reporter Lisa Toth
at lisatoth@dailyemerald.com.
Congress
begins
Sept. 11
hearings
■A joint committee opens
a ‘fact-driven, witness-driven
inquiry’ investigating government
intelligence before the attacks
By James Kuhnhenn
and Ron Hutcheson
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON (KRT) — As Con
gress began closed-door hearings
Tuesday into pre-Sept. 11 intelli
gence failures, President Bush ac
knowledged that the FBI and the CIA
failed to share vital intelligence be
fore the attacks.
“In terms of whether or not the FBI
and the CIA were communicating
properly, I think it is clear that they
weren’t. We’ve addressed that is
sue,” Bush told reporters during a
visit to the National Security Agency,
another frontline federal agency in
the war against terrorism. The super
secret NSA monitors global electron
ic communication.
Bush offered assurances that the
CIA and FBI are now working togeth
er to prevent future attacks and said
there is no evidence that U.S. offi
cials could have prevented the at
tacks even if all agencies had worked
better together.
The FBI and CIA have come under
increasing criticism amid disclo
sures that they failed to share or ana
lyze data in their possession before
Sept. 11 that may have signaled an
imminent attack by terrorists affiliat
ed with Osama bin Laden.
A few hours later, the House and
Senate intelligence committees be
gan their work of investigating
America’s intelligence agencies in a
secret, soundproof room in the Capi
tol’s restricted fourth floor.
Three hours later, they adjourned
for the day.
“We will be a fact-driven, witness
driven inquiry,” said House Intelli
gence Committee chairman Porter
Goss, R-Fla., as his Senate counter
part, Bob Graham, D-Fla., stood be
side him. “We will not be driven by
outside pressures,” Goss said.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., a
member of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, summed up the chal
lenge facing the joint House-Senate
effort before its hearing began.
“We need to be aggressive and rig
orous in this inquiry, asking the right
questions, like who knew what? And
if they didn’t know it, why? And
what did they do with the informa
tion they had? And how we can pre
vent, detect, derail and disrupt any
other future attacks on the United
States of America?” she said.
At the same time, a controversial
proposal for Congress to appoint an
independent commission to perform
a similar investigative mission ap
peared to be losing steam. President
Bush strongly opposes the idea, as do
Turn to Hearings, page 4