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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 2002)
Dive continued from page 9 ify to sky dive for Oregon,” Pettit said. “But what comes with those jumps is your own license to sky dive.” A license and a thrill that can be re visited every weekend, which is what draw most jumpers. Discounted prices for Oregon stu dents, along with fundraising, help make the sport more financially feasi ble for interested students. For the club to get off the ground, so to speak, it needs a desire and a commitment from students to learn to jump. “However much you want to do with in the club is entirely up to the student,” said Pettit. “The club is your choice, your time and your commitment. ” Currendy Pettit works as a jump in structor for Wright Bros. Skydiving, a Creswell-based company where sky diving is offered to everyone, includ ing students. Along with Eugene Sky divers, another Creswell-based com pany, Wright Bros, is trying to do everything it can to advance the Uni versity club. “We need to open it up for stu dents to learn to sky dive,” Delam bert said. “We need to have people make a decision to see if they want to get involved.” Once students show interest and learn to jump, a team can be formed and competition can commence. “We need people to be able to com pete,” Delambert said. “Competing may not happen, but it’s always good to have a goal.” The possibility of becoming a li censed sky diver is one benefit of join ing the club. “Our goal is for every student who comes through the door — whether it’s an Oregon or Oregon State student —to get a license,” Wright Bros, own er Dave Wright said. While interest is increasing, getting the word out about the club to poten tial skydivers can be difficult. Delam bert has scheduled a tentative meet ing for interested students on Oct. 30, with the time to be announced. Any one interested in learning more can e mail her at Ldelambert@yahoo.com. In the meantime, instruction and jumps are being completed every day — the question is whether enough people will make that first step and prove that Ducks really can fly. Scott Archer is a freelance writer for the Emerald. Hockaday continued from page 9 my queen-sized bed tonight, that’s when I’ll relax. 5:06 p.m. — And we’re boarding the plane. I’m one of two people on the flight who has never sky dived before, and so all the “pros” are rib bing the newbie, telling me where I can puke, all that stuff. Ha ha. No, re ally funny. Hilarious. Then they all put their hands in the middle, just before the plane is set to take off. They do a cheer. I re alize I’m among good people, and I start to» relax. The woman across from me is doing her 100th jump, a feat she will later be “pied” for by the other divers. (They take plates of whipped cream and smother her. Good times.) So this woman, Amy, is smiling warmly and I smile back, and it’s a moment I’ll never forget, sitting in that plane with the altimeter on my wrist steadily rising, with the sun setting through the tiny windows and a woman doing her 100th sky dive, not preoccupied with it at all. 5:20 p.m. — We hit 15,000 feet. Jumping altitude. This means I have to jump out of the plane now. At 15,000 feet. We’re sixth in line, after four solo jumpers and one tandem. The solo jumpers disappear instantaneously, it seems. Then the tandem jumpers scoot across the floor of the airplane and fall out. Then we scoot. Sure enough, the experience of sitting on the edge of nothingness is unquestion ably different from what I expected. I’m gripping onto those walls tight. Very tight. Lewie takes care of that, yelling “arms” into my ear. I remember to grab my straps, and next thing you know, we’re free-falling like Tom Petty. 5:23 p.m. — I see the plane, which is another weird thing for me be cause I expected for some reason to go right into the typical sky-diver po sition, facing down. But it’s not scary at all, and here’s Weird Sensation No. 3 — it’s not a roller coaster. My stom ach doesn’t jump to my throat at all. It’s just falling. And it’s flying. For 45 seconds I am a bird, and I can see why people jump out of airplanes like it was their job. There is a reason for the addic tion, this feeling — it’s the closest you’ll ever come to perfect bliss. 5:24 p.m. — We break through a small cloud and soon thereafter I pull my rip chord. The parachute down is not as exhilarating as the free-fall, but it’s a serene experience. Eugene and Creswell are smaller than a map, but getting bigger all the time. 5:30 p.m. —And the ground. The sweet, beautiful ground. We land with a thud, sliding across the grass fields on our butts. I realize I’m whiter than a blank sheet of paper, and for a moment my emotions are a blank sheet too. What did I just do? Jeremy Forrest Emerald Pettit (behind) said the Oregon sky diving squad tries to literally fly. I give a few thumbs-up, hug my new best buddy Lewie, help pack up the chute and start making my way back to the hangar. People pat me on the back, throw around a couple “good jobs.” As we’re walking back, Lewie paus es for a moment, tells me he’s going to get philosophical. And I think that getting philosophical, at that mo ment, is exactly the thing to do. Lewie quotes Leonardo da Vinci, a magnificent man to quote in such a magnificent time and a magnifi cent place. “For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,” da Vinci said. “For there you have been and there you will long to return.” Contact the sports editor atpeterhockaday@dailyemerald.com. His views do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. Mark McCambridge Emerald Cory Paus sprained his right ankle against California and will miss the rest of his senior season with UCLA. Bruin backup Drew Olson was also injured. Pac-10 continued from page 9 hardest schedule, fell into the sec ond spot. Notre Dame had the country’s toughest schedule, but the Irish fell to third because they are ranked sixth in both major polls. Of the seven computers that factor into the BGS equation — which pro duce a score that is added to the poll average, schedule strength and quality-win scores to produce a ranking — Notre Dame was ranked first in four of the seven. “There’s still a long way to go,” BGS coordinator Michael Trangh ese told The Associated Press. “The strength-of-schedule component will come into play, and so will the bonus points. The biggest surprise is there are still so many undefeat ed teams at this stage, halfway through the season.” Permanent Paus One of the best stories in the Pac-10 will not get a chance to write his ending. Gory Paus, the senior quarter back for the UCLA Bruins who has gone through everything from a DUI to opposing defenses, broke his right ankle in the third quarter against California on Saturday and will miss the rest of the season. Paus was injured with 12 min utes left in the third quarter in Berkeley, where the Bruins lost to the Golden Bears, 17-12. Paus was replaced by freshman Drew Olson, who was also injured in the con test. Olson left the game with a sprain in his throwing shoulder. Olson’s status for Saturday’s contest against Stanford is uncer tain. “We’ll take it day-by-day and see what happens,” UCLA head coach Bob Toledo told AP about his quarterback situation. Awards with meaning ESPN the Magazine’s Gene Woj ciechowski has dished out some mid-season awards, and several Pac-10 squads made the short list — not always in a good way. The writer named Oregon State as one of the nation’s “biggest flops,” saying, “The only thing worse than the Beavers’ overbite is a 4-3 record that includes three consecutive Pac-10 losses.” Meanwhile, Oregon running back Onterrio Smith and Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser were both named to a short list of the nation’s best players. Gesser and Smith will square off when the Ducks play in Pullman on Nov. 9. Contact the sports editor atpeterhockaday@dailyemerald.com. Hi¥ STUDENT GROUPS! Advertise your upcoming events in the Oregon Daily Emerald. Special student rates. Call 346-3712 To place an ad, call (541) 346-4343 or stop by Room 300 Erb Memorial Union Classifieds Classifieds: Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. 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