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Also services at 8:15 and 10:45 a.m.
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Clocks to change soon
When standard time begins, campus custodians
change to second set of time-keepers
Andrew Shipley
Freelance Reporter
Somewhere, lying dormant in quiet storage rooms
throughout campus, hundreds of clocks patiently await
their time in the sun. For them, this glorious day arrives
again Sunday.
Every year, the change back to standard time catches
millions of people unaware, but public clocks are almost al
ways coldly accurate. At the University, the mammoth task
of changing the time falls on the custodial department in
the facilities department.
Few people are aware of the grand production that takes
place behind the scenes every 6 months when its time to
change the clocks.
“People just assume the clocks will be right; they don’t
even notice,” Facilities Services spokeswoman Greta Ress
man said. “Most who realize that someone must be chang
ing the times on all those clocks just assume that all are
hardwired together, or that people go around winding each
clock—not many people know the truth.”
The truth, however, is not a great mystery. The University
has two sets of700clocks that are virtually identical except
for a one-hour time difference. Every 6 months, on the eve
of the time change, custodial staff steal out into the night,
700 clocks in tow, to physically exchange every public
campus clock with its correctly set twin.
Ridiculous? Absurd? Not so, according to Pressman.
“For over 40 years, all the clocks were hardwired together
and could be changed instantly,” she said. “The problem
was, it never worked. We always ended up having to go
clock-to-clock and change them individually.”
The University needed $300,(XX) to replace the system,
so the staff masterminded a new plan. For $30,000, two sets
of clocks—1,400 in all—were purchased.
“We tried other things. We tried atomic clocks, for exam
ple. They just didn’t work,” Facility Services safety trainer
Keily Rasmussen said. In the end, they found standard bat
tery-powered clocks provided strength in simplicity.
But staff found it was slow to take each clock down,
change the battery7 and reset times individually, and replace
the clock. With the dual-clock system, this procedure can
occur all at once.
“(It may) seem a little strange,” Rasmussen said, “but it is
actually much more efficient.”
Having the small army of twin clocks costs only
$2,000 yearly, including labor, clock maintenance and
battery replacement.
Most clocks have already been dispersed into their re
spective building closets. Any students awake at 3 a.m. on
Saturday night might just witness the University’s unique
changing of the clocks.
Andrew Shipley is a freelance writer for the Emerald.
MEChA
continued from page 1A
help the kids with their homework, ed
ucate them about Latino culture and
history, and assist those students who
are struggling with learning English.
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Citato foorOwn'
Jefferson student Catherine Janies
Giraldo is a Latino student who has
flourished in the Ganas program. Gi
raldo moved to the United States from
Colombia in 1999 and didn’t know any
English when she first arrived. She said
the MEChistas helped her learn the
language and showed her that it’s pos
sible for Latino students to be success
ful and go on to attend college.
Caron estimated that 15 MEChA
students have decided to become
teachers and counselors because of
their Ganas experience. He said this
will ultimately benefit the greater com
munity because there will be more cul
turally aware teachers and counselors
working in schools as a result.
Approximately 50 students from
MEChA and Ganas attended the
Wednesday meeting to show support
for the creation of more programs like
Ganas to help students succeed in
school. The presenters argued that it
is essential for administrators and ed
ucators to fulfill the needs of the grow
ing population of Latino students.
“I want (the board) to really see the
power and potential of a program that
meets the needs of Latino students,”
Coran said.
Ochoa said Ganas has been a
tremendously successful program. He
said one of the best indicators of its
success is continuing student partici
pation — because Ganas isn’t a
mandatory program.
“These students come because
they want to be here,” Ochoa said.
“We have eighth-graders who’ve grad
uated to high school but keep coming
back because there aren’t any pro
grams like Ganas available.”
Right now, MEChA doesn’t have
the resources or capabilities to go
out to other schools and establish
more programs like Ganas, he said.
However, Ochoa has encouraged
student unions at the University to
follow MEChA’s lead and develop
mentoring programs in other local
schools.
Caron said the success of Ganas
captured the interest of other schools
in the state. He added that he has re
ceived numerous calls from educators
requesting information on Ganas and
asking advice about developing simi
lar programs.
“A lot of schools are scrambling to
accommodate the needs of the grow
ing population of Latino students,”
Caron said.
Garcia, one of the speakers at
Wednesday night’s meeting, said
Ganas is helping Latino students
at Jefferson to realize they can
have a chance at a better life.
“Ganas is providing an environ
ment where bilingual, culturally
competent leadership is thriving,”
Garcia said.
Contact the reporter at
jenniferbear@dailyemerald.com.
A Gathering of Stones:
Journeys to the Edges
of a Changing World
Author Carol Ann Bassett
Knight Library Browsing Room
October 2 9, 7:00 p . m . ♦> Free
UNIVERSITY*/ OREGON
BOOKSTORE
more on the author visit uobookstore.com
V.
J