Wednesday, March 12,2003
Since 1900
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 104, Issue 117
Grant money may cease for students
The elimination of the Oregon
Opportunity Grant may harm
some needy students unless
Legislature takes action
Jan Montry
News Editor
About 3,350 students are set to lose
their Oregon Opportunity Grant next
year unless the Legislature can rescue
r
the declining need-based program.
Lawmakers passed a package last
week to rebalance the state budget
shortfall, and it included a bill that
drained the remaining $112 million in
Oregon’s rainy day education fund,
which uses interest to subsidize pro
grams like the Opportunity Grant.
The raided endowment fund result
ed in a loss of $1.1 million in the next
biennium for the grant, which is the
way Oregon provides need-based fi
nancial aid. The loss is compounded
with $3.4 million in additional losses
— $2.2 million from a decline in gen
eral funds for the grant and $1.2 mil
lion from the loss of federal matching
funds, according to the Oregon Stu
dent Assistance Commission officials.
Despite the bleak oudook for needy
students in the 2003-05 biennium, how
ever, grant money is still secured for
spring term of this year. The Legislature
replenished about $290,000 to keep the
grant active until the biennium ends.
University student Gabe Kjos, a leg
islative intern with ASUO, said about
$1,026 of his tuition money comes
from the grant — a lot to make up
considering he’s already working 10
hours a week and taking 18 credits.
“Right now, I’m at the max I can
be at,” he said. “It’s going to make
my life harder as a student and as a
student leader here on campus.”
Kjos said he thinks the state needs
to make education a bigger priority,
especially for students who come
from Oregon.
“The Legislature is just sweeping
it under the rug,” he said.
This week, lawmakers in the Edu
cation Subcommittee of the Joint
Turn to Grants, page 3
God's squad?
The Oregon men’s hoops
team fights the idea that
athletes can’t be strong in
faith and strong on the court
Faith on the field
Peter Hockaday
Sports Editor
After every game — home, road,
win, lose, tie, whatever — the Ore
gon men’s basketball team meets
at center court. The players grip
one another’s shoulders and lean
forward. They sway from side to
side, a rocky
Today; Men'sj j
Friday: Pastors
totheathietis
sea of prayer
as short play
ers stand next
to tall ones,
starters next
to scrubs.
For this,
some would
call the team
weak. Some
already have,
including one writer in a national
magazine who insinuated Luke Rid
nour and Luke Jackson will be swal
lowed up by the demons of the NBA
when they get there.
When you thump a Bible, the
critics say, you can’t possibly
thump the hardwood. When you
read scripture before a game, you
can’t possibly read a defense.
But faith doesn’t weaken this
team, the Ducks say.
Faith strengthens it.
“That’s all perception,” Kent said
of the faith-weakening stigma. “Par
ticularly with men, any time you
can get them to share their hearts,
share their true feelings, share emo
tion, some people think that’s a sign
of weakness. But in reality, it’s a sign
of strength, because men have a
Turn to Faith, page 6
Adam Amato Emerald
All 14 members of the Oregon men's basketball team say a prayer after the Ducks' last home
game of the season, against UCLA The Ducks perform the same circle at all games.
supreme Court
Justices visit
UO law school
The Oregon Supreme Court heard arguments
for three state cases at the law school Tuesday
to give students a chance to see attorneys in action
Jan Montry and Caron Alarab
Staff writers
Students and community members caught a glimpse of
the highest court in the state at the University School of Law
on Tuesday.
The Oregon Supreme Court visited the University and heard
arguments for three state cases as part of the legal research and
writing curriculum at the law school. The Court visits the Uni
versity each year to allow law students to see it in action.
Joan Malmud, a legal research and writing instructor, said
the event is beneficial for law students in the legal writing pro
gram because they will have to produce their own oral argu
ments for a fictional case before the class ends.
“For us, we see a tremendous benefit in having our stu
dents watch attorneys in action,” she said. “The decision to
come to the University begins with the Supreme Court in
that they want to reach out to the public, and they want to
reach out to law students.”
The Supreme Court is the highest court in Oregon’s judicial
branch and can be superseded only by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Justices in the court have the powers to review decisions either
from the Oregon Court of Appeals and or lower courts.
In one of Tuesday’s cases, defense attorney Andy Simrin was
appealing a trial court decision to exclude evidence in State v.
Davis because of its remoteness.
In the case, Cornelius Key Davis, the defendant, was con
victed of shooting his girlfriend, Carrie Hammock, in the fore
head after a heated argument. Davis contends Hammock com
mitted suicide in front of him.
Simrin argued that evidence showing Hammock’s depression
and threats to kill herself months before her death should not
have been thrown out.
Kaye Ellen McDonald, the prosecuting attorney, argued the
lower courts should be able to say whether old evidence is ir
relevant or not. She also said the exclusion applied to “harm
less error” law in that the defense was able to show ample evi
dence, and the excluded evidence would not have swung a jury.
The final of three cases reviewed “the requisite specificity” of
search warrants in regard to a 1996 Court of Appeals decision that
denied the suppression of evidence gained during the search of
an apartment within a house. After police issued a warrant based
on informant information, the defendant answered the door to
the officers, who then noticed a second apartment—which they
did not search — and proceeded to search the defendants’
Turn to Court, page 3
Weather
Today: High 58, Low 50, windy, rain likely
Thursday: High 55, Low 47, windy, heavy
rain
Looking ahead
Thursday
Pulse columnist Mason
West tackles problems
with movie promotions
Friday
A University professor
is working to bring the
Spruce Goose to life
ASUO elections
Elections garner
numerous candidates
Ninety students are running for ASUO
political positions for the 2003-04 school
year, ASUO Elections Coordinator Andie
Hall announced Tuesday evening.
Programs Finance Committee Senate
Seat 1 and a two-year term with the Associ
ated Students Presidential Advisory Council
drew the strongest interest; eight students
filed for each of the respective positions.
Hall said she was “elated” that so many
students have decided to run in the April
elections. She added that the turnout
showed that students care about the politi
cal process at the University.
“It tells me it’s going to work this year,
and students haven’t lost all hope in the
process,” she said.
There are 28 political positions open
in this year’s student election. Five seats
are uncontested: Rebecca Shively is run
ning for Academic Student Senate Seat
11, which is represented by an unde
clared major; Adam Turcott is running
for a two-year terra on the Building Fee
Committee; and Jonah Lee, Mindi Rice
and Courtney Warner are running for
three two-year seats on the Student
Recreation Center Advisory Board.
Two positions will go unfilled. No stu
dents applied for Academic Student Sen
ate Seat 12, which is an Allied Arts and
Architecture position. ASUO officials
said that position is usually appointed be
cause there have been no contenders in
the past few elections. A second seat on
the Building Fee Committee also
Turn to Elections, page 4