Tuesday, April 8,2003
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
sir. jf_
Volume 104, Issue 127
U.S. says conflict ‘coming to a conclusion’
Patrick Peterson, Peter
Smolowitz and Martin Merzer
Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S.
Army soldiers spent the night in
one of Saddam Hussein’s main
presidential palaces, and
10,000 U.S. Marines surged into
the capital’s outskirts as U.S. of
ficials suggested that major
combat was all but over in Iraq.
“The hostilities phase is
coming to a conclusion,” Secre
tary of State Colin Powell said
Monday. Another leading indi
cator: Gen. Tommy Franks,
who commands the allied force
from a base in Qatar, spent
much of Monday visiting his
troops in Iraq.
At the same time, experts
tested chemicals that could
i-—
prove that Iraq possesses
weapons of mass destruction.
U.S. officers said they found
substances that preliminary
tests determined were the
nerve agents sarin and tabun
and the blister agent lewisite.
If additional testing confirms
the presence of such chemical
agents, the discovery at a com
pound near the city of
Hindiyah, about 60 miles south
of Baghdad, would be the first
proof that Iraq has been hiding
banned weapons of mass de
struction — a primary justifica
tion for the war.
In Washington, Defense Sec
retary Donald Rumsfeld cau
tioned that initial reports and
tests are often inaccurate. “Al
most all first reports we get turn
out to be wrong,” he said.
Some military officers at the
scene said the material could be
the residue of pesticides; others
said they believed nerve agents
are present. About a dozen sol
diers and two journalists, in
cluding Knight Ridder reporter
Tom Lasseter, said the sub
stances made them ill or caused
blotches on their skin. More so
phisticated tests will be con
ducted in coming days, Rums
feld said.
In another major develop
ment, U.S. and British officials
announced that allied bombs al
most certainly had killed Ali
Hassan al-Majid, known as
“Chemical Ali.” A member of
Turn to War, page 3
A Marine clears
rubble on
Monday from a
portrait of
Saddam Hussein
at his presidential
palace at Salman
Pak after it was
overrun by
Marines the night
before.
Andrew Cutraro
St. Louis
Post-Dispatch
On the spot democracy
Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Candidates for ASUO Executive debate University issues such as diversity and the allocation of student fees in the EMU Ballroom on
Monday night. From left to right, top: Pierre Spence, jack Mantel, Christa Shively, Greg Bae, Maddy Melton and Eddy Morales. Bottom:
Jarrett White, Gregory McNeill, John Drake, Joe Boyd and Jeremy L Jones.
The great debate
Six ASUO Executive tickets
debated on Monday, offering
visions from a Student Bill
of Rights to focus groups
ASUO elections
Jennifer Bear
Campus/Federal Politics Reporter
Chairs outnumbered students two
to-one as ASUO Executive candidates
debated in the cavernous EMU Ball
room on Monday evening.
Despite the event’s low attendance,
the debate was quite lively, with six
tickets and 11 total candidates espous
ing their views on how to run next
year’s student government. One candi
date, Jeremy Jones, even had a Secret
Service-esque bodyguard, who unfor
tunately failed to protect him during a
mock assassination attempt at the end
of the two-hour debate session.
All the other executive hopefuls
stressed the importance of amplifying
students’ ideas and concerns through
the megaphone of student government
to influence University administrators
and Salem legislators, but they had
slightly varied ideas on how to
Turn to Debate, page 12
War protesters
prompt police
‘safeguarding’
The Iraq war has incited demonstrations, bringing
police out to protect communities and protesters
War hits home
Aimee Rudin
City/State Politics Reporter
Wherever protesters go, police follow. Despite occasional skir
mishes between the people who enforce the government’s rules
and the people who disagree with the government’s policies, many
watchdog groups said interactions have been largely positive.
Numerous citizen marches, rallies and events have brought the
controversial war in Iraq to local communities. As groups gather to
speak out about war, police forces have been close at their heels,
working not only to safeguard the community, but also to protect
participants from possible danger.
“Our idea is to allow these things to continue peacefully,” said
Eugene Police Department Gapt. Steve Swenson, the officer in
charge of EPD’s special operations division. “We want to allow peo
ple to use their First Amendment rights. This is the United States,
and we want to ensure people the right to demonstrate responsibly
and safely.”
Police often position themselves at the border of a crowd to di
rect traffic and observe crowd activity, as they did during the
March 15 war protest in Portland and at smaller Eugene-area ral
lies. They also watch for illegal activity and use force to make ar
rests when necessary.
Despite their differences, police officers and rally participants
work toward similar goals: Both groups say they want to protect
human life.
The media often fail to capture the positive — yet uneventful —
exchanges between police forces and event participants, according
to Dan Handelman, a member of Portland group Gopwatch. Han
delman said that media tend to focus on the
Turn to Police, page 16
E-filing can zap hours off filing taxes
People who plan to file taxes
this year can file electronically,
and possibly for free
Ali Shaughnessy
Environment/Science/Technology Reporter
Tax day — April 15 — is only a
week away, and students who are al
ready feeling the pressure of spring
term may find it easier to file their
taxes electronically using e-file.
While e-filing is not a new phenom
enon during tax season — more than
42 million people e-filed last year —
this is the first-year a service called
Free File is being offered. The Free
File Alliance, a group of 17 compa
nies, are working with the Internal
Revenue Service to provide free tax
preparation and e-filing services to
qualifying taxpayers.
Turn to Taxes, page 16
E-file
■ Super Site
Where: 275 W, 11th Ave.
When: 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Mondays through
Wednesdays; 1 p.m. to 5
p.m. on Thursdays.
■ The Singer Conference
Room in the Eugene Public
for free
Library
Where: 100 W. 10th Ave.
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturdays.
Both sites accept walk-in
appointments and will be
open through April 1 5.
SOURCE: Internal Revenue Service
Weather! Today: H 65, L 45, mostly cloudy / Wednesday: H 60, L 42, chance of showers I Oil W6dncsd«iy! An Emerald series looks at the Asian experience at the University