Oregon Invite/ Page 5 http://www.dailyemerald.com Friday, April 25,2003 Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 104, Issue 140 Emerald The theme for Saturday's 28th annual Hawaii Club Luau is "The Stories of Our Past." The evening includes dinner and dancing, followed by a concert with Three Plus, a popular Hawaiian reggae band. The hula story The annual Hawaii Club Luau combines food, dance and stories to bring Hawaiian culture to the University at McArthur Court on Saturday Roman Gokhman Campus/City Culture Reporter The swaying of the arms from left to right and the hips from side to side in hula dancing has a particular story to tell. Hula dancers from the University Hawaii Club will pres ent several of those stories at the club’s 28th annual Hawaii Club Luau on Saturday at McArthur Court. The event’s theme, “The Stories of Our Past,” is meant to show the im portance of family, acceptance and love in Hawaii’s culture. The luau includes a buffet dinner featuring traditional foods such as Kalua pig, which is traditionally roasted in a hole dug in the ground and lined with banana leaves; poi, a starch pounded from taro root until it is a cream; haupia, a coconut gelatin dessert; and teriyaki chicken with pineap ple. The dinner will feature singing and music, which will be followed by the hula show and a concert with Three Plus, a popular Hawaiian reggae band. “The whole show centers around telling the stories and what they mean to Hawaiian people,” hula dance choreog rapher Jennifer Ghee said. “It’s putting the stories to dance.” One of the dances will tell the story of volcano goddess Pele, and how she fought and killed her sister because of a man they both loved. Other stories are about mermaids and the adventures of ships at sea. Ghee said the dancers have been practicing for the event since January, and that the club expects students from other northwest universities to attend. “It brings a very valuable culture to the University,” she said. Turn to Luau, page4 SEVIS issues new deadline to file visas The University will host two sessions where international students can enter their data into the SEVIS system and receive new immigration forms Ayisha Yahya Freelance Editor With new visa regulations in place since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, all international students and scholars, and their dependents, must have their data entered into the Student & Exchange Visitor Information System by Aug. 1. This new electronic system, which includes students’ personal and educational information, allows the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services — previously the Immigration and Natu ralization Service — to monitor students’ and visiting scholars’ movements in and out of the country. To get an early start, the University’s Office of International Programs will have two sessions on Monday and Thursday to get current students into the system and issue them new paperwork. The sessions are from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the EMU Walnut Room on Monday and in the Gumwood Room on Thursday. While August is still some time away, OIP Director Turn to SEVIS, page 4 Students report mix of opinions about elections Some people celebrated Maddy and Eddy’s victory; while others felt “identity politics” took over the election; voter apathy was also cause for concern, but this year’s voter turnout surpassed last year’s Chelsea Duncan Freelance Reporter The 2003-04 ASUO elections have come to a close, and even some students who couldn’t care less about them are satisfied with the results. “I don’t see how it would be better or worse either way,” jun ior Ellen Buller said, in regards to the results. “I’m just glad Maddy (Melton) and Eddy (Morales) won because they were Turn to Election, page 3 OSPIRG confers about new report on Bush policies Speakers discussed the Bush administration’s proposed changes to the Clean Water Act and logging in national forests Ali Shaughnessy Environment/Science/Technology Reporter A new report titled “Behind Closed Doors” was released Tuesday in a series of nationwide press conferences organ ized by the U.S. Public Interest Re search Group and its affiliates. At the University, OSPIRG organizers held their conference beneath the solar pan els outside the EMU. Campus Coordinator Kit Douglass said the report was distributed in hopes of raising public awareness about the possi ble local impacts of the Bush administra tion’s environmental policies. “Since the 2002 elections, the Bush administration has worked behind closed doors with polluters to craft one proposal after another to weaken environmental and public health issues,” Douglass said. “This Earth Day, we call on the Bush ad ministration to listen to the public, not the polluters, and to uphold, not uproot, America’s environmental laws.” The report is split into various sec tions that focus on issues from global warming to logging in national forests to oil consumption. An example Douglass presented from the report was the Bush administra tion’s proposed changes to the Glean Water Act in January that would elimi nate protection for smaller streams and wetlands across Oregon, and could al low more pollution to enter the state’s waterways. Douglass added that more than 1,000 rivers and streams in Ore gon already fail to meet the Glean Wa ter Act’s minimum standards. John Baldwin, a planning, public poli cy and management associate professor, was one of the speakers at the press con ference who talked about political in volvement in environmental issues, as well as the need for concern. “We should all be concerned about the I future of our grandchildren,” he said. “I would call upon Republicans to reverse | the rollbacks that have been happening.” Environmental Protection Agency re gional spokesman Bill Dunbar said he would not comment on the Bush admin istration’s policies, but did say that the rollbacks have not yet affected the EPA. The EPA is responsible for enforcing en vironmental policy. Doug Heiken, a member of the Ore gon Natural Resource Council and the other speaker, talked about logging in national forests. He said that during past presidential administrations, envi ronmental policies moved in a positive Turn to OSPIRG, page 8 Doug Heiken of the Oregon Natural Resource Council spoke about logging in national forests at OSPIRG's press conference Tuesday at the EMU. Caleb Fung for the Emerald Weather: Today: H 53, L 40, showers, possible thunderstorms / Saturday: H 53, L 40, showers likely I On Monday: The health center is training its own sexual support nurse