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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 2003)
Nation & World News Leonid meteors peak tonight Although clouds and rain may block viewing of the meteor shower, the climax is expected this evening By Caron Alarab News Reporter A heavenly display of meteors is predicted to streak across the sky this evening during the second peak of the annual Leonid meteor shower. Eugene observers may miss their only chance to catch a naked-eye glimpse of the shower's climax because of local weather forecasts of clouds and rain all this week, however. Popularly called a "shooting star" or a "falling star," a meteor is an ob ject ranging from the size of a dust particle to a large rock that enters Earth's atmosphere and is heated by the friction of air resistance, accord ing to the American Meteor Society. Tonight's meteors are named after the lion-shaped constellation Leo, and the Leonids have already been spotted on the opposite side of the globe and are expected to peak be tween midnight and dawn, accord ing to www.space.com. Astronomy Professor Jim Schom bert said Eugene sky watchers willing to suffer frigid temperatures and fore casted rain should head for the hills and try to perch somewhere above the clouds for this year's shower. "It also helps to get away from light pollution,* he said. If.the weather clears, observers should look toward the east for a small flare of light shooting across the sky every couple of minutes, a rate not as stunning as recent years. Schombert said people should also keep an eye out for less brilliant dis plays that will occur all week long. "Hopefully, the weather will clear up enough this weekend," he said. In addition to tonight's shower, Jupiter and Saturn will also be visible sky watching targets through to the end of December. According to NASA, the comet Tempel-Tuttle creates the Leonids as it swings through the inner solar sys tem every 33 years. With each trip it leaves a trail of dust particles — or meteoroids — and debris, which cre ate the meteor showers. The Leonid meteor shower first peaked for viewers in western Asia, Indonesia and Australia before dawn on Nov. 14. For western Africa, west ern Europe, North America and west ern portions of South America, the display peaks tonight The last Leonid meteor shower was actually a storm, meaning it was significantly more dense, and took place in 2001 when millions of peo ple across the United States wit nessed a spectacular display, accord ing to the American Meteor Society. During a Leonid shower in 1998, ob servers all over the world were greet ed by numerous fireballs, which are significantly brighter than most me teors, and persistent trains of light. For more information about the Leonid meteor shower and its origin, visit www.space.com. Contact the business/science/technology reporter at caronalarab@dailyemerald.com. CAMPUS Wednesday Campus Planning Committee meeting 9:30 a.m.-ll a.m., EMU Rogue Room. The agenda includes consideration of the committee's role in the arena design process as well as presentations, as time permits, of conceptual designs for the Col lege of Education and School of Music projects. Re freshments will be served. Advertise in the ODE classifieds _Cali 346-4343 or place your ad online www.dailyemerald.com $95 billion energy bill disputed in House The Republican-authored bill includes $72 billion in spending, along with $23 billion in tax cuts By Seth Borenstein and Sumana Chatterjee Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday on a $95 billion comprehen sive energy-policy bill crafted by Re publican leaders that contains tens of billions of dollars of tax cuts and oth er benefits for the oil, gas, coal, ethanol and nuclear industries. Independent watchdogs say the leg islation includes $72 billion in spend ing and $23 billion in tax cuts. The Republican energy plan would try to boost domestic oil, gas, coal and nu clear production with a boadoad of fi nancial incentives to energy compa nies, but independent experts say it lacks meaningful conservation meas ures. A House-Senate conference committee was headed toward pas sage of the bill Monday evening on a party-line vote, as Democrats failed to win changes. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., co-au thor of the bill, called it "a bargain for the American public." Others said the price tag was high. "It reads very much like the world's largest Christmas (list)," said I Ienry Lee, a Harvard University professor of energy and environment. The bill includes technical require ments that could help prevent future electricity blackouts, said Robert Burns, senior researcher at the Na tional Regulatory Research Insdtute at Ohio State University, but he added: "As soon as you get outside the elec tricity provision, the thing is loaded with pork." President Bush told Congress in August that he wanted the measure to include no more than $8 billion in tax breaks, but the Mouse-Senate compromise has $23 billion of them. Oil and gas companies would get more titan half the tax breaks, accord ing to Aileen Roder, program manager at Taxpayers for Common Sense. The bill would also order the feder al government to spend more than $ 10 billion in several programs to aid the oil and gas industry. "As soon as you get outside the electrcity provision, the thing is loaded with pork." Robert Bums Senior researcher, National Regulatory Research Institute The energy bill also would cut by $400 million the amount of money companies have to pay Uncle Sam for oil and gas taken from federal property. In addition, the oil-additive indus try would get retroactive liability pro tection from tainted-water lawsuits filed by cities, school boards and even a small convent and parochial school in Connecticut. (c) 2003, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. White House correspondent Ron Hutcheson contributed to this report. O Winter Tui ion Increases: WIhAT you NEEd TO klNIOW bEfoRE REGISTERING UO Winter Tuition Increases The Facts: ^ The Oregon State Board of Higher Education decided to raise tuition this past summer. ^ The Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) and the Oregon Student Association (OSA) lobbied to delay the increases until winter term so that students could be informed about the changes. v The following changes will take effect for Winter 2004: ATE RESIDENTS (In-State Students) 14 credit hours 15 credit hours 16 credit hours 17 credit hours 18 credit hours FALL 2003 $1,196 $1,196 $1,196 $1,288 $1,380 WINTER 2004 $1,216 $1,236 $1,256 $1,306 $1,386 -/- INCREASE + $20 + $40 + $60 + $18 + $6 UNDERGRADUATE NON-RESIDENTS (Out-of-State Students) 14 credit hours 15 credit hours 16 credit hours 17 credit hours 18 credit hours FALL 2003 $5,109 $5,109 $5,109 $5,502 $5,895 WINTER 2004 +/- INCREASE $5,169 $5,229 $5,289 $5,489 $5,869 + $60 + $120 + $180 - $13 - $26 Reduced-Tuition Courses: 7 Classes offered before 9:00 a.m. and after 3:00 p.m. may be eligible for a 15% tuition discount. ^ In fhe Schedule of Classes, discounted courses will have a "v" in the notes section. v Discounted courses are also listed in DuckHunt under 'Reduced Tuition Courses" (http://duckhunt.uoreoon.edu). asuo executive ■ The Associated Students of the University of Oregon Executive is an incidental fee-funded program and is the recognized voice of University of Oregon Students. The ASUO Executive administers more than 120 fee-funded ASUO programs and is a founding member of the Oregon Student Association. http://qlriilstone.uoreaon.edu/-asuo Ways to Cut Down Your Costs Okay, so tuition is going up, again. Where should you go from here, and how are you going to offset the cost? Tuition and Course Refunds: _ v Remember to plan ahead and pay attention to add/drop deadlines. y Meet with an academic advisor to map out your academic career so that you'll know how many credits you’ll have to take each quarter—and how much you’ll have to pay. v IMPORTANT: Refunds are calculated from the day you drop the course, NOT the day you stopped attending the class. ^ If you drop a course o BEFORE the first day of classes, you'll get an 100% refund, o Within the first two weeks of classes, you'll get an 85% refund, o In the third week of classes, you'll get a 50% refund, o In the fourth week of classes, you'll get a 25% refund, o After the fourth week of classes, you are not eligible for a refund. Financial Aid:_ s Look at your financial aid award and the classes you plan to take for the rest of the year. Do they match up? Will you need more financial help? ^ The Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships may be able to help you o Adjust your award amount OR o Find additional sources of income, o The number is (541) 346-3221. Career Center:__ v UO students can find jobs on and off-campus for both work study and non-work study students at the Career Center. Drop by the office at 220 Hendricks Hall or go online at http://uocareer.uore9nn.eriu ASUO Internship Program: Get involved and make sure your voice is heard by UO Administration and the Oregon State Legislature. Get academic credit while doing it. Contact Erika Brakken, the ASUO Internship Coordinator, at (541) 346-0619 or come to the ASUO office in EMU (suite 4) for more information. ✓ Don't like the tuition increase? Vote! The Oregon State legislature decides how much money each public university in Oregon gets, and you determine who gets elected. Don’t let the decision be made without you—vote.
