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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 8, 2004)
Thursday, January 8, 2004 Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 105, Issue 74 High-tech holidays Digital technology has spawned dozens of affordable, easy-to-use devices that made popular presents this holiday season By Caron Alarab Senior News Reporter When it comes to favorite Christmas pres ents and holiday gadgets, it seems Santa went digital this year. From an electronic bar-bud dy that defines "lush" lingo to cameras that can store hundreds of precious memories, an array of neat gizmos proved popular during the holidays as technology becomes more user-friendly and affordable. Junior Anthony Kuchulis said he received an Excalibur Bar Master from his girlfriend's father for Christmas, which was by far his fa vorite gift. Shaped like a small flask, the digital bartender provides recipes for drinks by liquor, by occasion, by name and by food. It also defines bar slang, such as "chits," which are tickets for buying drinks. Prior to the break, Kuchulis had only heard of the Bar Master, which he said could be even more useful if it could hold alcohol. "The gift-giver was extremely disappointed that it wasn't a real flask," he said. The Bar Master also features a blood alco hol level calculator, which is designed for entertainment purposes only. Kuchulis said it might be difficult to keep the gadget from his roommates. "I already have to hide my alcohol; now I have to hide this," he said. The Excalibur Bar Master can be purchased from http://www.thebarmaster.com for the holiday price of $24.95. Senior Orion Trist had his heart set on a dig ital recorder for Christmas, which is why he was happy to receive money from his family instead of presents. "Picking and choosing your own gifts is nice," he said. After getting cash from his grandmother and checking out portable recorders online, Trist said he decided on the Iriver IHP-120, a Turn to GADGETS, page 4 Lauren Wimer Photographer For Christmas, junior Anthony Kuchulis received the Excalibur Bar Master from his girlfriend's father. Text-writing professors face dilemmas Professors who write textbooks and then assign those books to their students must decide how to use their royalties fairly By Jared Paben Senior News Reporter Every term University students approach bookstore checkout counters clutching armfuls of expensive textbooks, many of which are au thored by their class professors. And whether those students think about it or not, many of those assigned readings yield royalties for the writer: their professor. On the surface, a professor's practice of as signing his or her own textbooks may seem un ethical. They require students to buy it for class and then collect royalties from the book's sale Today: Ethical minefield: stu^ent money. texts: omitting perspectives? piex issue. fessor Mark Johnson, who studies and teaches ethics, explained that there is no consensus on PART 1 OF 2 — in essence, pay ing themselves with professors and royalties Friday: Teacher’s own But what seems wrong on the sur face is a more com Philosophy Pro the ethical thing for professors to do, and the question of whether to accept royalties remains tough. Some professors may choose to simply avoid the ethical quandary altogether by either distrib uting their royalties or by not taking them at all. That's what Assistant Professor of journalism Kim Sheehan opted to do. Sheehan authored a textbook for her Advertising and Society class that was published this fall; however, she decid ed to donate all of her profits to a journalism scholarship fund, telling her students about her decision in her syllabus. "I certainly heard students talk about it," Turn to DILEMMAS, page 4 Torrey outlines city goals for 2004 In his annual State of the City Address, Mayor Jim Torrey discusses improvements he hopes to make this year By Nika Carlson News Reporter Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey remains opti mistic about the upcoming year and the changes he hopes to see even though his goals for the city last year did not come to fruition. Torrey delivered the annual State of the City Address on Wednesday to a crowd of more than 300 people, saying his main goals for the year are to improve roads and bridges, devel op a concrete strategy for economic develop ment and plan a new downtown administra tion center. Quoting Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill in his speech at the Eugene Hilton and Conference Center, Torrey said his three goals rely on working in partnerships to take advantage of fleeting opportunities, such as die Turn to TORREY, page 3 Minimum wage gets small boost Some students believe Oregon's 15-cent minimum wage increase on Jan. 1 is no match for the potential costs it could create By Ayisha Yahya News Editor Some Oregon workers can expert to receive a little more in their paychecks this year. The state's minimum wage increased from $6.90 to $7.05 starting Jan. 1. This makes it the fourth-highest minimum wage in the country, after Washington's $7.16 minimum wage, Alaska's $7.15 and Connecticut's $7.10. Many minimum wage earners on campus are student workers. The University's Business Affairs Payroll Manager, Judith Duff, said the department in creased about 1,800 students' salaries on Jan. 1. She said there are about 3,500 students who work on-campus each year. But students had mixed feelings about the new wage. Turn to WAGE, page 3 WEATHER LOW HIGH 40 * 7T7i* 48 ♦» n i t it t i t> ---.— inside: Campus buzz.4 Classifieds.14 Commentary..2 ♦ 1 ' ‘ > ‘ • Crossword.15 Pulse.5 Sports.13 NEXT ISSUE How the mad cow scare is affecting local businesses