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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 2004)
An independent newspaper http://www.dailyemerald.com Friday, January 16, 2004 Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 105, Issue 80 New arena cost estimates jump by $20 million Soaring from $130 million to $180 million, the costs of the basketball arena may delay the building's opening By Jesse Thomas Sports Reporter The price tag on Oregon's new bas ketball arena has increased to nearly $180 million, requiring the Universi ty Athletics Department to take on substantial debt if it still plans to build the structure. Oregon Vice President for Admin istration Dan Williams said this week that as the project has progressed, the cost of the new arena has doubled compared to initial estimates shown in a financial study. "With the fact that, as they got into greater detail, the architects and de sign of projected costs, we find our selves much closer to about $180 (million) now," Williams said. "The complication with that is that that's well beyond what we believe we can raise through private giving. That's a big change in the project." In a study for the University con ducted in 2003 by Convention, Sports & Leisure International, initial esti mates showed projected costs of $90 to $130 million. In mid-December, the projection had been raised to $160 million. "Like most projects, when you get into the details, when you begin to spell out more carefully exactly what's going to go under the roof, your costs will either go up or go down," Williams said. "My experience with this project is the same as it is with any facility project I've worked on — the more you know, the more cost." Williams and athletics director Bill Moos have been involved in several discussions trying to determine whether costs will continue to in crease. Williams said he is worried "very much so" about the continuing increase in the arena's price, but added he doesn't have an answer on how much money is too much. "The only thing I'm veiy sure about is what's affordable and what we want aren't the same anymore, * Williams said. The original estimate of $ 130 mil lion was going to allow private gifts to entirely fund the arena. Williams has said anything beyond $130 mil lion will be debt financed by the Ath letics Department. "We're not going to commit ourselves to a level of debt beyond that which we think is prudent," Williams said. Williams said he soon expects to know what is affordable, and it is like ly the amount of debt the Athletics Department can accept is going to de termine the price of the new arena. The amount of debt depends large ly on whether the Athletics Depart ment can continue to be successful in raising money through private donors and the ability of men's football and men's basketball to consistently gen erate large amounts of revenue. Men's football and men's basket ball are the only two sports at the Uni versity that bring in more money than Turn to ARENA, page 4 An International Education University student Lach Litwer received recognition from the Israeli President for his efforts to educate others By Jared Paben Senior News Reporter Something about Israel profoundly changed Lach Litwer. Something during his 10-day "whirl wind" trip this summer compelled the University psychology student to estab lish an Israel resource center and advo cacy group in Eugene. Something he saw inspired him to devote himself to educating fellow Jew ish University students about Israel. And something big happened as a result of those efforts. Last month, Israeli President Moshe Katsav and Lynn Schusterman, a phi lanthropist with the international or ganization "birthright israel," awarded Litwer, along with five others from around the world, the first-annual "Charlie Awards" at the president's home in Jerusalem. Litwer was given the award, which included an $1,800 grant and a trip to Israel, to recognize him for the work he has done to educate the community af ter visiting the country last summer. "Since I came back I've become Courtesy Israeli President Moshe Katzav and "birthright israel" philanthropist Lynn Schusterman present University student Lach Litwer with a "Shofar," representing a call to action in Israel, and a Charlie Award in Jerusalem last month. really aware that there's a lot of misinforma tion and misunderstanding about what Israel is about and what's happening over there," Litwer said. "I decided it was worthwhile to start programming to help people understand what Israel is about." Litwer helped establish an Israel resource Turn to EDUCATION, page 4 Councilors consider housing standards Eugene Citizens for Housing Standards are campaigning for minimal habitability standards to be enforced at the local level By Nika Carlson News Reporter When junior Chris Yeung moved into his new house last june, he found more house mates than the four friends he was expecting ; — he also had maggots. The maggots are gone now, but more prob lems have surfaced. Each of the three toilets in the house have broken repeatedly, he said, and his bedroom toilet has broken so many times he learned how to fix it himself. "It seems like they don't necessarily fix everything right, they just fix it until it breaks again," he said. Despite the frequent problems, Yeung's op tions are limited. "I mean, all we can really do is complain to the landlords," he said. The ASUO, the University and Lane Com munity College chapters of OSP1RG and the Turn to HOUSING, page 6 Mother awarded $1.1 million in wrongful death lawsuit PeaceHealth was found liable in December for University student Jill Dieringer’s death, though an appeal is pending By Lisa Catto News Reporter A wrongful death lawsuit filed regard ing the death of 19-year-old University student Jill Dieringer was setded in early December. Her mother, Lori Hughes, was awarded $1.1 million from PeaceHealth. Dieringer died of bacterial meningococcal disease in February 2001 at Sacred Heart Medical Center, which is owned by PeaceHealth. Dieringer checked into Sacred Heart on Feb. 8, 2001 with a sore throat, fever, shaking, chills and severe muscle aches, according to the filed complaint. She was diagnosed with mononucleosis and was set for discharge several hours later. While waiting to be discharged, Dieringer began to complain of dizzi ness and her blood pressure continued to drop, the complaint stated. She was then transferred to the temporary care unit for observation. About 10 hours after checking into the hospital, Dieringer noticed purple spots on her cheek and arm. The doctor then diagnosed an acute bacterial infec tion and began an initial dose of antibiotics before transferring her to the intensive care unit. The complaint states that Dieringer's medical condition rapidly deteriorated once she was in the ICU. The purple spots spread over her body and she developed respiratory and bleeding problems. Dieringer died about 18 hours after noticing the purple spots. Barbara Penney, a friend of Dieringer's Turn to LAWSUIT page 5 WEATHER INSIDE Campus buzz.6 Classifieds.11 Commentary.2 Crossword.11 News Brief.3 Sports.7 NEXT ISSUE Monday is a holiday, Tuesday is a Hockaday
