NEWS BRIEF
Student develops
DuckHunt alternative
It can sometimes be frustrating to
search for open classes when register
ing, especially for most freshmen who
have to wait as classes fill with juniors
and seniors. But junior Trevor Sehrer
has developed an alternative that may
make the registering process a little
less painful.
Last year, Sehrer spent several days
developing Class Check, a program
IT
that students can use to search for
open classes. The philosophy major
developed the program after experi
encing frustration when registering.
"As a freshmen once, I also had my
fair share of problems registering for
class," he said. "So by using this pro
gram, it just makes things easier."
To use the program, students can
visit http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/
~tsehrer/cc.html, and fill in the term,
the class they want to enroll in and
the class CRN. The program searches
for requested classes and sends an e
mail if there is an opening in the class.
"Instead of always needing to hit
the refresh button on the computer,
all you have to do is to check your
mail," Sehrer said.
Sehrer said he views this program
not as a replacement of DuckHunt
but mostly as an improvement of the
current system. He added that he is
willing to give the program to the
University once he graduates.
"Although the current registering sys
tem is justifiably fair, it still does not
make registering any easier," he said.
"This program will make it fairer."
— Rachel Lee
I Courtesy Siskiyou Project
Post-fire logging along roadsides has already taken place, such as along the Eight Dollar Road near Fiddler Mountain.
SISKIYOU
continued from page 1
Rare flowers, such as the carnivorous
cobra lily and the Kalmiopsis leachi
ana, the oldest living relative of the rho
dodendron, bloom there. Chinook
salmon and steelhead trout can be
found in the rivers, while the pacific
fisher, pine martin, cougar, black bear
and spotted owl are among the crea
tures that dwell in the woods.
It's these qualities that the USDA
Forest Service is responsible for
maintaining. Biscuit Fire Forest Ser
vice spokeswoman Judy McHugh
said the purpose of November's
Draft Environmental Impact State
ment is to protect communities and
firefighters in the event of a wildfire,
to maintain fish and wildlife habitat
and to stimulate economic recovery.
Under the preferred alternative of the
DEIS, 11 percent of the forest — in
which nearly 500,000 acres burned
during the 2002 Biscuit Fire — would
be replanted using native conifer seeds,
and 89 percent would be allowed to re
forest itself. Any potential logging
would take only dead trees; of the
29,000 acres of salvage under the For
est Service preferred alternative, 110
acres have living trees.
Questions still remain
Southern Oregon Timber Associa
tion Vice President Dave Hill —
whose organization represents wood
products manufacturers, secondary
manufacturers, saw mills and loggers
— said the economic viability of the
area is questionable.
"Those trees have been losing value
since after they've died," he said. "It's
hard to know what you're going to be
able to recover."
Money aside, Hill said most of his
clients want to see a healthy forest re
turn speedily.
"If you let Mother Nature take her
course, there will be large areas that
don't reforest themselves naturally," he
said. "It's going to be a slow process to
produce a new forest."
But Skar is skeptical of the DEIS pre
ferred alternative Skar said he thinks it
is ideologically driven and inaccurately
represents the environmental motiva
tions of the Forest Service, adding that
the forest is a fire-dependent ecosystem.
'"We want to grow old-growth forest.
Look, we should be restoring that old
growth habitat as best as possible The
best way to do that is with artificial
planting and logging first.' That's the
mantra of these guys," Skar said.
"They can't sell it to the American
people like that so the/re trying to sell
it like 'We want to protect the owls and
re-grow the forest'" he continued. "But
whenever we're doing something artifi
cial, there are unforeseen consequences
— the repercussions may not manifest
for decades."
Potential ecological effects
Timothy Ingalsbee, director of West
ern Fire Ecology Center for the Ameri
can Lands Alliance, said the logging
proposal will simplify the forest and re
duce biological diversity of its ecosys
tem. Replanting trees wouldn't replace
the usability of fallen and standing
dead old-growth ones, he added.
"These are the most ecologically
valuable trees in the forest" he said. "A
tree really begins its second life after it
has died. Many creatures adapt their
habitat to utilize big standing old
growth trees and use them for shelter,
food and protection."
Ingalsbee, a research assistant for the
University, said salvage logging would
not prevent forest fires, but instead pro
voke the opposite effect — increasing
their ability to bum.
"Logging will make this site more
flammable because it will focus on the
big old trees," he said. "It will dump the
most flammable portion of the tree on
the ground — needles, branches, small
under-story trees, brush and stumps."
McHugh said economics do play a
part in the plans for the forest
"Nobody's saying that salvaging
trees is being done for ecological rea
sons," she said. 'To be economical, a
fair amount of material per acre will
betaken."
Both Skar and Ingalsbee also noted
that aspects of the DEIS are worth keep
ing, namely those focused strictly on
restoration without any salvage log
ging. Ingalsbee said the Forest Service's
effort to promote prescribed burning of
the landscape, giving the area a neces
sary dosage of fire, is commendable.
Impending changes
The Forest Service expects to release
its Final Environmental Impact State
ment in mid-April simultaneously with
a Record of Decision, which will final
ize one course of action, McHugh said.
Should the decision allow for tim
ber sales, it almost certainly would
sit unfavorably with some people.
That being the case, Skar said he
would expea protests.
"Probably what you'll see after that is
massive civil disobedience in the form
of blocking roads, tree-sits and a whole
range of things," he said.
Ingalsbee was similarly vocal about
the potential repercussions.
"There will be public outrage from
coast to coast," he said. "This is a na
tional outrage, an assault on a place
that has global ecological value."
Western Environmental Law Center
attorney Andrea Rodgers, whose firm
recently represented a case against the
Forest Service that resulted in the pro
tection of 574 acres of old-growth
forests in Oregon, said once the final
impaa statement is released it can be
appealed. She is currently working with
five organizations — the American
Lands Alliance Klamath Siskiyou Wild
lands Center, ONRC, the Sisldyou Pro
ject and the Sierra Club — to help them
draft comments and assist with any le
gal questions.
"If it does get to the litigation stage
then we are planning on representing
those five plaintiff organizations,"
Rodgers said.
McHugh said people must ultimate
ly consider a balance between environ
mental and economic values, and
added that the Forest Service should
choose the best possible balance be
tween the two.
"Forests are not static. They evolve all
the time," she said. "That process is go
ing to happen with or without humans.
The question is, what do we as a society
see on that landscape? We've got to de
cide that together."
Contact the Pulse editor
at aaronshakra@daHyemerakf.com.
poetry SIAM!
Show off your skills
and win cash!
The Suicide Kings
- a professional slam team -
will be your final judges.
Sign up in EMU Suite II!
First 15 entries.
Preliminary Round:
Thursday, February 5th @ 6pm
in the EMU Fishbowl
Finals:
Thursday, February 26th
in Agate Hall
7pm
Entry Fee: $4
UO Students Only
http://culturalforum. uoregon. edu
tr51
o
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
• leadership classes
" academic leadership connections
■ scholastic leadership organizations
uoleadership.uoregon.edu
opportunities ■ resources • events
o
GET LUCKY
ON "miLEMirTME'g BAY.
• Ambrosia dinner for two
• Bijou Theater passes
• Onsen 1-hour hot tub rental
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. ENTRY BOX ON MAIN FLOOR.
WINNER ANNOUNCED FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13TH AT 5 P.M.
Love is in the air at the UO Bookstore.
Cards, gifts, chocolate and more!
UOBookstore.com
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
BOOKSTORE