An independent newspaper
http://www.dailyemerald.com
Duck women continue to excel Page 7
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 105, Issue 132
%
Danielle Hickey Photo Editor
(Left to right) Juniors Ben Deines and Jan Dubofsky and graduate students Thilo von Wissell and Phedon Palingimis are all part of a self-study
Portuguese language class that meets in Pacific 122. The Yamada Language Center also offers Arabic and Greek.
Speaking in tongues
The Yamada Language Center
has self-study classes for those
wanting to learn new languages
By Chelsea Duncan
Senior News Reporter
Not even University language teachers
know the best way to teach students a
new language, but with traditional cours
es and self-study languages available, stu
dents have the opportunity to test which
methods work best for them.
Along with the University's more com
monly taught language programs such as
Spanish and French, the Yamada Lan
guage Center offers a self-study program
for languages that aren't typically offered
on campus, such as Arabic, Portuguese
and Greek.
Jeffrey Magoto, the center's director,
said the desire to learn a variety of lan
guages is increasing as students are ex
posed to more opportunities to travel
the world.
"The range of international opportuni
ties is greater than it's ever been," he said.
"Students want to go to places that are
way off the beaten path."
But finding the best way to teach such
languages is a challenging process that
depends on many variables such as stu
dent goals and motivation, he said.
"We don't know the best way to teach a
language," Magoto said. "We know lots of
best ways."
He said students who have more per
sonal reasons to learn a language, such as
to increase awareness, to build career
skills or to leam more about family his
tory, may find more success in self-study
programs that require more self-disci
pline. He said students taking regular
University language courses are most
Turn to LANGUAGE, page 12
Advisory Board
strives to end
tobacco sales
The Campus Advisory Board plans to petition
the EMU Board of Directors and Student Senate
to help end the sale of tobacco at Erb Essentials
By Lisa Catto
News Reporter
Students will no longer be able to purchase tobacco products at
Erb Essentials, the convenience store on the ground floor of the
EMU, if the Campus Advisory Board is successful in its new cam
paign.
The Campus Advisory Board, a group within the University
Health Center that works to educate students about smoking will
appear before the EMU Board of Directors and the ASUO Student
Senate on Wednesday to ask for help in ending the tobacco sales.
Paula Staight, director of health education at the University
Health Center, said she hopes that the EMU Board will recom
mend a stop to the sales.
"By virtue of selling cigarettes, (the University) says it's not so
bad," she said. "It's a bigger issue than the freedom to buy a ciga
rette."
The EMU Board will meet at 4 p.m. in the EMU Board Room,
and the Senate will meet at 7 p.m. in the same location.
But senior international studies major Carly Weaver thinks Erb
Essentials should be allowed to sell tobacco on campus, even
though she doesn't buy it there herself..
"Campus prices are exuberantly high," Weaver said, adding that
high prices encourage her to buy cigarettes off campus and save
money. She has, however, enjoyed the ability to buy cigarettes in
Erb Essentials with her campus cash over the last couple of years,
she said.
According to EMU Board member Julian Pscheid, the Board
can only make a recommendation to EMU Director Dusty Miller
to have Erb Essentials discontinue tobacco sales.
A CAB report given to the EMU Board and the Senate prior to
the meeting states that the University has fallen short in its com
mitment to "community well-being" by selling tobacco.
"Selling tobacco on campus normalizes the behavior and
Turn to TOBACCO, page 6
iPod embodies move toward individualized products
Apple’s popular MP3 player is accompanied
by a slew of optional personalizing accessories
By Steven Neuman
News Reporter
The little white boxes and
ear-bud headphones are
ubiquitous devices on col
lege campuses, but the
iPod, like other fad giz
mos, is an accessory that
often demands its own
accessories.
Although there are
other MP3 players
on the market, the
faddy nature of
the iPod has
spawned an entire af
termarket of products de
signed to make it run longer, work
better and appear slicker. This accessorizing is emblematic of the
trend toward marketing and selling products to consumers that
promote the individualization of mass-produced goods.
Assistant Professor of marketing Simona Stan said that there is
a tension, especially when it comes to young consumers, between
the desire to conform and the desire to be an individual that is
epitomized by accessories.
"This generation of young consumers is different," Stan said.
"Baby boomers fell for the mass brands; the Nike shoes, the Levi's
jeans. Generation Y grew up with the Internet and personaliza
tion; you buy a Dell computer, but it's made just as you want it."
Stan said that people use accessories to invest themselves in the
product.
"You belong to a group at a brand level, but you're different
at the product level," she said. "For example, we all have Apple
computers so we belong to a group ... but we each have our
own colors and styles that makes us an individual. That is very
appealing."
According to Angie Reinhart, who works in the electronics de
partment at Target on West 11th Avenue, Apple products have
such a variety of options because of their trendy nature.
"There is a lot of advertising right now," Reinhart said. "They've
been pushing their product and they want those accessories avail
able right when you buy the player."
Target offers both iPods and other MP3 players, with Sony and
Philips being among the alternative brands. Less expensive MP3
players, often equal to or better in quality than iPods, don't have
the same options for accessorizing, Reinhart said.
IPod accessories run the gamut, from cases with belt clips to
car-chargers, remote controls, portable speakers and FM radio
transmitters — all designed to turn the stock iPod into a hot-rod
of digital music.
There is even a company that offers to paint your iPod like a
hot rod. Colorwarepc.com paints players in a variety of candy-col
ored hues for $49. Consumers can also buy brand-new pre-paint
ed iPods directly from the Web site.
And many users are willing to spend the money for the extra
gadgets.
"It's not like (iPod buyers) have to plunk down that money for
extra stuff— they want to," said Charles Tishman, who works in
the University Bookstore's Digital Duck computer department.
"Some people will come in and buy a case and be done and some
people will keep buying."
Turn to GEAR, page 12
WEATHER
i i 'I 1 ) <
* * » , ■ ■ < V t ? » « , , . >
INSIDE
Campus buzz.3
Classifieds.11
Commentary..2
, i j 1 , t ,
Crossword.11
Nation & World.4
Sports.7
NEXT ISSUE
Health Services
cuts won’t be as
deep as expected