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Wednesday, April 14, 2003
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 105, Issue 132
Conversations with Kerry
Sen. John Kerry gave a phone interview during which he discussed proposals to help students pay for college
By Parker Howell
News Reporter
Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry
promoted his plans to help students afford col
lege during a conference call with college re
porters Tuesday.
Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., said the Bush administra
tion has failed to make higher education
affordable to thousands of American students.
"As everyone knows, the administration has
made its own fundamental choice, which has
been to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans,"
Kerry said. "In effect, George Bush's tax cut for
the wealthy is a tuition tax increase for students,
and I think it's unconscionable."
About 220,000 students were "priced out" of
four-year college this year, Kerry said. He touted
his program to combat this situation, proposing
$50 billion in tax credits to help students pay for
college. As part of the program, he advocated a
$4,000 per-student tax credit to reduce the im
part of a 28-percent tuition increase he said has
occurred over the past three years.
"There's a direct choice in this race, and it's a
choice between common sense and a failed
Turn to KERRY, page 6
A day in the life
of John Kerry
By Steve Bagwell
Of the Emerald
Monday, May 15, 1972
The phone rang at the KVAL tel
evision studios Thursday after
noon. The caller, Eugene Mayor
Les Anderson, was trying to reach
John Kerry, Massachusetts Con
gressional candidate, busy McGov
ern campaigner and prominent
member of the Vietnam Vets
Against the War, who was expected
soon for a taping session.
Anderson was concerned that
Kerry, scheduled to speak that
evening first at Lane Community
College (LCC) and later from the
EMU free speech platform here,
might incite a restless audience to
a thrashing spree on the mail.
When Kerry arrived, he returned
the Mayor's call, saying with his
unmistakable Boston accent, "Mr.
Anderson, none of my remarks
will be so intended."
A single sidelong glance at the
29-year-old former PT-boat com
mander would convince most
men of that. Kerry is a polished
, politician, not a street-corner fire
brand. Bearing a marked facial re
semblance to Sen. Ed Muskie of
Maine, the lean, modishly dressed
' Kerry shows his St. Paul's to Yale
education and the influence of a
father who gave a lifetime to the
American foreign service.
In the KVAL control room, tech
nicians were getting set to tape an
interview with their youthful anti
war visitor. Above banks of moni
tors with cornflake ads and soap
commercials filling their screens,
amid an array of dials and knobs,
the face of Kerry finally appeared:
"It was the utter absurdity and
stupidity of young men looking up
at me with their guts hanging out
asking 'why' that turned me against
this insane conflict," he said.
Kerry comes through with feel
ing, but it's hard to visualize dark
stains of coagulating blood on the
pressed double-knit slacks he wars
these days. It's just that Kerry is no
longer as much the deeply disillu
sioned veteran of the Mekong
Delta as he is the bright Kennedy
style novice of the American politi
cal scene.
In that role, Kerry has toured 40
states speaking against President
Nixon and the war, for George Mc
Govern and peace. And in that role
he is very much at ease.
If he was tired Thursday after
speaking in Portland, Salem, Al
bany and Corvallis, Kerry hid it
well during his opening remarks
Turn to LIFE, page 6
Greg Howard Photographer
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said he supports a new plan proposing $50 billion in tax credits
to help students pay for college.
Alumni creates grassroots political group
The Oregon Bus Project is a group of
volunteers dedicated to advocating
for candidates in Oregon politics
By Moriah Balingit
News Reporter
Something about Oregon Bus Project Chair
man Jefferson Smith brings people together.
For example, while he was a student at the Uni
versity, he volunteered as a basketball coach at
Roosevelt Middle School and took his team to
the finals. Smith packed the middle school gym
with 150 of his Beta Theta Phi fraternity brothers
and their friends, creating a cheering bloc of Pit
Crew fame.
"Our fans were louder and probably signifi
cantly more inebriated," he recalled.
The team won, and one of the players went on
to become a star player at Sheldon High School.
So it really wasn't much of a surprise when
Smith, three years out of Harvard Law School
with bright prospects, decided to start the Oregon
Bus Project, a grassroots political organization
that now has more than 4,000 volunteers.
Smith will be speaking to a number of groups
in Eugene, including the University College De
mocrats and the greek community at the Univer
sity, on his whirlwind tour of the city to promote
his group's progressive platform. The College De
mocrats will host Smith on Thursday in the EMU
Rogue Room at 5 p.m. The Interfratemity Coun
cil and the Panhellenic Council also are hosting a
speech by Smith, open to all students, Thursday
at 5:30 p.m. in Columbia 150.
Senior political science major Samantha Bou
ton, co-chairwoman of the College Democrats
said her group supports every tenet of GBP's plat
form.
"Jefferson really speaks to what's important to
the College Democrats," Bouton said.
Smith said he started on the road toward
founding the OBP after he turned down a
$250,000 job with Wachtell and Lipton, a large
firm in Manhattan, after he found out the firm's
biggest clients were tobacco companies.
In 2001, Smith returned to his native Oregon,
but he was disheartened because he found a state
Turn to BUS, page 3
Executive
candidates
converge
at debate
ASUO Executive Candidates
discussed a wide variety
of campus issues at Tuesday
night’s debate in the EMU
By Jared Paben
Senior News Reporter
ASUO president and vice president
hopefuls debated everything from the best
way to keep the cost of tuition low to re
pairing student-police relations at an
ASUO Executive candidate debate in the
EMU on Tuesday night.
During the two-hour debate, audience
members lined up behind the micro
phone to fire question after question at
the candidates, but two of the seven Exec
utive candidate tickets didn't attend the
debate — Tyler Graf and Nikia Gutman.
Because of space limitations, only select
questions are addressed below. Candidate
responses are listed in the order in which
they were answered at the debate.
Early in the debate, candidates were
asked how they would ensure student
Turn to DEBATE, page 12
Police chief
emphasizes
community
cooperation
withEPD
Eugene’s new police chief,
Robert Lehner, told a meeting
of task force representatives
establishing dialogue is vital
By Ayisha Yahya
News Editor
The new chief of the Eugene Police De
partment reiterated Tuesday the need for
cooperation among EPD, the University
and the community.
Speaking at the Campus Community
Relations Task Force meeting, Chief Robert
Lehner said a dialogue needs to be estab
lished on the type of community policing
the city needs.
"You're going to see a very open discus
sion of this," he said.
Turn to CCRTP, page 12
Wt/\l HtR
LOW
40
HIGH
60
INSIDE
Campus buzz.6
Classifieds.11
Commentary..2
Crossword.1
Letters.2
Sports.7
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