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Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 105, Issue 137
Petkun, Ravassipour nab ASUO Executive positions
Voter turnout for the election
was only 9.86 percent; fewer
students are expected to vote
in this week's special election
By Jared Paben
Senior News Reporter
Adam Petkun and Mena Ravas
sipour clinched the race for ASUO
president and vice president Monday,
edging out Ben Strawn and Diana
Aguilar by 112 votes at the end of gen
eral election voting.
Students cast 870 votes for the
Petkun/Ravassipour ticket and 758
votes for the Strawn/Aguilar ticket. In
all, only 1,731 students, or 9.86 per
cent of die student body, voted in the
weekend-spanning general election.
"Mena and I are really happy that
all of the support for us really culmi
nated," Petkun said. "There were a lot
of people that put a lot of hard work
into this, whether it meant waking up
at 4:30 in the morning to go put up
posters, or if it meant standing in the
rain to talk to students ... We're grate
ful to all of them."
Strawn said he was disappointed to
have lost, but he similarly expressed
gratitude to his campaign volunteers.
"If there's one thing that has truly
amazed me about this campaign, it is
that so many people will sacrifice so
much for somebody else, so selflessly,"
Strawn said. "We owe a huge debt of
gratitude to a large group of people, and
we have no idea how to express that."
Aguilar said she also is a little dis
appointed but she has faith in Petkun
and Ravassipour.
"I think I owe the next president a
hot dog," Aguilar said. "I really do. 1
think I owe him a hot dog from the
hot dog man ... I think I'll buy
(Petkun) a hot dog, but I think he
wants to buy me a hot dog, too. We
have this mutual hot dog craze."
The Progressive Students Starting
Today candidate bloc added three
more candidates to the 2004-2005
ASUO: Stephanie Erickson, Sarah
Wells and Stephanie Stoll. PSST mem
ber Rodrigo Moreno-Villamar edged
out three opponents to advance to a
special election this week for ASUO
Student Senate Seat 14.
The 13-member PSST bloc earned 10
government seats for the 2004-2005
school year. PSSTs campaign platform
is geared toward giving a voice to un
derrepresented students on campus.
Turn to ELECTION, page 12
Winds of change
The Energy Team will lead campus tours on Thursday to showcase the University's energy conservation efforts
By Steven Neuman
News Reporter
Most people may not consider over
heated classrooms or leaving a light
on during the night to be serious is
sues, but for a group of hand-picked students at
the University, a little waste here and there is
worth fighting.
The Energy Team, a group of graduate and un
dergraduate students, has been working for the
past school year to educate the campus about the
University's energy. The team is part of the Envi
ronmental Studies Department's Service Learn
ing Program, which funds yearlong projects with
the aid of outside organizations such as the Eu
gene Water and Electric Board.
The goal is to give students real-world experi
ence and credit while they work on projects that
deal with sustainability, public research interest
and outreach, and fulfill community needs, ac
cording to the Service Learning Program Web site.
Environmental studies major and Energy
Team member Zachary Withers joined the seven
person team this winter.
"Our goal is to educate about our energy con
sumption, to talk about investing in alternative
sources of energy, and to educate about what we can
do on campus to conserve energy," Withers said.
On Thursday, as part of Earth Day, the Energy
Team will offer students, faculty and community
members the opportunity to tour the campus
and observe energy conservation efforts at work.
The energy tour, which will leave the EMU Am
phitheater at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Thursday,
will show participants new efforts to make older
Steven Neuman News Reporter
Energy Team member Zachary Withers stands among the solar panels on top of the EMU. The team hopes to
eventually power the building entirely with renewable wind energy.
buildings more efficient and spotlight new build
ings such as the Lillis Business Complex.
"We're going to be showing off the visible con
servation measures that the University has put to
use," GTF and Energy Team Project Manager
Sarah Mazze said.
Withers said the University has already made
big steps toward energy accountability. Between
2001 and 2003, the University spent $540,000 to
upgrade older fluorescent lighting fixtures and
install time docks on air circulation systems.
"They've saved 1.7 million kilowatts because
of that, and EWEB reimburses them for a lot of
the cost," he said.
Other less obvious measures, like awnings on
University buildings, are just as effective.
"The awnings hang outside the windows on
Turn to ENERGY, page 5
Art museum guides adapt to expansion
Exhibition Interpreters continually
train and research to stay current
as Museum of Art tour guides
By Kyle Dickman
Freelance Reporter
As the date for the University of Oregon Mu
seum of Art reopening draws closer, the rejuve
nated tour guide program for the museum is
preparing for the public.
The Exhibition Interpreters, which includes 45
members ranging from retired librarians and teach
ers to University students, underwent changes five
years ago under the leadership of Usa Abia-Smith,
director of education for the museum. Abia-Smith
said the program changes were made to coincide
with the expansion of the museum.
"We needed a more effective program — a pro
gram that was able to adapt to the needs of the
audience — the new building helped facilitate
these changes," Abia-Smith said.
Other members described the joys of working
in a museum.
"It's like coming home for me," said guide Nan
cy Fletcher. "My parents used to own an art muse
um, and this is a great chance to return to one."
The art museum, closed for renovations since
September 2000, is expected to reopen in Octo
ber 2004. According to the museum Web site,
http://uoma.uoregon.edu/, the $12.72 million
cost of renovation was funded in pan by the state
Turn to GUIDES, page 5
Smoking
limit near
buildings
may grow
The existing “ 10-foot rule”
could be extended to 50 feet
By Lisa Catto
News Reporter
Smokers may need to move farther
away from campus buildings to light up if
the Campus Advisory Board succeeds in
extending the " 10-foot rule."
Currently, most campus buildings re
quire smokers to stand 10 feet away from
an entrance, but Paula Staight, director of
health education at the University 1 lealth
Center, said the board hopes to expand
that distance as much as 40 feet.
Establishing a 50-foot smoking distance
would allow for easier enforcement,
Staight said, adding that nobody is cur
rently responsible for enforcing the rule,
and it usually ends up being the job of in
dividual building managers.
Lillis Business Complex Facilities Coor
dinator Frank Sharpy agreed that enforc
ing the smoking rule is difficult, and a
smoker who is violating the rule is usually
gone by the time someone gets outside to
tell the smoker to move.
"I can't go around this building all day
long asking people to move away from the
building," he said.
The Lillis Business Complex is the only
building on campus with a 50-foot smok
ing rule for several reasons, Sharpy said.
I le said the building has such a state-of
the-art air exchange system — a blending
of interior and exterior air — that smoke
can really affect the air brought into the
building. He added that Lillis has an ex
tremely sensitive smoke detection system,
which could be triggered by smoke filter
ing in from vents on the ground floor
around the perimeter of the building.
Sharpy also said that he has received
Turn to SMOKING, page 10
WEATHER
INSIDE
Campus buzz.10
Classifieds.10
Commentary.2
Crossword.11
Nation & World.3
Sports.7
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