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http://www.dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, April 27,2004
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 105, Issue 142
Budget issues
will influence
prosecutions
The Lane County District Attorney’s office will stop
prosecuting some nonviolent misdemeanors
to save its understaffed office time and money
By Parker Howell
News Reporter
Budget cuts to the District Attorney's Office may force certain
criminal charges to go untried in Lane County starting next month.
Beginning May 1, the agency will cease prosecuting 102 non
violeot misdemeanors, such as theft under $750 and possession
of less than an ounce of marijuana, in an effort to save money.
The move will reduce the agency's workload by 2,000 cases and
'* save about $270,000.
District Attorney Doug Harcleroad said his office also will stop
prosecuting about 1,000 drug felony cases and 650 nonviolent
felony cases to save additional funds.
The reductions are part of the agency's plan to reduce more
than $ 1 million from its budget. The county is struggling to meet
9 percent across-the-board cuts to make up for a $4.1 million
shortfall projected in the county7s Discretionary General Fund for
the 2004-2005 fiscal year.
While the misdemeanor crimes will not be prosecuted at the
county level, local police agencies will continue to arrest suspects,
Harcleroad said. He said arrests are necessary to "have some sem
blance of holding (criminals) accountable."
"We should have police out there arresting bad guys, no ques
tion about that" he said.
Harcleroad said the cuts to misdemeanor prosecutions must
be enacted before July because the department is understaffed.
Only four of six misdemeanor prosecutor positions are currently
filled. Harcleroad said he won't be able to hire new lawyers be
cause of budgetary woes.
He said an analysis of his entire department's workload would
necessitate 32 attorneys, while he has only 24 on staff.
In an April 21 memorandum about the cuts addressed to coun
ty courts and police agencies, Harcleroad said the reductions will
be "a blow to public safety in Lane County."
"I deeply regret taking this action," he said in the memo.
The list of crimes that won't be prosecuted included prostitu
tion, theft or credit card fraud of less than $750, mail theft, pro
hibited camping and physical harassment.
The memo also included 38 misdemeanors that will be prose
cuted, including fourth-degree assault, child neglect, drunken
driving resisting arrest, third-degree sexual abuse and unlawful
possession of a weapon. Misdemeanors that are committed along
with felonies will also be prosecuted, Harcleroad said.
Harcleroad also said in the memo that police officers may try to
file misdemeanors as violations, which result in fines rather than
Turn to LANE COUNTY, page 3
MOVIN' ON UP
Enk R. Bishoff Photographer
ASUO President-elect Adam Petkun (left) and his running mate, Mena Ravassipour, talk about their plans for next year outside the EMU on Sunday
afternoon. The duo moves into the ASUO offices May 25 and still must rearrange staff positions and hire employees.
Taking the reins
The new ASUO executives are planning and preparing for their administration’s May takeover
By Jared Paben
Senior News Reporter
|he days won't get any shorter for
ASUO President-elect Adam
A Petkun and his running mate,
Mena Ravassipour, now that they've
nabbed the ASUO's top spot.
The new Executive elects are beginning
the process of transitioning into their
new roles, a process that includes, among
other things, rearranging staff positions
and hiring employees.
And the trick is they only have about a
month to do it. Move-in day is May 25.
Current ASUO President Maddy
Melton explained that the transitional
process is important and time-consuming.
"I think the transition is pretty impor
tant when it comes to whether or not the
new Exec will hit the ground running, or
whether they'll have to take a few weeks
to feel their way around," Melton said.
"Eddy (Morales) and I are really excited
to spend a lot of quality time with Adam
and Mena over the next four weeks."
Melton said last year she and current
ASUO Vice President Morales deter
mined the focus of their Executive staff
by creating those positions and per
forming at least 55 interviews to fill
them, all within three weeks of winning
the general election.
Petkun said his goal is to have all of his
staff hired by move in day
"To do that we need to lay out sort of a
vision for what we want our office to feel
like," Petkun said. "Maddy was telling me
that it's really important to not only just
look for the best people for the job, but
make sure the staff works well together.
So, that's the major task."
Petkun said he and Ravassipour
haven't finalized their vision for the staff,
but he said it would look pretty similar
to past staffs.
"We'll definitely have two staff mem
bers in the legislative positions since it'll
be a legislative year on the state side of
things," Petkun said. "Also, we're think
ing very seriously about instituting a
chief of staff position, which hasn't been
done here in a while."
Petkun said the chief of staff would en
sure the smooth operation of the office,
make decisions and ensure people are re
sponsible for their actions — in essence,
Turn to CHANGES, page 6
Hong Kong Night 2004 showcases ‘Enduring City’
Hong Kong Student Association members
prepared food and performed skits to highlight
the city’s rich history during Sunday's events
By Jennifer Sudick
Freelance Editor
Popular European-style hot spot Lan Kwai Fang, located on
Hong Kong island, serves brew and food to tourists and locals
until early morning.
On Sunday evening in the EMU Fir Room, the Hong Kong
Student Association's miniature version of the bar stood as a
symbol of the integration of Western and traditional cultures in
Hong Kong.
Presented by HKSA and sponsored by several campus organi
zations and local businesses, Hong Kong Night 2004 painted a
picture of a city that has flourished in adverse circumstances
through the hard work and perseverance of its people.
"In the past of Hong Kong people, there were hard times,"
HKSA Vice President Preston Lam said. "There has been hard
work for people to overcome those times."
Lam said the association chose the show's "Enduring City"
theme to highlight the work of Hong Kong's people. HKSA Presi
dent Arthur Law said the skits, focusing on issues such as the eco
nomic impact of the recent SARS crisis and the 1963 drought,
helped explain the history of Hong Kong.
"It was about how Hong Kong overcame problems in the '60s
and '70s," he said. "How a place overcame its own problems
and became a more successful city."
Turn to HONG KONG, page 4
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Chuck Slothower
urges smokers
to unite