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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2004)
An independent newspaper http://www.dailyemerald.com Monday, May 3, 2004 Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 105, Issue 146 A nutty pastime Squirrel fishermen' on campus seek Club Sports recognition for their pursuit By Chelsea Duncan . Senior News Reporter The skilled angler cast his fly fishing line into the sea of green grass and waited for a nibble. Moments later, the line started to jerk, and he began to reel. Instead of a hook, he used a peanut, and he didn't catch a fish — he caught a squirrel. A group of University students has brought the art of squirrel » m fishing to campus, and now they're trying to make it an official Club sport. The sport involves using fly fishing rods with peanuts tied to the line to attract squirrels. Once the squirrel latches on, the "fisherman" tugs on the line until the squirrel lets go or scur ries away with the peanut. "The reactions we get around campus are usually really enthu siastic or really upset," said Jason Mcllhaney, the club's co-presi dent, adding that people who get upset don't understand the sport. "The best analogy really is like playing tug of war with your dog," Mcllhaney said. And the sport has definitely raised a few eyebrows around cam pus. The University Club Sports executive committee, made up of five students, met to determine the club's fate Friday, but the members decided they needed to leam more about the sport be fore making a final decision. Executive committee member Lauren Anas said none of the members were familiar with the concept of squirrel fishing. "I just want to make sure that we're not doing anything offen sive to squirrels," she said, adding that with any proposed sport, the committee members try to familiarize themselves with the ac tivity before making a decision. Students proposing a new sport need at least 10 initial mem bers, and they also need to show they can represent the University competitively, Anas said. Mcllhaney said there are plenty of ways to make it a competi tive sport, which generally involves performing skillful fly fishing Turn to NUTTY, page 6 Sara Poulter Freelance Photographer Left: Architecture Professor Christine Theodoropoulos’ son Charlie Henry squirrel-fishes in front of the Pioneer Mother statue Saturday evening. Right: Students want to make squirrel fishing an official University sport. Overseas study offers ample aid A variety of sources of financial aid are available to students who wish to pursue a portion of their education internationally By Moriah Balingit News Reporter Students considering going abroad who are concerned about finances have various options for paying for their pro grams. Senior German major Stephanie Schwenger said her trip to Germany actually ended up costing less than what she pays at the University because her scholarships and financial aid could be applied to overseas study. In addition, she received the DAAD, a grant for students studying abroad in Germany. Schwenger said it was no trouble getting her financial aid to transfer. "I just had to call the financial aid office to verify, * she said. The DAAD is one of many scholarships and grants avail able to students who plan to study abroad. Other scholar ships include the Benjamin Gilman International Scholar ship, which is available to Pell Grant recipients; the Opportunities Abroad scholarship available through the Of fice of International Programs, and the extremely generous Rotary International Scholarship. Students can also apply for many regional scholarships. The Freeman International Scholarship is an good resource for stu dents who plan to participate in the University-sponsored programs in Asia. A number of regional scholarships also are offered through the Romance Languages department for ro mance language majors and minors; for example, the Em manuel Hatzantonis Scholarship is available for students planning to study in a University-sponsored program in Italy, and the I lelen Fe Jones scholarship is offered to students plan ning to study in a Spanish-speaking country. Another resource for students is the short-term study abroad loan fund, available through the University's Office of Inter national Programs for students planning to study abroad through a University-sponsored program. The loans range from $300-$2,000 and are available to help pay for up-front costs such as airline tickets. As the process to find funding for studying abroad can be long and tedious, OIP graduate teaching fellow Terri Monk said students should come in as soon as they decide they want to study abroad. "You should always apply for every grant or scholarship Turn to ABROAD, page 5 Campus security team greets new boss Sergeant Mark Montes of the Eugene Police Department aims to improve and encourage communication By Lisa Catto News Reporter Students may spot a smiling new face from the Eugene Police Department on campus. Sgt. Mark Montes took the reigns of the EPD campus security team — which serves as the liai son between EPD and the Department of Public Safety — at the end of March. The 20-year law enforcement veteran has spent half of his career working in Los Angeles and the other half working for the Springfield Police De partment and EPD. Currently, he supervises a team of three EPD officers in the DPS office. DPS Interim Director Thomas Hicks said that Montes' transition to leading the campus EPD team is going well. "We're really happy with Sgt. Montes," Hicks said. "He continues the cooperative arrangement between EPD and DPS. We appreciate (his) expe rience and look forward to being able to take ad vantage of it. I would expea to see a continuing improvement in the working relationship (be tween DPS and EPD)." After 10 years of working in L.A., Montes said he decided to move somewhere safer to raise his children. He said the L.A. lifestyle was too fast paced and hectic. He was hired by SPD and worked there for six years, but he was eventually transferred to EPD because there were more opportunities for pro motion. After working for EPD for three months in 2000, he was promoted to sergeant. Montes said his current po sition primarily involves su pervising patrol teams. He also serves on a va riety of committees, in cluding a diversity com mittee, a racial profiling committee and a crowd control team. "(The committees) don't take a lot from my regular job," Montes said. "But it can be busy, especially when the weather gets nice." Turn to OFFICER, page 5 SGT. MARK MONTES Eugene Police Department Age: 43 Years on the job: 20 Training: Various law enforcement classes and completion of two police academy programs Hometown: LaVerne, Calif., 30 minutes east of Los Angeles Family: Married, with three children Began working on campus: March 2004 WEATHER INSIDE NEXT ISSUE LOW 50 HIGH 70 Campus buzz.10 Classifieds.15 Commentary..2 Nation & World.3 Pulse.5 Sports.11 Peter Hockaday considers reality makeovers
