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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2004)
http://www.dailyemerald.com ^ Club baseball goes to Series Page 10 An independent newspaper Wednesday, May 26,2004 Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 105, Issue 163 MI STAKE N|Q^j|j|£5 THE EUGENE POLICE IF DPS AND Nl RMS ARE CAUSING CONFUSION By Lisa Catto News Reporter 4 cop? No, maybe a Department of 4 Public Safety officer. Or possibly ■L Invent security? Some University students have mis takenly identified DPS officers for Eu gene Police Department officers, or vice versa, due to the similar uniforms worn by officers at both departments. Several recent incidents of confusion have prompted the Eugene Police Com mission to form the Police Uniform Standards Task Group, which will look at the possible confusion caused by sim ilarities between EPD uniforms and se curity or public safety agency uniforms. The group could then recommend an ordinance to require public and private security services to purchase distinguish able uniforms. Police Commissioner John Brown has noticed several instances of confu sion during his ride-alongs with EPD of ficers. One instance was a fight that occurred at a local bar. Several EPD and DPS offi cers arrived to deal with the altercation. Brown said many of the bar-goers could n't tell EPD and DPS officers apart, and it appeared the response was "overkill." "If you look at the uniforms, you can hardly tell them apart," Brown said. But DPS is concerned about the po tential cost of switching uniforms, espe cially since Police Commission Coordi nator Jeannine Parisi said DPS will be more affected by a potential ordinance. DPS Interim Director Tom Hicks said he is unaware of any specific instances where DPS and EPD officers were con fused, adding that a potential recom mendation to require new, distinguish able uniforms could cost a lot. He estimates it will cost $8,000 to $ 10,000 Turn to UNIFORMS, page 12 Am patctm: OPS palcJws are more triartgjfar and shiekMke, whereas EPO uses a tongw, squared pateh. I Badp« OPS badge* featuns th# officer’s rank tngr&td m a rMxn above the seal. Nto, liO" >» printed on bottom mated of (he oftaer't number. Harm ptates: EPD officers ham engrwed name pistes. DPS officers' names we embroidered on Mr unttorrm, aithoutfi OPS » constdern* a Velcro name patch system to increase reusaNty of officers' untoim. IMformoolorK tPD orders its uniforms in ”LAPD blue ” but OPS officers sport a darter color. DEPARTM ^PUBLIC I HrMumc EPDcttcw* carry ftnwnw, bU OPS us«s h<p space tor keys tOMCE OwrtwwraOWht M% RTMENT Council rejects motion to ban big-box retailers Potential Wal-Mart expansion sparks debate about the effects of big business development By Parker Howell News Reporter The Eugene City Council on Monday narrowly rejected a motion to place a moratorium on the construction of large volume retailers. The contentious motion would have tem porarily restricted the city from accepting or processing appli cations for new stores larger than 50,000 square feet. The motion failed 5-4, with Mayor Jim Torrey providing a tie-breaking vote. The council then unanimously passed a mo tion asking the mayor's Economic Development Committee to analyze how big-box stores affect the city. Ward 2 City Councilor Betty Taylor, who proposed the mora torium, said big-box stores have been a long-standing issue for many citizens. She added that recent plans to expand the Wal Mart on West 11th Avenue to a "Supercenter," which would sell groceries, has brought the issue back to the forefront. "I've been concerned about it for years," Taylor said. "Right now, it's the Wal-Mart expansion that's causing a lot of inter est." Taylor said her proposal would protea local businesses and workers. Ward 3 City Councilor David Kelly also supported a mora torium. However, he said the moratorium was not designed to stop the Wal-Mart expansion, but temporary restriaions were necessary to prevent the city from allowing construaion that would affea Eugene for decades. Kelly added that these stores may cause the local economy to suffer a net economic loss. He said the stores offer low wages, causing other taxpayers to pay for subsidies such as food stamps and housing. He also em phasized that other cities have restrictions. "The idea of restriaions isn't a wacky Eugene idea," he said. Ward 5 City Councilor Gary Pape said restrictions might not Turn to COUNCIL, page 12 BetaTheta Pi president inspires his house to succeed Daniel Occhipinti has helped turn his organization around by embracing substance-free policies and strict study sessions By Moriah Balingit News Reporter When Daniel Occhipinti was elected president of Beta Theta Pi in September 2003, his fraternity was on the verge of tanking. Beta Theta Pi had been cited for alcohol violations and had failed to meet the risk management standards required for its University endorsement. "When I took the reins of this place, all of the mistakes of those who came before me fell upon my shoulders," Occhipinti said. He said that, unlike past leaders, he had to take over without help from a pred ecessor to ease the transition because the former president had been removed from the fraternity. Beta Theta Pi's adviser John Steiner said it was Occhipinti who swayed the com mittee responsible for the fate of the frater nity. "He was very articulate in convincing the committee," Steiner said. "He articu lated change that could occur and that he would be responsible for the change." Besides just convincing the committee, Occhipinti managed to get the rest of the remaining fraternity members on board to adopt the changes required to keep the fra ternity open, which included complying with the University's substance-free policy. "(Occhipinti) inspired us to believe in the importance of the policies," said Beta Theta Pi member and spokesperson Daniel Scheinman. Ironically, when the substance-free poli cy was originally introduced in the fall of 2002, Occhipinti publicly criticized it. "Since that time I've witnessed the bene fits of the policies and have a completely different perspective on the entire thing," he said. "The quality of life is dramatically Turn to TURNAROUND, page 6 Tim Kupsick Photographer Daniel Occhipinti helped get Beta Theta Pi on its feet, keeping the fraternity open and improving its service and academics. WEATHER LOW HIGH 50 V»r 65 inside: Campus buzz.3 Classifieds.10 Commentary.2 Crossword.11 Nation & World.4 Sports.7 NEXT ISSUE I Pulse gets creative