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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.
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