Oregon freeway speed limits may increase
Recommendations
including a 70-mph
speed limit for cars will
be issued this month
CHARLES E. BEGGS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SALEM — Any summertime driv
er is likely to notice that many mo
torists are cruising beyond the legal
speed limit.
This fall, Oregonians might get
the green light to legally drive faster
on the state's freeways. The 2003
Legislature authorized the state
Transportation Commission to raise
freeway speed limits from 65 mph
to 70 mph for cars and from 55 mph
to 65 mph for trucks.
The Transportation Department
is to issue recommendations on
Friday for any speed limit changes
on the more than 500 miles of
Oregon freeways.
The commission plans to make a fi
nal decision Sept. 30, following five
public hearings around the state.
Some drivers are annoyed that the
process seems slow.
"We get calls from people saying
since the limit was increased, why
haven't the signs been changed?" Pat
Cooney, the department's communi
cations director, said Monday.
The Legislature didn't require a
boost in the speed limit. It said the
commission can raise the threshold
if it decides it's reasonable and
safe based on engineering and
traffic studies.
The panel could reduce freeway
speed limits as well.
The agency has divided the freeway
system into 35 segments for study,
and will probably make a speed-limit
recommendation for each one.
Factors being looked at include: ac
cident frequency, the mix of traffic,
the availability of trauma care and po
lice, and accident rates in other states
that have raised speed limits.
The sponsor of the bill to increase
the speed limit, Rep. Randy Miller, R
West Linn, says the agency needs pick
up the pace. He said several factors
that have been included in the stud
ies, such as the distance from a trau
ma center, are unnecessary.
"Remote means just that, a long
ways from anything," he said Mon
day. "Those areas probably are where
the speed limit should be higher."
The Oregon Trucking Associations
supported the legislation as long as
the truck speed limit would be just 5
mph less than that for cars, said Bob
Russell, president of the organization.
Studies have shown the greater the
difference between car and truck
speed limits, the more car-truck acci
dents are likely, he said. The difference
between limits now is 10 mph.
Truckers can reap advantages by de
livering goods faster, but some are
concerned about a decrease in safety.
"As a trucking company owner, we
want to get loads delivered on time
and get many loads under our belt,"
said Mike Card, owner of Combined
Transport of Central Point.
"There's nothing worse out there
than having an accident," he said.
"Speed helps us to get where we go,"
but, he added, safety record is more
important.
Charles E. Beggs is a writer
for the Associated Press.
NEWS BRIEF
Senate grants NABJ request,
adopts new fund system
The Student Senate approved
in a special short-notice meeting
Friday a $900 request from the
National Association of Black Jour
nalists. The group requested
, the money for hotel accommoda
tions for an upcoming NABJ-affili
ated UNITY conference in
Washington, D.C.
Senate Summer Committee Vice
President Kevin Day said rules pro
hibited the Senate from approving a
direct transfer from the Senate's sur
plus fund to NABJ.
Last year's Summer Committee
directly funded a $2,355 request
by the NABJ for expenses for the
same conference, violating ASUO
rules, Day said. This year, Day
proposed instead that the Senate
approve a $900 transfer to an
ASUO Executive account, and
that the Executive transfer the
amount to NABJ.
The Senate passed the motion to
transfer the sum to the Executive ac
count by a vote of 6-0.
In other business, ASUO
Accounting Coordinator Jennifer
Creighton-Neiwert presented to the
Senate a new accounting model for
student groups.
Citing "some pretty substantial
changes," Creighton-Neiwert sum
marized the new system, which uses
a five-fund system. Each group can
have any or all five types of funds.
The Senate will deal only with
each group's incidental fee fund.
Other funds include non-event rev
enue, restricted event revenue, gen
eral funds and unrestricted gifts.
Officials designed this year's
accounting system to smooth the
transition between last year's
three-fund system and a new sys
tem that will better integrate
with government rules, Creighton
Neiwert said.
"We're definitely in a kind of lim
bo land, and it'll feel like that all
year long," she said.
The Student Senate did not
convene for its regular Thursday
meeting July 22 because the
only outstanding business was
a special request whose size
exceeded that of the Senate surplus
fund, Summer Committee
President Rodrigo Moreno-Villa
mar said.
— Travis Willse
LLC
continued from page 1
said, but added that they do not have
the storage space some students would
like. Rooms in the LLC would be
roughly 225 square feet, much larger
than the average 150 square foot
rooms in the existing residence halls.
The LLC project has been several
years in the making and has faced
many obstacles. First, a site had to be
found to house the new residence
hall. Sites in the East Campus proj
ect area and the Bean Hall parking
lot were considered but discarded
because of their distance from the
University's academic core.
"There was a thought that the
chance of this project's success was
higher closer to the center of campus,"
Tepfer said.
CPC members were also concerned
that a new residence hall would not
be the best use for a prime piece of
campus real estate and that placing a
building in that area would increase
the overall density of campus, de
stroying its pastoral character.
These density concerns were solved
in two ways, Tepfer explained. First,
the building was designed using glass
walls for a staircase and performance
areas to give the building a more
open, walk-through feel. Second, por
tions of the Long Range Campus
Development Plan referring to densi
ty had to be amended. The original
IXC plan, which called for a 200,000
square foot building, was larger and
more dense than the original develop
ment plan allowed for.
In a letter sent to University Presi
dent David Frohnmayeron Feb. 25,
members of the Campus Planning
Committee asked Frohnmayer to
consider the amendments a one
time exception and not a precedent
for future decisions.
Larry Gilbert, the project's land
scape architect, said that 15 trees will
have to be removed before the project
is completed. Gilbert said that 30 to
40 large canopy trees and three to four
conifers will be planted to replace
those trees removed by construction.
Construction is slated to begin this
month and continue until the LLC
opens in fall 2006. Eyster said there
would be some noise and dust but
that the University is going to com
plete the noisiest parts of construction
this summer while no one is living in
the residence halls. Housing is also
working to keep students informed
about the project.
Further information about the LLC
as well as updates on the construction
project can be found at http://hous
ing.uoregon.edu/construction/.
benbrown@dailYemerald.com
EMU
continued from page 1
and I want us to make a plan and help them make that
happen," Kau said.
As business manager, Sun manages accounting
functions for the EMU, the student photo ID Card
Office, Information Technology and staff and stu
dent programs. She also works with staff and stu
dents to prepare upcoming budgets.
Sun said she brings technical skills, people skills
and professional experience in accounting and fi
nancial system management to the job.
Kau has lived in Eugene for most of his life and
previously worked as a program manager at the
Hult Center. In that position, he collaborated on
several joint projects with the University.
"These projects were my favorite events, which
made me think it would be very cool to work at the
U of O," Kau said.
Kau also taught a spring course
at the University in arts and administration and
loved working with the students.
"When you get out and work in a professional set
ting, your energy gets limited," he said. "(Working in
that setting) totally energized me, so I want to take
that and bring that here and develop it for students."
Mandy Chong, office coordinator for the Cultur
al Forum, says she thinks the University will benefit
from Kau's academic connections.
"Whenever the University can make a cross-de
partmental connection, we all win," she said.
Gregg Lobisser, director of student activities, is
excited to have Kau join the staff.
"He will provide wonderful leadership for the
Cultural Forum," he said.
Although Kau has only been on the job a few
days, he is looking at student surveys and at the
campus holistically to establish and develop goals,
Lobisser said. Kau would like to establish an intern
ship program and build a strong presence on cam
pus and in the community through marketing and
programming strategies.
Kau said he has always been involved with the
arts at some level. Growing up, he played the pi
ano and still performs musical theater. He said his
hands-on creative outlet is in the kitchen.
"I am a secret gourmet chef," he said.
Kau said he also enjoys the great outdoors of the
Northwest, including rafting and hiking.
EMU employee Susan Racette, who has trained
Sun for the past week, said she is confident in Sun's
abilities. She is a quick learner and brings a solid ac
counting background to the table, Racette said.
"(Sun has) the desire to make the EMU a hap
pier place for students and staff," she said.
Sun, who worked for United Way for seven years
as chief financial officer, said working on campus
is a great experience.
"It's a beautiful campus surrounded by history
and old growth," she said. "I love the interactions
with all different people."
Helen Dean, development assistant for United
Way, worked with Sun for four years.
"She truly has everyone's welfare in mind," Dean
said. "Her heart is in the right place."
Sun loves working and had to learn to make time
for other things.
"I used to just work, work, work," she said. "My
husband taught me to keep good balance between
family and work."
When Sun isn't working, she loves hiking, bicy
cling, skiing, riding motorcycles with her husband,
and shopping with her daughter, who
is a college student at the University of Washington.
Sun was born and raised in China where she re
ceived her first degree in textile engineering. She
worked for the central government in Beijing at the
textile industry ministry. Sun left China during the
1980s when there was a revolution in China among
young college graduates.
"College graduates disliked the system and did
n't think the system could help young graduates
to learn to grow," Sun said.
Students wanted to go out to explore the world
and see what other countries had to offer, she said.
Sun moved to Canada and lived there for over a
year, studying, learning the culture and eventually
meeting her husband.
She later moved to Eugene and worked as a Certi
fied Public Accountant in Portland and Eugene. She
eventually went into private accounting at United Way
after deciding she needed more time for her family.
"1 realized I wanted to spend more time with my
daughter, because she's growing up," she said.
Now that Sun is working for the University, she
is excited about the opportunities before her.
"Because I am from a different cultural back
ground, I hope 1 can bring diversity and values
that enhance what we have here to make it a bet
ter, healthy, vibrant place for students and staff,"
she said.
Kau is also excited.
"(At the University) I am looking forward to
learning and growing myself, that's what's great
about an educational institution, it's an ongoing
process and I want to continue that kind of energy
forward, and that's exciting."
omiedrawhom@dailyemerald. com
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