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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2004)
Back to the Books An independent newspaper since 1900 www. dailyemerald. com Since 1900 | Volume 106, Issue 20 \ Monday, September 20, 2004 Nepotism concerns prompt hiring ban ASUO President Petkun decides against giving more Web design contracts to staffer's husband JARED PABEN EDITOR IN CHIEF Citing concerns about the appearance of nepotism, ASUO President Adam Petkun has banned University graduate Dean Neiwert from performing contracted work for the ASUO, af ter Neiwert was paid more than $850 in inci dental fee funds for contracted Web site work. Neiwert — the husband of ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert — re ceived two ASUO contracts this year and in 2003, prompting Petkun’s decision to restrict ASUO em ployees from giving contracts to Neiwert, Petkun said. The contracts were first brought to his CONTRACTS, page 20A ASUO, students debate value of retreats The student government, as well as some students, disagree on the purpose and benefits of the retreats OMIE DRAWHORN NEWS REPORTER ASUO President Adam Petkun, Vice Presi dent Mena Ravassipour and ASUO Executive staff members returned Sunday from a three day retreat to Lincoln City, the first of two staff retreats the Executive has planned for this year. In all, Petkun estimated before the trip that the Executive would spend, in fundraised mon ey, about $460 on a house rental and about $300 on food. In the 2002-03 school year, ASUO spent $1,891 in incidental fees and $978 in fundraising money for transportation, food and house rentals for re treats, totaling $2,869. According to ASUO pur chase orders and accounting ledgers, the ASUO spent $3,533.62 in student incidental fees and $850 in fundraising money on retreats to Sunriver and Waldport for a total of $4,383.62 for the 2003 04 school year. The 2003-04 retreat budget repre sents an 87 percent increase in incidental fee spending and a 53 percent increase in total spending from the year before. Some former ASUO Executive members and University students said they are skeptical of using student money for coast and central Ore gon retreats, but those involved in the ASUO Executive and Student Senate said that the money is being used appropriately, because it is benefiting all students. Petkun said he feels retreats are essential to the success of ASUO because it helps the staff RETREATS, page 5A GET OUT THE VOTE Erik R. Bishoff | Online & Photo Editor ASUO President Adam Petkun helps elementary education graduate student Emily Zoboski fill out voter registration paperwork outside the University Bookstore Wednesday afternoon. The ASUO’s goal is to register 7,500 students. Democratic drive ASUO hopes to register 7,500 students with a non-partisan voter registration drive this fall OMIE DRAWHORN NEWS REPORTER Six members of ASUO, 60 interns and 100 volunteers are coming together this week, aiming to register 7,500 students to vote during the first two weeks of school. If successful, they will have reg istered the largest number of students in the University’s history. The ASUO will kick off its annual voter reg istration drive Thursday. But this year’s event will include fewer big events and will rely on more day-to-day efforts to register students. “It’s more about groundwork than big events,” Student Vote Coalition co-coordinator Christina Swartz said. Oregon Student Association Campus Orga nizer Courtney Hight said approaching stu dents doing day-to-day activities yields more registrations than putting on big events. Amy DuFour, ASUO state affairs coordina tor and registration drive volunteer, said she is confident the ASUO will exceed its 7,500 student goal. During last year, a non-legislative year, the ASUO registered 3,000 people to vote. Its largest previous goal was 5,000 stu dents in 2000. The ASUO will take to the streets, visit classrooms and set up tables at Bean, VOTE, page 8A Bike theft a problem at the University DPS says rise in theft can he ebbed if students take proper precautions with their bikes TIM BOBOSKY & MICHAEL A. BOOTH FREELANCE REPORTERS University graduate student Bryan Ko laczkowski planned on riding his bike home on the evening of Sept. 3 after his shift in a Univer sity biology lab. Instead, he left Pacific Hall at 6 p.m. only to find a broken cable lock instead of his $700 Bianchi road bike. Kolaczkowski, who is studying computer sci ence, said he wishes he had known how to deter criminals from stealing his bike — his primary mode of transportation — before the theft oc curred. Unfortunately, Kolaczkowski’s experience will probably be shared by an increasing number of incoming and returning students this fall term. The University Department of Public Safety ex pects 20 to 25 bikes to be stolen in the first two weeks of fall term alone. September and October are typically the peak months for the crime, which has become more common each year since 2002, according to the Eugene Police Department. Thieves have already been busy this month. Eugene resident Ryan Ashton, 13, and Lane Community College student Bethanie Ogletree both said they had expensive bikes stolen re cently, after thieves broke their locks. Ashton said that on Sept. 8 his custom-built Diamond Back BMX bike, worth more than $1,000, was locked to four other bikes with the same lock, but only Ashton’s bike was taken. Ogletree said that on Sept. 5 she locked her Mongoose mountain bike within sight of the University Bookstore’s coffee shop, where she works. Despite Ogletree’s effort to lock her THEFT, page IGA Danielle Hickey | Freelance Photographer Cliff Dailey sweeps leaves in Bean Complex on Tuesday afternoon as the University prepares for its new freshman class. UO residence halls ranked worst in the nation in survey University Housing says the Princeton Review's study is skewed and sloppy BEN BROWN NEWS REPORTER The ballots are in, the votes have been counted, and accord ing to the Princeton Review the University has the worst resi dence halls in the country. In a national survey of stu dents, the University ranked first in the category ‘dorms like dungeons,’ moving up from second place last year and 15th place the year before. Director of University Hous ing Michael Eyster said the ranking is unwarranted. “Our satisfaction ratings when we do surveys don’t re flect that,” he said. The Princeton Review, a New York-based company known for its test-preparation courses, education sources and books, has been publish ing its annual review of col leges since 1992. Jeanne Krier, publicist for the Princeton Review, said rankings are determined by a survey of 110,000 students at the 357 colleges ranked, which works out to an average 300 students per campus. The survey is offered at the Prince ton Review’s Web site and is 70 questions long. Eyster said he felt the Uni versity received the number one spot this year because the survey is skewed and its methodology is sloppy. Eyster said the survey only has one question about residence halls and students are asked to rate their residence halls on a scale of one to five. “1 wouldn’t call it an ade quate survey,” Eyster said. However, Eyster admitted that the University’s residence halls aren’t entirely up to par, having been built 40 to 50 years ago for a different stu dent population. Eyster said he understands that today’s student needs more space. “1 can’t make excuses,” said Eyster. Many students agree the size of the rooms is their chief complaint. According to the University Housing Web site, the REVIEW, page 9A WHAT'S INSIDE: Commentary - 2A | Campus - B | Community - C | Pulse - D | Sports - E | Jambalaya - F
