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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2004)
enJ,® V dbrmJife You just need 3 things «PROTECTION Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware Software ^ FREEDOM Wireless Routers and Adapters n music: MiniPod & Headphones Get ali three during our Oregon Orientation Special Visit www.enpt.com/oregon or call 1-800-697-3797 ext. 3541 EN POINTE HCtoiOlOOtr. s COLLEGE STUDENT SPECIAL $1200 Large Single Topping Pizza (gourmet toppings extra) • College ID required • Not valid with any other offer • All college IDs accepted • 2 pizza maximum per ID FREE DELIVERY 1809 Franklin Blvd. 284-8484 Sun-Thu. Ham-Midnight Fri-Sat. 11am-1am -1 TrackTown Pizza Coupon FREE PIZZA | Buy any pizza and get a second one-topping pizza of the same size free _________________ JXPIRES10/31/04M»IOTyALip WITHANYOTHER OFFERJ Pacific Challenge sends University students abroad Pacific Challenge has been sending students across the world to earn credits since 1985 TARA MURPHY FREELANCE REPORTER Pacific Challenge, a private compa ny that offers college students for-cred it trips to places around the world, will be recruiting for its winter-term trip to New Zealand and Australia at the up coming ASUO Fall Street Faire. The company, which has taken University students overseas and pro vided them upper-division credits for more than a decade, operates yearly trips that include jumping from planes, scuba diving, riding Harley Davidsons, rock climbing and more. Students get the opportunity to re ceive as many as 12 upper-level cred its in international studies and/or en vironmental studies. Opportunities for independent studies are also available. Leaving early in January and re turning in March, the company is leading 18 people on a two-month journey through the north and south islands of New Zealand, as well as the east coast of Australia. Since the company was started in 1985, it has taken more than 1,000 undergraduates and graduates from across the country overseas on simi lar programs. While anybody can attend the trip without receiving credit, there are op tional, non-traditional classes avail able. By taking classes that include hands-on research and cultural inter action, keeping a journal, group study sessions and discussions, students can receive upper-level credits, according to Pacific Challenge’s Web site. Pacific Challenge owner Dave Wright, who got his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University, said the best part of his job is watch ing people have fun and challenge themselves in the outdoors. “It’s great watching people devel op group dynamics and self-confi dence,” he said. Allison Hartlage, who went to New Zealand and Australia in January, said she learned more in that one semester than she had any other se mester in school. “The program teaches you a lot about yourself through experiential education,” she said. “You walk away from the experience and you are able to use what you learned; you really absorb the knowledge because you apply it directly to your life.” University ethnic studies major Hillary Sites has had many traveling experiences prior to signing up to take the trip to New Zealand and Australia with Pacific Challenge. “I like that we could take classes related to international exposure and how to relate to other people in the world,” she said. “It was really bene ficial doing this while outside of the classroom setting.” Sites also enjoyed the ability to complete the classes and workload on her own, and the availability of guidance if she needed it. Aside from the possibility of earn ing college credit while traveling through the natural wonders of New Zealand and Australia, participants CHALLENGE, page 15B 'Blogging' a popular pastime on campus and beyond Online blogs have become popular among students and have gained national respectability EVA SYLWESTER FREELANCE REPORTE The term blog, short for “web log” — can mean many different things. Some blogs provide news and opin ions on current events. Some are “communities” for the discussion of topics ranging from pet rats to litera ture to the University itself. Others describe people’s daily lives for an audience of their friends, friends of friends and distant acquaintances. The age distribution for users of Live Journal.com, a popular blog Web site, peaks at 18 years old, with more than 200,000 writers out of the total four million LiveJournal users. The numbers drop dramatically for writ ers over the age of 30. However, to prove that blogs are not just a fad for high school and col lege students, the crews of both President Bush and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Ker ry maintain official blogs from the presidential campaign trail. Numerous blogging services exist on the Internet that allow anyone to set up a site. Some sites require a small fee, but most are free. Three of the most well-known blogging services are LiveJournal (www.livejournal.com), Xanga (www.xanga.com), and Blog ger (www.blogger.com). Junior computer science major Rick Gorman prefers LiveJournal.com be cause of its friends page feature. “You can check all your friends’ blogs, and it’s a lot easier than going to each one individually,” he said. Gorman has had a LiveJournal.com blog for about three years, since the beginning of his college experience. He’s also used his computer skills to experiment with writing his own blog software, but primarily uses LiveJournal for convenience. Gorman’s blog is of the personal diary sort. “One, it’s just to keep in touch with friends who aren’t in town; just everyday stuff,” he said. “Also, it’s kind of a way to talk to myself, but have everyone else hear me. I just like to write stuff about myself.” Most blog services are set up so that blog writers can receive and re spond to feedback from their readers. “My social network is always growing, partially because of interac tion on the blog,” Gorman said. Blog social life has a downside, however. “I have probably lost at least one friend over having a blog,” he said. “It’s like a big sort of gossip thing. It’s like a chat room, where you’re not re ally there, so some things get said that shouldn’t be said.” “People read it for some reason and I write it for some reason,” he said. Eva Sylwester is a freelance reporter for the Emerald. More drivers than spaces on campus is an ongoing problem New spaces and a rise in the price of parking permits is not expected to help the lack of convenient parking JESSE DUNGAN FREELANCE REPORTER As the fall season rolls back around, so do the wheels of many University drivers, thus reigniting the tribulations of University parking. The price of parking permits has risen and the number of parking spots has remained roughly the same, according to the Department of Public Safety. Unearthing a parking spot on campus has never been an easy task for University students, and this year marks no exception. DPS is likely to issue between 6,500 and 7,000 parking permits this year to students, faculty and staff, but the University only hosts 3,300 spots, 1,500 of which are available to students. Daytime parking permits will cost $94 for the academic year, while overnight permits are priced at $92 per term. These prices reflect a 3.5 percent increase from last year, DPS Parking and Transportation Manag er Rand Stamm said. “We make the prices more expensive to discourage students from driving,” Stamm said. “Price increases are also a result of inflation.” Many students find that the price of their parking permit marks the beginning of a year-long encounter with parking expenses. Between 24,000 and 40,000 parking citations are given each year on campus. PARKING, page 15B
