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An independent newspaper
www. dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 28 | TUesday, October 5, 2004
Ex-coach
withdraws
complaint,
to file suit
Former UO track coach Sally
Harmon alleges she was
wrongly dismissed in 2003
BY KARA HANSEN
NEWS REPORTER
Former University women’s track and
field coach Sally Harmon has withdrawn a
2003 complaint against the athletic depart
ment alleging she was discharged because
of her gender and says she plans to file a
lawsuit.
* Harmon said that two weeks ago she
withdrew her complaint, which was filed
with the civil rights division of the Oregon
Bureau of Labor and Industries, because the
agency was overwrought with cases. She
said she intends to file a lawsuit to reach a
resolution quicker.
Harmon’s attorney Suzanne Chanti said
the lawsuit will be filed within the next 60
days, but she didn’t know who would be
named in the suit.
“We think Sally was discriminated
against,” Chanti said. “We haven’t received
any response from the University to discuss
the matter, so we plan to file a suit.”
Harmon, a University graduate who
coached women’s throws events for 18
years, was fired in spring 2003 without a
severance package. The University’s athletic
department replaced her with Olympic
hammer thrower Lance Deal, which
prompted her to file a sex discrimination
complaint with the civil rights division of
the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries
in October 2003.
Harmon, twice inducted into the Univer
sity’s hall of fame for coaching and individ
ual athletic accomplishments, said her 18
years of coaching experience made her the
most qualified applicant to coach the men’s
and women’s throws programs, which
merged in 2003. The position overseeing the
javelin, discuss, shot put and hammer
events was instead filled by Deal, hired as a
volunteer men’s throws coach in 2002.
“When you have somebody with the ex
perience, the authority and the accomplish
ments I’ve had, and you replace me with
someone who does not have any compara
ble experience whatsoever, things are start
ing to smell,” Harmon said. “And you bet
it’s based on a preference, and I can’t think
of anything besides gender that’s playing
into this.”
Auueuc uireciur diii moos uiu noi return
the Emerald’s phone calls.
University General Counsel Melinda Gri
er, who is handling all phone calls to the
University related to the complaint, said she
felt the department’s hiring decision was
probably justified.
“The reason you choose one person over
another is you select the one you believe is
most qualified based on what your criteria
are,” Grier said. “That’s what happened
here.”
In the complaint — which Chanti said
will provide the basis for the ensuing law
suit — Harmoil said there has been a long
standing disparity between men and
women employed in the University’s athlet
ic department.
“Throughout my tenure at the University
HARMON, page 8
MESSAGE OF MORTALITY
On Monday, 225 headstones appeared on the lawn in front of the
Knight Library. And in spite of the appearance of caskets last spring
in the same area, Stephanie Young-Petersen, coordinator of Lane
County Public Health’s tobacco prevention program, maintained
that there was still no one buried there.
The headstones were part of an exhibit to promote tobacco aware
ness, each representing one of the 225 people who died of tobac
corelated illnesses every 30 minutes. Last spring, 105 coffins were
placed on the lawn as a part of the Viewing Project, an exhibit
meant to raise awareness on the Iraq War's human toll.
The headstones also featured the vignettes and ages of actual peo
ple, listed under fake names, who died of tobacco-related illnesses,
some of them as young as nine.
Lauren Wimer | Senior photographer
The Campus Advisory Board and the Campus Health Action on To
bacco Study organized the exhibit to promote the tobacco cessa
tion programs they offer. Student smokers who want to kick the
habit can pick up nicotine replacement products for free from the
University Health Center, according to Campus Advisory Board Di
rector Paula Staight.
Junior Jacqueline Fitzgerald, a self-described social smoker, said
the exhibit had an impact on her.
“It definitely makes me think twice about lighting up a cigarette,"
she said.
But some students, such as senior Edwin Soenarya, pictured
above, appeared unfazed by the exhibit, casually strolling between
the headstones while smoking.
UO students
travel north
for volcano
observation
Eight geology students study
Mount St. Helens, erupting just
50 miles outside of Portland
BY ANTHONY LUCERO
NEWS REPORTER
Scientists are closely watching Mount St.
Helens again after steam eruptions on Mon
day and Friday — the first in more than a
decade — shot white clouds and ash into
the air 10,000 feet above sea level.
The volcano, located in southwest Washing
ton approximately 50 miles from Portland, con
tinues to show strong signs of an eruption. It
has led the United States Geological Survey to
classify it a Level 3 — a high alert given to vol
cano activity — and to evacuate the Johnston
Ridge Observatory five miles from the crater.
University graduate student Heather
Wright, a geology major, traveled to Washing
ton to see an eruption firsthand with seven
other graduate students in the department.
“Most students are studying volcanoes,
but not ones actively erupting,” Wright said.
“We were happy to see a smoke eruption.”
Both observation points close to the vol
canic site, Cascade Peaks Observatory and
Coldwater Ridge, were packed with about
5,000 people, according to Wright.
Wright said she will return to the volcano
today to await more eruptions and also try
to gather an ash sample. Scientists studying
volcanoes can typically get many clues from
ash samples, including whether there is new
magma underneath the volcano that may
spew in later eruptions.
Wright’s enthusiasm is matched by col
leagues waiting to see how this eruption com
pares to the explosive activity on May 18,
1980, when a 5.1 magnitude earthquake near
the summit sparked an eruption that killed 57
people. The eruption also flattened 230 square
miles northeast of the summit, causing eco
logical damage still not fully repaired.
“A friend called me asking if there was go
ing to be another eruption similar to the
1980s one,” Wright said. “People in her
town were cleaning the streets for days to re
move all the ash.”
ST. HELENS, page 12
Gun owners reflect on rifle ban expiration
The end of a 10-year weapons ban has made several
types of guns legal again, angering some students
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
The Baron’s Den employee Raye Gunter pulls two semiautomatic ri
fles from a rack of firearms and sets them on the glass counter. At first
glance, both rifles are similar. They’re black, military-style firearms that
fire a round as quickly as a shooter can pull the trigger. Yet one has a flash
suppressor, bayonet mount and a collapsible stock, features that made
the gun illegal to manufacture, sell or possess until just three weeks ago.
The Sept. 13 expiration of a 10-year federal ban on making and owning
semiautomatic assault weapons has reopened a niche in the gun market,
pleasing gun advocates and disturbing ban supporters.
Signed into law in 1994 by then-President Clinton, the ban out
lawed specific firearms and several firearm features, such as pistol
grips and ammunition magazines that held more than 10 rounds. A
GUN CONTROL, page 7
Lauren Wimer | Senior photographer
Baron’s Den employee Raye Gunter discusses how semiautomatic AR-15 rifles were
affected by the assault rifle ban, which expired Sept. 13.