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Oregon Daily Emerald
An independent newspaper
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Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 51 | Friday, November 5, 2004
Friday night cites
The Eugene Police Department's party patrol sweeps the city
weekend nights, focusing on alcohol and drug violations
BY KARA HANSEN
NEWS REPORTER
Sounds from parties echoed in the
distance, but a two-story house
deep in the West University
neighborhood was quiet on a Saturday
night two weeks ago. From the yard of
the house, near the corner of East 14th
Avenue and Ferry Street, everything
looked relatively still. No one loitered
on the porch.
Shortly before midnight a couple par
tygoers exited the house carrying open
cans of beer. It was enough to prompt a
visit from the Eugene Police Department
Party Patrol.
Students, especially those who fre
quent parties in the West University
neighborhood, are likely to encounter
the party patrol, which circulates the
area on Friday and Saturday nights.
However, many may not know how to
respond when they come in contact
with these officers.
On that particular Saturday, Oct. 23,
several students cited for drinking viola
tions voiced concern about whether
their rights were being
violated. Some wanted to know whether
police officers could enter their houses.
Others were curious about whether offi
cers could deny them a breath analysis,
relying instead on a field sobriety test to
determine who had been drinking.
On slow nights, EPD officers are more
likely to cite every minor drinking at a
party, said Sgt. Scott Fellman, one of the
party patrol’s supervisors. On busier
nights, the officers may just dis
perse partygoers, then head out to
respond to other noisecomplaints.
For every five students cited to
appear in court for violations,
such as underage drinking and
DUI, at least one may have been
in the wrong place at the wrong
time, “erroneously charged or
grossly overcharged for
deminimis conduct,” attor
ney Laura Fine said in a
guest commentary for
the Emerald (“How to
deal with cops at UO,”
ODE, Sept. 20,2004).
Fellman said
breaking up parties and citing under
age drinkers are necessary to prevent
more serious problems.
“The point is to break up disorderly
parties before they become riotous,”
Fellman said. “The cost for letting
parties get out of hand and turn into
riots is serious.”
The six- to eight-person team typically
focuses on alcohol and drug violations,
issuing citations for underage drinking
Lauren Wimer | Senior photographer
Cooking food for several students, Deena Wanstall prepares lunch in Hamilton
at the Fire 'n Spice Grill Wednesday afternoon.
Dining hall's
plastic plates
save money,
cut garbage
Although many plates have been
stolen, Hamilton's dinning hall
keeps them for ecological bonuses
BY ANTHONY LUCERO
NEWS REPORTER
The University’s Food Services department
has saved $2,000 in the last year through the
introduction of reusable plastic plates at
Hamilton’s dining hall in an effort to conserve
materials and cut waste costs.
Although students have been taking many
of the new plates, the University still saved
money by reducing waste, Food Services Di
rector Tom Driscoll said. He said the Univer
sity has conserved 198 dumpster loads of
waste that would otherwise go to a landfill.
By eliminating paper plates and using other
conservation methods, Driscoll said dumpster
waste is reduced by one-third six days per
week for nine months. Before the introduction
of the plastic plates, the dining hall had three
dumpsters to manage its daily waste, but now
it only has two.
However, Driscoll said the University could
save more money through cooperation with
students who take the plates to their room,
FOOD, page 4A
Study prompts
radal profiling
concerns in EPD
Officials say the study's 'statistically significant'
results merit further examination of racial issues
BY MORIAH BALINGIT
NEWS REPORTER
Results of a study conducted
on Eugene Police Department
vehicle stops show evidence
that Latino, black and Asian
drivers are treated differently
than white drivers. However,
the results remained inconclu
sive on whether racial profiling
is occurring in EPD traffic stops.
Vikas Kumar Gumbhir, a Uni
versity graduate student in soci
ology, was commissioned by
EPD through the University’s
Wayne Morse Center for Law
and Politics to conduct the
study. He presented his findings
to community members on
Wednesday at the Eugene Pub
lic Library.
“This (study) is one step the
department is using to better
understand how to best provide
policing services in the commu
nity,” EPD spokeswoman Pam
Olshanski said.
Gumbhir collected data
through survey cards filled out
by officers after vehicle stops.
Among the information collect
ed was the race, sex and age of
the civilian stopped, the reason
for the vehicle stop, the time
and place the stop occurred,
whether a search was conduct
ed, and whether contraband
was found in the search.
While officers were instructed
to fill out survey cards after
every stop, an audit conducted
by EPD on vehicle stops re
vealed that officers only filled
out cards in about 70 percent of
stops, limiting the study’s
findings. Additionally, many of
the cards were incomplete.
“I think this research gives us
a lot of answers and it gives us
a lot of clues as to where to go
from here,” Gumbhir said. “But
it’s definitely not final.”
Gumbhir’s study concluded
that black drivers were stopped
more frequently than white
drivers. In 2002, the stop rate, or
PROFILING, page 4A
Mobile mapping
teaches students
social planning
Using GIS technology, students create maps
to analyze the residential quality of neighborhoods
BY ANTHONY LUCERO
NEWS REPORTER
Students in the Planning, Pub
lic Policy and Management de
partment are working with the
West University neighborhood to
compile demographics and other
information to improve the
neighborhood. Professor Marc
Schlossberg said the program, in
said. It s social planning and
participation that are the main
ideas of the class. How you work
with communities is
important, not just pointing and
clicking on a screen.”
Students in the Social Planning
with Geographic Information
Systems class combine social and
technological elements, using
GIS programs to map out Eugene
its first year using
mobile mapping
technology, is
unique in the
nation.
“The class
doesn’t focus just
on (Geographic In
formation Systems)
technology or field
skills,” Schlossberg
through aerial photographs. They
then use those maps to analyze
the residential quality of a neigh
borhood — such as street lights,
dumpsters and recycle bins —
with detail down to a single
street or a specific street light on
that block. It may not sound ab
solutely essential, but neighbor
hoods can understand how a
WHAT IS GIS?
GIS stands for Geographic In
formation Systems. GIS is an
integrated package for the in
put, storage, analysis and out
put of spatial information -
analysis being the most signifi
cant, according to the U.S.
Census Bureau.
lacK oi street lignts
may lead to less
safety for drivers on
a street or make
women more
vulnerable to attack,
Schlossberg said.
When they are
out in the neighbor
hoods, students use
a PocketPC with
ArcPad GIS/GPS
mapping software. An attachable
camera hooks up to the PocketPC
so they can take pictures of the
landmarks they survey. Students
can use software on the Pocket
PC to evaluate many aspects of
the condition of a house, for ex
ample, and then mark that house
on the map. Photos can be
GIS, page 3A