University takes step toward increasing diversity I 11
Oregon Patty Emerald
An independent newspaper
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Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 67 \ Wednesday, December 1, 2004
Duck Stop
coffee bar
to donate
year's tips
The HIV Alliance is the recipient
of the $10,000 donation, which is
nearly one-third of its budget
BY KARA HANSEN
NEWS REPORTER
The University Bookstore’s Duck Stop coffee
bar will donate nearly $10,000 in tips collected
over the past year to the HIV Alliance for World
AIDS Day today.
The money will help the HIV Alliance contin
ue its mission of preventing HIV and providing
services to those living with HIV/AIDS in Lane
County, said Michele Erickson, the nonprofit or
ganization’s development director. Tips provide
about one-third of the alliance’s $256,000 budg
et — a heavy reliance on the community for
support, she said.
“We really want to let everybody know how
grateful we are to the Duck Stop,” Erickson
said. “We’re just amazed at the contributions
from the community that brought that collec
tion to what it is.”
Duck Stop supervisor Stacy Miller said the
coffee shop’s employees have never felt right
accepting tips when other bookstore workers
couldn’t. Each year they donate their tips to a
different charity, she said, with housing sup
port service Shelter Care as the 2004-05 col
lection recipient.
Duck Stop employees will hand over the ap
proximately $9,980 check on Wednesday at 10
a.m. at the bookstore. Looking to set a date for
the official donation, the HIV Alliance and
Duck Stop chose Wednesday partly because it’s
World AIDS Day, Miller said.
About three million people died from AIDS
in 2003, according to HIV Alliance statistics. An
estimated 40 million people are living with
HIV/AIDS now.
AIDS, page 16
GIVES THE SEASON
Lauren Wimer | Senior photographer
Each year, University employees are given the opportu
nity to donate to charities through the Charitable Fund
Drive, a state employee fundraising effort. Last year, the
University raised $230,000, about a quarter of what was
raised statewide, even though University employees only
constitute a tenth of all state employees.
This year, eight agencies are benefiting from the
Charitable Fund Drive. They include Earth Share, Unit
ed Way, the Equity Foundation, Black United Fund,
McKenzie River Gathering, Oregon Youth Soccer Asso
ciation, Habitat for Humanity and Children’s Trust Fund
of Oregon. Employees are given the option to donate
to one charity, or an agency within that charity.
All eight charities have had a profound impact on
communities and individuals locally and statewide. The
Emerald has profiled six of these agencies and some of
the individuals they have affected.
See page 8 for the full story.
RENAISSANCE REVIVAL
Senior economics major Jason Washburn, in the gray sweat shirt, jousts with freshman History major Dan Meeuwsen near the Jordan Schnitzer
museum of Art on campus Tuesday afternoon. The sticks were made from pipes and duct tape.
Phone numbers,
addresses removed
from UO directory
The University might later allow students to select
what contact information is available online
BY KARA HANSEN
NEWS REPORTER
The University removed tele
phone numbers and addresses
from every student listing in the
online directory Monday, ad
dressing concerns from students
about having their contact infor
mation available to anyone.
With less than two weeks left
in the term, University Vice Pres
ident for Student Affairs Anne
Leavitt acknowledged the
change could pose problems for
students who have misplaced
numbers of friends they need to
call. The printed version of the
directory was discontinued for
the 2004-05 academic year.
Leavitt said the change is a
temporary solution to student
concerns over what informa
tion is available about them on
the Internet.
“Students wanted more op
tions for restricting or not re
stricting their information,”
Leavitt said. “They didn’t like
having their home addresses list
ed. It made them feel unsafe,
and they got unwanted mail.”
University Registrar Herb
Chereck said that during the
past few years his office has
received a steady flow of
complaints — three to six each
month — about student infor
mation being available to virtu
ally “anybody in the world.”
“We didn’t have an alterna
tive,” Chereck said. Students
have to choose “all or nothing”
if they want certain information
restricted, either displaying
everything or not having their
name listed at all.
Chereck hopes to implement
a computer program by spring
2005 that would allow students
to choose which information
to display.
Students would be able to
check a box opting out of a direc
tory listing, or they could choose
whether to display information in
three categories: name and e-mail
address, current address and tele
phone number, and academic
major and undergraduate/gradu
ate student status.
Now, if a student chooses to
restrict their information, Uni
versity registrar employees do
not release any information re
quested about the student, in
cluding whether that student is
even enrolled, Chereck said.
The new system will allow
students to have a record that
DIRECTORY, page 16
Producers will try to
fit person to part in
Vagina Monologues'
Protests about unrepresented women in last year's
play led to a reworking of the casting process
BYGABE BRADLEY
FREELANCE EDITOR
The ASUO Women’s Center is
reworking the casting process for
this year’s production of “The
Vagina Monologues” in response
to protests that last year’s produc
tion underrepresented various
communities of women.
Instead of holding auditions,
the producers will solicit nomi
nations from several student
groups, as well as the Women’s
and Gender Studies Program,
to assemble a potential cast. The
final casting decision will
be made by a volunteer selection
committee.
“The queer community, the
women of color community and
the plus-size community did not
feel represented last year,” pro
ducer Nicole Pete said.
In addition to securing a more
diverse cast, the selection com
mittee will also be looking to in
clude activists and community
members who are involved with
women’s issues.
Pete said the committee will se
lect people who are “not neces
sarily drama-oriented” in favor of
“people who work (toward) ‘The
Vagina Monologues’ mission of
ending violence against women.”
Women’s Center spokeswoman
Stefanie Loh said the de-emphasis
on acting ability will provide a
“down to earth” feel to the pro
duction as well as allow the pro
ducers to be more inclusive in
their casting.
“The fact that they had audi
tions means that some people are
automatically excluded,” she said.
The primary concern of the se
lection committee will be “fitting
the person to the part,” Pete said,
adding that all parts in the script
calling for women of color will be
played by women of color.
“That was one of the big con
cerns last year was that a white
woman portrayed a woman of
color,” Pete said.
It will be more difficult to en
sure that women who identify
with the queer community partic
ipate in the production.
“That’s where it gets kind of
tricky,” Pete said. “I don’t think
we can legally ask anyone what
their sexual orientation is.”
Instead, the producers will in
form a potential actor that a par
ticular part is a “queer role” and
ask, “Do you feel that this repre
sents you?”
About 10 people showed up at
VAGINA, page 16