2005 celebrity weddings, fresh fashions and
gotta-have-’em gadgets | Section B
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Since 1900 | Volume 106, Issue 78 | Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Lane Transit announces impending driver strike
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Students and University employees who rely
on the bus system to get to and from campus
may soon be searching for other ways to get
around Eugene if Lane Transit District represen
tatives and the labor union representing 80 per
cent of LTD’s workers can’t come up with
a last-minute deal to divert a system
wide strike.
The University has no plan for alternative
transportation for the thousands of students
who depend on the bus because of how intri
cate such a plan would have to be to include
everyone who might be affected by a driver
strike, Department of Public Safety Interim Di
rector Tom Hicks said.
“There’s no way we can come close to offering
any of the services that LTD does,” Hicks said.
Representatives from LTD say a strike could
happen as soon as Jan. 25 because the union is
required to give a 10-day notice about a strike
and Jan. 15 is the final day of the negotiation’s
‘cooling-off period.’
According to LTD, nearly 3,000 University
students and employees use the bus on a
daily basis.
That figure is from 2003, but LTD Service
Planning and Marketing Manager Andy Vobo
ra said judging by the steady increase in enroll
ment at the University, that figure is not expect
ed to have decreased this year.
The service contract between LTD and the
University specifies a budget of $583,250 in
student fees to be used in order to provide
students with “unlimited ridership on all
routes and schedules.”
Student money will be refunded for the days
when no bus service is available, but how that
will be done has not been decided, Vobora said.
University efforts to mitigate problems that
could arise from a strike has so far been focused
on potential parking problems, Hicks said. The
influx of vehicles on campus that could result
from a lack of public transportation is an ad
dressable problem, Hicks said, but the Universi
ty has yet to decide on a set course of action.
Hicks sat down with Vobora, Department of
Public Safety Parking and Transportation Man
ager Rand Stamm, ASUO President Adam
Petkun, ASUO Community and Housing Coor
dinator Scott Lu and Human Resources
LTD, page 3A
K
r
Lane Transit
District bus
drivers are
threatening
to strike as
soon as
Jan. 25.
IVUIKhN WIMLiK | otNIUR PHOTOGRAPHER
FEED THE BIRDS
Tim BoBosky | Photographer
Duke Cantrelle, a volunteer at FOOD For Lane County, feeds the
birds in Skinner Butte Park with bread that is no longer edible for
humans. “People forget about these birds during the winter. ...
Everyone needs to be able to eat.”
Workshops teach professors
to use classroom technology
BY ANTHONY LUCERO
NEWS REPORTER
Many students have watched a professor
spend 10 minutes trying to figure out why a
PowerPoint presentation isn’t showing up on
the classroom projector screen or trying to oper
ate other classroom technology. These faculty
members do not have to struggle on their own
— for instructors unfamiliar or uncomfortable
with computers, the Teaching Effectiveness Pro
gram and the Center for Educational Technolo
gy host workshops that help faculty effectively
employ different types of technology.
The first workshop, which began before fall
term, included 62 faculty members and consist
ed of four workshops and a fellowship pro
gram. On Tliesday, the two programs hosted a
seminar allowing University faculty who have
attended previous workshops to provide feed
back of how technology works in the classroom.
“We’re going out of our area of comfort and
complacency by embracing technologies, but
we’re only doing it if it’s more effective, and not
just for the sake of using technology,” Terri
Warpinski, vice provost for Academic
Affairs, said.
Part of the seminar showed faculty how to
effectively use software programs and Inter
net applications such as Blackboard that ap
peal to students and how to allow greater ac
cess and interaction with students in and out
of the classroom.
Some of the improvements faculty members
want to address in the next year are options that
TECH page 4A
WAS TECHNOLOGY USED BY PROFESSORS IN
THE CLASSROOM A HELP OR A HINDRANCE?
DaMI-UJE RlOCORDI | UNDECLARED
"I take Art 101 and there was problems in
the first class. They couldn’t get two
PowerPoint presentations working and
between that and switching computers
and professors, it took about a half-hour.”
Joe Gianneth | History
"Realty frequency they waste time by trying
to use the technolog/ in Lillis. It'D take them
like five minutes to set up a projection or the
screen will be upside-down.”
Tori Wilson | Undeclared
"I had a bad example because the
teacher couldn't get the projector to work.
But otherwise, you can look at course
information out of class and you have
Richard Phamdo | Pre-Med
"It helps out. In BA 101, he uses
PowerPoint. It's pretty sweet."
State board approves University
appeal for $57 million in bonds
BY ADAM CHERRY
NEWS REPORTER
The State Board of Higher Education
approved the University’s request of
more than $57 million in bonds last
month to fund five campus mainte
nance and expansion projects, includ
ing $27.4 million for the acquisition
of the Williams Bakery site near
Franklin Boulevard.
The Living Learning Center, a new
residence hall and classroom project that
will be built between Hayward Field and
Carson Hall, received $14.4 million. The
University Health and Counseling
Center, whose administration is in the
process of planning a remodel, was ap
proved for $9 million. The Integrative
Science Complex, another project in the
planning stages, received $4.7 million,
and the EMU heating, ventilation and
air-conditioning system got $1.3 million.
The bond money approved for the
University projects is part of $153.2 mil
lion in bonds that will be sold to help
fund campus projects at five Oregon pub
lic universities, according to the Board.
The Living Learning Center is on
schedule for completion by fall of 2006,
Director of University Housing Michael
Eyster said. The project will cost approx
imately $27 million.
“There were construction bids let in
November and we had several compa
nies apply,” Eyster said. “Selection will
be based not only on price but on inter
views with contractors, because we
want to get a quality contractor. ”
The University Health Center start
ed working on its plan for remodeling
in 2003.
“It’s going to end up being a very nice
building — modern and airy,” Health
Center Director Thomas Ryan said. “If
everything stays on schedule, we’re
planning to break ground in August or
September of 2005.”
EXPANSION, page 8A
UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
bond amounts
approved by the state
for campus projects:
$1,350,000
Health and
Counseling Center
$9,080,000
EMU Heating Ventilation
Air Conditioning System
$14,424,000
Learning Center