^Gearing up for Valentine’s Day | Section B
An independent newspaper
www. dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 97 \ Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Programs Finance Committee
Three PFC members faced with injunctions
The charges, which temporarily prevent the representatives
from voting, may delay funding hearings for more than a week
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
The process of funding student groups for
next year came to an abrupt halt Monday night
when the ASUO Constitution Court announced
injunctions against three members of the Pro
grams Finance Committee, temporarily prevent
ing them from voting. The injunctions may de
lay funding hearings, including those for the
controversial Oregon Commentator budget, for
more than a week.
PFC members Eden Cortez, Dan Kieffer and
Mason Quiroz were temporarily suspended by
the court after law student and Oregon Com
mentator Publisher Dan Atkinson filed petitions
against them Monday because of their actions
during the contentious Feb. 1 hearing of the
Commentator’s mission statement.
Without them, the PFC’s remaining three
members cannot hold official meetings because
they do not meet quorum requirements speci
fied by PFC bylaws.
The initial injunctions will last for at least 10
days and can be lengthened if a majority of the
court votes to extend them. The court must
convene within four days of an injunction peri
od to determine whether to consider the matter
at hand, according to the Green Tape Notebook.
But the ASUO Executive may enable the PFC
process to continue by appointing someone to
vacant PFC Senate Seat 3, ASUO Accounting
Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert said.
However, the executive cannot make an ap
pointment unless it is approved by the ASUO
Student Senate tonight.
ASUO Public Relations Director Nathan
Strauss said the application deadline for the
seat had passed, but he did not know if any ap
plications had been received. He _
said ne naa not neara ot any plans
to make a special appointment to
the seat.
If the PFC were to reach quorum
before a court decision is an
nounced, the three members could
still participate in discussion but
not vote.
Atkinson said the petitions stat
ed the three were in “clear and
willful violation” of Section 2.3 of
the ASUO Constitution, which
states that no member of the stu
aent government snail aisooey teaerai or state
law or ASUO rules.
“My reasoning was as publisher of the Ore
gon Commentator, I felt we weren’t going to get
fair legal treatment from the PFC as long as
these individuals were on it,” he said. “They al
ready made clear in public, on public record,
_ that they have no intent to adhere to
MASON QUIROZ
PFC VICE CHAIR
viewpoint neutrality. ... It was neces
sary for our budget to move forward
to get these people off PFC.”
He said he is seeking removal of
the members from the PFC or an or
der preventing them from voting on
the Commentator’s budget because
they are prejudiced.
“I’d say that we’re taking action on
behalf of all students,” he said. “If we
don’t stand up to it here, any student
group could be next.”
Quiroz would not comment on
the allegations.
Cortez said the PFC didn’t pass the
PFC, page 5A
Tim Bobosky | Photographer
University students and community members enjoy Mardi Gras at Taylor's Bar & Grille Tuesday night.
IN BRIEF
Mardi Gras carries history
as last party day before Lent
Every year, thousands of people fill the
streets of New Orleans for merry-making,
bead-sharing and risque parades, all in the
name of Mardi Gras.
- Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tliesday, falls on
the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks
the start of Lent, the Catholic season of fasting
and repentance. Mardi Gras is preceded by the
Carnival season.
- Carnival season officially begins Jan. 6, the
Twelfth Night, or Feast of Epiphany, which is
the 12th night after Christmas and considered
the day the three kings visited the Christ child.
- In 1582, Pope Gregory XII made Mardi
Gras official as the last day of partying before
Ash Wednesday by putting it on the Gregori
an calendar. However, the holiday has its
roots thousands of years before in pagan
end-of-winter/start of spring festivals.
- North America’s first Mardi Gras is believed
to have been March 3, 1699, when French ex
plorer Pierre LeMoyne and his companions had
a spontaneous party near the mouth of the
Mississippi River. They set up camp at a place,
which they called Pointe Du Mardi Gras.
- By the early 1740s, the governor of New
Orleans was hosting fancy Carnival balls in
what was then a French colony.
- The first documented “parade” was in
1837, when a group of costumed revelers
walked the streets of New Orleans. Current
ly, more than 70 parades occur during the
Carnival season.
- Carnival colors are purple, green and
gold, which were chosen in 1872 and got
their offfcial meanings in 1892: purple for
justice, green for faith and gold for power.
Source: www.nola.com/mardigras/about
— Ayisha Yahya
Professor honored for work with women
Geri Richmond, an instructor at the University, was awarded for
encouraging women to pursue careers in chemical sciences
BY EVA SYLWESTER
NEWS REPORTER
In addition to researching the molecular
properties of surfaces, Geri Richmond, the
University’s Richard M. and Patricia H.
Noyes professor of chemistry, works to com
bat another trend: the lack of female
chemistry professors at universities.
Richmond won the 2005 American
Chemical Society Award for Encouraging
Women into Careers in the Chemical Sci
ences. According to the 2003 ACS Directory
of Graduate Education, women earn 30 per
cent of Ph.D. degrees in chemistry, but only
13.6 percent of the chemistry faculty at
schools offering advanced degrees in chem
istry and chemical engineering in the United
State is women.
According to the ACS Web site, the pur
pose of the award is, “to recognize individu
als who have significantly stimulated or fos
tered the interest of women in chemistry,
thereby promoting their professional devel
opment as chemists or chemical engineers,
and/or increasing their appreciation of
chemistry as the central science.”
“I’ve worked most of my career for getting
women into science, and this is a recognition
of that,” Richmond said.
In 1997, Richmond founded the
WOMEN, page 7 A
Law school
submits
new degree
for approval
The two-year master's program
focuses on conflict resolution
and is available to all students
BY ADAM CHERRY
NEWS REPORTER
The University law school is in the final
stages of obtaining approval for a new master’s
program in conflict and dispute resolution.
The two-year program will be open to stu
dents in all fields of study and is expected to
start this fall.
“Conflict is a part of everyday life, something
that all people have to navigate, and some of
our approaches are better than others,” said
John Shuford, associate director of the Center
on Diversity and Community. Shuford is one of
the program’s several founders.
Directors of the program hope to open a
number of career possibilities to students, in
cluding mediation, education, business, public
policy and law.
“We looked broadly at where (people) need
to apply conflict-resolution skills,” Shuford
said. “We’re focusing both on graduate and un
dergraduate students. We’re also interested in
reaching out to people who are in the middle of
their professional careers who are wanting to
do some additional skill-building. ”
“It can be a stand-alone degree, but it does
n’t have to be,” said Alex Stotts, the program’s
student outreach coordinator. “So this is useful
in any area that you would go in to develop
your professional life. ”
Students of the program will study philoso
phy, negotiation, culture, mediation and law as
it relates to conflict resolution.
“The curriculum is designed to be interdisci
plinary,” Shuford added. “The core courses are
housed in the law school, but we’re drawing
faculty from around campus. Students can en
ter and explore their interests in a lot of
different ways. ”
Jane Gordon, law school associate dean and
LAW, page 8A