Women’s basketball stifles Arizona State with defense I 7
Oregon Daily Emerald
An independent newspaper
www. dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 103 | Friday, February 18, 2005
Union files
complaint
involving
LTD labor
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
The Amalgamated Transit Union Division
757 has filed an unfair labor practice com
plaint against Lane TYansit District in response
to a nine-month-long contract dispute that
has resulted in the union declaring a strike
date of March 7.
The complaint, dated Feb. 10 and filed with
the Oregon Employment Relations Board, out
lines 27 points, most involving allegations of a
lack of communication on the part of LTD ne
gotiators and unfair bargaining procedures used
by the district.
LTD Service Planning and Marketing Man
ager Andy Vobora said LTD does not see any
merit to the complaint, adding that “the
district has bargained in good faith and will
continue to do so.”
“We feel it is a strategy the union has used in
labor negotiations here and elsewhere,” Vobora
said about the complaint.
Jonathan Hunt, vice president for ATU Divi
sion 757, said the complaint is a response to
LTD’s unfair labor practices, particularly the
district’s demand to decrease the amount of
time drivers are allotted to inspect the safety of
their buses before their shifts begin.
LTD proposes changing the safety inspec
tion time from 15 minutes to 10 minutes,
which is the industry standard, according to
the LTD Web site.
ATU and LTD are scheduled to return to the
bargaining table Feb. 25 and March 4, and
both sides say they’re hopeful the negotia
tions will be successful and a strike will be
averted, though they disagree on the best way
to do so.
Hunt said the union is hopeful that LTD will
reconsider its decision not to allow the
LTD/ATU Community Committee to play a role
in the negotiation process, which LTD has
already made clear it will not do.
The committee, a group formed in the hope
of intervening in the negotiation process and
providing an outside expert to examine where
the negotiations broke down, met with the
LTD Board on Feb. 8 in a meeting the commit
tee said did not produce the answers they
were looking for.
According to a Feb. 9 memo from Vobora ad
dressed to LTD partners, “the LTD/ATU Com
munity Committee represents one perspective;
however, this perspective does not represent the
entire community.... The LTD Board is appoint
ed to represent the entire community and be
lieves that the bargaining process is best served
by LTD and ATU participating in negotiations at
the bargaining table. ”
One of the points in ATU’s unfair labor prac
tice complaint against LTD focuses on the fact
that only eight bargaining sessions have taken
place so far in the negotiation process.
Vobora said the point does not take into con
sideration the fact that LTD had to work around
the union’s schedule when setting up bargain
ing sessions and does not consider the fact that
there is no requirement in collective bargaining
law about the number of times negotiating
teams can meet.
Hunt said there are many things driving the
disputes in the negotiation process and the
union is prepared to strike if LTD does not re
consider the Feb. 1 final contract implementa
tion and start taking union demands seriously.
“If we can’t get this resolved, (the drivers)
are ready and willing to strike,” Hunt said. LTD
needs to understand the consequences of its
LTD, page 6
Students gathered at
the steps of Johnson
Hall on Thursday
afternoon to pressure
University
administration to take
steps toward reducing
hostility on campus.
Nicole Barker | Photographer
Students protest hate, discrimination
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Students concerned that the ad
ministration has not adequately
addressed issues of hate, violence
and minority oppression on cam
pus rallied on the steps of John
son Hall on Thursday afternoon.
About 30 people occupied the
steps of the building, which
houses the offices of University
President Dave Frohnmayer and
other officials, holding signs con
demning the administration’s
lack of involvement in the recent
controversy over what they
called hate speech printed in the
Oregon Commentator.
Students held a forum Tliesday
night to express concerns about
the campus climate, suggesting a
University effort to educate stu
dents about queer issues. The fo
rum was also prompted in large
part by debate over whether to
fund the Commentator after the
journal of conservative opinion
published controversial material.
Senior Pira Kelly said the
demonstration wasn’t organized by
a particular group, but instead
comprised “just people who care.”
“People are experiencing vio
lence and hate on campus, and
the administration needs to take
responsibility for that because
they’re supposed to be in charge
of the school,” Kelly said. “They
haven’t done nearly enough.”
Gregory Vincent, the vice provost
for institutional equity and diversi
ty, and Anne Leavitt, vice president
for student affairs, watched a por
tion of the demonstration, eventu
ally responding to demonstrators’
requests for them to speak.
Vincent said the administration
is working on both short-term and
long-term strategies to address
climate concerns.
Leavitt commended the
demonstrators, saying the admin
istration will hold more forums to
address concerns.
“Your voices are a strong re
minder, to me at least, that our
work is not done,” she said.
Vincent, who told the Emerald
he knew of the event in advance,
said the administration is work
ing to balance free speech and
safety issues.
“I think it’s important for
students to be able to express
their concerns in a public forum
to point out where they think the
campus community should
respond to concerns,” he said.
parkerhowell@dailyememld.com
Two UO professors
study multi-tasking,
computer efficiency
BY EVA SYLWESTER
NEWS REPORTER
Many University students commonly multi-task, using a computer
to engage in multiple activities at the same time. However, some
University professors say multi-tasking is not entirely productive.
“We know that multi-tasking has a cost. It has a true ... performance
cost,” psychology professor Ulrich Mayr said.
Junior multimedia design major Eric Beltran said when he uses a
computer, he usually has three or four applications open at the same
time: homework, e-mail, AOL Instant Messenger and sometimes a
game such as Minesweeper.
“Yeah, really, it slows down my homework,” Beltran said. “I
guess I’m just easily distracted, and there are distractions available
on the computer.”
Computer and information science assistant professor Anthony
Hornof researches human-computer interaction at the University.
“As soon as the computer starts giving you tasks and you start ac
cepting tasks from the computer, people start thinking they can
handle more distractions than they really can,” Hornof said.
Hornof saifl awareness of computer distractions is continually in
creasing. While e-mail spam was once considered easy to delete, it is
now recognized by the U.S. Congress as an enormous problem for
worker productivity, he said.
Hornof’s research also illustrates that online banner advertisements
can be a distraction.
“My research shows that it’s true people do not remember the
MULTI-TASK, page 5
RAs say residence
hall rules enforced
with inconsistency
The assistants also claimed students do not come
home when intoxicated, creating unsafe situations
BY KARA HANSEN
NEWS REPORTER
Following a few administrative mix-ups that led to unwarranted
write-ups for some students in the residence halls fall term, several
resident assistants have come forward addressing failures in a system
of rules they say is set up to be broken.
The RAs said enforcement of University Housing’s rules lacks consis
tency between its five complexes,, and the guidelines for documenting
students for violations raise questions about the housing department’s
concern for resident safety.
University alumnus Will Carson, an RA in the Hamilton Complex for
2002-03 and at Barnhart Hall for 2003-04, said University Housing has
unrealistic expectations of both residents and RAs.
“It’s a system set up where you have
to break the rules,” Carson said.
“That s not a good system.”
RAs are required by contract to docu
ment incidents in which they smell or
see alcohol or hear excessive noise. Res
idents aren’t allowed to have flamma
ble items, such as candles and incense,
alcohol, empty alcohol containers,
CONTRABAND, page 4