Kate Horton | Photographer
Andre Djiffack,
an international
student at the
University, reads
a poem in French
for Global Fusion
poetry night
in the International
Resource Center
at the EMU
on Thursday.
Crowd listens as poets read
in diverse foreign tongues
Swahili, Old English and Sanskrit were just a few
of the languages spoken in a recent poetry reading
KIRK MCGUIRE
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
The language barrier was broken
for one night as people gathered in
the International Resource Center
on Thursday to hear poetry read in
several different languages during
the IRC’s Global Fusion.
The poetry night went from 7
p.m. to 9 p.m. with about 50 audi
ence members present to hear the
21 poems on the program. The
lineup included 18 different lan
guages, ranging from Provincial Old
English to Sanskrit.
“We sat down this year and made a
list of languages and tried to include
those that weren’t as common,” said
Katie Reed, the IRC’s assistant program
manager. “We like to make sure we
have a variety of languages. ”
The poems were all read in their
original languages, and an English
translation was displayed for the au
dience members to follow.
“The idea is that the people read
the poetry in the language it was
written,” IRC Coordinator Anne
Williams said. “The language itself
has a beauty and rhythm that is a
kind of natural music.”
There was not a theme for the
night’s poems, but all of the perform
ers seemed to share a common goal.
“I was excited to share a little bit
of my culture in this way,” said
Sabina Urdes, an 18-year-old, pre
journalism student who emigrated
to the United States from
Constantza, Romania.
In its third year, the annual pro
gram continued the tradition of
opening up the microphone to any
volunteers, something that always
results in surprises.
“We have had some absolutely
cool stuff happen, just spur of the
moment,” Williams said.
This year was no different. One
poem in the program went unread
because of the performer’s absence
and a member of the audience who
spoke Swahili stepped in and read it
completely unrehearsed.
The international poetry reading
was started in response to the work
of University English professor
James Earl. Earl, along with some
of his colleagues at the University,
compiled an anthology of world lit
erature and later recorded a com
pact disk that featured poetry in 20
different languages.
“(Earl) and some other col
leagues had put out this anthology
of world poetry, and it was suggest
ed to us that maybe we’d like to do
something with it,” Williams said.
“He was really excited about it and
he helped us greatly the first year in
putting it together.” Earl was the
moderator that year and has contin
ued to play this role ever since.
Earl’s work may have inspired the
event, but Williams was quick to
point out that the students who
work for the IRC put a lot of energy
into getting the event together
every year.
“I have the hardest working staff on
campus, hands down,” Williams said.
While there was not a designated
theme for the night, much of this
year’s selection of poetry heavily re
flected the current climate of inter
national politics.
“Tonight was just crackling with
intensity. The poems really show
what is on the international stu
dents’ minds,” Earl said. “I imagine
if you would have called a night like
this back in 1946, you would have
had the same type of feeling.”
IN BRIEF
Oregon investigates
cell phone complaints
SALEM — The three largest cell
phone companies in the nation have
agreed to give Oregon regulators au
thority to investigate consumer
complaints after telecommunica
tions service led the state attorney
general’s complaint list last year.
The agreement announced Friday
resulted from a settlement reached last
July following allegations that Verizon
Wireless, Sprint Corp. and Cingular
Wireless had deceptive sales practices.
The companies agreed to provide
accurate coverage maps, disclose all
costs and conditions associated
with service contracts, and allow
customers to cancel new contracts
within two weeks for any reason.
Unlike local phone service, which
is monitored at the state level, wire
less phones are usually regulated by
the Federal Communications Com
mission. The FCC received more
than 35,000 complaints about cell
phone service last year.
But cell phone customers in Oregon
now can file their complaints with the
Oregon Public Utility Commission.
Under the new partnership creat
ed by the settlement, the PUC will
team up with the Oregon attorney
general’s consumer protection divi
sion to handle complaints and mon
itor compliance by Verizon, Sprint
and Cingular.
Oregon regulators say they also
will mediate settlements between
customers and cell phone companies.
“As technologies advance, gov
ernment must also advance and 1
am pleased that cellular phone cus
tomers in Oregon will now have ad
ditional protections from fraud that
they deserve,” Gov. Ted Kulongoski
said in a statement.
Complaints about phone service
were nearly twice the total for the
No. 2 consumer complaint last year
— financial services — according to
the Oregon attorney general’s office.
— The Associated Press
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UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
o
To Our University Community,
We would like to take this opportunity to apologize for our out-of
service elevator that serves the Health and Counseling building.
For some, this is more than an inconvenience and may limit your
access to our services. For that we apologize and want you to know
we are aware of the situation. We are working closely with
University Facilities and vendors to limit the repair time to get the
elevator back on line as quickly as possible.
Additionally, we will make every effort to accommodate you so that
you may have access to our services. Serving the university and
providing access to all members of our community is our utmost
priority.
For accommodations:
For Counseling
For Testing
For Health Center
Please Call:
346-2702 (Gwen) or
346-3227 (Allison or Jen)
346-2701 (David) or
346-3230 (Testing Office)
346-4452 (Pat) or
346-2760 (Anne)
Again, we would like to express our apologies and ask for your
patience as we work to provide access for everyone.
Robin H. Holmes, Ph.D.
Director/Counseling &
Testing Center
Tom Ryan, M.D.
Director/Student Health Center
Opportunity for the campus community to present oral and
written comments on proposed amendments to the course
fees and program fees.
Special Fees
and Fines
Fee Book
Academic Year 2005-06
March 3rd
3:00 PM
16 Pacific Hall