The community remembers Hatoon | 7
An independent newspaper
www.dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 115 | Monday, March 7, 2005
LTD strike freezes bus service across county
Kate Horton | Photographer
Jonathan Hunt, Amalgamated Transit Union Division 757 vice president, announced
Sunday night that union members will strike effective 12:01 a.m. today.
Inal 88-9 vote, bus drivers rejected
LTD's offer after months of negotiations
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Bus service across Lane County was paralyzed Sunday
night when Amalgamated TYansit Union Division 757 voted
against Lane TVansit District’s latest contract offer 188-9 by
secret ballot and declared a strike effective 12:01 a.m. today.
“This is a sad day for Lane County,” ATU Division 757 Vice
President Jonathan Hunt said. “We are out on strike and we
will stay out on strike until we can get a fair contract. ”
A county-wide bus driver strike has been a looming
possibility for almost two months, and University officials
have secured options for additional parking and alterna
tive transportation.
The Autzen Stadium parking lot will be open free of
charge from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday for
the duration of the strike, and parking spots will be
available around campus for car-poolers only. Permits can
be obtained for free from the Department of Public Safety.
Carpool information is available on the LTD Web site
and at rideshare.us.
A Laidlaw bus shuttle open to PeaceHealth employees
and University students, faculty and staff will be leaving
the Lane County Fairgrounds at 796 W. 13th Ave. and will
be arriving at Sacred Heart Medical Center, 1255 Hilyard
St., every 10 to 20 minutes from 5:20 a.m. until 11:30 p.m.
The Assault Prevention Shuttle will be operating at its
usual hours of 6 p.m. until midnight, Sunday through
Thursday, and 6 p.m. until 2 a.m., Friday and Saturday.
ASUO Community and Housing Coordinator Scott Lu
said Thursday the ASUO is looking for volunteers to help
provide security for the Autzen Stadium parking lot and
the walkway to campus, but the ASUO will not intervene
in the dispute because of the politics behind it.
The union was to hold its first strike rally at 5:30 a.m.
today at the Fairgrounds to greet the Laidlaw bus shuttle and
LTD, page 12
Paving the way for growth
The University's expansion
into the East Campus area
has caused mixed sentiment
BY MEG HAN N M. CUNIFF
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
University officials admit it: The
University is landlocked but
land hungry. Like so many other
campuses across the country, the room
for expansion is limited, but the need
to do so continues to increase.
The University’s recent purchase of
the Williams’ Bakery site near
Franklin Boulevard and the Universi
ty of Oregon Foundation’s current
effort to acquire the vacant car lot just
blocks away from the site are
attempts to build a land bank for the
University’s future.
“You can’t tell what you’re going to
need 25 years from now,” University
Planning Director and Architect Chris
Ramey said. “If you leave your succes
sors with more choices, more land, at
least they’re better off than if they need
more land.”
Land acquisition and development
have occurred since the University
opened in 1876, resulting in the forma
tion of what University officials and
neighborhood representatives say is a
love-hate relationship between the insti
tution and the neighborhood — a rela
tionship that has gone though rocky
times but thrives on positive conversa
tions and open dialogues.
“People are not comfortable with
change,” Ramey said. “That’s why our
profession exists — we’re here to man
age change.”
Ramey and the rest of the Campus
Planning Committee, established in
1969, are currently in the process of
updating the Long Range Campus De
velopment Plan for the first time since
1991. That plan, along with the recent
ly updated East Campus development
plan, are the University’s answers to
questions that have emerged over the
years concerning the nature of expan
sion and its effects on the surrounding
neighborhoods.
The Long Range Campus Develop
ment Plan focuses on controlling the
University’s development so that it fol
lows a clear and organized implementa
tion process, whereas the East Campus
plan aims to create a buffer zone of low
density single family housing between
University-owned land and the
1887-89
[l919-29
1939-49
1949-59
Photo illustration by Bret Furtwangler and Meghann M. Cuniff
The colors on the map correspond with the dates of major University land purchases.
The Pioneer Cemetery was once
a hot spot for the Univeisity's
property development plans
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
he land neighboring the south side of
Gerlinger Hall and across from McArthur
JL Court has been home to Pioneer Ceme
tery since 1873. The cemetery was the subject
of controversy for many years as former Univer
sity administrators looked to build on the prop
erty, while the families of those buried there ad
vocated for its preservation.
University Planning Director and Architect
Chris Ramey said the University’s quest for
cemetery ownership went all the way to the
state Supreme Court, which ruled that the Uni
versity did have a right to buy the cemetery, ex
hume the graves and develop on the land.
The University’s efforts at relocating the
cemetery were met with such great opposition
that Ramey said former University President
Robert Clark made a promise when taking of
fice that the University would leave the ceme
tery forever untouched.
Ramey said Clark’s promise came after sev
eral years of conflict between University offi
cials and area residents regarding a January
1963 plan that suggested building elevated
structures over the cemetery to allow for
PIONEER, page 5
surrounding neighborhood while allow
ing for high-density development on the
property closest to the University.
Working relationships
Ellis Lawrence, an architect who de
signed all campus buildings construct
ed in the 1920s, developed the first
campus plan in 1914. In 1973, The Ore
gon Experiment was introduced, initi
ating the University development con
cept of continual planning rather than
site-set planning.
It was not until the 1960s, when the
University began purchasing houses in
the neighborhood east of campus, that
neighborhood relations began to take
center stage.
University Vice President for Admin
istration Dan Williams said University
neighborhood relations are similar now
to how they’ve always been in that
“you’re balancing off between wanting
to be a good neighbor with being sure
that we protect the long-term interests of
the University.”
Williams said the process of working
with the East Campus neighborhood is
one that must center around openness
and honesty while still maintaining all
around authority over the land the Uni
versity rightfully owns.
Williams said most East Campus resi
dents have not been in the neighbor
hood longer than the University, and al
though it is still crucial for them to
openly express their concerns, they
should recognize the inevitability of Uni
versity expansion.
“Anybody that moved into the neigh
borhood with the idea that there
wouldn’t be some change is, I think, a
little naive,” Williams said.
Both Williams and Fairmount
Neighborhood Association co-chair
Jeff Nelson said a “love-hate relation
ship” exists between the University
and the East Campus neighborhood,
which is inevitable in any university
community relationship. But both
also agreed that with openness and
DEVELOPMENT, page 4
TIMELINE OF DEVELOPMENT
1914 - The Board of Regents employs
Ellis Lawrence to establish the first University
campus plan.
1924 - In a biennial report to the governor,
the president of the Board of Regents warns
that the University’s need for more land may
soon result in it "beingforced to buy and
destroy brick blocks near the campus in order
to find sites for necessary buildings," which
was being done at universities in the Midwest.
1930s - The Public Works Administra
tion begins funding buildings, including
Esslinger Hall.
1960s - Gerlinger Annex, Autzen Stadium
and residence hall construction begins;
plans are formulated for Pioneer Cemetery;
the University begins purchasing property in
the East Campus neighborhood.
1972 - The Fairmount Neighborhood
Association is formed.
1973 - The Oregon Experiment is finalized.
1976—The city requests neighborhood
refinement plans; Fairmount neighbors begins
discussion with the University.
1982 - The 1982 Fairmount/University of
Oregon Special Area Study is finalized and
approved by the city.
1991 - The Long Range Campus
Development Plan is drafted.
2002 - Talks concerning an update to the
1982 plan begin between the Fairmount
neighbors and foe University.
2004- Eugene City Council unanimously
approves the updated East Campus plan.
2005 - Updates to the Long Range
Campus Development Plan are expected
to be complete; the Williams' Bakery site is
purchased.