Results from the University food drive are in | 5
An independent newspaper
www.dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 | Volume 106, Issue 119 \ Friday, March 11, 2005
Traffic safety concerns resurface
Several groups have explored options to improve
the Franklin Boulevard-Onyx Street intersection
BY AMANDA BOLSINGER
NEWS REPORTER
On March 1, longtime campus
area resident Hatoon Victoria
Adkins was struck and killed
while trying to cross Franklin
Boulevard on her bike against the
crossing signal. Her death has
raised concerns about the safety
of the busy intersection.
The concerns are nothing new.
University administrators have
been talking for several years
about the need for changes at the
intersection to make it safer for
pedestrians and bicyclists.
But statistics from the Oregon
Department of Transportation
show the intersection isn’t nearly
as dangerous as people think and
that accidents are often caused by
pedestrian error.
ODOT spokesman Lou
Torres said the intersection is
not dangerous.
“It’s a busy intersection where
undoubtedly there have been
some accidents,” Torres said in an
e-mail interview. “Sometimes an
intersection is ‘perceived’ to be
worse than it really is.”
ODOT tracks dangerous inter
sections using a Safety Priority In
dex System. The criteria for the
index include the number and
types of crashes at that place. The
intersection of Franklin Boulevard
and Onyx Street currently has a
SPIS score of 27.46, well below
the top 10 percent of dangerous
intersections. The cut-off score for
the top 10 is 44.49.
Between Jan. 1, 2000 and
July 31, 2004, there have been
22 collisions recorded by ODOT
at the intersection. Of the 22
crashes, 15 have been rear-ends,
two turning, two angle, one back
ing, one pedestrian and one
sideswipe collision.
DPS Interim Director Thomas
Hicks recorded four vehicle-bike
accidents, three vehicle-pedestri
an accidents and one fatality since
Jan. 1, 2000.
“The intersection is controlled
by traffic signs, which people
need to obey,” Hicks said. “Don’t
take anything for granted, but
there is plenty of time to cross.”
The intersection is part of the
CROSSING, page 3
LANE TRANSIT DISTRICT STRIKE NEGOTIATIONS
Nicole Barker | Photographer
Clockwise from top left: Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, center, joined professional mediator Wendy
Greenwald, right, and representatives from Lane Transit District and Amalgamated Transit Union Division
757 Thursday in an all-day mediation that started at 9 a.m. and lasted late into the night. Piercy served as
a room-to-room messenger and negotiation facilitator along with Greenwald and other community leaders
during the mediation session.
Passing commuters honk their horns and yell their support to LTD drivers Chuck Palmer, left, and Carl
Faddis, right, as a group of over 50 strikers chant "fewer buses, more traffic!" at the Ferry Street bridge.
Organizer for Service Employees International Union Local 503 Wayne Moore carries a stack of signs
Thursday afternoon.
LTD Board member Gerry Gaydos, LTD General Manager Ken Hamm and LTD Director of Transit
Operations Mark Johnson discuss ongoing contract negotiations during Thursday’s mediation session.
LTD bus drivers have been on strike since Monday, March 7. As of press time, LTD and ATU were still in
mediation. If a contract agreement is reached and union members approve it, bus service could resume as
early as Saturday.
Lauren Wimer | Senior photographer
Nicole Barker | Photographer
University may adjust withdrawal penalty
The proposal would abolish the 15-percent fine
for dropping a class during the first week of the term
BY ADAM CHERRY
NEWS REPORTER
Students will be able to reduce
their course loads during the first
week of classes fall term without
forfeiting tuition dollars.
Anne Leavitt, vice president for
student affairs, and Herb Chereck,
University registrar, have submit
ted a proposal to eliminate the 15
percent tuition penalty for drop
ping a class during the first week
of any academic term. The pro
posal, if approved, will be added
to the University’s fee book for
the 2005-06 academic year.
Members of the ASUO Execu
tive, who had a hand in the poli
cy’s formulation, said they
were pleased their campaign to
abolish what they called the
“sketchy scheduling penalty,”
has been successful.
ASUO President Adam Petkun,
who included the elimination of
the penalty in his campaign plat
form, considers the situation a
victory for students.
“One of the big keys here is that
the first couple of days you can find
out whether a class is going to fit
into your life,” he said. “I think that
today’s student has so many stress
es beyond the classroom; this is a
type of freedom we need to have.”
Administrators listened to the
ASUO’s arguments and were will
ing to work with students to find
a solution, Petkun added.
ASUO Public Relations Director
Nathan Strauss said the approval
process for the proposal is, at this
point, a technicality.
“Everyone who needs to be on
board is on board,” he said.
Strauss added that it’s exciting
students can lobby and be suc
cessful in making a change at the
University that benefits them.
Fees for dropping classes apply
only if a student reduces the num
ber of credits that he or she takes
during an academic term. If a class
is dropped and another of equal
weight is added, there is no penalty.
Chereck said the primary reason
the policy needed to be changed is
TUITION page 12
UO submits
alterations
to medical
leave policy
Students returning after long-term
illness would not be guaranteed
re-enrollment under the proposal
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Students forced to take medical leave by Uni
versity administrators will no longer be guaran
teed readmission under proposed changes to
the University’s medical-leave policy.
Existing University policy states that
students returning from medical leave are
“guaranteed re-enrollment in the University
provided scholastic and other academic
qualifications are met.”
The revision calls for the vice president for
Student Affairs and a newly formed Suicide As
sessment Team to approve a student’s return af
ter reviewing a plan submitted by a student
who was placed on leave because of “a serious
medical or mental health condition or emer
gency that substantially threatens the welfare of
self or others.”
Counseling and Testing Center Director
Robin Holmes said the change will allow ad
ministrators to be aware when a student returns
so officials can provide resources to help him or
her. She said officials are sometimes unaware
when a student returns, which she said is “real
ly a concern with us.”
“In reality, I think that’s a better check in
making sure when a student returns to the
community they have everything they need to
be successful,” she said.
The change is just one component of a re
vised policy created to clarify under which cir
cumstances students can go on voluntary leave
or, on rare occasions, be asked to leave because
they are endangering themselves or others.
Changes in authority
Current Oregon Administrative Rules
governing student medical leave at the Uni
versity allow the dean of Student Personnel
Services to grant voluntary medical leave
after consulting with the director of the
University Health Center.
The current rules also allow the dean to ask
for a student to be evaluated by a physician
or psychiatrist, requesting cooperation and as
sistance from the student’s family if neces
sary. After recommendations from other ad
ministrators and meetings with the student in
question, the director can place a student on
medical leave.
Under the new policy, final decision-making
power is granted to Vice President for Student
Affairs Anne Leavitt. The policy also states that
the vice president for student affairs can seek
input from the Counseling and Testing Center
director for psychological cases.
The policy also establishes new “Standards
of Responsibility and Self Care” students must
follow. Students who do not meet the standards
but are not suicidal can be forced to have a
dean’s consultation. If a student is exhibiting
suicidal ideation or behavior, the Suicide As
sessment Team, a group of professional staff
members who have expertise in the area of sui
cide assessment, may conduct a review and rec
ommend actions, including possible mandatory
professional assessment.
Students ordered to be assessed must do so
SUICIDE, page 4