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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2005)
IN BRIEF Oregon gas prices reach record high MEDFORD — Gas prices in Ore gon soared to a statewide record of $2.33 a gallon, 1 cent higher than the last record set a year ago in May. Residents in the Medford and Ash land area suffered one of the steepest one-day climbs, with a 5 cent jump in one day from $2.43 on Tbesday to $2.48 on Wednesday, according to figures released by AAA Oregon. “You want to feel what a buck’s worth of gas feels like?” said White City resident Frank Mar shall, after purchasing gas for his lawnmower at the Astro station in Medford. “It won’t even start the car. ... It’ll start the lawnmower and only do half my lawn.” Medford resident Barbara Bransford estimated she was pay ing almost twice as much for a tank of gas as she paid a year ago. “I think it stings,” Bransford said. Analysts predict prices in Ore gon could hit an average of $2.50 or higher this summer. In the Eugene-Springfield area, the average for a gallon of regular is $2.30. In the Portland area, it is $2.29 and in Salem, $2.25. Steve O’Toole, executive direc tor of Oregon Petroleum Associa tion, said much of the increase can be blamed on higher crude oil prices, hovering between $56 and $58 a barrel Tuesday. Southern Oregon has some of the highest prices in the state be cause it is the farthest from the gas pipeline, which ends in Eugene, he said. — The Associated Press Need Cash? Donate plasma. $180/ month New donors bring this ad in for an extra $5 IBR Plasma Center Formerly Aventis I Block east of 8th and Garfield 1901 West 8th Ave., Eugene 683-9430 Venture: Two UO teams to compete in MOOT CORP Continued from page 1 three degrees Celsius — and is used in wireless sensors on bridges and pipelines. “We saw a huge market potential, when you talk about being able to pro vide power from an inexhaustible re source,” Perpetua member Mason Adair said. Perpetua began to form last spring, and two of the five team members par ticipated in the Technology Entrepre neurship Fellows Program last sum mer. The program, according to the Lundquist College of Business Web site, allows University law and M.B.A. students to evaluate and develop busi ness plans for technology developed in University labs and at PNNL. After winning the Quest for Adven ture competition, Perpetua participat ed in various business plan competi tions. The team took first place at a University of Cincinnati competition and first runner-up at a tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. Adair said presenting in a foreign country was an exceptional challenge for Perpetua, and the students translat ed part of their presentation into Thai. One of the students on the team speaks Thai. Adair said he expects the upcoming competition in Portland to be a chal lenge as well. “The level of competition will be stepped up,” he said, explaining that while Perpetua has already competed against many of the teams in the con test, all the teams have been continu ally refining their plans. Perpetua co-founder Jed Cahill said in an e-mail that being the home team will make the Portland competition the team’s toughest yet. “Not only will we have lots of friends, colleagues, and former and current UO professors in atten dance, but we’ll also be presenting in front of people from the likes of Intel Capital and other powerful firms that have the ability to invest in us right now,” Cahill wrote. Adair said NVC’s format will be sim ilar to other competitions Perpetua has participated in: a 15-minute presenta tion followed by a 20-minute question and-answer period. iHataaiai=it=ua»;u;ig«ijaia!a.iiMniLmi:iuiuiiii>;niH! “The Q and A is the biggest vari able,” Adair said. “You never know what they’re going to ask. Hopefully, we’re prepared.” Swangard said business plans are evaluated on viability, clarity and structure of writing and whether the judges believe students could carry out the plan. “Fundamentally, it comes down to one decision: Who would you write a check to?” Swangard said. Swangard said some plans present ed at NVC and other competitions go on to become actual businesses. “This is very real. We have folks in that room who can write significant checks,” he said referring to some of the judges and businesspeople in volved with the competition. KidSmart, a team from the Universi ty of Georgia that took second place at the 2003 NVC, marketed a smoke de tector that allows parents to record a message, rather than a non-descript beep, to alert children of fire. Swan gard said the team launched its busi ness about a year ago. “I believe they sold a million units to Home Depot,” Swangard said. Perpetua also plans to eventually turn its plan into a business. “That’s the goal of all of this, and we really couldn’t have the energy to go through this if it was just an exercise,” Adair said. He said that while more work, such as getting the license for the technology from PNNL, would need to be done to start the business, investors are excited about the plan. The NVC winner will take home $25,000 cash and be admitted to the MOOT CORP Competition at the University of Texas, which Swan gard described as the “Super Bowl” of business plan competitions. Per petua is already guaranteed admis sion to MOOT CORP because it won prior competitions. CleanSmart, an other team from the University, also gained MOOT CORP entry through winning competitions at the Univer sity of Manitoba and San Diego State University. Swangard said it’s unusual for a school to send two teams to MOOT CORP. r evasylwester@ daily em erald. com n=rT=rHn=r?=n=rHrHn=r7=n=r7=rHrf=iT=fT=rHr7ii7=r7=rKn=rr=rj=f7=fT=n=rHn=r7=rHn=rF.r7=rHrTirHn=n=n=nF=n=n=rHfF=n=n=rr=rT=rnn=n=n=rKrT=n=n=rHr?=nF CURECANCER with your old couch! Donate to a charity garage sale to help Mielca Hopps pay for her medical Dills. MIEKA HOPPS, aUofo student was recently diagnosed with Modern's Lymphoma. She is in high spirits while currently undergoingchemotherapy, but she needs your help Please donate sellable items. Items can be piclced up! Contact Aaron or Cevinah for | questions or assistance at | ^]-6o6-ny^ or aaronhopps@gmail.com. jrj Don’t forget to attend the sale £ I April ^th&lOth at+t5E }2nd. 1 Money doesn't grow on trees. Look for Duck Bucks™ every Tuesday Oregon Daily Emerald GiniiiraEiniBiannnnBiaraiaiannra bd aaaiiDiiiaias Find fun stuff in the ODE Classifieds: Comics, your daily horoscope, and, of course, the crossword.
