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.