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IN BRIEF
Governor aims to improve
non-highway systems
SALEM — Gov. Ted Kulongoski
nudged lawmakers to pass his $100
million bond program to upgrade non
highway transportation systems, in
cluding ports, airports and rail lines.
At a Portland news conference
Tuesday, Kulongoski said his “Con
nect Oregon” plan is needed to
strengthen the state’s ties to nation
al and international markets.
“Rail, air and marine are not
competitors with our highway sys
tem; they are interconnected with
our roads, bridges and highways,”
Kulongoski said.
The plan is seen as a follow up to
a $2.5 billion highway and bridge
upgrade program approved by the
2003 Legislature.
— The Associated Press”
$3.5 million grant
awarded for UO
special education
BY ADAM CHERRY
NEWS REPORTER
The University announced Thurs
day that the College of Education has
received a $3.5 million federal grant
to help states measure the success of
disabled students once they’ve left
high school.
The University’s new National Post
School Outcomes Center, the only one
of its kind in the nation, is fully funded
by the grant and will serve as a techni
cal assistance program for states striv
ing to meet new federal requirements
on monitoring the post-secondary suc
cess of students involved with special
education programs.
“It gives us an opportunity to find
out what’s happening to youth when
they get out of high school,” NPSO
Project Coordinator Jane Falls said.
“We’re helping schools to be able to
know how they’re helping to prepare
young people for life. ”
Falls, an educational consultant for
the College of Education’s Western Re
gional Resource Center, is one of a
number of experts from the college’s
Special Education program involved
with NPSO.
“A number of states are doing this
kind of work and designing their own
system,” Falls said. “What we’re trying
to do is understand the ways that
states are doing it and advise those
who’ve not yet started.”
The center will ultimately work with
all 50 states and 10 federal jurisdictions
as the government’s leading assistance
vehicle for the new requirements.
NPSO is currently having “ongoing
conversations” with Kansas, Maine
and Oregon, said NPSO Director
Michael Bullis, professor of special ed
ucation. He estimated that the center
will start working more directly with
states by summer.
Bullis added that the project will
last five years, after which the
University may need to compete
again for funding.
“There’s a probability that we will
continue to be funded if this area re
mains a priority with the federal gov
ernment,” Bullis said.
College of Education Dean Martin
Kaufman said the idea behind the proj
ect is the improvement of special edu
cation programs.
“(The center) allows us to work
with state departments and, through
them, local school districts to allow
them to improve the outcomes that in
dividuals with disabilities are able to
access,” Kaufman said.
Sources said the federal grant is a
further affirmation of the College of
Education’s success. US News & World
Report ranked the college’s Special Ed
ucation program as third-best program
of its kind in the nation.
“The college of education has long
been a leader in working with people
with disabilities and trying to work out
ways for them to participate in the
broadest way possible in society,” Se
nior Vice President and Provost John
Moseley said. “They are already one of
the leading if not the leading research
group of this kind in the country. ”
Kaufman said the project will help
strengthen the College of Education.
“What we keep doing is building a
performance track record of success,
and success begets success if we con
tinue to invest in a research agenda,”
Kaufman said. “There is competition
for superior students and faculty of ex
cellence. Having these centers con
tributes to our competitiveness and, ul
timately, our success.”
“It’s a very important grant in that it
builds on expertise that they have de
veloped over many years,” Moseley
said. “I’m very excited and, frankly,
not surprised that they got it.”
adamcherry@ dailyemerald, com
Impostor: Officials look
into prevention measures
Continued from page la
still under investigation. For this
reason, Psychology Department
Head Marjorie Taylor has been
asked by police not to comment.
Taylor did say that she has
alerted psychology graduate stu
dents, faculty and staff. She is also
following up to determine if such
an incident can be prevented in
the future.
Hall said impersonation becomes
criminal when an impostor
pretends to be a public servant or
uses the character as a means to
gain something.
Vaifale told police he is only a high
school graduate and is currently an un
employed care worker, Hall said.
The EPD wants to know if Vaifale
has done anything inappropriate
while trying to pass as a member
of the University community. If
anyone has any information, they
should contact Hall at 346-2904
before 4 p.m.
emilysmith@dailyemerald.com
■ Pulse
Opera Ensemble puts local
twist on a comedic classic
di JIAMi UNltKliUK
PULSE REPORTER
Swapping 13th century Italy for
post-gold rush Oregon, the UO
Opera Ensemble will perform an
updated version of Puccini’s
“Gianni Schicchi” starting Friday
at Beall Concert Hall.
The performance caps a double
bill of two short comedic operas. The
show opens with Rossini’s “La Cam
biale di Matrimonio” sung in Italian
with English supertitles, followed by
the adaptation of Puccini’s classic in
English. Adding a local twist to Puc
cini’s opera was ensemble director
Charles Tlirley’s idea.
“I was inspired by visiting Flo
rence,” said Turley, who is also an
assistant professor of voice in the
school of music. But the Florence
that inspired Turley wasn’t
the revered Italian city where Puc
cini’s opera takes place; it was
Florence, Ore. While visiting the
Siuslaw Pioneer Museum, Tlirley
got the idea to re-imagine the play
during the logging industry’s Gay
’90s heyday.
The adaptation of “Gianni Schic
chi,” tells the story of a wealthy
lumber baron who dies and wills
his fortune to the Presbyterian
Church. His family hires a local
con man, Johnnie Skeekie (Gianni
Schicchi in the original) to help
rewrite the will. Skeekie redrafts it
so the family inherits most of the
fortune, though he leaves a tidy
sum for himself and his daughter.
Though many details have been
changed to reflect the adaptation’s
600-year leap forward, the story re
mains intact, as does the opera’s
memorable music, like “O Mio
Babbino Caro,” which Turley said
is one of several well-known arias
in the opera.
Rossini's “La Cambiale di Matri
monio (The Marriage Contract) ” is
set in colonial England and tells the
story of a merchant who falls on hard
times financially. He borrows money
from a wealthy Canadian business
associate and arranges for the busi
nessman to marry his daughter in ex
change for his debt. He is unaware
that his daughter has already prom
ised herself to another man, forcing
the young lovers to deal with the
creditor when he unexpectedly ar
rives in England.
Turley will conduct both perform
ances. The production opens Friday
and runs through Sunday. Perfor
mances begin at 7 p.m. in Beall Con
cert Hall at 961 E. 18th Ave. Tickets,
available at the door, cost $10 for gen
eral admission or $5 for students and
senior citizens.
joshlinterem@dailyemerald.com
Dinner @ 4:45,5:30,6:15
-Includes 19 different
cuisines from around
the world!
Show @ 7:00pm
-Performances from:
-Korea -India
-China -Japan
-Brazil -Bulgaria
-Guinea -Zimbabwe
-Central African Republic
Tickets availbie at UO ticket office
General $12 UO Students $8