Symposium tackles women’s role in the sports business I 4
aily Emerald
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Sisce 1900 I Volume 106, Issue 139 | Thursday, April 21, 2005
A tribute to
earth's
WORTH
April 20 marks an opportunity
for students to honor the planet
and raise ecological awareness
BY EVA SYLWESTER
NEWS REPORTER
University students marked the 35th annual
observance of Earth Day with informational
displays and live music in the EMU amphithe
ater Wednesday afternoon.
The idea for Earth Day began during the
1960s when U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson became
frustrated with the lack of attention given to envi
ronmental concerns in politics. In spring 1970,
Nelson organized a nationwide grassroots
demonstration on behalf of the environment.
“We had neither the time nor resources to or
ganize 20 million demonstrators and the thou
sands of schools and local communities that
participated,” Nelson said on The Wilderness
Society’s Web site. “That was the remarkable
thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.”
University sophomore Megan Debates said
she and the rest of the ASUO’s Earth Day coali
tion began organizing Wednesday’s event in
late January.
Campus and community organizations that
set up booths included Student Affiliates of the
American Chemical Society, UO Outdoor Pro
gram, Aprovecho Research Center, Campus Re
cycling, Computer Reuse & Recycling Center,
Cascadia Wildlands Project, International Stu
dent Association, Pacific Green Party, Eugene
Water and Electric Board and Oregon Student
Public Interest Research Group.
The EMU amphitheater has also been the site
of many International Week events throughout
this week. On Wednesday, International Stu
dent Association volunteers staffed a table with
information about environmental issues around
the world.
“When we found out International Week was
the same week, we decided to team up with
them,” Debates said.
Many people running booths at the event
said environmental conservation efforts are
part of their lives year-round.
“Every day is Earth Day at Aprovecho,”
said internship coordinator Price Sheppy of
Kate Horton and Tim Boboskv | Photographers
(Left) Daisy Arriola adds bottle caps to an Earth Day mosaic in the EMU
Amphitheater on Wednesday. (Top Right) The mosaic spells out the
reason for celebration. (Bottom Right) Students gather to learn about
environmental issues at the outdoor Earth Day fair.
Aprovecho Research Center. The center is a sus
tainable living research campus located five miles
outside Cottage Grove where people work with
sustainable forestry and technology such as solar
panels and biodiesel, as well as design fuel-effi
cient stoves for Third World countries.
Sheppy said he came to Wednesday’s event
because the University’s environmental science
department gives students credit for participat
ing in the non-profit organization’s program.
Erin Coppinger, a fifth-year chemistry student
representing the Student Affiliates of the Ameri
can Chemical Society, said the organization
works to advocate for ethical design and produc
tion of materials in the chemistry lab, including
environmentally safe household cleaners.
“We’re just trying to raise awareness about
it,” Coppinger said.
“Earth Day is really about everyday choices
that we make,” University Recycling Coordina
tor Robyn Hathcock said. She emphasized that
even choosing to buy shampoo bottles and
notebooks made from recycled materials and
turning off the lights when leaving a room can
make a difference.
Campus Earth Day events will continue
throughout the week. Today there will be a pan
el discussion on global warming at 6 p.m. in
150 Columbia. On Friday at 7 p.m., the Earth
First! Round River Rendezvous Road Show will
present a slide show, discussions, and spoken
word and live musical performances in the
EMU Fir Room. At 6 p.m. Friday, Land, Air and
Water will present the film “Oil on Ice” in 184
Knight Law Center.
A community Earth Day celebration will hap
pen Saturday, April 23, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at
the EWEB River Edge Plaza on 500 E. Fourth
Ave. The event will feature educational activity
booths, alternative vehicles, entertainment, a
Procession Of All Species, free raft trips, and an
Earth Day Art Sale.
At the same time, the John H. Baldwin Film
and Lecture Series, honoring the late University
professor’s work in environmental education,
will take place in the EWEB training room in
EWEB’s north building. There will be a free shut
tle from the downtown LTD station to this event.
evasylwester@ dailyemerald. com
Child care
center to
improve
screening
Volunteers as well as employees
will now receive background
checks for work with children
BY EMILY SMITH
NEWS REPORTER
In an attempt to keep potential sex of
fenders from coming into contact with chil
dren at the University Child Care and Devel
opment Centers, the University will soon
require background checks on anyone want
ing to work with children at the sites, in
cluding parents.
The new precautions are a result of con
cerns that arose after Stephen Dale Jack
son, 31, charged with aggravated incest in
Louisiana, was allowed into both the Moss
Street Children’s Center and the West
moreland Children’s Center to take pic
tures of the children last November. Jack
son was the partner of an enrolled child’s
parent at the time the photographs were
taken, Reynolds said.
University officials met with parents in
February to propose possible changes in vol
unteer policies and practices, Vice President
for Student Affairs Anne Leavitt said.
CCDC Coordinator Dennis Reynolds
said the changes in policy are expected to
be implemented by fall 2005, but first the
University’s legal council needs to give
them final review.
A mandatory background check is al
ready a statutory requirement for anyone
who wants to work as a regular employee,
Reynolds said, adding that the University’s
new policy is in line with policies at
public schools.
The additional background checks will
not have a significant financial impact or
cause any extra hassle, Reynolds said.
Nancy deRonde, director of the child-care
centers at Oregon State University, told the
Emerald in January that criminal
CHILDREN, page 4
EMU adopts sustainable wind energy
Students voted 1,150 - 277 in favor of the bill that supports using
turbine-driven electricity, despite the potential 60 cent fee increase
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
The electricity streaming through the EMU is
n’t different, but Wednesday the source of that
power changed. The building became fully pow
ered by wind energy on Earth Day after Universi
ty officials signed a contract with the Eugene Wa
ter and Electric Board to purchase the power,
Campus Operations Director George Hecht said.
Students will pay a maximum of 60 cents per
term in additional energy fees to establish a fund
to finance the wind power and other sustainabili
ty projects on campus, University Sustainability
Coordinator Steve Mital said.
Students voted 1,150-277 on Ballot Measure 21
in the ASUO primary election two weeks ago,
showing support for paying up to $2 to fund sus
tainability projects.
Hecht said provost John Moseley authorized
the purchase using current energy fee money af
ter the ballot measure demonstrated students’
support. But the fee increases must still be ap
proved by the State Board of Higher Education
before next year’s fee can be raised. Moseley
could not be reached for comment.
Hecht said that the purchase is a “tradeoff,”
saying Moseley wanted to ensure students’ sup
port for paying higher fees because some stu
dents already struggle to pay for school.
About $11,000 of fee money will be needed
to provide the wind power, although around
$40,000 might be raised by the fee increase,
Hecht said. He said EWEB provided the best
rates from several potential suppliers and the
University has a history of collaborating with
the company.
He added that the president and chancellor’s
houses have been powered by wind energy for
about two or three years.
Although “electrons are indistinguishable from
each other ... we have the right to claim that we
have that power because we’re buying it,” Hecht
said, referring to the renewable energy EWEB’s
turbine facility in Wyoming provides.
Details of how the fund will be spent are still
unclear, Mital said. But he said a panel of stu
dents and administrators will likely choose proj
ects to finance.
“I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “The University
of Oregon is an environmental leader nationwide
and so it’s fantastic that on Earth Day we were
able to make a bold new initiative,” he said.
Student Megan Edgar, who participated in a
study the Environmental Studies Program con
ducted last year on the University’s energy use,
said the project “sort of all fell together” after
EMU Board members Yoko Silk and Stephanie Er
ickson used their knowledge of the ASUO to
implement it.
She said the wind energy partially symbolizes
students’ commitment to the environment, but
added that the University’s “pretty substantial
purchase” of the power will help increase overall
demand for wind power.
Silk said she was excited about the results of
the year-long process.
“It feels really good to come to some sort of
completion with that,” she said.
parkerhowell @ dailyemerald. com
Tim Bobosky | Photographer
Energy management specialist Mark Grediagin
manages a table promoting wind energy at the EMU’s
amphitheater for Earth Day on Wednesday.