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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2005)
Casino could provide funds for financial aid I 5 MERALD An independent newspaper unvw.dailyemerald.com Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 145 \ Friday, April 29, 2005 .-.— - —. Kate Horton | Photographer Drix Rixmann, chairman of West University Neighbors, stands outside City Hall. The City of Eugene is looking to give the neighborhood associations a louder voice in city decisions. City Council pushes for more citizen input The council's "neighborhood initiative" goal, already in progress, will attempt to increase involvement of neighborhood associations BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF SENIOR NEWS REPORTER The voices of Eugene neighborhood associa tions may become louder and stronger as city officials work on ways to increase neighbor hood involvement in the Eugene political scene and to give more citizens a say in the city’s deci sion-making processes. The Eugene City Council recently listed neighborhood improvement as one of its priori ties, and Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy said one of her big interests is making neighborhood meet ings a place where all citizens feel welcome to engage in dialogue about happenings around the city. “What I’m interested in is: How do you make neighborhood associations attract a wider vari ety of the folks in the neighborhood and be a place that can facilitate differences of opinion?” Piercy said. The City Council is still hammering out the de tails of its “neighborhood initiative” goal, and Piercy said the details of the city's plans for the neighborhoods haven’t been “fully fleshed out yet” but said some steps are already being taken NEIGHBORHOOD, page 4 $160,000 grant funds new African curriculum Faculty members will use the two-year allotment to develop an African studies program BY ADAM CHERRY NEWS REPORTER Students will soon have a better opportuni ty to learn about the culture, language and history of one of the world’s largest continents. The College of Arts and Sciences is intro ducing a new African studies initiative in the fall, after receiving a two-year, $160,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Faculty members involved with the program said they hope to use the grant to remedy what they perceive to be a shortcom ing in the educational opportunities available to students. “There’s really been no significant presence of Africa in the curriculum,” said Stephen Wooten, program director and assistant pro fessor of international studies and anthropolo gy. “The addition of African studies to this campus is a significant step forward.” Wooten said the CAS African studies pro gram will come in four segments: curriculum development, language program develop ment, study-abroad program expansion and public lecture hosting. A series of public lectures called the “Baobab Talks,” and new courses entitled “Africa in Oregon” and “African Experiences” will be available in the fall. “We will identify how and where Africa is represented in Oregon,” Dennis Galvan, asso ciate professor of international studies and political science, said of the “Africa in Ore gon” course, according to a press release. “One area of focus will be African refugees who have settled in the upper Willamette Val ley. The ‘Experiences’ course will be based on a mentorship model where students who have been to Africa can come together as a group and share what they’ve learned.” Wooten emphasized the importance of more instruction in African languages. AFRICA, page 5 Nicole Barker | Photographer Katya Blissenbach and Autumn Maker listen at the Take Back the Night rally. Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy was among those who spoke. Take Back the Night People gathered to 'March, Rally and Speak Out' as part of Sexual Assault Prevention Week BY SUSAN GOODWIN DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER For Tara Alder, Take Back the Night: March, Rally and Speak Out meant more than a march to raise awareness about the pervasiveness of sexual violence. It was a turning point away from an abusive relationship and toward personal freedom and safety. “I wasn’t just afraid to speak in public,” Alder said, “I was afraid to speak at all. I had no voice. I arrived in Eugene pregnant after escaping my abusive boyfriend. After giving birth I had some rea sonable support, but it wasn’t un til the Take Back the Night march and speak out that I realized I wasn’t alone. Sharing my story in front of all those people em powered me and validated that what I shared was worthwhile to others too.” The annual Take Back the Night event, organized by the Women’s Center, took place Thursday in the EMU Amphithe ater. As part of Sexual Assault Prevention Week, Take Back the Night “is an event to rally women together, support each other and walk down the street without worrying or looking over our shoulders in fear,” said Jessie Genther, coordinator for the event. Speakers included Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, who dis cussed the importance of ending inequalities and discrimination to achieve a just society, and Women’s Center Director Erin O’Brien, who spoke about her personal experience with sexual violence and how it led her to take action using tools such as theater, writing and therapy. “I helped to organize Take Back the Night for four years be cause, to me, Take Back the Night made it possible for me to even acknowledge this part of my world, this part of my history, that my body had blocked out for so long,” O’Brien said. “I spoke up and I spoke out.” A demonstration by the Sexual NIGHT, page 7 AMBER Alert receives electronic update The system has been expanded to send real-time updates and to link the 50 states into a partnership through communication devices BY EMILY SMITH NEWS REPORTER Oregon’s AMBER Alert system has been ex panded to distribute messages concerning child abductions via cell phones, lottery machines, personal computers and other wireless devices. Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced he was “proud to be the first citizen of this state to sign up to receive AMBER Alerts,” at a press confer ence in Salem on Wednesday morning, encour aging the public to join him in order to “create a safer environment for our children.” The AMBER Alert Web Portal will simultane ously send real-time updates through all forms of communication devices and, for the first time, link all 50 states into a partnership providing de tailed information on an abducted child, right down to the nearest cross streets, according to the Oregon State Police. A consortium com posed of states, law enforcement, the broadcast media and private corporations is fueling the Web portal. The AMBER Alert, or America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response Alert, system began in 1996 when the tragic kidnapping and murder of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman in Ar lington, Texas, motivated her parents and com munity to work with Dallas radio stations in an effort to broadcast a special alert in the event of an abduction. Today the system operates in all 50 states and has assisted in the recovery of more than 200 children. When the system is activated, most children are located, said Judy Hayes, program coordina tor for the Missing Children Clearinghouse. Since Oregon began utilizing the AMBER Alert system last July, there have been nine activa tions and all have led to successful recoveries, she said. AMBER ALERT, page 3
