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IN BRIEF
Accused panty thief s lawyer
requests to leave case
PORTLAND — Accused panty thief
Sung Koo Kim might soon need anoth
er lawyer — his fourth in a year.
Des Connall of Portland, citing an
undisclosed ethical issue, said he plans
to file motions to withdraw from the
highly publicized set of cases in
Yamhill, Washington, Benton and
Multnomah counties, the (McMin
nville) News-Register reported.
Kim, 31, is accused of stealing
panties from women at Linfield,
George Fox, Oregon State and other
colleges. Kim also faces child
pornography charges in his home of
Washington County.
He is a former suspect in the disap
pearance of Brooke Wilberger, a
Brigham Young University student
who disappeared from a Corvallis
apartment complex last May. Police
eventually said they no longer con
sidered Kim a suspect.
Connall’s plan to withdraw from the
case comes just weeks before Kim’s
first trial, scheduled for June 7 in
Yamhill County.
If Yamhill County Judge John
Collins grants Connall’s motion, the
trial may have to be put off until fall.
“Because of very recent activities
which have occurred between
Mr. Kim and this law firm, as of
Wednesday, we would move to
withdraw representation in that
matter in all four counties,” Connall
told Collins in a pretrial conference
conducted by telephone Friday.
Connall said the details of his
conflict of interest in the case are
“extremely delicate,” saying he
could reveal them only in a sealed
affidavit or private appearance in
Collins’ chambers.
Connall is the third prominent Port
land defense attorney retained by the
Kim family since their son’s initial ar
raignment last May.
Michael Greenlick of Borg Strom
& Greenlick represented Kim the first
month, followed by sole practitioner
Janet Lee Hoffman.
House votes to end
home-schooler tests
SALEM — Home-schooled students
would not have to take periodic
achievement tests unless they partici
pate in sports or other interscholastic
activities, according to a bill passed by
the House on Thesday.
The measure, sent to the Senate on
a 37-22 vote, would do away with a re
quirement that students taught at
home by or under the direction of their
parents take state-approved exams in
grades 3,5,8 and 10.
Public school students in the
same grades are given achievement
tests in basic subjects such as read
ing and math.
A similar measure was passed by
the 2003 Legislature but vetoed by
Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who said test
ing was the only way to ensure
home-schooled students are getting
an adequate education.
The state Education Department es
timates that more than 20,000 students
were taught at home in the 2003-04
school year.
The new bill requires that to take
part in sports or other public school in
terscholastic programs, students
taught at home must be tested and re
ceive a minimum score on a nationally
standardized achievement exam.
Backers of the measure said par
ents deserve the freedom to have
their children taught as they choose
without unneeded government reg
ulations that include state-mandat
ed testing not required of students
in private schools.
Home-schooling parents “have a
track record of doing an excellent
job,” said Rep. John Dallum, R-The
Dalles, a retired school teacher
and superintendent.
He said many home-schooled stu
dents perform better academically
than do public school pupils.
But Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene,
said without tests there’s no way to de
tect which students aren’t doing well.
“I’m concerned about those few stu
dents who do poorly,” he said.
Rep. Debi Farr, R-Eugene, said she
reluctantly supported the bill and will
urge the Senate to restore a require
ment that parents who home-school
their children notify their local educa
tion agencies of that fact.
— The Associated Press
Billionaire offers
to buy PacifiCorp
for $5.1 billion
BY WILLIAM MCCALL
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND — Ownership of one
of the largest utilities in Oregon is
about to change hands again, only
this time the name Enron is not
involved — to the relief of many
analysts and political leaders.
Instead, another famous name in
the business world is the marquee
for the latest utility deal: billionaire
investor Warren Buffett.
After more than a year of political
drama over the purchase of Enron
Corp. subsidiary Portland General
Electric, the other major utility
based in Oregon, PacifiCorp, made
news Tliesday with the announce
ment that Buffett has offered
$5.1 billion in cash to buy it.
PacifiCorp, like PGE, was found
ed in Oregon and has a long history
in the state, with PGE focused on
the Portland metro area and Pacifi
Corp — once known as Pacific Pow
er & Light — serving much of Ore
gon’s outlying rural areas.
PacifiCorp was purchased by
ScottishPower in 1999, just two
years after Enron purchased PGE.
The ScottishPower buyout marked
the first time a foreign company had
been allowed to purchase a U.S.
utility as energy deregulation gained
momentum nationally at the end of
the ’90s.
But like Enron, ScottishPower
has decided the U.S. energy mar
ket is not going to be as profitable
as the British company had hoped,
analysts say.
“Their expectations were way too
high when they came over here,”
said Jason Eisdorfer, attorney for the
Citizens Utility Board, a utility
watchdog group in Portland.
“They were used to a regulatory
scheme in the United Kingdom that
is fundamentally different than
what we have here,” Eisdorfer said
of ScottishPower, which did not run
into the kind of opposition that En
ron faced with its purchase of PGE.
The ScottishPower decision to sell
PacifiCorp came “after they re
viewed their business and decided
they could deliver better returns to
shareholders over the long run by
focusing on development of their
U.K. energy infrastructure and as
sets,” said PacifiCorp spokeswoman
Jan Mitchell in Portland.
No major changes were planned
for PacifiCorp management,
which plans to file for Oregon
Public Utility Commission ap
proval within the next couple of
months, Mitchell said.
Buffett’s bid was seen as a
shrewd move by a number of ana
lysts, including longtime energy
consultant Robert McCullough
of Portland.
“It seems classic Buffett to me,”
McCullough said.
“PacifiCorp was purchased by an
inexperienced group of owners from
Great Britain, ScottishPower, and
they never did understand the U.S.
regulatory or competitive environ
ment terribly well,” he said.
Buffett also is taking an opposite
approach to PacifiCorp compared to
the recent failed bid by Texas Pacific
Group to purchase neighboring PGE
from bankrupt Enron.
Oregon regulators rejected the
$2.35 billion Texas Pacific bid for
PGE after concerns that the Fort
Worth-based investment firm was
interested only in reselling PGE to
make a quick profit in the short
term instead of providing the re
quired long-term “net benefit” to
customers and the state economy.
“It’s almost like night and day,”
McCullough said. “We have Buffett
coming in with PacifiCorp, and he’s
always been a fundamentals player,
never a quick turnaround player.
“He announced it is a long-term
acquisition, so he’s clearly read
the public affairs rule book that
Texas Pacific, frankly, never
found,” McCullough added, not
ing that ScottishPower is selling
PacifiCorp “at what seems to be a
very reasonable price.”
022410
M
asuo
womens
center
director Candidate
Presentation
Today
12:00-1:OOpm
Women’s Center Lounge
Suite 3, EMU
Lunch Provided
Please join the Women’s
Center in welcoming our
second Director candidate
Gina Senarighi
Gina will present to students
on her vision for the Women’s
Center. The presentation wiil
be followed by a Q/A session.
For more information, call
346-4095
021277
Wednebdouf,
i*i ^bate Nielli
$36 p,e*i Gau,'fzL
A Night To Remember
• bruschetta
• caesar salad
• choice of our pasta-for
two dishes
• amaretto creme brulee
• full bottle of Oregano's
house wine
TARARJN
THAI CUISINe
• Vegetarian Selections • Vine Jn or Carry Out •
• Hunch Specials • 100 Menu Items •
• Mother’s homemade recipes •
• More than 20 selections of leer and urine •
• fi short walk from campus •
• Large Iree Parking firea •
$ 1200 OAK ST. EUGENE, OR • (541)343-1230
MON.-FRl. 11-3PM LUNCH, 5-10PM DINNER • SAT. SUN. 12-10PM
hBFfinwnfliiYFMFBtin
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