Emeralds manage series win | 5
MERALD
An independent newspaper
unvw.dailyemerald.com
Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 003 | Tuesday, June 28, 2005
a visit
from the
TOWN
CRIER
John Seed discussed the current
disconnect between humans and
the earth during his presentation
BY NICHOLAS WILBUR
NEWS REPORTER
A renowned global environmentalist visit
ed the University on Thursday night to
discuss his latest rain forest conservation
projects and spread awareness of growing eco
logical concerns around the world. During the
presentation, titled “The town crier for the glob
al village,” John Seed played guitar, sang and
-—
Tim Bobosky | Photo editor
John Seed, founder of the Rainforest Information Centre in Australia and coauthor of “Thinking Like a Mountain,”
drew a crowd of nearly 150 community members and students Thursday night in Willamette 100.
recited and rapped poems; he also showed a
film to explain his philosophy on deep ecology.
Seed is the founder of the Rainforest Infor
mation Centre in Lismore, Australia, and he is
co-author of “Thinking Like a Mountain: To
wards a Council of All Beings.” Nearly 150
people attended his presentation.
The global significance of rainforests, Seed
said, is that “they are the very womb of life.”
He said that although he saw many successes
in his early stages of activism, which included
protests and various restoration projects, they
were only saving one forest at a time while
100 others were being destroyed.
“Unless we simultaneously address the un
derlying psychological and spiritual disease
that allows modern humans to feel separate
from nature, the destruction of species and
life-support systems will continue.”
Seed discussed a point made by Arne Ness,
SEED, page 4
Voice takes steps to recover from theft
The publication's staff is working to get back on
schedule after its computer was stolen on May 22
BY TYLER GRAF
FREELANCE REPORTER
On the evening of May 22, staff
members of the Oregon Voice left
their office unaware that a thief
stalked the halls of the EMU.
When staff members returned
to their office the next day, they
discovered that their office com
puter had been stolen. The com
puter, a G4 Graphite Tower, be
longed to the Oregon Voice’s
publisher, Scott Carver.
The used computer had an ap
proximate value of $300.
Carver said that the Oregon
Voice had been operating without
an official office computer since he
joined the publication, partly due
to a previous theft that left the
Voice without a computer.
The previous theft occurred
when the Oregon Voice had its
own office in the late ‘90s, prior
to the publication’s brief dorman
cy from November 2000 until the
following year, when a number
of student journalists revived
the publication.
Currently, the Oregon Voice
shares an office with a number of
other student groups in EMU 20, lo
cated in the basement. However,
Carver said the blame for the break
in rests with the Oregon Voice.
“It was clearly our fault,” said
Carver, who admitted that staff
members had “negligently left the
door unlocked on the night the
computer was stolen.”
In Carver’s estimation, the stolen
computer stored 80 percent of an is
sue of the Voice. This constituted
only a minor setback to the publica
tion, as Carver and other staff
members worked from their home
computers to piece the lost issue
back together. Although the Voice
has fallen behind its self-imposed
publication deadline, Carver said
the staggered publication schedule
is “partly theft-related and partly
from us being assholes.”
As an employee of the Knight Li
brary, Carver said he has been privy
to a number of property theft com
plaints and believes that something
should be done about them.
“For some reason, the Universi
ty has an aversion to security cam
eras,” said Carver.
Department of Public Safety theft
prevention officer Chris Fosnight
said theft is always an issue on
campus. According to a DPS Pub
lic Safety Bulletin from April 1,
$160,000 in personal property has
been stolen from campus in the
past year. Most of the property has
been bicycles, but there have also
been numerous incidents of com
puters being stolen from offices.
Fosnight is not convinced that
security cameras are the best solu
tion because they could make peo
ple feel uncomfortable and be
cause cameras are only useful after
thefts have already occurred as
tools for prosecutors.
There are a number of proac
tive steps that people can take to
protect themselves from comput
er thieves: People should never
leave offices or rooms containing
computers unattended; all doors
and windows should be securely
locked overnight; and computers
should be fastened to desks or
other stable objects using light
weight cables, Fosnight said. Me
Scott Carver, publisher of the Oregon Voice and a senior journalism major, checks voice
mail in the office where the publication's Mac G4 computer was stolen.
also said a preemptive step to
ward recovering stolen property
is to hold on to serial numbers.
Carver didn’t have the serial
numbers for his computer.
“I can’t just go to pawn shops
now; all these computers look the
same,” said Carver.
Carver plans to place an equip
ment request for a new office com
puter before the summer is over
and also request that the EMU
Board move the Voice to a
non-communal office.
Senators
respond
to funding
requests
The ASUO Senate Summer
Committee heard from student
groups during its first meeting
BY NICHOLAS WILBUR
NEWS REPORTER
Five of six newly elected senators heard
special requests and announcements from
several student groups and one communi
ty member as the ASUO Senate Summer
Committee conducted its first meeting
Wednesday. Senate President Reinier Hey
den presided over the meeting with
the help of former Senate Treasurer
Nicholas Hudson.
Hudson, now the ASUO finance coordi
nator, requested the Senate’s approval to
transfer $8,940 from $19,198.70 left in last
year’s Administrative Assistant payroll ac
count into the Office Supplies account.
The ASUO Green Tape Notebook, in which
Senate rules, procedures and the ASUO
Constitution are listed, states, “The Sum
mer Committee shall allocate no more
than a total of $5,000 for special requests. ”
Hudson said this rule applies only to un
allocated money, and this transfer deals
with funds already assigned. The extra
money in payroll resulted from vacancies
in the administrative assistant position,
which was not filled until February; the
programs coordinator position; and an un
paid multicultural advocate, who was al
ready being paid as a senator.
Kevin Day, former Athletic Department
Finance Committee senator, said the Sum
mer Committee cannot allocate more than
$5,000 from surplus, and because this
money will not roll over into surplus until
July 1, the money transfer is allowed.
However, the Green Tape Notebook rules
make no specific allowances for surpluses
or unallocated reserves.
Also, Hudson’s two special request
forms were dated June 20, two days before
the Senate meeting. However, the Green
Tape Notebook rules state, “(Special) Re
quests over $1,000 shall be submitted no
less than five school days prior to the Sen
ate meeting at which the request will be
heard.” No time requirement exceptions
are listed for submitted Special Requests
under Summer Committee.
Hudson’s special request form stated
that the ASUO “is the recognized voice of
the student population and oversees all
student programs. If the funding request is
denied, we will not be able to fully co
sponsor events for student programs,
which have a direct impact on the cultural
and physical development of campus.”
The Senate unanimously voted to ap
prove this request. The executive office
will now be equipped with four new com
puters, totaling $6,000; three digital
recorders, totaling $420; a $195 digital
camera; two new tables with filing cabi
nets for $1,500; and various other items.
“A digital camera is going to help out a
lot down the road ... and hopefully we can
do other things than just take pictures of
ourselves,” Hudson said.
The Senate unanimously approved a
similar funds transfer from last year’s Ad
ministrative Assistant payroll account into
SENATE, page 4