Three Oregon State athletes face charges in death
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CORVALLIS — Two Oregon State
football players and a former team
mate have been charged with pro
viding alcohol to an 18-year-old
man who was found dead with
more than five times the legal limit
of alcohol in his blood.
Michael Marks and Greggory Peat,
both 18-year-old offensive linemen,
were charged with giving alcohol to
Lance Strickland and to another man,
Benton County District Attorney Scott
Heiser said Monday.
John Ronnfeldt, 21, a former mem
ber of the team, was charged with
furnishing alcohol to Strickland,
Marks, Peat and another man,
Heiser said.
Strickland, from the Eastern Ore
gon town of Joseph, was found in
an unoccupied dorm room over La
bor Day weekend with a blood alco
hol level of 0.43 percent, officials
said. Strickland did not attend Ore
gon State. He went to high school
with Marks and the two were
friends. He was visiting campus be
fore the Beavers’ football game
against Portland State.
Marks and Peat have been
redshirted this season, meaning they
won’t see time on the playing field, but
won’t lose a year of eligibility, said
Oregon State spokesman Steve Fenk.
Ronnfeldt is “not an active mem
ber of the team,” Fenk said. “He
met with coach (Mike) Riley the
following week after the incident,
and they made a mutual decision
that he should concentrate on
personal issues.”
Ronnfeldt and Marks were ar
raigned Monday by Benton County
Judge Locke Williams. The two are
scheduled to return to court on Nov. 3.
The charges carry a maximum pos
sible penalty of one year in jail and a
fine of $6,350 for each count.
Riley said he and his staff thorough
ly check into the backgrounds of
prospective recruits.
“It doesn’t mean that kids won’t
make bad decisions and won’t make
mistakes,” he said. “They will, in the
blink of an eye, change their life if they
make some bad decisions and that’s
what has happened in this case.”
The Athletics Department has pro
posed punishments for Marks and
Peat that include alcohol awareness
counseling and community service,
Fenk said.
Oregon State football players
have faced a rash of trouble over the
past year.
Last April, sophomore defensive
lineman Joe Rudulph pleaded guilty to
assaulting an Oregon National Guards
man on leave from Iraq. He was sen
tenced to 10 days in jail.
In March, defensive lineman Ben
Siegert was arrested for driving while
intoxicated after allegedly speeding
with a 200-pound ram sheep in the
back of his pickup.
Siegert pleaded no contest, and
was ordered to complete alcohol
treatment, pay court fees and appear
before a victims’ impact panel.
And two players — running back
Jimtavis Walker and long snapper Star
Paddock — were arrested Feb. 11 for
assaulting a taxi driver and offering to
pay a $20 fare with marijuana.
IN BRIEF
Community members
able to 'Meet the Chief
People will be able to speak one
on-one with Eugene Police Chief
Robert Lehner on Wednesday morn
ing during the Eugene Police
Department’s monthly “Meet the
Chief” conference.
The monthly conference, held for
the first time this year near campus,
is one of several opportunities com
munity members have to meet with
the chief.
The meeting will take place at the
West University Public Safety Station,
located on the comer of East 13th Av
enue and Alder Street from 7-8:30 a.m.
EPD spokeswoman Kerry Delf said
people can bring up issues related to
the University neighborhood, such as
parks or the department’s party pa
trol, at the conference.
What will be discussed with the
chief will depend on “who comes
and what’s on their minds,” she said.
“It’s a good opportunity for people
who live in the neighborhood.”
— Katy Gagnon
Annual 'Outlist' supports
National Coming Out Day
Compilation of names for the 11th
annual “Outlist” is underway to cele
brate National Coming Out Day on
Oct. 11 .The “Outlist” is a list of stu
dents, faculty, staff and alumni who
wish to publicly acknowledge and
celebrate that they are lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgendered or allies of
the LGBT community.
The list is planned to appear as an
advertisement placed in the Oregon
Daily Emerald between Oct. 10-14.
The purpose of “Outlist” is to pro
mote diversity and security for all stu
dents, to create a safe and welcoming
campus environment, and to provide
an outlet for the LGBT community to
celebrate their identity, according to
a press release. More than 350 people
participate in the project each year.
People interested in should e-mail
program@uoregon.edu.
—Brittni McClenahan
Seattle City Council
approves stricter strip-dub
SEATTLE —The City Council on
Monday approved some of the
strictest adult-entertainment regula
tions of any major city in the country.
The council voted 5-to-4 to ban lap
dances and restrict patrons from plac
ing dollar bills in a dancer’s G-string.
Clubs also must have bright lighting,
or what one council member likened
to “Fred Meyer” lighting, a reference
to the brightly lighted grocery and
multi-department chain.
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Council members feared a rash of
new cabarets after a federal judge
struck down the city’s 17-year mora
torium on new strip clubs.
Between 1986 and 1988, the num
ber of cabarets in Seattle jumped
from two to seven. Concerned resi
dents persuaded the city to impose a
180-day moratorium to keep the
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two decades, the City Council repeat
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way of avoiding the politically sensi
tive issue of deciding in which neigh
borhoods to allow strip clubs.
Oregon Supreme Court
overturns sex show laws
SALEM — The Oregon Supreme
Court struck down a state law against
live sex shows and a local ordinance
regulating nude dancers.
Both restrictions violate the Ore
gon Constitution’s guarantees of free
speech and free expression, the court
said in a pair of 5-1 decisions.
The court’s decisions have given
Oregon “one of the most protective
approaches to the interests of free
dom of expression,” of any state, said
Steven Green, a Willamette Universi
ty constitutional law professor.
The state constitution, adopted in
1859 says, “No law shall be passed
restraining the free expression of
opinion, or restricting the right to
speak, write or print freely on any
subject whatever.”
Justice Michael Gillette, who wrote
the majority opinions, said it “ap
pears to us to be beyond reasonable
dispute that the protection extends to
the kinds of expression that a majori
ty of citizens in many communities
would dislike — and even to physical
acts, such as nude dancing or other
explicit sexual conduct that have an
expressive component.”
Tribe considers reversing
alcohol policy at casino
PENDLETON — The Umatilla Indi
an Reservation’s governing board of
trustees will consider this week
whether to allow alcohol consump
tion at the Wildhorse Resort and
Casino.
Tribal members are concerned that
the dry casino is losing business to
bars and taverns that feature video
poker slot machines from the Oregon
State Lottery.
Opponents say the casino should
remain dry because alcoholism is a
leading killer of tribal people. They
also say the mixture of alcohol and
gambling could prove explosive.
“There are a lot of people who go
out there when they are intoxicated
anyway,” said Carleta Abrahamson,
23, the granddaughter of a Walla
Walla tribal chief. “When people
gamble, they get all mad and crazy.”
In a vote that showed the lack of
consensus of the issue, tribal mem
bers backed liquor sales 229-218 in
an advisory vote last month. The pro
posal calls for alcohol sales at the
casino and nowhere else.
The casino opened in 1994 and has
become one of Umatilla County’s
biggest employers. Three percent of
the casino revenue goes to local non
profit agencies, schools, libraries, cul
tural and environmental groups
through the Wildhorse Foundation
under an agreement with the state.
Foundation grants totaled more
than $500,000 last year.
“From my position, it is a business
decision,” said Antone Minthom, the
board chairman.
But Minthorn does acknowledge
that alcohol could mean problems.
He said tribal police, courts and treat
ment programs must do their part to
limit the fallout.
“I don’t think anybody likes alco
hol, particularly what it does to a
community when there is abuse of
alcohol,” he said.
Bill Burke, 75, hereditary chief of
the Walla Walla Tribe and a recover
ing alcoholic, said continuing the
prohibition is not going to stop peo
ple from drinking because alcohol is
available in Pendleton.
“I was never stopped by walking
seven miles,” he said.
He wants money from alcohol
sales for treatment programs.
If the board approves lifting the
ban on alcohol, the confederated
tribes must enter into an agreement
with the Oregon Liquor Control
Commission. The issue then heads
to the U.S. Department of the Inte
rior for final approval.
—The Associated Press
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