Eugene Business Commute
Challenge hits the streets
Eugeneans who drive
to work are encouraged
to bike or take the bus
BY EVA SYLWESTER
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Employees at 70 Eugene business
es took a break from their cars this
week and commuted to work via
bike, carpool or bus as part of the Eu
gene Business Conlmute Challenge.
In its sixth year, the challenge of
fers participants a chance to win
prizes such as gift certificates to local
restaurants and tickets to local events
if they report the highest number of
driven miles saved.
Lane Transit District distributes
free day passes to the city to give to
participating business upon request.
The passes are good for the week of
the challenge only.
Businesses reported their results
on Wednesday, and there will be a
celebration Friday in which winning
businesses, judged in different divi
sions based on their number of em
ployees, will be awarded the various
prizes.
“Most cities have transportation
programs like this because there isn’t
enough money to build enough roads
to meet demand,” said Lee Shoemak
er, bicycle and alternate modes coor
dinator for the City of Eugene. “This
is a way to reduce demand on the ex
isting road systems.”
In 2004, 1,395 employees at 65
businesses participated in the chal
lenge, said Cindy Clarke, transporta
tion options coordinator for the city
of Eugene.
The employees each tallied the
number of miles they walked, hiked,
carpooled or rode the bus, and Clarke
said the combined total was 15,494
miles — miles that participants
would have otherwise driven.
The program reduces traffic con
gestion, improves air quality and the
health of citizens, and also decreases
transportation costs, Shoemaker said.
“A lot of people have fun, and
there’s competition trying to win
awards,” Shoemaker said. “It’s pretty
positive.” The goal of the challenge is
to get people to try an alternative mode
of transportation for one week and re
alize that it’s easy to bike or ride the
bus on a regular basis, Clarke said.
“We would love to have people do
Tim Bobosky | Photo editor
Nicholas
Stiffler, a
molecular
biology
research
technician,
unlocks
his bike for
the trip
home. He
has been
riding his
bike to
work for
years,
without
influence
from the
Eugene
Business
Commute
Challenge.
this year-round,” Clarke said.
BRING Recycling Education Coor
dinator Jo Rodgers said she knew of
only one or two employees who did
n’t participate in this year’s challenge
at the 17-employee company.
“It’s a pretty environmentally con
scious group of people,” Rodgers
said. “It’s that whole thing of getting
a little push.”
The Eugene School District 4J ad
ministrative headquarters motivated
employees to participate by dividing
the 110 employees into two teams.
This has been done in the past,
and Confidential Management Assis
tant Marian Stuart said the district
won an award last year for saving the
most miles for an agency its size.
Stuart said most district employees
usually drive to work alone, although
some regularly ride bicycles.
The free LTD day passes distrib
uted as part of the challenge helped
employees get used to riding the bus,
Stuart said, adding that
one employee who lives in Cottage
Grove rode the bus to Eugene for the
first time.
The event usually takes place
during the first week of October be
cause the influx of students return
ing to the University and local high
schools increases traffic congestion
and because the weather is usually
still pleasant, Shoemaker said.
The Eugene Business Commute
Challenge is sponsored by the city
of Eugene, LTD, Commuter Solu
tions at LTD, PeaceHealth and the
Eugene Area Chamber of Com
merce. It won an award in 2002
from the Association for Commuter
Transportation, an international or
ganization that promotes trans
portation methods other than cars.
Contact the business, science and
technology reporter at
esylwester@ cLailyemerald. com
Google: Company uses sponsored links
Continued from page 3A
Computer algorithms scan Gmail
messages for key words and run
sponsored links next to e-mails that
correspond with the e-mail’s con
tent. For example, an e-mail from a
friend about getting together to
make pancakes might pop up
with sponsored links about
pancake recipes.
These same algorithms help
Gmail users search through old e
mail messages.
But privacy is maintained. “No hu
man individuals or third parties ever
look at private e-mails,” Jaffe said.
Joe St. Sauver, director of user
services and network applications at
the University, said that while he
uses Gmail only casually, he doesn’t
think the sponsored ads generated for
e-mail messages make Gmail less se
cure than any other e-mail service.
People concerned about the secu
rity of their e-mail should consider
using an encryption client, such as
those available at www.GnuPG.org,
St. Sauver said. PGP encryption
clients can be installed on all com
puters and used with all e-mail serv
ice providers.
Other Google features include Cal
culator, which allows one to type a
mathematical equation into the main
search page (www.google.com) and
get a numerical result; Google Schol
ar (scholar.google.com), which
searches scholarly journals; and Pi
casa (picasa.google.com), a comput
er program that can be downloaded
and used to organize photos.
Contact the business, science
and technology reporter at
esylwester@dailyemerald.com
IN BRIEF
Supreme Court dashes
over assisted suidde
WASHINGTON — New Chief Jus
tice John Roberts stepped forward
Wednesday as an aggressive defend
er of federal authority to block doc
tor-assisted suicide, as the Supreme
Court clashed over an Oregon law
that allows doctors to help terminally
ill patients end their lives.
The justices will decide if the fed
eral government, not states, has the
final say on the life-or-death issue.
It was a wrenching debate for a
court touched personally by illness.
Roberts replaced William H. Relin
quish who died a month ago after
battling cancer for nearly a year.
Three justices have had cancer and a
fourth has a spouse who counsels
children with unbeatable cancer.
The outcome is hard to predict, in
part because of the uncertain status
of retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Con
nor who seemed ready to support
Oregon’s law. Her replacement may
be confirmed before the ruling is
handed down, possibly in months.
Ted Koppel anchors last
'Nightline' on Nov. 22
NEW YORK — Ted Koppel will an
chor his last edition of “Nightline” on
Nov. 22, with the first post-Koppel
edition of the ABC newscast airing
Nov. 28, the network said Thursday.
Koppel, 65, has anchored the
show since its official launch in
March 1980. The show grew out of a
series of special reports about the
Iranian hostage crisis that began the
previous November.
Koppel and his “Nightline” execu
tive producer, Tom Bettag, are ex
pected to keep working together on
news programs after leaving
ABC News.
Less than two months before its
debut, how the late-night news show
will evolve following Koppel’s depar
ture remains a mystery. ABC has ap
pointed James Goldston, who pro
duced a British show similar to
“Nightline,” as the broadcast’s new
executive producer and has also ex
perimented with a multi-topic for
mat on nights Koppel was off.
—The Associated Press
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