Columnist Luke Andrews admits defeat I 5
Oregon Daily Emerald
An independent newspaper at the University of Oregon
www.dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 \ Volume 107, Issue 34 | Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Recreation facilities nearly complete
Tim Bobosky | Photo editor
Dennis Munroe, the director of Physical Activity and Recreation Services, talks about
the tennis courts under construction near East 18th Avenue.
New, improved sports spaces are in the works,
including a track and outdoor tennis courts
BY JOE BAILEY
NEWS REPORTER
Construction of new tennis
courts, grass fields and a jogging
track is nearing completion, a proj
ect that University officials hope
will significantly upgrade campus
recreational facilities.
Depending on the weather, con
struction could be complete by
mid-November, Physical Activity
and Recreation Services Director
Dennis Munroe said. The facilities
will be available for limited use
only until spring 2006.
The project began after con
struction of the Living Learning
Center displaced the old tennis
courts in summer 2004. University
policy dictates that because Hous
ing was building on top of the ten
nis courts, Housing was responsi
ble for replacing them.
Interim Vice President for Stu
dent Affairs and Director of Uni
versity Housing Mike Eyster said
he saw the relocation of the tennis
courts as an opportunity.
“We could have placed those
tennis courts any number of
places,” he said. “We actually got
together as a group to figure out
where we could get the most value
for students.”
The new facilities cost approxi
mately $1.8 million, half of which
was paid by Housing. The athletic
TENNIS, page 3
SANE provides help for rape victims
Some Health Center nurses are
now certified to provide services
to sexually assaulted women
BY KATY GAGNON
NEWS REPORTER
The University Health Center is now able to
examine men and women who have been sexu
ally assaulted and can collect evidence to be
used in prosecution.
In the past, students who were sexually as
saulted could receive a follow-up medical
exam, sexually transmitted-infections screening
and emergency contraception from the Health
Center, but they would have to go to the hospi
tal emergency room to have evidence collected.
Now, Health Center nurses with specialized
training and clinical experience in assault ex
aminations can collect evidence after a
sexual assault.
The Health Center’s Sexual Assault Nurse Ex
aminers give students the option of having evi
dence collected in an environment where they
feel more comfortable, said Cindy Smith, a
SANE certified nurse practitioner.
Smith is currently the only nurse certified to
perform the exams, but two more nurse practi
tioners at the Health Center will soon be able to
perform them, Health Center Director Tom
Ryan said.
A typical exam in which evidence is collected
may last about two hours, Smith said. The
exam may include collecting DNA by using
swabs, documenting injuries or bruises, collect
ing a urine sample or preserving clothing worn
during the assault.
Kate Horton I Photographer
University Health Center nurse practitioner Cindy Smith describes the new procedure for collecting evidence
from sexual assault victims. She has specialized training through the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners program.
All collected evidence will be kept in a locked
refrigerator or closet until submitted to police,
Smith said.
“Students can report to law enforcement,
but at our level, the goal is to give students
the option and not lose evidence,” she said.
If evidence is collected during the
SANE, page 4
Campus
celebrates
indigenous
solidarity
Crowds gather at the EM U
Amphitheater to welcome and
celebrate cultural diversity
BY JARED PABEN
NEWS EDITOR
Mark Franco, headman of the Winnemem
Wintu Native American tribe, spoke during
Indigenous Solidarity Day on Monday, telling
stories and relaying his tribe’s struggles with
the federal government.
But the man didn’t know until he got here
that Monday was Indigenous Solidarity Day,
otherwise known as Columbus Day or Anti
Columbus Day.
To him, it didn’t matter. Franco came hop
ing to persuade people here to protect water
and fight for social justice, he said.
“I’m quite hopeful that this generation will
really be able to make a change,” he said.
Monday’s celebrations drew speakers and
audiences to the EMU Amphitheater for about
11 hours. Groups circulated petitions, sold T
shirts, played music, displayed art and
donned red bandanas to show support for op
pressed indigenous people worldwide.
Highlights included a performance by na
tionally known musician and spoken-word
poet John Thidell and a conversation between
Thidell and Wayne Morse Chair of Law and
Politics Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief
of the Cherokee Nation. The two-hour talk
drew a nearly full EMU Ballroom crowd.
But the day had different meanings for
speakers, organizers and a student partici
pant.
Franco said the day wasn’t about con
demning Christopher Columbus. Miners who
came west in the mid-1800s and government
actions since then have hurt his people, not
Columbus.
“I don’t know him; he’s not related to me,”
Franco said.
For University sophomore Shalan Ryan, co
director at the Native American Student
Union, the event meant showing people that
“indigenous peoples aren’t just surviving.
We’re thriving.”
The events also showed native people that
there are role models for them, she said.
For Ryan, who is one-quarter Santa Clara
Pueblo Native American and three-quarters
Irish and Italian, the day meant supporting in
digenous people, not condemning Columbus.
INDIGENOUS, page 3
University expands transportation options online
With UO's subscription to AlterNetRides, students and faculty have
access to carpooling without the regular scheduling hassles
BY KAIY GAGNON
NEWS REPORTER
Students, faculty and staff looking for a car
pool to campus can now use an online car
pool database to connect with others.
The University has started subscribing to
AlterNetRides, a Web service launched in Jan
uary 2002 designed to "provide the most in
novative and inexpensive carpool/ride share
service possible," according to the San Francis
co company's Web site.
This is one of several attempts University
has made to reduce the amount of people
driving to campus. Other efforts include using
student incidental fees to buy bus passes in
bulk and creating a biking infrastructure on
campus.
Currently, the Department of Public Safety
issues carpool parking permits, but few have
taken advantage of the permit, said Steve Mi
tal, sustainability coordinator for the Environ
mental Health and Safety department.
In the past 10 years, DPS only issued about
33 carpool parking permits, Mital said.
Mital hopes the database will encourage
more people to carpool to campus.
"It's hard to find people who live in your
neighborhood and go to school at the same
time and come home at the same time," he
said.
The carpool program is "designed to organ
ize that stuff for you," Mital said.
On the Web site, a driver can type in his or
her neighborhood and input when they go to
and leave from campus. The Web site can also
be used to find rides for other occasions and
destinations, such as a ride to another city.
So far, two University riders are listed
through the database.
Several universities throughout the country
are registered with the Web site. Participating
universities are charged an annual fee of
$200. DPS will fund the program here.
A university’s success with the program de
pends on how well the Web site is promoted,
said Mark Evanoff, founder of AlterNetRides.
Mital said he will hire a student as carpool
coordinator this week. The coordinator will
work with individuals and help them navigate
the new database. He or she will also to pro
mote the new program on campus and track
the program’s success, he said.
A carpool consists of three or more people.
A carpool parking permit costs $82 for a year.
Carpoolers can purchase a reserved parking
permit for an additional $214.
Annual parking permits are $167 for faculty
and $94 for students.
When split between riders, the cost of a
permit is minimal, Mital said.
Mital said increased carpooling to campus
CARPOOL, page 4