How to live it up as a Duck | Section B
Oregon Daily Emerald
An independent newspaper at the University of Oregon
www. dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 | Volume 107, Issue 35 | Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Basketball arena plans hit the design table
Two architecture firms will design the sports arena, but because of
funding shortages, building plans have yet to be developed
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
NEWS EDITOR
The University is putting its stalled basketball
arena project back in motion after raising more
than $1 million during the summer to pay for
schematic designs.
The move, coupled with the University’s pur
chase of the Williams’ Bakery property and the
University of Oregon Foundation’s purchase of
the vacant Joe Romania car lot, shows potential
donors that the University is still making progress
on the arena project, University Athletic Director
Bill Moos said on Monday.
The Williams’ Bakery property is the selected
site for the arena, and University officials say the
Romania property could serve as a parking lot.
“When you’re asking and cultivating people
for gifts of sizable amounts it’s important that
they understand that we have a great deal of skin
in the game, and I think we’re showing that,”
Moos said.
The project was put on hold in the spring be
cause of funding shortfalls.
Donors gave more than $1.3 million over the
summer to the project — money that Moos said
was used as a payment to the architecture
firms Ellerbe Becket and Thompson, Vaivoda
and Associates Architects, Inc. to continue the
design process.
“The best way, in our opinion, to continue the
project along was to raise the money right now
— which we’ve done — to keep the design phase
going,” Moos said.
Entering the schematic design phase does not
mean arena construction will soon follow be
cause a significant amount of money still needs
to be raised, Vice President for University Ad
vancement Allan Price said.
“I think a lot of people think we know we’re
doing an arena and we’re just being cautious, but
that’s not the case,” Price said. “This decision to
go forward with the design is not a decision to go
forward with the arena. ”
Moos estimates the design phase will take
about four or five months. Actual design has
not begun; the firms are discussing the techni
calities of the arena with athletic department
representatives, Moos said.
“We need to get back at the table and put our
game plan together,” Moos said. “That should
happen in the next week or so. ”
The Williams’ Bakery property will not be
ready for University use until 2007, Moos said,
making 2009 a likely opening date.
“A rule of thumb is a year to design and two
years to construct,” Moos said. “It has the poten
tial to be a very, very large project.”
The University has estimated the cost of
building the arena to be as much as a $180
million. All the money will have to be private
ly raised or taken in the form of bank bonds
ARENA, page 3
Campus coalitions celebrate National Coming Out Day
Ben Storey
and Angela
Messelri cele
brate National
Coming Out
Day in the
EMU
Amphitheater
Tuesday
afternoon.
Nicole Barker
Senior
PHOTOGRAPHER
OUS amends sexual harassment policy
The Oregon University System has defined and approved new
guidelines regarding romantic student-faculty relationships
BY KELLY BROWN
NEWS REPORTER
The State Higher Board of Education has ap
proved new guidelines regarding sexual ha
rassment and consensual relationships be
tween students and professors.
The new policy, voted in on Sept. 9, requires
campuses within the Oregon University Sys
tem to set clear definitions of sexual harass
ment and to establish campus educational pro
grams on the subject. The policy also
mandates that resources be available to those
who feel they’ve been victimized, as well as
requiring an assessment of the “campus cli
mate” every four years to determine if students
and staff are satisfied with the policies.
It also governs relationships between cam
pus employees and students with what OUS
Director of Communications Diane Saunders
called a “power differential.” Take, for exam
ple, a graduate student dating a faculty mem
ber who supervisors his or her research. Un
der the new regulation, the staff member must
report this relationship to a supervisor, and
either the student or faculty member would
be reassigned so they would not be working
together. The changes must be in place by
September 2006.
The statute condemns these relationships
but concedes that the state has no control
over consensual adult relationships. Interac
tion between students younger than 18 and
professors is still illegal.
Following two high-profile sexual harass
ment cases at Western Oregon University, Gov.
Ted Kulongoski and the board decided that al
though campuses had individual policies, a
statewide plan was necessary.
A review showed that campuses were doing
a good job dealing with harassment com
plaints, Saunders said, but there was a need
for better communication.
“The students and faculty and staff
weren’t sure where to go to report issues, as
there weren’t clear reporting procedures,”
Saunders said.
“They have good systems in place, but
they need to do a better job of getting the
word out.”
Currently, campus members may report ha
rassment to the Office of Affirmative Action &
Equal Opportunity, but there is also help avail
able through the Counseling Center.
However, many students who spoke with
the Emerald said that they weren’t sure what
they would do if they felt they were victims of
sexual harassment.
"I have no idea where I’d go,” said Jill Kip
isz, an English major.
Others said the campus had adequate sup
port in place to deal with the issue. Greg
HARASSMENT, page 4
Students shared stories, food
and a faux closet to promote
LGBTQ awareness
BY KATV GAGNON
NEWS REPORTER
Angela Messerli, a senior psychology and
women’s studies major, told some friends dur
ing her freshman year of college that she was
bisexual. She told her family last year.
On Tliesday afternoon, she came out of the
closet again. This time, friends joined Messerli,
and the “closet” was a brightly painted door
way in the EMU Amphitheater decorated with
the words: “Come out, speak out, be proud.”
Messerli, a co-director of the Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Alliance, was one
of several students who walked through the
“coming out closet” during a celebration of Na
tional Coming Out Day in the EMU Amphithe
ater Tliesday.
The celebration featured booths with infor
mation about coming out, music, free popcorn
and an open mic that invited people to share
their stories about coming out.
RALLY, page 4
Eco-friendly
EMU wins
award for
wind power
Last year's initiative to power
the EM U using wind generated
praise and national recognition
BY EVA SYLWESTER
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
The University has been selected to receive a
National Wildlife Federation Campus Ecology
Recognition award for its successful initiative to
power the EMU on wind energy.
In the April 2005 ASUO primary election, stu
dents voted 1,150 to 277 on a ballot initiative in
favor of paying up to $2 per year per student for
sustainability projects. As a result, the EMU be
came wind-powered on Earth Day.
As a former member of the Sustainability
Committee, a sub-committee of the EMU
EMU, page 3