University students jazz it up at Luna I 5
Oregon Daily Emerald
An independent newspaper at the University of Oregon
www. dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 | Volume 107, Issue 41 | Thursday, October 20,2005
Judge rules
Measure 37
land-use act
unlawful
Circuit judge declares property
rights law unconstitutional,
which sparks a local debate
BY CHRIS HAGAN
NEWS REPORTER
There is a common feeling this week among
those involved with Measure 37: shock.
Marion County Circuit Judge Mary James’
decision Friday that the land-use planning law
voters approved in November is unconstitu
tional instantly changed the debate about the
law and about land-use planning in Oregon.
The law allows land owners to be compen
sated when new land-use laws restrict their
ability to develop their land. The government
can either pay owners or give them waivers
that allow them to develop their land as they
could have when it was originally acquired.
In response to a lawsuit filed by land-use
watchdog group 1000 Friends of Oregon and
four county farm bureaus, James found Mea
sure 37 unconstitutional on multiple grounds,
one being that the law favors some land own
ers over others by allowing only those who
purchased their land before a land-use law
went into effect to file a Measure 37 claim.
Stakeholders on each side say they are
amazed at the decision.
“To say it caught me by surprise would be
an understatement,” said Ross Day, Director
of Legal Affairs for Oregonians in Action, the
group that wrote the measure.
“Being an attorney, I thought: ‘What do we
do next?’” Day said. “I was sort of in fight or
flight mode.”
Since his initial reaction, Day said his
thoughts have gone to those affected by
the ruling.
“Once I digested it, I felt bad for the people
who had their rights restored and in one fell
swoop had everything taken away,” he said.
1000 Friends of Oregon sees the ruling as
correcting the inequalities in the law.
“We thought Measure 37 was unfair, and
we’re delighted a judge agreed with us,” said
Kate Kimball, Director of Communications for
1000 Friends.
Day sees the ruling as a case of judicial ac
tivism attacking the rights of voters.
“It’s unfortunate that one person feels they
can invalidate the votes of over a million
Oregonians because they don’t agree with the
measure,” Day said.
MEASURE 37, page 4
Eugene gears up for 2008 Olympic trials
The University and supporters are eager to reclaim
the city's prominence as Track Town, USA
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
NEWS EDITOR
The University and its support
ers hope the 2008 Olympic Track
and Field TVials will push the track
and field program back to its pre
vious level of prominence, and
they’ll be fundraising millions to
ensure it happens.
USA Track & Field awarded the
trials to Eugene, host of the 1970,
1976 and 1980 trials, on Friday
over 2000 and 2004 host Sacra
mento. The event, which runs
from June 27 to July 6,2008, is ex
pected to bring several thousand
people and an estimated $20 mil
lion to the Eugene area.
Planned renovations for Hay
ward Field will cost an estimated
$2 million to $2.5 million, Athletic
Director Bill Moos said at a press
conference Wednesday with
representatives from Northwest
Event Management and the Ore
gon Tfack Club. The groups
worked with the athletics depart
ment to secure the trials.
Fundraising efforts should cover
the costs of the Hayward renova
tions and added amenities, ex
panded seating, a resurfaced track,
an expanded press box and addi
tional lights, Moos said.
“We don’t have an account right
now that’s full to the brim with re
sources to pay for these things, but
we have, I think, a pretty good
record of fundraising,” Moos said.
The site selection committee
chose Eugene because of its com
mitment to the sport and because
of the passion displayed by those
involved in the bidding process,
USA TVack & Field Chief Executive
Officer Craig Masback said at the
Tim Bobosky | Photo editor
Oregon Track Club President Greg Erwin, right, praises Oregon track and field coach
and Associate Athletic Director Vin Lananna, left, and Athletic Director Bill Moos for
their involvement in securing the 2008 Olympic Track and Field Trials.
conference via telephone.
Eugene’s bid package also of
fered more money for the event
than Sacramento’s, Masback said.
The difference was in the hun
dreds of thousands of dollars,
TRIALS, page 4
JJ^Hurricane Katrina cleanup
Picking
up the
Pieces
Residents try to remain positive
as they return to the Big Easy to
reclaim homes and businesses
KELLY BROWN
NEWS REPORTER
NEW ORLEANS — Piles of household debris
— furniture on the bottom, clothing and small
items in the middle and Sheetrock on top — line
the streets. Refrigerators, some with spray-paint
ed political slogans, add pungency to the air, even
more than seven weeks after Hurricane Katrina
ravaged the city.
The Big Easy has become a commuter city.
Many residents are just returning, boosting the
city’s population during daytime cleanup efforts
and clogging roads to Baton Rouge at night.
Yet residents of New Orleans’ uptown neigh
borhood who have stayed in the city or returned
to the area are remarkably positive about the
city’s prospects for the future.
Anne Hasuly, a Tlilane University sophomore,
Kelly Brown | News reporter
Maria Esperanza Fingerman examines the mold inside her living room on a picture her son painted. It was her
first day back in New Orleans.
sits on her porch swing, smoking a cigarette and
occasionally talking with the chatty electrician
working next door. She said although she’s only
lived in New Orleans for one year, it’s impossible
to imagine herself at another school or city.
“It’s New Orleans,” Hasuly said. “I just could
n’t be anywhere but here. ”
She said she was in Meridian, Miss., with three
friends when the storm passed through.
“There was no power, no TV, no news, just
sketchy cell phones. ”
After relocating to Austin, Texas, she and three
friends found what she describes as a “commune
kind of collect of people,” with whom she took
NEW ORLEANS, page 16
Kai-Huei Yau | Freelance photographer
Senator Vicki Walker, left, tells a family story with her daughter, Sara Walker, during an
interview in The Buzz Coffeehouse. Vicki Walker wants to get rid of the "Good 01’ Boy
politics that she believes make citizens apathetic to politics.
★ OREGON VOTES 2006 ★
Senator ponders gubernatorial bid
Democrat Vicki Walker is unsure, yet hopeful about
candidacy as she plans her campaign with her daughter
BY CHRIS HAGAN
NEWS REPORTER
Sara Walker reaches across from her
chair in The Buzz Coffeehouse on cam
pus to brush at her mother Vicki Walk
er’s forehead.
“Hold on,” she said. “You’ve got a
hair sticking up.”
Twenty-five-year-old Sara Walker’s
gesture is both a sign of daughterly care
for her mother and an act as her cam
paign manager, making sure the candi
date is presentable to the photographer
snapping pictures around them.
Vicki Walker, a 49-year-old Democrat
ic state Senator from Eugene, is evaluat
ing a run for governor but isn’t sure
whether it will happen. She plans to de
cide by the end of next month. The un
certainty is a new thing for her, she said.
“It’s hard being in this maybe-candi
date phase,” she said. “I’m a more deci
sive person than that. ”
For the time being, though, she says
she is acting like she will run.
“My thought process is: ‘I’m running
for governor,’” Vicki Walker said.
She is looking into what kind of sup
port she can drum up financially, hop
ing to raise at least $750,000 to stay in
the race.
“Money, unfortunately, is a big key,”
Vicki Walker said. “If you don’t have
money to win, it doesn’t matter what
you’re message is.”
Her daughter is in charge of the
WALKER, page 16