Photo essay: Recovering from Katrina I 6A
Oregon Daily Emerald
An independent newspaper at the University of Oregon
www. dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 | Volume 107, Issue 42 | Friday, October 21, 2005
University officials aim to sell
Westmoreland Apartments
Students may have to move if higher education hoard
approves the decision to sell the 404-unit housing complex
BY MEGHANN CUNIFF & JARED PABEN
NEWS EDITORS
The University hopes to sell 404 apart
ments, a childcare center and the 26
acres they occupy with the aim of using
the potential tens of millions of dollars
for projects that include improving stu
dent housing closer to campus, several
officials announced Thursday.
The 582 people currently living in the
Westmoreland Apartments, located
more than 2 miles west of campus, will
be able to stay until their leases expire on
June 30,2006, the officials said.
The 37 buildings make up the Uni
versity’s largest off-campus housing
complex. There are no plans to replace
the apartments with other off-campus
family housing.
University officials decided to put the
45-year-old property up for sale because
of high maintenance costs and the high
potential cost of repairing the major
structural problems on the site.
Also, the site was originally built to
accommodate students with children,
but only about 13 percent of the cur
rent residents have children, said Mike
Eyster, interim vice president for Stu
dent Affairs and director of University
Housing said.
There are only 360 leaseholders cur
rently at Westmoreland, he said.
“We started out as family housing,
and we’re not really housing very
many families,” Eyster said. “We
started out full, with a lot of demand,
and that’s not really the case right
now. We started out trying to serve
children, and there aren’t very many
children living there.”
Westmoreland residents with children
will get first priority in relocating to the
WESTMORELAND, page 5A
MAP KEY
Urban area
■ Park land
| Water
| University
★ Westmoreland
Major roads
» ■ 1 mi.
gigg |igg| ?
W. 18th Avenue
§
:
_J»_
4
Steven Neuman | Online/Supplements editor
HEFTY COST SEEKING SPOTTER
The Student Recreation Center
released expansion plans
totaling $21.8 million
BY JOE BAILEY
NEWS REPORTER
isitors to the Student Recreation Center
may have noticed a display of detailed
V models and composites showcasing a
plan for a future expansion, but students should
not expect to see changes anytime soon.
Physical Activity and Recreation Services
has released a conceptual plan calling for ex
tensive additions to the SRC. At an estimat
ed cost of $21.8 million, the plan was drawn
on funds the center does not have.
An expansion of the SRC’s aquatic facilities
forms the centerpiece of the proposal with the
addition of a 12-lane lap pool, a warmer leisure
pool and two spa areas. Currently, the SRC has
only the Leighton pool. The proposal would also
add three basketball courts and five racquetball
courts. Additionally, the plan would add about
60 percent more space for aerobic and weight
training, as well as enlarged locker rooms and a
social space where students could congregate.
The SRC was opened in its present form in
2000 after a $20 million construction project.
The University was one of many across the na
tion putting a stronger emphasis on building
and improving recreation centers.
Although PARS Director Dennis Munroe is en
thusiastic about the potential additions, he cau
tions students not to expect immediate changes.
An artist’s rendering shows the swimming pool facility Physical Activity and Recreation Services would like to
build at the Student Recreation Center.
“We wouldn’t want to lead them to a false
hope that we’re breaking ground tomorrow,”
he said.
Currently, PARS does not have money al
located for expanding the SRC, Munroe said.
Furthermore, it is unlikely that the same
funding sources which paid for the construc
tion of the SRC will be available for the next
phase of the project.
Original construction
Prior to the SRC, students only had access
to antiquated fitness facilities, prompting
many students to join private, off-campus fit
ness clubs, Munroe said. The SRC signifi
cantly upgraded the campus’ recreation op
tions when it fully opened in the fall of 2000.
RENOVATION, page 4A
Students help run election campaigns
Candidates recruit college students who have
an interest in politics and a willingness to learn
BY CHRIS HAGAN
NEWS REPORTER
This November may seem like
a down period in politics, but
candidates are already looking for
volunteers and interns to help get
their campaigns running, and
many are turning to students.
Though many campaigns have
only recently started looking for
volunteers, some students have
already signed on to do the little
things that help keep the cam
paigns and politicians running.
Ariella DuSaint, a student from
Lane Community College, is
working with Democratic guber
natorial candidate Pete Sorenson.
Last spring, she went to Steve
Candee, coordinator for political,
government and legal internships
at LCC, for a summer internship.
Candee suggested checking out
Sorenson’s campaign in the
spring. She ended up trying it
and is still working with the cam
paign.
“I do a lot of database work,
organizing the office, mundane
CAMPAIGNS, page8A
Senior political science major Jason Shepherd volunteers for Lane County Republicans
in hopes that the experience might lead to a career in politics.
Chemicals
in plane air
incite FAA
investigation
Engine leaks spur a study into
how air quality affects pilots,
attendants and passengers
BY EVA SYLWESTER
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Airplane pilots are responsible for con
trolling large machines and keeping people
safe every day.
Yet exposure to toxic chemicals on their
airplanes may impair their ability to per
form these tasks, University professor Steve
Hecker said.
Ttoo research groups, one headed by Uni
versity researchers and one headed by the
Harvard School of Public Health, have re
ceived a nearly $2 million Federal Aviation
Administration grant to investigate how toxic
chemicals affect pilots and flight attendants.
Hecker, an associate professor at the
University’s Labor Education Research
Center and director of the center’s occupa
tional health and safety programs, said a
2002 report by the National Academy of
Sciences inspired the U.S Congress to di
rect the FAA to perform research on air
craft air quality.
William Nazaroff, a member of the
committee that produced the report, said
in a 2003 statement before the U.S. Con
gress that people inside airplanes can be
exposed to contaminants, including
ozone, even when the environmental con
trol system is operating normally. When
the system is broken, passengers may be
exposed to engine oils, hydraulic fluids
and deicing fluids.
Nazaroff’s statement said the commit
tee recommended research into the health
effects of ozone, the effect of cabin-pres
sure altitude, toxicity of engine fluids, pes
ticide exposure in airplanes and low rela
tive humidity.
Hecker’s team is conducting a survey of
pilots and flight attendants to determine
how commonly and severely they experi
ence health symptoms attributed to air
craft chemicals.
AIR QUALITY, page 4A