Eugene nights come alive | Section B
Oregon Daily Emerald
An independent newspaper at the University of Oregon
www. dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 | Volume 107, Issue 45 | Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Hawaiian student leaves after alleged racism
University administrator Charles Martinez's trip to Hawaii
will include addressing concerns about student support services
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
NEWS EDITOR
A Hawaiian freshman who lived in the resi
dence halls left during his first week at the
University because of alleged racial harass
ment and death threats, prompting a Universi
ty administrator to devote part of a future trip
to Hawaii to addressing concerns there.
Interim Vice Provost for Institutional Equity
and Diversity Charles Martinez could be ac
companied by University President Dave
Frohnmayer, Martinez said.
The parents of Zane Lobetos e-mailed sev
eral administrators on Oct. 3, explaining the
reasons behind their son’s decision to leave
the University.
“We don’t know a whole lot” about the in
cidents alleged in the e-mail, Martinez said,
but “it was clear to me that it was a stressful
situation and that the student felt the need to
leave the University because of stress.
bacts about wnat
happened to Lobetos
are not available be
cause no witness has
come forward, no of
ficials were informed
of the alleged harass
ment until after Lobe
tos left the University,
and University offi
cials have been un
able to contact him directly, Martinez said.
According to the e-mail, Lobetos “was ver
bally attacked with racial and derogatory re
“It was clear to me that it was a
stressful situation and that the
student felt the need to leave the
University because of stress. ”
Charles Martinez | Interim Vice Provost for
Instituional Equity and Diversity
marks about his race, clothing and threatened
wun pnysicai narrn.
The e-mail also claims
Lobetos received
death threats on the
message board on the
door of his Carson
Hall room.
Lobetos’ parents
flew to Oregon on
Sept. 30 to pick him
up after he withdrew
from classes, according to the e-mail.
Interim Dean of Students Robin Holmes
HARASSMENT, page 4A
RRC sends
8 groups
to funding
committee
Student groups that passed the
initial review moved along to the
fee-allotment stage of process
BY NICHOLAS WILBUR
NEWS REPORTER
In the first day of reviews by the student
government’s new Recognition Review
Committee, a group that determines
whether to recognize student programs
and make them eligible for funding, all
student groups under review Monday
were approved for recognition.
Six of the eight reviewed programs Mon
day were granted approval contingent on the
addition of one or more sections of the ASUO
Programs By-Laws template, which outlines
ASUO expectations required of student pro
grams. The groups were given ten days to
make the required updates and resubmit then
bylaws. The RRC is reviewing mission and
goals statements, membership, group history
and bylaws to ensure that student fee-funded
programs are relevant and compatible with
ASUO, University and state regulations and
that they don’t duplicate University programs
and services.
Over the next two weeks, the RRC is decid
ing whether to approve 36 student programs,
a process which grants the programs’ en
trance into the Programs Finance Committee
hearings, where incidental fees are allocated.
The RRC still doesn’t have bylaws or a for
mal appeals process.The ASUO Constitution
Court ruled last week that the RRC is legiti
mate, but that the lack of documentation is
“egregious” and has an unclear purpose.
ASUO Programs Administrator and RRC
Chairman David Goward distributed the by
laws template to two of the groups reviewed
Monday, drawing criticism for not distribut
ing it to more of them.
“When it comes to the requirements of Ex
ecutive recommendations, if they haven’t list
ed them in their bylaws prior to coming to the
RRC, I will give them a call to make sure that
they at least” include them, Goward said.
“But that’s also a part of the RRC process, to
see if those bylaws need to be updated. ”
Former Senator Khanh Le said they are
“wasting time” by not giving out the tem
plate earlier.
“I think it would be great if you could hand
this out ahead of time so we would know,
and in order to be (transparent) and to under
stand the process,” Le said. “I think it’s a lack
of responsibility that the Exec didn’t do that
RRC, page 4A
★ OREGON VOTES 2006 ★
Atkinson caters to young demographic
Oregon senator's campaign for
governor focuses on relevant issues
for his generation of voters
BY EMILY SMITH
NEWS REPORTER
Oregon Sen. Jason Atkinson, 34, has been
told he’s too young to be in politics since he
started his career in the Oregon legislature
seven years ago.
Now, the Central Point Republican is
running for governor.
“Do you want to believe that I can turn it
around, or do you want to do it the way it’s
always been done? Cause there’s a bunch of
candidates out there that are saying ‘Vote for
me, I’ve got lots of gray hair, and I’ll give you
the same government you’ve got,”’ Atkinson
said. “Our campaign is entirely different from
the others, certainly based on age and youth
and passion.”
Atkinson, casually sporting jeans and a pair
of cowboy boots during an interview Monday
at a Eugene Denny’s, explained that his
campaign is grass-roots, relying heavily on the
Web and average donations of $25. Most of
those, he said, are from private donors all
over the state, some of which are
unemployed.
“I’ve got to tell you, you get a big lump in
your throat when you’re writing a thank-you
note to someone who doesn’t have a job and
wants to believe in politics again,” he said.
Atkinson said he wants to be governor be
cause he believes in public service and does
n’t see that Oregon is moving where his gen
eration wants it to. He said his experience and
Hasang Cheon | Freelance photographer
State Sen. Jason Atkinson, a candidate for governor of Oregon in 2006, talks about being the youngest
person in the race. Atkinson, 34, started his career in the Legislature seven years ago.
track record speak for themselves.
He said he’s in politics to help people like
University student Aaron Mathews, people
who have brought him individual senate bills
asking for help.
Mathews said he suffers from a rare condi
tion that robs him of his central vision. All he
needs is an eye-glass adjustment, like
Olympian Marla Runyan, who suffers from
the same condition, and many states would
allow him to drive. But not Oregon.
For a Grants Pass High School senior class
project, Mathews wrote a bill that would
ATKINSON, page 3A
Law professors discuss Measure 37's future
BY CHRIS HAGAN
NEWS REPORTER
Measure 37 is an issue with more
questions than answers right now,
and that provided fertile ground for
a panel discussion at the Knight
Law Center last night.
The discussion, “First Thoughts
on MacPherson — What’s the Fate
of Measure 37?” was arranged in the
wake of the ruling in MacPherson v.
Department of Administrative Ser
vices that found Measure 37 uncon
stitutional.
The panel consisted of four Uni
versity law professors, who looked
at what the ruling means for land
use planning in Oregon.
Law professor Garrett Epps ana
lyzed the constitutional basis of the
criticized decision, finding some in
stances in which the ruling held up.
He also replied to critics who say
that judges ruling on voter-ap
proved initiatives are undemocratic.
Epps compared that to saying
that an umpire should ask the
crowd before making a controver
sial call.
“An umpire is democratic be
cause they enforce rules that were
decided on democratically,” Epps
said. “Without judicial review we
simply don’t live under the rule of
law.”
Adjunct law professor Keith Hi
rokawa, the only practicing lawyer
in the group, discussed what he
called the confusing mess current
Measure 37 litigation has become.
With the new ruling, a number of
laws and jurisdictions have over
lapped, Hirokawa said. This creates
MEASURE 37, page4A
,*ag..'v ■,.*
Tim Bobosky | Photo'echtor
Keith Hirokawa, adjunct assistant law professor, talks about land-use laws and
Measure 37 with his fellow panelists Garrett Epps, law professor, far right, Keith Aoki,
law professor, center, and Thomas Lininger, assistant law professor, in 142 Knight
Law Center on Tuesday evening.