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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2005)
IN BRIEF Human-rights council names new commissioners The Eugene Human Rights Com mission will welcome four new members and discuss the city coun cil homelessness strategy at its monthly meeting tonight. James Garcia, Rebecca Flynn, Annette Leonard and David Lottier will all be attending their first meet ing as commissioners after being appointed by the city council. The new commissioners will all have time to introduce themselves to the commission at the beginning of the meeting. In February 2005, the city council identified eight priority issues, one of which was developing a plan to help the city’s homeless. Angel Jones, Library Recreation and Cultural Services Executive Director, will give an update on the city coun cil’s efforts. The Commission will pay special attention to problems the homeless have had gaining access to the Eugene Public Library. Greg Rikhoff of the Eugene Human Rights Program will give an update on the progress in adding the term “gender identity” to the city’s antidiscrimination ordi nance. The addition would protect transgender people from discrimi nation in housing, employment and other areas. The commission must approve language to send to the city council for approval. “The commission and communi ty members are trying to come to an agreement on code language that will work for as many people as possible” said Karen Hyatt of the Human Rights Program. The meeting will be tonight at 6 p.m. in the McNutt Room at the Eugene City Hall at 777 Pearl St. —Chris Hagan Alito boasted about his work against abortion WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito boasted about his work, arguing that "the Constitu tion does not protect a right to an abortion" while trying to become a deputy assistant attorney general in the Reagan administration, according to documents released Monday. Alito, a federal appellate judge nom inated by President Bush to the na tion's highest court, was a young lawyer working for the solicitor gener al's office in 1985 when he applied for the position. As part of his application, Alito said his work had included helping "to advance legal positions in which I personally believe very strongly." "I am particularly proud of my con tributions in recent cases in which the government argued that racial and eth nic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion," he wrote. U.S.-led operation kills 50 insurgents in attack BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a fresh attack Monday against an insurgent stronghold near the Syrian border despite calls by Sun ni Arab leaders to halt such operations to encourage a big turnout in next month's election. The U.S. command said about 50 insurgents were killed. Two U.S. Marines were killed and at least seven were wounded in the fight ing in the border town of Obeidi, ac cording to a New York Times reporter is embedded with the Marines. A Ma rine spokesman told The Associated Press that he cannot report casualties until 24 hours after they occur. In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near the main gate to the heavily guarded Green Zone, killing two South Africans and wounding three others. The victims worked for State Depart ment security contractor DynCorp In ternational, the U.S. Embassy said. — The Associated Press ■ Oregon economy Oregon's unemployment lowest since April 2001 BY WILLIAM MCCALL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PORTLAND — The state’s econo my is showing more signs of a strong recovery and job growth after unem ployment fell to its lowest level in more than four years in October. Gov. Ted Kulongoski made a spe cial appearance Monday at the monthly Oregon Employment De partment briefing to announce the statewide jobless rate fell to 6 percent for the first time since April 2001. He noted the state economy has the sixth-fastest growth rate in the na tion, with a steady expansion over the past two years. “We’ve created more than 81,000 jobs in this state” since January 2003, the Democratic governor said. “And it’s regional growth, not just in a particular area.” Art Ayre, the state’s chief labor economist, said the Oregon economy has grown at a steady 3 percent rate for nearly two years, more than dou ble the average 1.4 percent growth rate nationally. Private companies performed even better than the slower public sector, growing 3.6 percent in Oregon com pared to 1.5 percent nationally over the past 12 months, Ayre said. The state had recovered the 64,000 jobs it lost in the recession by last Jan uary and has gained another 40,400 since January, he said. Nationally, the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5 per cent in October, about the same as the previous five months. Oregon had suffered the highest jobless rate in the nation for most of the recession but has been making up ground in the last year. The one point difference between the Oregon unemployment rate in October and the national rate was the smallest since January 2001, Ayre said. Some Oregonians who were at the Employment Department during the announcement said they had mixed feelings about the improvement. William Hones, 50, said he came from Britain when he was 22 and hitchhiked across the United States to find a job with a cruise ship line. He has never had trouble finding a job, even during the recession, in cluding his current job as a building maintenance worker, he said. “There’s no reason not to work in this country,” Hones said. “There should be no reason you can’t find a job.” His feelings were echoed by Lucia Marie DelosantosCoy, 28, who has been working part-time for a tempo rary help service. “I just applied for unemploy ment for the first time,” Delosan tosCoy said. “Yeah, there are more jobs out there, but it’s an issue of quality ver sus quantity,” she said. “There aren’t enough quality jobs.” Kulongoski urged stronger sup port for education, including voca tional programs for skilled workers. As an example, he noted the num ber of skilled millwrights is declin ing in Oregon as many approach retirement age. “It will end up hurting our econo my over the long run if we don’t in vest in those skills,” Kulongoski said. “They’re good jobs. You can have all the engineers and all the scientists you want. But someone has to pick up the tools and build the buildings and the roads and the bridges.” In October, most of the major in dustries in Oregon performed slightly better than their normal seasonal trend. The gains were led by trade, transportation and utilities with 3,000 more jobs than the typical seasonal increase for that sector. The end of a one-month strike by Boeing Co. employees boosted Oc tober numbers by 900 jobs in the aerospace industry in Oregon. Retail started its seasonal hiring with a gain of 4,400 jobs, which Ayre said “is a pretty strong start to the hol iday hiring season.” Building material and garden sup ply stores added 500 jobs and is up 1,500 jobs, or 10.3 percent, in the past 12 months. The biggest loser for the month was leisure and hospitality, which declined by 6,000 in October. Construction employment dropped only 200 jobs in October, when a loss of 500 is normal for the time of year. Seasonally adjusted em ployment in construction reached 93,300 in October — gaining more than 11 percent with 9,300 jobs added over a 12-month period. Manufacturing performed in line with normal trends in October, cut ting 100 jobs when a drop of 400 is expected for the time of year. The jobless rate is down more than a full point from last October, when it stood at 7.3 percent. For the month, 100,657 Oregonians were unemployed, the lowest level since December 2000 and nearly 19 per cent lower than the 124,056 without jobs in October 2004. urn's mm Restaurant and Lounge Authentic Chinese Cuisine Fresh, Quality Ingredients 947 Franklin Blvd. (near UO) • 343-4480 Individual, Family Style, Banquets to 100, Take Out Tues.-Thurs. 11-10:30, Fri. 11-11 Sat. 12-11, Sun. 11:30 Kewom MAM KBI6UM& iMicm Cam* TsAMSGEtcai EcuSnv OAYOP TUtoDAy MOV, 1STU 7:30 PM EMU BALLROOM Join us for a performance art piece organized by Lane Gender Task Force. The events Key-note speaker is Mara Keisiing, Executive Director of National Center for Transgender Equality. A national organizations that is working on federal issues and legislation to promote equality for transgender individuals. UNDER CONSTRUCTION WITH A NEW ENTRANCE Onsite Physicians & Nurse Practitioners • Low-cost Pharmacy • Dental Clinic Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine • Allergy & Asthma Clinics Free Cholesterol Screening • Health Education Programs Medical Laboratory • Free birth control for men & women through FPEP CPR Certification • X-ray • Massage Therapy Travel Clinic ... and more http://healthcenter.uoregon.edu UNIVERSITY OF OREGON appointments: 346-2770
