Ducks have to settle for Holiday Bowl | Section C
Oregon Daily Emerald
An independent newspaper at the University of Oregon
www. dailyemerald. com
Since 1900 \ Volume 107, Issue 71 \ Monday, December 5, 2005
Emerald audits University records
An Emerald public records survey elicited varied responses
from public officials at several University departments
BY MEGHANN CUNIFF & JARED PABEN
NEWS EDITORS
University President Dave Frohnmayer re
sponded to records requests as a University attor
ney, championed them as a state representative
and enforced them as Oregon Attorney General.
But a full three weeks after the Emerald con
ducted a records audit on the University, the
HOW WE DJD THE AUDIT
On New. 14, the Emerald sent three reporters, Kelly Brown, Chris
Hagan and Emily Smith, to various University departments to test
the University's responsiveness to Oregon public records laws.
The idea of the public records audit was to see how public officials
would react if a student approached them in their offices and re
quested basic records, such as budget documents,
meeting minutes, salary information and utility bills.
The Emerald used forms and directions from the Society of Profes
sional Journalists and from previous records audits conducted by
The Oregonian newspaper as a model.
The reporters didn’t carry notepads or wear press passes, and
most wore backpacks as further visual cues that they were stu
dents. When possible, they declined to give their names and identi
fy themselves as employees of the Emerald because Oregon laws
don’t require them to gve their names, employers or reasons for
wanting records.
They dressed and acted professionally, but they didn't discuss what
READ MORE ONLINE „ attorneys who work
-- AW immediately below
For more information, see xJ Frohnmayer still
www.daiiyemerald.com haven’t responded
to a records request
for his salary.
On Nov. 14, the Emerald sent three
reporters to various University departments to
the law requires because most students probably don’t know de
tails of Oregon public records laws.
The idea of the audit was to test whether public officials release
records that are clearly disclosable. The idea was not to start a fight
over whether the records can legally be released.
So the Emerald contacted Kevin Neely, from Oregon Attorney
General Hardy Myers' office; Jud Randall, Portland State Univer
sity’s adviser for The Vanguard student-run newspaper and a for
mer editor for The Oregonian; and Ryan Frank, a reporter for The
Oregonian. All three confirmed that the records requested
should be disclosable.
If the reporters were told to contact someone else or put a request
in writing they did. If somebody a reporter needed to talk to was out
of the office, he or she returned later.
They didn’t take notes while in the presence of a responding official,
but they took notes immediately after leaving the office.
Contact News Editor Jared Paben or Editor in Chief Parker
Howell at 541-346-5511 with questions about how the audit
was conducted.
test the University’s responsiveness to Oregon
public records laws, which, for more than 30
years, have entitled people to many govern
ment documents, no questions asked. These
reporters, when possible, didn’t identify
themselves as members of the media, and
they carried backpacks instead of reporter’s
RECORDS, page 5A
RECORDS REQUESTED
Staff meeting minutes for the psychology depart
ment: received.
Department of Pubfic Safety incident report re
ceived.
Budget records of the security costs for Finals
Week at the Knight Library: received.
Budget documents for the Jordan Schnitzer
Museum of Art: received
October’s electricity bill for the EMU: received.
October’s water bill for the Student Recreation
Center: received.
Gas costs for the past year for facility services
vehicles: received.
The Athletics Department’s contract with the
Eugene Police Department regarding security
at-home football games: not received.
Documentation of University President Dave
Frohnmayer’s salary: not received.
Travel expenses for an administrator’s trip to
Georgia: no records exist.
Report analyzes development options
Franklin Boulevard land bank'
Williams’ Bakery Land near bakery Romania car lot ODOT property
$22 million $2 million $5.2 million $3 million
Chris Todd | Graphic artist
A study released by an urban
planning firm calls for a
comprehensive property plan
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
NEWS EDITOR
It’s a goal of the University administration
to build a land bank in the east campus area
for future administrations to use, and
progress at fulfilling that goal has
been steady.
The University hopes to build a sports
arena on the Williams Bakery site, pur
chased in February for more than $22 mil
lion, and the UO Foundation bought the Joe
Romania car lot east of the bakery site in
March for $5.2 million. Officials want to
purchase the state-owned property across
from the car lot on Walnut Street, which Se
nior Vice President and Provost John Mose
ley said has been estimated to cost about
$3 million.
This property acquisition is crucial to the
University’s future development of the area,
according to a report released by the urban
planning firm The Farkas Group.
PROPERTY, page 8A
UO professor develops new form of carbon
Graphyne, a unique form of carbon created by professor Mike Haley,
could be used to improve optical communication networks
BY EVA SYLWESTER
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
University chemistry professor Mike Haley
made the front cover of Friday’s issue of the Jour
nal of Organic Chemistry for assembling a new
form of the element carbon.
His research could potentially lead to improve
ments in optical communications networks and
even better batteries for everyday use.
By itself, carbon appears in nature as
graphite or diamond.
The difference between these two forms of car
bon has to do with the shape in which the
carbon atoms are arranged. Graphite is a series of
flat Y shapes that join to form repeating series of
hexagons. Diamond is a three-sided pyramid. The
different atom arrangements result in different
physical properties.
Haley created something called graphyne,
which is similar to graphite, but three legs of each
hexagon are stretched out.
Jeremiah Marsden, a former doctoral student
who worked with Haley on the project, linked
these pieces of graphyne into a larger network
CARBON, page 3A
Forms of carbon
- Found in nature -
Diamond Graphite
- Synthesized -
Buckminsterfullerene
“Buckyball"
Graphyne
Chris Todd | Graphc artist
DPS audit
raises issues
of financial
liability
The Oregon University System is
auditing the Department of
Public Safety's operations
BY JARED PABEN
NEWS EDITOR
An Oregon University System office is con
ducting an audit of the University’s Depart
ment of Public Safety for the first time in at
least five years, according to the University
and OUS.
The OUS Internal Audit Division is current
ly auditing the public safety department’s
parking operations, which is funded through
parking permits, fees and citations.
General Counsel to the University Melinda
Grier wouldn’t say what prompted the audit
or whether missing funds triggered it. Calls
and e-mails to DPS Interim Director Tom
Hicks were not returned.
Grier wrote that University Vice President for
Finance and Administration Frances
Dyke “communicated with all appropriate
individuals and contacted OUS internal audit.”
Dyke issued a memorandum to all faculty
and staff on Nov. 10, reminding them that the
Policy on Financial Irregularities requires
“employees of the Oregon University System
to report known or suspected financial irregu
larities to the appropriate department manag
er at the time they become aware of an inci
dent. The department manager is then
responsible for forwarding the report to the
institutional designated administrator in a
timely manner. ”
DPS AUDIT, page 12A
Coalition will
detail feelings
against sale
In a meeting Tuesday, students
will voice concerns to elected
officials about Westmoreland
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
NEWS EDITOR
The mayor of Eugene and the city manager
will join the newly formed Save Westmoreland
Coalition Tuesday night to discuss the Univer
sity’s intent to sell Westmoreland Apartments.
The Save Westmoreland Coalition is made up
of representatives of various student and
community groups that are opposed to the
University’s intent to sell the 404-unit complex.
University student Tesia Blonski hopes the
meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Tliesday in the
EMU Fir Room, will reiterate the coalition’s op
position to the sale and will give more elected
officials a chance to hear student concerns.
“It’s basically just a public forum to be like
‘this is exactly what the University has present
ed to us, and this is exactly why it doesn’t work
for us,’” Blonski said.
Blonksi said the University’s plans to help the
WESTMORELAND, page 4A