Summer Slowdowns in Store for Eugene
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» FOLLOW BREAKING NEWS, SPORTS AND OPINION DURING THE WEEK AT DAILYEMERALD.COM All together Track & Cooperative living has Field unique atmosphere, Women set to make another cuisine title run; men must rebuild Scene » Page 5 Sports » Page 7 W E E K L Y OREGON Su MME R EDITION JUNE 21 - 25, 2010 The independent student newspaper at theDA University of Oregon | Since I 1900 | LY dailyemerald.com EMERALVolumeD 112, Issue 2 LOCAL HiGHER EDUCATION Six percent Audacious alpacas tuition hike Alpaca Festival of Oregon brings curious creatures to community’s attention ANDREW HITZ | FREELANCE REPORTER instituted When an animal has the audacity to gaze at you straight in the face while it stands split- legged and unashamedly takes a crap, you know you’re dealing with a special one. Alpacas are in 2010-11 curious creatures. Their habits are individual- Increase was implemented ized and pretty unpredictable. Last weekend’s Alpaca Festival of Oregon displayed the animals’ amid ongoing state budget odd natures as they tentatively gazed around crisis, $31.6 million in cuts the Lane County Fairgrounds arena. Many al- lowed some human attendees to approach and RYAN BUCKLEY | NEWS REPORTER pet them as they stood on the other side of their Students will see a 6 percent increase in enclosures, while others thrashed around like tuition next year as a result of cuts in state spooked horses. funding for higher education. The festival is a small one. However, as small On June 4, the Oregon State Board of as it is, the breeders and alpaca farmers are fer- Higher Education met to review and ap- vent friends and caretakers of the animals. They prove budget figures for the 2010-11 aca- love touting the animal’s personalities and the demic year, including resource allocation magical qualities of their coats, referred to as and budget cuts. fiber post-shear. The finalized plans will result in a 6 per- “There’s no lanolin in it, so you can wear it cent tuition increase at the University, from next to your body and there’s no itch. It’s hy- $6,180 in-state per year in the 2009-10 aca- poallergenic. The World War I flying aces wore demic year to $6,804 for the coming year for alpaca underwear to stay warm,” Steve Fountain, undergraduate students enrolled in 12 cred- owner of Alpaca Country, said. Fountain’s farm its. The increase is due, in part, to a $31.6 is located just outside of Coburg. million reduction in the 2009-11 operational Alpaca fiber is wonderfully soft; some breed- budget mandated by Oregon Governor ers even seem to think that it rivals cashmere. Ted Kulongoski in reaction to falling state Peruvians and indigenous peoples of the moun- revenue levels. tainous Andes region have used the fiber for centuries to combat the cold, but also for cloth- Turn TO TUITION | PAGE 3 IVAR VONG | PHOTO EDITOR ing during the warm summer months. The fiber, when woven into a garment, has the un- Madi Miller, 5, leads “Otter,” one of Diana Chappell’s trained alpacas, over an obstacle during the Alpaca Festival of Oreogon at the Lane County Fairgrounds on Sunday. usual quality of wicking sweat away, somewhat like Under Armour spandex, and ensuring the frantically darting around the inside of its en- he has made a point of wearing his brimmed CAMPUS wearer a pleasant body temperature. closure, upended the fencing and attempted an hat low and averting his eyes when feeding or “Cross country runners have started to escape. Fortunately, multiple experienced alpaca interacting with his alpacas. wear alpaca socks because there’s no sweat,” hands were on deck and successfully restrained Much of an alpaca’s personality, as with any Fountain said. the troubled ‘paca, but not before he popped off animals, is contingent upon how they’ve Journalism The festival featured a fiber competi- the zip-ties holding the enclosure together. been treated during adolescence. Sidney, a tion and various seminars put on by alpaca “Oh, he’ll be going home tomorrow,” two-year-old of Fountain’s, was one of the aficionados such Amanda VandenBosch, VandenBosch said. most docile and affectionate at the festi- a breeder out of Bend with extensive judg- “They’re non-aggressive animals. They don’t val, readily accepting a stroke on the neck class offers ing experience; Patrick Long, a Corvallis vet- bite, but — well, they spit amongst themselves,” or a light pat of the head, while most oth- erinarian, over half of whose clientele is ei- Fountain said. ers darted to the other side of the pen when ther llamas or alpacas; and Eric Hoffman, an Fortunately, the spitting was held to a mini- reached for. “She was calm as a baby, but I held her interaction camelid author, researcher and breeder. mum at the festival, but from what Fountain Taken out of their standard pastoral setting, reports, it’s something to be wary of. every day,” Fountain said. “I’ve got a lit- alpacas can accomplish wondrous feats. A par- “It stinks. It just smells nasty,” Fountain tle one right now that I’m trying to do that ticularly skittish alpaca at the festival, who had said, referring to the regurgitated spew that with, but she’s just feisty. She doesn’t want for athletes just been inspected by VandenBosch and was the incensed creatures can dish out. In fact, Turn TO ALPACAS | PAGE 3 Zero Week class J408 Sports SAFETY Media tried to strengthen how athletes and media work together RYAN BUCKLEY | NEWS REPORTER Summer slowdowns in store for Eugene Compacting a quarter’s worth of instruc- Traffic will be congested around tion into a just a few a days, the Zero Week classes held between spring and summer construction areas as city fixes streets terms are a chance for University students STEFAN VERBANO | NEWS REPORTER to take courses that are a departure from the normal catalogue. The Eugene Department of Public Works (DPW) This year, the Zero Week term, which is counting on a busy summer for road construc- ran from June 14-18, featured a unique class tion, with a dozen projects already in the works all from the School of Journalism and Commu- over town. Of the projects nearest to campus that nication: J408 Sports Media. In this course, might affect students’ commuting and leisurely journalism students were given the opportu- travels, here are four to be mindful of: nity to interact and work with student-ath- • 29th Avenue and Willamette Street: Day trips to letes to foster stronger relationships between hike Spencer’s Butte might take a little longer than media and sports figures. usual because of a lane closure at a heavily trafficked The course was a collaborative effort intersection near the southern edge of town. Brown between advertising professor Deborah Contracting of Eugene is in the midst of completely Morrison and assistant athletic director rebuilding the intersection using concrete surfacing James Harris. Their intention was to both with the hope that a thorough repair will deter the instruct student-athletes in how to present need for further work in the short run. themselves to the media and give student IVAR VONG | PHOTO EDITOR Turn TO ROADS | PAGE 3 Cars negotiate a four-way stop at East 29th Avenue and Willamette Street on Sunday amid construction equipment. Turn TO CLASS | PAGE 3 TODAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY EDITORIAL BOARD Tyree Harris | Opinion editor (541) 346-5511 x321 Nora Simon | Editor in chief PARTLY SUNNY PARTLY SUNNY PARTLY SUNNY [email protected] 72º/47º 78º/51º 78º/51º OPINION TALK TO US IN MY OPiniON | TYREE HARRIS Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged and should be sent to letters Shed A tear for allergY sufferers @dailyemerald.com. The Willamette Valley has normal in the summertime, such her, and she did the worst thing and then imagine being told that my day. Letters to the editor looked more like Death Valley as running, playing basketball or any allergy head could do: the fatal the only relief to your condition are limited to 250 Will this new info grant me the words. Guest to allergy sufferers this summer. living, my chest congestion makes first itch. is the temporary one granted to ability to go on a afternoon hike commentaries With all that rain early this month me wheeze so much that any From there, the story took an all you by a dependence upon steeply without dying? (Not that I neces- are limited to 600 suppressing the pollen in the air, athletic activity makes me cough. too familiar turn: The irresistible overpriced four-hour tablets of sarily would anyway, but knowing words. Submissions the following days of sunshine ig- For Christ’s sake, even the mind- burning eyes grew more and more groggy nirvana. I could is nice.) should include name, nited a delayed (and rather tragic) less act of gaming with my boys is irritable with every stroke of her in- If allergy sufferers don’t take their Will this new info grant me phone number whirlwind of pollenization. ruined by three-minute eye-itching dex finger. Eventually, she wound medication, those sweet summer the ability to laugh in the face of and address. The Last week was like hay fever pur- breaks, two-min- up with eyes that were so swollen, winds that grant many pleasure un- freshly mowed grass? Emerald reserves gatory. I spent more time scratching ute nose clearing she could barely function. Pritch- der the beaming sun become noth- the right to edit all my eyes than actually using them.