Where the Heart IS PAGE 2 for Eugene Residents, PULSE Communal Living Is More Applications Than Just Sharing Space
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The independent student newspaper at the University of Oregon dailyemerald.com SINCE 1900 | Volume 109, Issue 53 | Thursday, October 25, 2007 OPINION IN MY OPINION Law school Campus Greeks should start acting Greek. WHERE THE HEART IS PAGE 2 For Eugene residents, PULSE communal living is more applications than just sharing space MIKE O’BRIEN News Reporter in flux llen Hancock eats well. His big orange house in Eugene’s South University neighbor- hood boasts quite an impres- nationwide Asive garden — greens, herbs, nuts, peaches, even passion fruit — and on Fewer students are applying to law ‘ROCKY HORROR’ any given night, the fragrant aroma of The quirky musical is herbs and fresh produce wafts through schools across the U.S., but UO Law back again this year. the kitchen. Hancock doesn’t like to applications are steadily rising PAGE 5 cook every night and luckily for him, he only has to do it once a week. Hancock lives in Du•má, named for ALLIE GRASGREEN the Kalapuya word for “home,” with News Reporter nine other people as part of an urban While law schools nationwide are in the intentional-living community. midst of an applicant rate downturn, the num- Commonly referred to as communes, ber of University School of Law applicants is intentional-living communities are most steadily increasing. often associated with the hippie move- Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions’ annual ment of the late 1960s and early 1970s. survey of law schools showed, as expected, “A lot of people are not very much the number of overall applicants decreased of aware of how widespread it is,” said last year by 7.4 percent. It was the second Tim Miller, a professor of religious stud- consecutive year of a decrease in ies at the University of Kansas who will applicant numbers. be giving a talk on communal living at Approximately 50 percent of American Bar the University Thursday. “What I intend Association-approved universities reported a to do is show that it’s alive and well.” consecutive two-year decline. Paradoxically, SKIMPY COSTUMES Eugene is home to several inten- 79 percent of surveyed admissions officers said What’s behind the tional-living communities, including their admissions processes have become no revealing costume the St. John Bosco House, a home for less competitive. trend? PAGE 9 young women and their children; Net- “Across the board that is a good-sized re- SHIFTY PSYCHICS work for a New Culture, a group that duction,” said Steve Marietti, director of sees community as the backbone of Pre-Law Programs at Kaplan. “Certainly it Tiffany Reagan discusses the social change; and Solid Groundz, is not a sharp drop-off, but it’s meaningful legitimacy of seers. turn to COMMUNAL LIVING, page 4 for students.” PAGE 6 The meaning, though, is a bit complicat- ed. If fewer applicants are applying to law SPORTS AT A GLANCE schools, logically there is less competition. But at the same time, Marietti said, every year Folklore Talk (Top) the incoming class is more intelligent and Sponsored by the Folklore Studies pro- Allen Hancock, more prepared. gram, Tim Miller, a religious studies pro- member of the “The overall pool of applicants every year Du•má inten- gets a little bit better,” said Marietti. “The fessor at the University of Kansas, will tional-living com- give a talk at the University Thursday. munity, stands in really ambitious students get that much more committed to getting in.” “Communes Live! The quiet presence front of the house where he lives Because of the selectivity of law schools, of intentional communities in America with nine other students with serious interest must work (and especially in Oregon)” will take people. harder than ever. place at 3:30 p.m. in the Gerlinger (Near Left) Kirst- The number of applicants to the University Lounge. Free and open to the public, en Rudestam has increased from 1,867 during the 2004- VOLLEYBALL the event will last about an hour. cooks dinner for 2005 academic year to 2,054 this year. Libero Katie Swoboda the house. Five “We typically offer admission to about a nights out of the puts her body on the third of the pool,” said Tee Muntz, law school line every time she week, two resi- dents cook dinner admissions assistant. takes the court. Assistant Dean of Admissions Lawrence PAGE 13 for the rest of their housemates. Seno was not available to comment on what (Far left) Fresh might account for the University’s increase in ONLINE and organic foods applicants, but Muntz mentioned the Univer- are constantly be- sity’s ranking as No. 44 on PreLaw Magazine’s ing prepared at recently issued list of best-value law schools. Du•má, an urban Lewis & Clark Law School, ranked No. 58, intentional-living community close experienced a major upsurge in applicants to campus with from 2006 to 2007; the number rose by ap- a large garden of proximately 250. However, this increase fruit trees, berry followed two consecutive years of decline. vines, vegetables Lewis & Clark’s situation is precisely and herbs. PHOTOS BY CONNER JAY | Photo Editor turn to ENROLLMENT, page 4 SLIDE SHOW Check out a slide show Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Novick returns to UO from a local corn maze. DAILYEMERALD.COM In his second campaign visit to the nation and the most expensive Senate race in University, Novick discussed union Oregon history. Jake Weigler, Novick’s campaign manag- WEATHER votes, the IRS, and $20 bills er, said plans to organize a debate between Novick and Merkley are moving “slowly.” ROBERT D’ANDREA Weigler said he wants the two to have a cou- News Reporter ple of debates in Lane County, but “it takes TODAY University alumnus and U.S. Senate can- two to tango.” Partly cloudy 58°/36° didate Steve Novick made his second cam- Novick started his speech by recalling how paign visit to campus Wednesday to talk to he ended up enrolled in the University when College Democrats. he was 14 because schools closed in Cottage State Sen. Vicki Walker, who is running Grove. He graduated from the University af- for secretary of state, was advertised to ter three years in 1981 at the age of 17. FRIDAY appear at the forum but couldn’t make it “I was very proud that Ronald Reagan Sunny 60°/36° because of a scheduling conflict. got a worse reception at the U of O campus Novick is running against Oregon House than anywhere else he campaigned in 1980,” Speaker Jeff Merkley in a primary contest for Novick said to applause. the Democratic nomination and a shot at Re- The candidate went through the bullet JAROD OPPERMAN | Photographer publican Gordon Smith’s Senate seat. Politi- points of his campaign: opposing the war in SATURDAY cal pundits expect next November’s Senate U.S. Senate candidate Steve Novick answers questions during his speech in the Sunny 63°/40° race to be one of the most competitive in the turn to NOVICK, page 4 Ben Linder Room in the EMU. Novick hopes to win Sen. Gordon Smith’s seat. EDITORIAL BOARD ELON GLUCKLICH | Opinion editor LAURA POWERS | Editor in chief KATIE MICHAEL | Managing editor BRYN JANSSON | Senior copy chief JOSHUA GRENZSUND | Columnist Thursday, October 25, 2007 OPINION JOBETTA HEDELMAN | Freelance editor NEWS STAFF (541) 346-5511 IN MY OPINION | JOSEPH VANDEHEY LAURA POWERS Editor in Chief KATIE MICHAEL Managing Editor In practice, democracy is different from reality JILL AHO Senior News Editor ERIC FLORIP News Editor Inevitably as the election season The great example of this in recent There is nothing inherently wrong ROBERT D’ANDREA nears, more and more media attention memory is the 2000 election. Whatever with a dictatorship; something must be TREVOR DAVIS ALLIE GRASGREEN is given to voting. Everything plummets you may believe about who won the wrong with the dictator. Nothing about JILL KIMBALL into a tawdry love affair with words popular vote in Florida, one fact remains a dictatorship says it must be unjust or RYAN KNUTSON MIKE O’BRIEN designed to inflame debate and bolster clear: Had Nader not been on the ballot, oppressive, but the nature of the system JASON N. REED ratings. So, I am going to use all these Gore would have likely won. Put anoth- lends itself to leaders who would make News Reporters hyped-up, over-used, beat-the-dead- er way, more people preferred Gore to it so. In response, democracy does not JOBETTA HEDELMAN Freelance Editor horse-while-it’s-down words now to get Bush than Bush to Gore, and yet Bush allow a single person to gain that kind JEFFREY DRANSFELDT them out of the way: hanging chad, vot- THE CLOCKWORK MIND won. Call me crazy, but that does not of power. If someone in a democracy Sports Editor ing machine, paper trail, recount, and seem to be the will of the people. did try to exploit everyone else, the JACOB MAY Senior Sports Reporter Florida (sorry, Floridians). In most of the democracies in the people would simply vote in their better KEVIN HUDSON But, to be honest, none of these spectacularly stupid events in human world, this system, known as plurality, interests to remove that power. DAN JONES history. Also never mind the times when Sports Reporters words really are about the voting. is used: Each person gets one vote and But in pure democracy, nothing pre- LINDSAY FUNSTON They are either about people throwing democracy — even when working per- whoever gets the most votes wins. It is vents a similar situation arising where Pulse Editor a temper tantrum for not getting their fectly — does not represent the will of a nice system for simplicity, but as noted the majority would oppress the minor- MATT SEVITS the people.