Cal volleyball defeats Ducks at Mac Court | 9A An independent newspaper at the University of Oregon www.dailyemerald.com SINCE 1900 | Volume 107, Issue 27 | Friday, September 30, 2005 Housing plans roll-over meal points Supreme If the policy goes into effect, residence hall points will no longer Court set expire at the end of the week to review BY JOE BAILEY NEWS REPORTER A yet-to-be announced plan to allow resi- dence hall students to roll over unused meal suicide law points from week to week could be in place by winter term, though housing officials say If justices favor Gonzales, it could take longer. physicians could be prosecuted Student leaders have talked about roll-over meal points for many years. Currently, stu- for assisting the terminally ill dents living in the residence halls have be- tween Sunday morning and midnight Satur- BY CHRIS HAGAN day to spend their allotted meal points. NEWS REPORTER The U.S. Supreme Court will begin “Housing supports the concept of roll-over hearing arguments Wednesday on as an added enhancement to our students’ whether Oregon physicians can be prose- meal plan,” University Housing Food Services cuted by the federal government for carry- Director Tom Driscoll wrote in an e-mail. ing out Oregon’s assisted suicide law. Housing has not yet announced a compre- The case, Gonzales v. Oregon, revolves hensive plan. Additional information will be around Oregon’s Death With Dignity Act. needed before a plan and date is announced, Driscoll said. The ODWDA allows people to end their own lives if they are diagnosed with a ter- ZANE RITT | PHOTOGRAPHER Driscoll said a plan for roll-over meal points minal disease and given six months to should include a cap on how many points can Freshman Natalie Alkire purchases food at the Hamilton Grab 'n Go Marketplace with her meal points. The plan to live. The most common method of assist- use a roll-over meal points program may be implemented sometime this year. POINTS, page 4A ed suicide is orally taking a barbiturate drug, though that is up to the physician. Patients must be Oregon residents over the age of 18 able to make medical decisions for themselves. No one but the patient can Construction noise continues on campus make a request to utilize the act. Patients must make two oral requests at Earplugs are available for those who must cope with the sounds least 15 days apart and submit a written request to their physician. Physicians can of building the Living Learning Center, but only some are bothered refuse a request if they believe the pa- tient’s judgment is impaired. BY BRITTNI MCCLENAHAN Eyster said that most of the noisy work was fin- Since 1998, 208 people have used the NEWS REPORTER ished during the summer, and most of the LLC is ODWDA to end their lives. “dried-in” and ready for construction during the Oregon voters approved the ODWDA in With University construction of the Living rainy season. Learning Center and the expansion and renova- 1994 and in 1997. The act has survived tion of the Student Health Center, some students “Periodically we will have to start earlier than 8 appeals in both the district court and the living on campus are adjusting to the sound of a.m.,” Eyster said. “We encourage students liv- 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as an cranes, cement trucks and construction workers. ing in the halls to check the LLC Web site for up- attempt by the U.S. Congress to outlaw the dates, and fliers will also be posted in the halls to drugs used in the act. “After you stay up late studying you really just warn students of an earlier start.” want to sleep,” said Dan Williams, a freshman The technical issues of Gonzales v. Ore- environmental studies major and resident of Mor- Other students, like Lauren Taylor, another gon involve whether former Attorney Gen- ton Hall. “This morning I couldn’t sleep because resident of Morton Hall, aren’t too bothered eral John Ashcroft correctly interpreted it sounded like there was someone banging right by the noise. the Controlled Substances Act’s provision outside my window.” Taylor, whose room is adjacent to the LLC which allows the attorney general to pro- University Housing purchased enough weekday construction, said that while she hears hibit medical practices he or she deems earplugs to last through the construction period, her share of “screechy” noise, it doesn’t really are “inconsistent with the public interest.” and students who are bothered by noise have bother her. Ashcroft issued the “Ashcroft Directive” been instructed to pick up a pair from the area “It really feels just like part of getting used to in 2001, stating that “assisting suicide is desk in Carson Hall. my new life here,” Taylor said. “Just like adjust- not a legitimate medical purpose.” He au- Mike Eyster, assistant vice president for stu- ing to a new shower, new group of neighbors. I thorized the prosecution of physicians dent affairs and director of housing, hasn’t re- have new sounds that I hear all the time. I think I who distributed drugs to patients under ceived one complaint about the LLC construction have really tuned it out.” ODWDA. Students moving into the residence halls aren’t since fall classes started. TIM BOBOSKY | PHOTO EDITOR A judge issued an injunction, and the officially notified of the construction noise before “Most of the calls I get now are students and district court ruled that Ashcroft did not signing their contracts, but for students like Blake Construction of the new Living Learning Center contin- parents who are really excited about it,” Eyster have the authority to overturn Oregon law. Locher, a resident of the Honors Hall in McAlis- ues near Carson Hall and is scheduled to take place from said. “People want to know how to get in there 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. According to University Housing’s Ashcroft appealed to the 9th Circuit Court for next year.” NOISE, page 5A Web site, the building will be finished in fall 2006. of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the state, prompting Ashcroft to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case was transferred to current At- torney General Alberto Gonzales after Few complain after housing code change Ashcroft resigned in 2004. The new standards require Eugene landlords to maintain proper These were not included because they caused The case touches on other controversial intense disagreement between renters, property issues. Many groups wish for the law to be plumbing, heating, weatherproofing and structural integrity managers and landlords, said ASUO Campus Or- abolished because they believe that assist- ganizer Brett Rowlett, who was a member of the ed suicide is morally wrong. Others see the case as a clash between states’ rights BY KATY GAGNON pervisor Rachelle Nicholas said. interest group Eugene Citizens for Housing Stan- NEWS REPORTER dards last year. Rowlett worked with city coun- and the federal government’s ability to en- Nicholas said this may be because most act a consistent drug policy. Fewer than a dozen people have called the city renters are unaware of the new standards, but a cilors and the planning and development depart- “This is a case that will test whether or to complain about their rentals since the city en- marketing campaign designed to raise public ment to create the standards. not the court is serious about federalism,” acted new housing standards and created an awareness of the code will begin in October. “Our goal was to focus on the basic habitabili- University School of Law assistant profes- agency to enforce them in July. ty of rental properties,” he said. It’s too early to know how many people will sor Robert Tsai said. Late last year, the city created an agency to en- use the code, she said. Rowlett said there are other ways students can Though Tsai says the case looks good force housing codes that ensure proper plumb- protect themselves from poor living conditions. Since July, there has only been one violation, for Oregon, the fact that it involves drugs ing, heating, weatherproofing and structural in- involving a broken window, and it was quickly Before signing a lease, students should consult complicates things. tegrity after several groups, including the resolved, she said. the ASUO checklist, available in Suite 4 of the University’s student government, pushed for it. EMU, for appropriate housing conditions, such “When the case of drug regulation There have been several tenant complaints comes up, the court normally sides with So far, the city has received limited complaints that are not covered by the new code, including as heating and water pressure. Also, they should regarding the new code, Code Enforcement Su- mold, chipped paint and appliances. HOUSING, page 5A LAW, page 6A CommentaryCommentary Friday, September 30, 2005 NEWS STAFF (541) 346-5511 I In my opinion I Editorial PARKER HOWELL EDITOR IN CHIEF SHADRA BEESLEY MANAGING EDITOR EVOLUTION is the solution Pink is all MEGHANN M. CUNIFF JARED PABEN More than 75 years ago, a teacher ationism: “The Act impermissibly en- NEWS EDITORS named John Scopes fought to teach dorses religion by advancing the reli- EVA SYLWESTER SENIOR NEWS REPORTER evolution in the classroom. Astonish- gious belief that a supernatural being JOE BAILEY ingly enough, that battle continues to created humankind. … The Act’s pri- the rage in KATY GAGNON CHRISTOPHER HAGAN this day. mary purpose was to change the public BRITTNI MCCLENAHAN It is no longer about getting evolu- school science curriculum to provide NICHOLAS WILBUR NEWS REPORTERS tion in the classroom; it is about keep- persuasive advantage to a particular re- EMILY SMITH ing baseless alternative theories out.