With an eye to the 21st century, the Erb Memorial Union is relocating several key services, adding a suite of offices and preparing to undergo a major renovation of its food service and recreation areas.

"Some very exciting things are happening at the EMU," says Director Charles "Dusty" Miller. "The EMU Board and administrators, in consultation with several experts, are working closely with members of the campus community to be sure we're on track and headed in the right direction."

Funding for all of the construction projects comes from dedicated student building fees or EMU reserves, with no state tax dollars involved.

The relocations of several key activities within the EMU will provide better, more convenient service to campus and community customers. The office addition will help relieve pressure for always-tight work space within the busy campus center.

Already in this academic year, Miller says, the EMU has opened a new convenience store in the space formerly occupied by the Fountain Court Cafe.

Construction began this month to relocate and remodel the university scheduling and information office from the mezzanine level to the former Main Desk and convenience store area on the main floor. The new, easier-to-find information and scheduling desk is set to open by the start of spring term.

The Campus Planning Committee has given tentative approval to building a new "Greek suite" office addition of about 1,100 square feet on the south side of the existing ASUO Office Suite 4. This space will accommodate all fraternity and sorority advisory staff, who joined the EMU as part of the recent reorganization of student affairs.

"That's just the beginning," Miller points out. "We have started planning the $4-plus million renovation of our west-wing food service and recreation areas, with two planning groups meeting through the end of March to review data supplied by two professional consultants."

The first of these outside experts was ISES Corp. of Stone Mountain, Ga., a professional structural engineering firm whose study of the existing portion of the EMU targeted for renovation found it to be in good physical shape, Miller says.

Thomas Ricca Associates of Denver, Colo., conducted the second study, a market research mail survey of the campus community that produced about 1,100 usable responses for its effort to gauge user attitudes and customer needs.

"This firm is internationally known for its expertise in assisting in the redesign of university unions, with emphasis on food service, vending and multipurpose spaces," Miller says. "Preliminary data has been shared, and the exciting results will help us modernize the space we have to allow increased flexibility in adjusting to market forces."

Besides its food service and recreation components, he says the renovation project also includes moving the EMU's in-house computer network support station to a larger mezzanine-level space as well as various accessibility and utility changes.

According to Miller, members of the existing EMU planning groups will be folded into the campus-wide user group required by campus planning procedures to assure occupant and user input in the project's conceptualization and design.

"Our hope," he says, "is that an architectural firm will be selected by June, so that construction can begin no later than June 1997, and the brand new facility can be in place prior to Fall Term 1998."

A public forum about the latest thinking surrounding transportation alternatives for people who commute to campus is scheduled from 4-5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, in Room 128 of the Chiles Business Center.

Among the topics to be addressed are strategies to explore as alternatives to expensive parking facilities, says Christopher Ramey, University Planning director. ASUO, the Campus Planning Committee and LTD are event sponsors.

"Possibilities include improved carpooling, bus schedules and bike parking," he says. "Other choices could involve developing more close-to-campus housing and guaranteeing a ride home for those who walk, take the bus or ride a bike."

Vice President Dan Williams will moderate a panel of invited transportation experts, who will speak briefly about their areas of expertise. The audience will be invited to ask questions of the panel.

A form to submit comments and short essays by panelists are available on the World Wide Web at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~uplan/transpo/AltforumHomePage.html

For information, call 6-5562.

Club Sports director Sandy Vaughn had no idea what the crew team was up to that Saturday morning six years ago.

"They invited me out to the lake to watch them row. I had recently helped them through the process of buying a new boat, and they were real excited," she says. "But, I had thought it was sort of odd when they kept calling me and asking, `Now you are sure you are going to be able to come out Saturday?' since it was supposed to be just a practice."

Nonetheless, Vaughn went out to the lake.

"But as soon as I got out of the car, all the rowers came out, picked me up and carried me down to the boathouse. It was decorated with balloons and streamers, and they had the boat there with my name on it. It was a huge surprise. We had a little ceremony, and it was just an incredible honor."

Vaughn came to Club Sports in 1974 after receiving her master's degree in recreation and leisure studies. Before returning to graduate school, she had worked five years overseas for the military.

"I worked in Special Services, which operates recreational programs and facilities, in both Korea and Germany," she says.

Vaughn believes she has the best job on campus because of the voluntary nature of Club Sports.

"The students are here because they want to be here. Since there is nothing mandatory about this program, students are already excited about participating. For me, there is one experience after another of helping students meet the challenges in their jobs as coordinators, coaches or members of a club. And that is really what our program is about--allowing students to have an out-of-classroom learning experience," she says.

When she can find the spare time, Vaughn enjoys skiing, swimming and gardening. And she tries not to worry about things she has no control over.

"I think you can waste so much energy when you worry about things or people you cannot have any effect over. I try to keep my concerns and my energy moving in a positive direction.

"I just make the best of what I have," she continues, "and I let it go at that."

--COURTNEY HEDBERG, COMMUNICATIONS

Year-end gifts to The Oregon Campaign have boosted the campaign total two-thirds of the way toward its $150 million goal.

UO Foundation figures show the capital campaign's coffers held $104 million on Dec. 31. Halfway through the 1996 fiscal year, fund-raisers have brought in $19.3 million since July 1.

So far, the campaign has generated funds for 26 new endowed chairs and professorships--more than doubling the previous total of 20 faculty endowments--and it has brought in $13 million in scholarships and other student support. More than $10.7 million has been raised to enhance undergraduate teaching and learning.

Officially launched in October 1994, the public phase of The Oregon Campaign is set to continue into 1998. The largest private fund-raising effort in the university's and state's history, the campaign continues to run six months ahead of schedule.

This spring, senior UO administrators will be approached to help set the pace of giving for the general campus phase of the fund-raising effort which will be launched during the 1996-97 academic year, says Vice President Brodie Remington, Public Affairs and Development.

Among recent campaign gifts are the following:

Minnie Churchill gave $700,000 for Presidential Scholarships aimed at students from small Oregon timber communities.

The estate of the late Margaret Mitchell gave $600,000 to support the Communication Disorders and Sciences program in the College of Education and to fund scholarships for music and English students.

The Woodard Family Foundation gave $500,000 to establish a new instructorship in sports marketing in the Charles H. Lundquist College of Business. The endowment will be used to enhance the new curriculum initiated by the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center.

An anonymous donor pledged $200,000 to the College of Education to establish the Fairway Endowed Faculty and Outreach Fund. The fund will provide support for special education faculty members and outreach services for children with disabilities and their families.

Kenneth O'Connell, former Oregon Supreme Court justice and UO law professor, gave $150,000 to create a senior fellowship in appellate judging at the law school.

Theodore Stern, Anthropology emeritus, and his wife Mary have given $62,312 to be divided between faculty support in Music and the director's endowment in the Museum of Natural History.

UO Foundation trustee Mick Humphreys and his wife Judy have pledged $50,000 to endow a new scholarship in men's golf. Their gift will be matched by an earlier $1 million anonymous donor.

The Alice Tyler Trust has given $40,000 to finance the Alice C. Tyler Aquarium Facility at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston.

UO Foundation trustee Sally McCracken and her husband Paul have pledged $32,500 to help purchase equipment for the Information Technology Center in the Architecture and Allied Arts Library. Their gift will be matched by the Solari Endowment.

For every dollar invested in the University of Oregon, Oregonians receive $6.80 in direct economic benefit to the state, according to recently released reports.

The UO's $335-million economic impact represents nearly $110 per person for each of the state's 3.1 million citizens. That compares to a tax investment of about $49.2 million, or just $15.85 per person, to operate the university.

The economic benefits are outlined in the 1994-95 fiscal year report, "University of Oregon Impact on the State Economy." The university's economic impact is calculated in direct dollars, without using an economic multiplier.

"The University of Oregon generates this huge economic impact in spite of a state tax contribution that shrank to just 19 percent of operating costs last year, down from 33 percent in 1990," says Randy MacDonald, Legislative and Community Relations director. "The size of the university's economic contribution clearly demonstrates that UO officials have found creative ways to stretch shrinking tax dollars to continue offering a world-class education to students, while making tremendous cultural and service contributions throughout the state."

UO students spent an estimated $93 million at restaurants, hotels and motels, retail establishments, movie theaters, grocery stores and gas stations, the report says. About 75 percent of the university's 17,000 students live off the campus.

UO operational expenses, including payroll, total $232 million. Of this, $78 million went for materials and supplies, including contracts with nearly 2,500 Oregon vendors for goods and services, and payroll costs accounted for $154 million. The university spent another $10 million on construction.

A companion report on the local economy says the UO work force of more than 3,800 employees makes the university Lane County's largest employer.

During fiscal year 1994-95, the university attracted $140 million to Oregon from out-of-state students, intercollegiate and national athletic and cultural events, private gifts, research grants, contracts and financial aid. MacDonald says re-investment of these funds helps fuels the state's economic vitality.

For a brochure or more information, call 6-5020.

Toddlers from 1-2 years old, as well as those from 24-30 months old, are among the children who will be served by the new Vivian Olum Child Development Center. Through an editorial oversight, the Feb. 5 News & Views cover story listed just the older toddlers. Also, the Olum center is being built with a combination of private, non-tax dollars and student funds contributed through ASUO. The student contribution was not explicitly stated in at least one place in the story.

University Senate nominations open

Eligible faculty who wish to be a candidate for the University Senate in this spring's election have until March 15 to indicate their interest to their dean or director, the chair of their dean's advisory committee or Keith Richard, secretary of the faculty. One-half of the University Senate will be elected in April for two-year terms lasting through May 1998. For information, call 6-3077.

Self-identification forms distributed

Forms authorizing the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity to release for university-related purposes the names and campus addresses of individual employees who identify themselves as members of a minority group or as disabled persons have been distributed to all UO employees, according to Director Ken Lehrman. Employees who choose to complete the form may receive information about faculty and student events, student advising and outreach, fellowship opportunities based on diversity, university committee openings and similar activities. New forms, submitted to Affirmative Action, will invalidate all previous releases. For forms and more information, call 6-3123.

CLARIFICATION: Composer's nationality

Orlando di Lasso, the subject of Peter Bergquist's current research as reported in the Feb. 5 "Our People" column, was not Dutch. He was born in Mons, now in Belgium, and French was his native language. di Lasso spent much of his youth in Italy and there adapted the Italian form of his name. An inaccurate encyclopedic entry was the source of the misinformation.

OPB to broadcast John Frohnmayer talks

Four of the five lectures delivered by John Frohnmayer as part of the fall Arts Management lecture series will be broadcast each Monday during March by Oregon Public Broadcasting station KOPB-FM in Portland. Although reception may be weak in Eugene, all will be aired at 91.5, 102.1 (cable) and 103.1 during OPB's "Noon Report," from approximately 12:15-12:45 p.m. The schedule is "Hate Speech: Should Intolerance Be Tolerated?" (March 4); "Collisions on the Information Superhighway (March 11); "Amending the Constitution with Reckless Abandon" (March 18); and "Ethics, Politics and Art: Aliens to Each Other" (March 25). The talk on censorship will not air because it included slides.

In the spotlight

Edward Kameenui, Education, has been appointed to a National Research Council committee. The Committee on the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children will study effective interventions for young children who are at risk of having problems learning to read. Kameenui, newly appointed director of the Institute for the Development of Educational Achievement (IDEA), also is associate director of the National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators (NCITE). The NRC panel will meet Feb. 22-23 in Washington, D.C.

Lynn Kahle, Marketing, has been named acting president of the 1,000-member Society for Consumer Psychology. The society, a division of the American Psychological Association, earlier had named Kahle president-elect.

Stephen Durrant, Asian and Pacific Studies, and Steven Shankman, Humanities Center and English, have received a $160,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, one of just two awarded this year for collaborative projects. They will write a book, "The Siren and the Sage: Knowledge and Wisdom in Ancient Greece and China." The book will explore both the similarities and the differences between the Greek classics and the literature and language of China.

Jody Jensen, Exercise and Movement Science, has received an American Federation of Aging Research grant to learn about changes in balance control associated with aging. Working with GTF Courtney Hall, a physical therapist, Jensen will study how people 65 years and older maintain balance during standing and walking. She aims to develop strategies for decreasing falls by older adults, a tendency that makes falling the leading cause of accidental death in that age group.

Thirty-six faculty have been elected to the newly constituted University Senate. Serving through May 1996, the new senators and their constituencies are Cynthia Girling, Jeff Hurwit and Polly Welch, Architecture and Allied Arts; Suzanne Clark, Elizabeth Schaughency, Jacqueline Schachter and Mary Wood, Humanities; Dietrich Belitz, Stephen Kevan, Kwangjai Park and Martin Wybourne, Natural Sciences; Sandy Marie Harvey, Stephen Haynes and Geraldine Moreno, Social Sciences; Philip Ferguson, Education; Carl Bybee, Journalism and Communication; Maurice Holland, Law; Anne Tedards, Music; Mark Watson, University Library System; and Jacqueline Gibson, Officers of Administration. New senators serving through May 1997 and their constituencies are Doug Blandy and Howard Davis, Architecture and Allied Arts; Dianne Dugaw, Linda Kintz and Cheyney Ryan, Humanities; Paul Engelking, James Isenberg and Davison Soper, Natural Sciences; Martha Ravits, Social Sciences; Lynne Anderson-Inman, Education; Ann Maxwell, Journalism and Communication; Wayne Westling, Law; Steve Owen, Music; Alice Allen, University Library System; and Jane DeGidio and Anne Leavitt, Officers of Administration.

Two more UO home pages on the World Wide Web have been selected by the McKinley Group as Magellan 4-Star sites, the group's top rating. Honored were Richard Bear, Admissions, (http://www-vms.uoregon.edu/~rbear/), and Chris Luebkeman, Architecture, Mike Holcomb, Fine Arts, and the New Media Center staff, which created the Architectonics Studio page (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~struct/).

On the move

Bill Steffen, who helped the University of North Carolina capture two national championships in the last three years, has accepted appointment as the first head coach of women's soccer at the University of Oregon. Now completing his Ph.D. in sport/exercise psychology at North Carolina, Steffen was an all-conference player at Furman University and SUNY-Albany and was a goalie for the Albany Capitals in the American Professional Soccer League for four seasons. Oregon, which announced last fall that soccer would become its eighth intercollegiate sport for women, will begin playing a limited schedule next fall. The addition of women's soccer implements a five-year goal outlined in a Gender Equity Policy Statement by the UO Intercollegiate Athletics Committee in 1993.

In print

Henry Alley, Honors College, has had his book, The Quest for Anonymity: The Novels of George Eliot, accepted by the University of Delaware Press.