Basketball-arena site generating hoopla at University of Oregon

By The Associated Press

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EUGENE, Ore. — Faculty members at the University of Oregon want a campus committee to review the site selection for a new basketball arena, saying school President Dave Frohnmayer skipped the proper channels.

Faculty opponents of the Howe Field site say Frohnmayer set a bad precedent by ignoring long-standing procedures that give faculty and students a say in major decisions.

"The process has been flawed," said business professor Mike Russo.

The University Senate is set to discuss a resolution Wednesday that opposes Frohnmayer's decision. The resolution states that the senate "urges and expects" the administration to submit the site to the Campus Planning Committee.

Frohnmayer called the process fair and open and does not intend to revisit the decision.

The arena controversy has added weight to an ongoing debate over the role of faculty in making decisions. Some professors say the university is abandoning the traditional rule-making process that allows broad opportunities for campus involvement.

"It subverts the process of campus governance, which is a long-standing and much-revered process," said biology professor Nathan Tublitz, a former senate president. "We have an established process for siting facilities, especially large ones such as this, and that has been ignored."

Frohnmayer announced last month that the 14,000-seat arena, to be financed by private donors, will be built near the southeast corner of campus.

A consulting firm hired by the university spent five months analyzing a list of sites and gathering comments, and Frohnmayer made the final call.

Many faculty members who live in the neighborhood south of the university oppose the decision because they are concerned about their neighborhood.

Others say the site violates the long-range campus-development plan, which calls for that area to remain open space.

Frohnmayer said the usual procedure didn't apply because of the nature of the project, the way it's being financed and the desire to move as quickly as possible. He said a list of possible sites included some that were off campus, which would have been outside the planning committee's scope to evaluate.

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