Fearless swimmer
Ice cream — treats made simple
Casandra Shaffer, 10, to compete in national dwarf games • SPORTS, D1
AT HOME, F1
WEATHER TODAY
TUESDAY
Mostly sunny High 80, Low 46 Page C6
• June 22, 2010 50¢
Serving Central Oregon since 1903 www.bendbulletin.com
Still seeking a 4-year university, locals take plan to state
Shout for summer! (For real this time?)
Skateboard fatality at popular, steep spot
By Sheila G. Miller
It’s a reminder of the danger of Bend’s bigger hills, police say
The Bulletin
Central Oregon’s education community hopes to establish a freestanding, four-year university in the next 20 to 30 years, and even though there’s not yet funding for it, the group is taking its first steps to make that dream reality at a meeting next month. The Higher Education Assessment Team will present its final 44-page recommendation on college in Central Oregon to the State Board of Higher Education at a meeting in July. If the plan is accepted, administrators will get to work putting it into action. Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Vice President Becky Johnson said the board will vote on whether to accept the report. “If they accept it, then it would be up to those of us on the ground to start implementing those things,” she said. “It certainly doesn’t mean they give us money.” Di Saunders, the communications director for the Oregon University System, said the board’s support for the proposal doesn’t necessarily mean any funding for the project. “Even if the Board approves a recommendation, the (Oregon Legislature) still has to approve funding for it next year in the 2011 session, if funding is needed to fulfill the recommendation,” she wrote in an e-mail. “Thus, any funding from the state noted in the report is contingent upon state approval.” HEAT, a committee composed of 22 people including representatives from Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties, made its goal to increase the education offerings and opportunities for students in the region, and to increase enrollment at OSU-Cascades. See University / A5
By Erin Golden The Bulletin
The death of a 30-year-old skateboarder who lost control on a hill in northwest Bend is a reminder of the risks of a popular summertime activity, police and a skateboard instructor said Monday. Jacob Austin Vinson, of Bend, crashed and hit his head while skating on Northwest Stonepine Drive on Awbrey Butte late Sunday night or early Monday morning. A newspaper carrier passing through the area found Vinson in the middle of the street about 5 a.m. on Monday. Bend Police Lt. Ben Gregory said investigators found scuff marks in the road from the skateboard but no sign that a vehicle was involved in the crash or that it was anything other than an accident. “It’s fairly steep, and it is has a sharp curve where this occurred,” he said. Vinson was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. Gregory said police expect to get a full medical examiner’s report within the next few weeks. The hills of northwest Bend are among the top spots for local skateboarders, but many — including some very experienced skaters — avoid the steepest streets, said Gabe Triplette, a teaching professional at the Truck Stop Skate Park in Bend. See Death / A4
Photos of alleged shoplifters are displayed at Chung Fat Supermarket in New York. Chang W. Lee New York Times News Service
‘Pose and pay’ tests rights as it stops theft By Corey Kilgannon and Jeffrey E. Singer
TOP NEWS INSIDE
New York Times News Service
BOMB: Times Square suspect pleads guilty, calls it war, Page A3
Pete Erickson / The Bulletin
SUPREME COURT: Ban on advising terror groups upheld, Page A3
Adrian Pinto, 21⁄2, from Bend, plays in one of the water fountains at Juniper Swim & Fitness Center on Monday, the first day of summer. It was his first trip to the pool this year. Today should bring more sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70s, possibly reaching into the low 80s, said Diana Hayden, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pendleton. But temperatures could get a little less summer-like after that — a weather system is forecast to move in
Wednesday night, she said. That could bring a few more clouds and some wind on Wednesday, with temperatures in the upper 70s, before a slight chance of rain on Thursday and a drop in temperature to the lower 70s. The skies should start to clear up again on Friday, Hayden said. Saturday is expected to bring clearer skies and warmer temperatures — in the mid to upper 70s — before the next system comes through the area Sunday, she said. For a full forecast, see Page C6.
NEW YORK — The A&N Food Market on Main Street in Flushing, Queens, has an almost entirely Chinese clientele. The inventory includes live eels, turtles and frogs, frozen duck tongue and canned congee. These goods, like products sold in every neighborhood of the city, attract their share of shoplifters. But A&N Food Market has an unusual way of dealing with the problem. First, suspected shoplifters have their identification seized. Then, they are photographed holding the items they are accused of trying to steal. Finally, workers at the store threaten to display the photographs to embarrass them and to call the police — unless the accused thieves hand over money. See Theft / A4
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Vol. 107, No. 173, 42 pages, 7 sections
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Lessons for Gulf spill found Disappointing law school grades? in unlikely place: the Ozarks Wait a bit; they may get better By Todd C. Frankel
By Catherine Rampell
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
New York Times News Service
land oil spill in U.S. history. Until recently, the spill had VIENNA, Mo. — From his been largely forgotten. But backyard deck, Guy memories of the inWittler only has to cident have flooded look at the Gasconade Inside back with the Gulf’s River running below to • More oil spill deepwater catastrosee something familiar phe. And parallels becoverage, in the Gulf of Mexico tween the two spills, Page A4-5 oil spill. despite vast differencA massive pipeline es in size, are striking ruptured on Wittler’s — offering possible property nearly 22 years ago hints of what is to come later and spewed more than 860,000 in the Gulf’s still-unfolding gallons of crude oil into the drama. Gasconade. It was the worst inSee Oil / A5
New York Times News Service
Law schools that don’t inflate grades are trying other ways to help their students. Zachary Burd is benefiting from a Southern Methodist University program that pays firms to try out its graduates.
One day next month every student at Loyola Law School Los Angeles will awake to a higher grade-point average. But it’s not because they are all working harder. The school is retroactively inflating its grades, by tacking on 0.333 to every grade recorded in the past few years. The goal is to make its students look more attractive in a competitive job market. In the last two years, at least 10 law schools have changed their
grading systems to make them more lenient. These include law schools like New York University and Georgetown, as well as Golden Gate University and Tulane University, which just announced the change this month. Some law firms keep track of these changes and consider them when interviewing, and some do not. Law schools seem to view higher grades as one way to rescue their students from the tough economy — and perhaps more to the point, to protect their own reputations. See Grades / A4