Fishing accident claims
University student’s life
Junior Ben Eder died when the fishing boat he was working on capsized off the Oregon coast Dec. 11. Eder, 21, was one of four men aboard the Nesika, a 40 ft. crabbing vessel owned by Eder’s father, Bob Eder, of Newport. The boat overturned a half-mile off Yaquina Head as it lowered crab pots to the ocean floor, and washed ashore on Beverly Beach, just north of Newport.
Coast Guard crews searched for the missing fishermen without success before calling off rescue efforts the next day. Coast Guard spokeswoman Aida Cabrera said the cause of the accident is under investigation.
Matt Harner, a 22-year-old Newport fisherman, was on a crab boat about a mile-and-a-half away from the Nesika when it went down. He described the weather conditions that day as “pretty rough,” but not out of the ordinary.
“It was just random chance,” he said. “No one could have seen it, and no one could have stopped it.”
When he heard the Nesika had capsized, Harner said he prayed that Eder, a close friend and high school classmate, was not on the boat.
“He was a great guy,” he said. “He had so much potential, so much going for him.”
Eder graduated as class salutatorian from Newport High School in 1998. Eder, a biochemistry major, transferred to the University last year from Reed College in Portland.
When he had a break from school, he always came back to Newport to work on the fishing boats, Harner said.
“He loved fishing,” he said. “He loved going out on the ocean.”
— Kara Cogswell
Student energy fee reduced
Students will pay a few dollars less in incidental fees when a reduction in the energy fee goes into effect this term. Provost John Moseley agreed to cut the fee, originally estimated at $30 per student per term, to $20 for winter term.
University Vice President for Administration Dan Williams said the provost made the decision partly because of conservation efforts led by student government leaders. A lower-than-expected natural gas bill for fall term as well as high enrollment also made lowering the fee possible, he said.
ASUO President Nilda Brooklyn said she was pleased with the administration’s willingness to lower the fee. But she said her goal is to eliminate the fee altogether.
Brooklyn and other student government leaders plan to reduce the need for the fee with a campus-wide energy conservation campaign beginning this term, she said.
William said administrators will re-evaluate the energy fee at the end of winter term.
— Kara Cogswell
