Students Present Facts on Postwar Building Needs
This page is the cumulative pro
duct of student effort and con
structive thought upon the recent
move by the ASUO executive coun
cil regarding a plan of campaign
for the advancement of the Uni
versity buildings program. It is a
question which has aroused state
wide discussion and has resulted in
several editorials concerning the
importance of this decision to the
veteran-student, destined to return
to colleges and universities incap
able of housing him.
Two editorials, printed by the
Morning Oregonian, have present
ed a systematic study of the his
tory of buildings appropriations at
the University. According to the
statistics offered, there have been
no state appropriations for build
ings since 1929-1931, at which time
a bill for $ 100,000 went through.
During the prewar decade there
have been altogether three build
ings erected on the campus, all of
which have been the result of stu
dent fees, loans, grants, and gifts.
However, despite this increase in
building space the enrollment has
increased yearly and floor space
has decreased in relative propor
tion. Unless there is immediate
and effective action taken by those
in authority, the editorial stated,
Oregon’s adjustment aid for vet
erans and the inherent principles
behind the GI Bill of Rights will
have failed.
The editorial further said, “We
think it is imperative for the legis
lature to seek ways and means to
keep the promise made to our
young service men and women. . . .
If there is no recourse but an elec
tion on the issue, the question of
whether we are going to keep faith
with the service men and women
ought not be postponed until they
are knocking at the doors of in
stitutions of higher learning so
crowded that they cannot be ad
mitted.”
Although the state board has
submitted a program, spread over
five bienniums, for which it asks
in the ensuing biennium $2,275,000
for buildings and $220,000 for
equipment, it is still 60 per cent
short of actual needs. It is abso
lutely necessary, the editorial con
tinued, that we do more than grant
monthly allowances for these
young people to go to school—we
must also provide them with the
schools.
The resolution adopted by the
executive council after considera
tion of the proposal submitted by
Gene Conklin, junior representa
tive, is:
“The executive council repre
senting the students of the Uni
versity of Oregon, hereby adopts
the following purposes and meth
ods^of achieving a program of ad
vancement of University buildiftg.
To make known to the people of
Oregon, and most especially the
legislature of the state of Oregon,
what buildings the students think
it necessary to construct.
“To impress upon the legislature
the urgent need for the ‘long
view’ of higher educational devel
opment in this state—looking to
ward the expected large increases
in enrollment, and toward the de
velopment of the University as a
fully-equipped institution construc
ted on a full-scale pattern, not a
series of temporary utilitarian
workshops.’’
Oregon
Emerald
ANNE CRAVEN
Editor
ANNAMAE WINSHIP
Business Manager
ELIZABETH HAUGEN
Managing Editor
PATSY MALONEY
Advertising Manager
MARGUERITE WITTWER
News Editor
LOUISE MONTAG, PEGGY OVERLAND
Associate Editors
Jane Richardson, Phyllis Perkins, Viriginia
Scholl, Mary Margaret Ellsworth, Norris
Yates, City Desk Editors
Bjorg Hansen, Executive Secretary
Flora Furrow, Women’s Editor
Jeanne Simmonds, Assistant Managing Editor
Winifred Romtvedt, Assistant News Editor
Darrell Boone, Photographer
Betty Bennett, Music Editor
Phyllis Amacher, World News Editor
Gloria Campbell, Mary K. Minor
Librarians
Wally Adams, Sports Editor
EDITORIAL BOARD
Norris Yates, Edith Newton
Published daily during the college year except Sundays, Mondays, and holidays and
final examination periods by the Associated Students, University of Oregon.
Entered as second-class matter at the postoffice, Eugene, Oregon.
tMou&Uui Lax, VetekattA. . .
The returning veteran who conies to the University of Ore
gon is going to want more than a place by the old mill race;
lie is going to expect, and rightly so, not only modern class
rooms, a well-staffed faculty, and a normal social life, but com
fortable, convenient living quarters. In view of the expected
increased enrollment in the University after the war because
of the release of veterans and war workers from the service,
the natural upturn of attendance coming after an emergency,
and the new industrial development of Oregon and the Pacific
Northwest, the returning veteran is not going to find it easy
to get living quarters for the following reasons: *
1. In 1948, when we shall presume that the war will be over,
the estimated enrollment at the University will be 4,636; of
this number, half, or 2,318, probably will be men. Present hous
ing facilities for men on and off the campus accommodate ap
proximately 1500. This leaves over some 1000 men to rely on
pup tents, house trailers, or the senior bench for living quarters.
2. The present postwar planning program of the state board
of higher education includes no mention of additions to John
Straub hall, the men's dormitory in normal times, or provisions
for new housing units for men.
Unless there is something done about this housing shortage,
the University cannot expect to attract the number of veterans
it would if its housing facilities were adequate.
The government has provided a means for returning veterans
to obtain an education; men in the service.now have expressed
their desire to come to the University of Oregon as indicated
by replies received by the Lane county planning committee to
their poll of Lane county servicemen; to the query, “W hat will
you do when you are out of the service?" 20 per cent answered
by saving that they were going to the University of Oregon.
The only thing that the University of Oregon can guarantee
them so far as housing is concerned is a certain shortage.
—R.K.C.
Building Fee
History Cited
By A BLISS BOONE
In the past, building' on the Uni
versity campus has been financed
to a large extent by student dona
tions and fees. To pay for buildings
drastically needed in the 1925's
and ’2G’s, the ASUO amended its
constitution to approve a $5 fee
to be paid at registration each
term; the money to be used solely
for student service buildings. Since
that time the state board has in
cluded the fee as a regular part
of the basic registration fee.
In 1926 the ASUO agreed to
finance McArthur court at $150,
000, advancing one third of the
total from the building fund that
had been created in 1925.
Following that, in 1934, the $100,
000 infirmary was completed with
the help of $20,000 from the build
ing fund.
When the University library was
erected on the new campus, the
entire building fee for 15 years
was pledged. At the time, the
state should assume full respons
ibility for erecting the library.
The question arose whether the
state board held the necessary
(Please turn to page three)
This graph
appeared in a
state system
of higher
education
bulletin
which discussed
the proposed
building
program.
PERCENTAGE UK FUNDS FOR BUILDINGS FROM STATE
AND NONSTATE SOURCES
OREGON STATE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION
FOUR DECADES 1901 TO 1940
1901-190
1911-1920
1920-1931
1931-1940
H STATE fUfCS
□ STciOCNf BUILDING rECSv GIFTS* FEDERAL GRANTS ETC.
Jline-ofi ol
%iO fyutuAe
By BARBARA YOUNGER
The state hoard of higher edu
cation has requested a $2,237,000
building appropriation from the
state legislature for the 1945-1946
biennium for the state institutions
of higher education.
This request, which is part of
the building program proposed by
the board, was formulated and
adopted in May, 1944, after studies
by the institutions and the board’s
building committee extending over
six months. It is a ten-year pro
gram, part of which will be self
financed and part of which will
require legislative appropriations.
The report of the building commit
tee adopted by the board said:
“The committee in its delibera
tions and decisions applied the
criterion of absolute need, with em
phasis on caring for the anticipat
ed enrollment surge after the war
and also providing research facil
ities that will aid industry in the
postwar period. It is appropriate
to point out that the program as
submitted does not entirely repre
sent future needs, but rather in
cludes past needs which have not
been met because of the failure of
the state over a long period of
time to provide funds for higher
education buildings.”
Appropriations Cut
When the budget was submitted
to the legislature it was cut to
$1,000,000. However, another bill
has been submitted to the legisla
ture which raises it to the orig
inal appropriation of $2,237,000.
Among the buildings scheduled
for immediate postwar construc
tion at the University of Oregon,
(Please turn to page three)
AFTER FRIDAY'S
SATURDAY'S
GAMES
and
drop in at
TAYLOR'S
13th and Kincaid
State Lags Behind
In Construction
By JEAN TAYLOR
For the period of 1929-1945,
Oregon was at the bottom of the
list in building appropriations for
higher education.
California heads the list with ap
propriations mounting to $10,076,
332. Next comes Washington with
a total amount of $5,789,369 de
voted to building up its state sys
tem of higher education. Colorado
follows with $3,625,354; Utah, with
$1,230,276. Wyoming is the first
state to drop below the million
dollar mark with $758,523 set aside
for expansion of its educational
system.
Nevada, small in population, nas
put forth in the preceding 10 years
an amount slated at $550,000,
while $160,100 is the sum laid out
by Idaho state legislators for the
period.
Oregon comes at the last of the
list with a total of $100,000. The
average amount appropriated by
her sister western states was
$2,786,231.
The last state appropriations
were made, for the most part, in
1931.
Largely by use of funds from
(Please turn to page three)
Student
PacJ&L Jtoad
By PHYLLIS CHURCHMAN
For the past 15 years the state
hasn’t built any buildings on
the University of Oregon campus.
During that period the students
with the help of government loans
and grants have built and financed
four buildings and provided for
the extensive renovations on
grounds, heating, and' electric sys
tems.
The $350,000 library erected in
1937 was a self-financed project
calling for the ASUO pledged
building fee for 15 years with the
(Please turn to page three)
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