Vol. 78, No. 147
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Tuesday, May 17, 1977
Ed subcommittee to hear student protests
By HEATHER McCLENAGHAN
Of the Emerald
Students concerned about rising tuition,
curriculum cutbacks and financial aid fund
ing may voice their opinions tonight when
members of the Joint Ways and Means
Education Subcommittee meet for a Uni
versity hearing.
The legislators will hear students tonight
at 7 p.m. in the Dad's Room of the EMU.
Students who wish to testify should sign up
in advance of the meeting in the Dad's
Room.
The heanng will follow a similar meeting
with students held at Portland State Univer
sity Monday night. Both hearings stem from
the requests of students at both schools
.that legislators talk directly with those af
fected by fee boosts, cutbacks and aid to
middle income students.
The University's Committee Against Tui
tion Hike and Cutbacks credits the 1,500
students who signed open letters and tele
phoned legislators with bringing the sub
committee to Eugene.
However, Oregon Student Lobby (OSL)
member Mark Cogan took exception to the
student committee’s claim.
“I'll have to give them credit for mobilizing
a large number of students because it
helped, but we made the final arrange
ments. They wouldn’t have agreed to come
down here without the efforts of the OSL.
Cogan said student pressure for a hear
ing on the touchy tuition issue was begin
ning to backfire.
“Sen. Fadeley's not coming down solely
because the RSB (Revolutionary Student
Brigade) demanded it. I got word from
Fadeley’s office that they — the office —
were beginning to get irritated with all the
demands,” Cogan said. "We re happy, but
we re in no position to demand that they
come here.”
Students should make an effort to relate
their testimony to matters before the sub
committee, Cogan said. Day care funding is
not a proposal being considered by the
education subcommittee.
“The students’ telegrams, phone calls,
letters and leaflets as well as actions here
and at PSU got the OSL (Oregon Student
Lobby) into gear and forced a public hear
ing,” said tuition committee member Jon
Draper.
The committee is asking students to pack
the Dad’s Room and show their opposition
to any tuition increases, cutbacks or in
creased taxes on working people.
Tuition committee members plan to dis
tribute white armbands throughout the day
in an effort to generate attendance at the
hearing. A skit and “pre-hearing get to
gether" is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on the
EMU Terrace.
Draper said the tuition committee will
conduct an orderly presentation before the
subcommittee but will resists any attempts
by the legislators or hearing moderators to
manipulate the proceedings.
“We want them to know we are looking
for answers to our demands. If the legis
lators are trying to come off as our friends
they’ll have to act on our requests and sup
port us or they'll be exposed. Of course we
know we can t go in the room and start yelling
at these guys or anything like that."
The tuition committee finds Gov. Straub’s
proposed tuition freeze for resident under
graduates a divisive concession, Draper
said. Because the tuition freeze makes the
largest group of students feel they are pro
tected from a fee hike the students will no
longer fight back, he said.
“It comes down to the fact that students
can’t afford to pay $1 more,” Draper said.
“Real people are going to be shut out of
school by any cutback or tuition hike.
There’s an unwritten guarantee that if we
don t fight this hike — and I’m talking about
masses of students, not just junior bureau
crats like the elites in the OSL — we ll lose
the battle and pay more money."
For energy in the future
‘Lights out’ campaign begins
Photo by S Jett Foreman
The University Physical Plant is initiating a “lights out program
for the campus, darkening 50 per cent of total lighting on cam
pus.
By S. JEFF FOREMAN
Of the Emerald
Being left in the dark can
be a real bummer, unless
the darkness is an enlight
ened effort to save energy.
About 60 per cent of the
buildings on campus,
among them the library,
Oregon Hall and the P E.
Department, have dark
ened 50 per cent of the
lighting as part of a larger
energy-saving program,
according to Harold Bab
cock, director of the
University’s Physical Plant.
A further reduction in
electrical use can be ex
pected when automatic
lighting systems in offices
are installed: even the ab
sent minded will become
energy savers because this
system will shut off lights
accidently left burning after
hours.
At the top of PLC are
large exhaust fans, which
draw stale air out of the
building. “In the past, the
fans were left on 24 hours a
day, seven days a week.
Now they will be turned off
at a designated time when
the building is not in use,
which will reduce electricity
use and energy waste,”
Babcock said.
Thermostats in campus
buildings have been ad
justed to make it cooler in
the winter (68 degrees
Fahrenheit) and warmer in
(Continued on Page 11)
State control of rent
now under scrutiny
By TOM JACKSON
Of the Emerald
SALEM—The question of
whether state regulation or the
free enterprise system is best for
controlling rent is the center of de
bate over a bill now before the
Legislature.
Introduced at the request of the
ASUO Off-Campus Housing Of
fice, the bill. Senate Bill 939,
would require landlords to justify
rent increases.
An increase would be allowed
only on the basis of increasing
taxes, costs of utilities and costs of
services. Under the proposed
legislation, a landlord may also in
crease rent if the cost of living in
creases or if capital improvements
are made.
The bill's author, Malcolm
Stewart of the Off-Campus Hous
ing Office, told the Senate Local
Government and Elections Com
mittee Monday that the bill is
aimed at preventing "arbitrary in
creases in rent."
"We are confident this bill cov
ers every legitimate cost that
should be passed onto tenants,
said Stewart.
"This bill would not fix rents. It
simply assumes the rents agreed
upon at the beginning of a tenancy
is the fair market value for the unit.
The bill only requires that any in
crease after this either reflects ac
tual increases in operating costs
or be accompanied with greater
utility for the tenant."
But one representative of a
building trade said "Supply and
demand is the things that has to
control rent. Historically, rent con
trols don't work very well.”
The spokesperson's main op
position was based on an in
crease in the cost of bookkeeping
for the landlord. He claimed these
costs would have to be passed
onto the renter.
He also cited the problems of
inequitable rents, pointing out that
a longtime resident of an apart
ment complex may pay less than a
newcomer.
He also said that rent controls
would 'place an undue restriction
on one segment of the state s
economy. Controls should be a
federal matter and shouldn't apply
only to one industry," he said.
Rob McMaster, a representa
tive of the Amazon Community
Tenants Union, cited the Amazon
Project as an example of an
apartment complex where rent in
creases do not result in increased
services.
The Amazon residents, many of
whom are now striking against a
$10 per month rent hike, pay 100
per cent more rent now than in
1972, according to McMaster.
“The University Housing Office
has been reluctant to justify these
increases," he said. "We can t find
any justification."
Another representative of the
housing trade pointed to the effect
of rent control in New York City's
South Bronx area. He said that
after rent controls were imposed,
landlords made fewer repairs re
sulting in deterioration in New
York. He added that deterioration
could begin in Portland and
Eugene, if the bill passes.
■ Renters are getting a good
shake in the free and open market
place,” he said.
More Legislature stories on
Page 6