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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 23, 1977)
Les Betes Noires Qifmmth&jvkr Budget expectations dim tuition freeze hopes By MARY BETH BOWEN Of the Emerald SALEM—The prospects for a resident undergraduate tuition freeze appeared a bit dimmer Fri day, with State System Chancel lor Roy Lieuallen’s announcement that the state system may be $2 million short if Gov. Bob Straub s tuition proposals are enacted. Among the options discussed to cover the deficit were appropriat ing more state funds, cutting back the state system budget or in creasing resident undergraduate tuition. ■ The gist of Lieuallen’s explana tion to the subcommittee was this: When Straub’s office drew up its proposed tuition policy, the state board warned Straub's staff that charging non-resident graduates a significantly higher tuition fee than resident graduates — as Straub proposed — could sharply reduce non-resident graduate enrollments, and con sequently reduce the state system’s income. But Straub’s office, says Lieual len, assured the State Board it would have the final authority to I 411 101)44_ 561 E. 13th Ave. — Across from Max's — 344-1714 NATURAL HAIR DESIGNS FOR WOMEN & MEN! $11.50 includes shampoo, moisturizing conditioner, hair cut designed for you, and air-waved — a completed easy care style $8.50 a wet cut designed for you and your hair for easy care, and air-waved — a completed style to go anywhere. $6.00 a dry cut for those who prefer dry cuts — designed for your hair and you. Remember: we carry the finest of professional hair care products for you to use at ease.... Feet first with shoes by SHAKTI GOLDEN TEMPLE* 1211 AlI^R STREET- EUGENE set tuition rates, as it has in the past. Lieuallen said he interpreted that as meaning the State Board could continue to charge non resident and resident graduates the same tuition as iong as they found another way to raise the money lost by not increasing graduate tuition. The State Board planned to do that, suggested Lieuallen, by slightly increasing resident un dergraduate tuition, and slightly increasing all graduate tuition. “We contended that by charg ing higher rates for graduate stu dents, we would decrease their enrollments,” said Lieuallen. “But if we could spread this over 55,000 (resident undergraduate) students, we could minimize the impact on enrollments.” But a monkey wrench was thrown into the equation when Straub revised his budget and in stead of setting resident under graduate tuition at 25 per cent of instructional costs, he lowered it to 23 per cent, in effect freezing it. According to Lieuallen, freezing tuition will limit the State Board’s flexibility in raising tuition revenue, because its only option will be rais ing graduate tuition. Lieuallen pointed out that tuition for resident graduates is already the third highest of any public university in the nation. Both Sen. Ed Fadeley, D Eugene, subcommittee chairer, and Bernard Saalfeld, Straub's budget analyst, questioned Lieuallen’s claim that the in creased tuition rates will signifi cantly decrease enrollments. Lieuallen admitted he had no hard evidence, but noted charging non-resident undergraduates re sident tuition at Eastern Oregon State College has significantly in creased non-resident enrollments there. Both Lieuallen and Saalfeld said their offices would prepare more refined enrollment esti mates to present to the subcom mittee early this week. Fadeley commented that the state system's projected deficit leaves the Legislature with two op tions: appropriating more state money or cutting back the budget. Saalfeld suggested that part of the deficit could be covered by cutting non-instructionai areas of the budget, which don't affect the quality of education offered by the state system. At one point in the discussion of budget cutbacks Fadeley told Kirby Garrett, Oregon Student Lobby coordinator, that freezing resident undergraduates this biennium, but cutting back a few programs, would result in a low ered quality of education for resi dent undergraduates a few years from now. But Fadeley said after the hear ing he wasn’t seriously suggesting abandoning the tuition freeze, and he believed Straub's office might 'shake loose with some funds'' to cover the estimated $2 million shortfall. Two facts were made very dear by the subcommittee’s inter change with Lieuallen Friday: The State Board has the final say on what tuition rates will be, regard less of the recommendations of the Governor's office, and the State Board doesn't want to sharply increase graduate tuition. As Garrett commented after the hearing, “If we don’t get the tuition freeze bill (HB 2414) passed, resi dent undergraduates aren't going to get any freeze. It’s as simple as that." Projectionists strike for wage hike By DAVID KENSLER Of the Emerald Chances are if you have gone to see a movie recently at either the Mayflower or Cinema World theaters, things haven’t looked much different. But there has been one change. During the past month new projectionists have been hired at both theaters. This is because the two usual projectionists are now striking. Roger Freeman and David Oathout began strik ing April 23 and say they don’t plan to quit until their demands for higher wages are met. Until they went on strike, the two men were making $2.30 an hour. They say they feel they should have been earning more then that since each of them had worked at Cinema World since it opened in Nov., 1975, without receiving any wage increases! Freeman had been working at the Mayflower since February, 1975. So last summer they decided to take their case to the local union. There was an election in the fall and the Motion Picture Machine Operator's union was designated as the official representative for Freeman and Oathout in bargaining with the em ployer. Their employer is Tom Moyer of Portland, owner of a movie house chain throughout the state called Luxury Theaters. Freeman and Oathout demanded through the union at least the basic local union pay scale of $4.65 an hour, which is what union projectionists are mak ing in other theaters in the Eugene-Springfield area. After four months of negotiations, however, Moyer would only offer a top pay of $2.50 an hour. Thus, the two men decided to strike. They stress that the local managers of the respective theaters have nothing to do with their demands because Moyer makes all final decisions. “After working for this guy for two years and he can only offer $2.50 an hour, he is just playing games," Freeman says. Moyer has been unavailable for comment Both Freeman and Oathout say they feel their striking has had some impact on people attending movies and the financial status of the theaters. They estimate they have turned away about 1,650 potential movie-goers since beginning their strike. They say at Cinema World they turn away an average of 50 people a night. The number is a little bit less at the Mayflower. "Most of the people that come here cross and that s disappointing to us in a way," but large enough numbers don’t cross and that’s encouraginq, says Oathout. There have been some instances of positive response. At a recent midnight movie at the May flower, a man decided not to go in after talking to the strikers. Instead, he picked up some ot the leaflets and started handing them out. “He talked four or five people into leaving. That was really a nice thing," says Oathout. Oathout explained they don’t try to force any thing on anyone but just ask them not to go in to see a movie. We are polite. We don’t try and block anybody but just ask them politely not to go in," he says. The men are striking a total of 40 hours a week. They receive minimal financial assistance from the Local 675, Motion Picture Machine Operators, AFL-CIO. However, Oathout describes it as “barely enough to get by on." In the meantime, Freeman and Oathout plan to strike indefinitely. “Roger and I are willing to be out here as long as it takes,” says Oathout. The two men hope students will support their cause by not attending movies at the Mayflower or Cinema World theaters.
