Student funds go to ACT for legal battle...
By MADELEINE MATTHEW
Of the Emerald
The Amazon Community Ten
ants (ACT) has received student
funds to aid in their legal battle
against the University.
In a meeting last Thursday, the
Incidental Fee Committee (IFC)
voted to give ACT $2,613 over the
next three months. This was lower
than the one month $2,376 budget
ACT had proposed.
Most of the budget cuts came in
the proposed salaries of the coor
dinator of representation and ten
ant advocate. ACT had requested
a monthly salary of $450 for each
position. But the IFC cut these
proposed salaries to $150 and
$125 per month respectively.
They said they could not base sal
ary on the market value of one’s
work, but must pay relative to
other student positions within the
University. Directors of student
programs such as OSPIRG are
presently paid about $100 a
month.
The coordinator of representa
tion will be responsible for legal
issues and representation and
negotiation. The tenant advocate
will assist the coordinator and
facilitate communication within
ACT. ACT leader Walt Sheasby
currently holds the coordinator’s
position.
ACT will receive nearly all of the
other funds it requested. This
includes $145 for external public
relations, and $393 for internal
communication expenses. To
supplement free legal aid which
it already receives, it will also
get $1,250 to hire professional ac
countants and lawyers.
Because of its reputation in col
lective bargaining and labor
negotiations, ACT will use the
Kulongski law firm to negotiate
with the University concerning the
legality of the three-month-old
rent strike.
Students living in Amazon hous
ing have been holding the strike in
response to a proposed $10 rent
increase. Many have put their rent
checks in escrow and refuse to
pay until a compromise is
reached. But the University ad
ministration does not recognize
ACT as an official negotiating
party and questions the legality of
the strike.
According to ACT leaders, their
organization must gain legitimacy
through a well-known law firm be
cause “students have no legiti
macy of their own in the eyes of
the administration.” By using such
a firm, ACT says the University will
no longer be able to ignore stu
dent demands. “The administra
Members of one Amazon residence proclaim their politics. Other tenants remain uninvolved for one reason
or another.
tion would be forced to confront
the tenant problems,” says
Sheasby.
ACT will also work with the bus
iness school and a professional
Eugene firm, Gregor, Thorp,
McCracken, Early, P.C. to make a
study of the housing office and.
physical plant operations. They
say a “Pandora’s Box” will be
opened up, “exposing the cost in
efficiencies, mismanagement and
incompetence” in these depart
ments. ACT insists that the results
of the study may prove so embar
rassing, that the University will
have to start correcting these
problems. If these wastes are cor
rected, says ACT, then all stu
dents’ expenses at the University
could be lowered.
Despite the setback in funding
ior the coordinator and advocate
positions, ACT leaders called the
IFC’s move a “historic decision.”
They say it could be “a catalyst for
student action on future issues.”
ACT representatives met with
Secretary of State Norma Paulus
Wednesday to seek a state audit
of University Married Student
Housing. She remained non
commit al, but assured them that
her office is conducting an audit of
the state system’s debt service
and maintenance policies.
Most of the IFC members stand
in unity with the goals and objec
tivies of ACT. Steve Herlocker,
however, consistently voted in
opposition to ACT’s requests, say
ing he was “not in sympathy" with
the organization.
...while some tenants refuse to get involved
ay MELODY WARD
Of the Emerald
While nearly 140 families wage a ren'
strike at the Amazon project, almost 10C
other tenant families refuse to get involved
Their reasons for not participating vary, but
most non-strikers agree that the University
will probably be the final victor in the
three-month-long controversy.
"It’s basic life," said one student from
Germany. “When you rent, you're at the
mercy of your landlord... you have a
choice to either live here and pay the rent
increase or move out."
Other foreign students fear loss of funds
which come through the University. “I am a
scholarship student,” explains a grad stu
dent from Japan. “All my checks are pay
able to the University, so there's no way I
can get involved with the rent strike. I'm
really locked in."
A South African woman thinks a foreign
student shouldn’t get involved in struggles
between native students and their university
because she is sponsored by her govern
ment.
The problem of the purse is not confined
to foreign students. “I’m in a very volatile
financial position and can't afford to pay
much more than $80 per month,” says an
architecture graduate student. “I’m in debt
up to here trying to pay off my degree and
trying to find a job in this town."
He admits he agrees with the issues
Amazon Community Tenants (ACT) are
striking about. “The housing department
has not been bad to us — we had to delay
paying our rent one month — but when we
had problems with our stove, it took three
trips before they fixed it."
He adds, "This is not a radical issue.
When people say $80 is a steal, what salary
rate are they comparing it to?"
One family dropped out of the strike this
month because the father is bidding for a
job at the University. “I think the University
will get the increase in any case,” he says.
Other tenants mentioned the case of a
fellow striker, Helmy Elgamal, a University
grounds worker who was laid off July 13
after being questioned about his involve
ment in the strike. Most students who work
for the University stay away from the strike
because they don't want to risk losing their
jobs.
Many tenants aren’t striking because
they will be finishing their degrees soon or
plan to live at Amazon only until the end of
the summer. But that doesn't mean they
aren’t sympathetic to ACT. “I don’t think
they chose the best arguments though,”
remarks an cider student. “The issue
should have been that proper maintenance
saves energy costs, instead of the emo
tional argument about the kids getting colds
from the drafts."
"We re moving," comments a Chinese
woman. "Also, my husband doesn’t think
they (ACT) have a very clear presentation.
They may have good reasons for striking,
but they haven’t presented them clearly.”
This sentiment was also voiced by the
architecture student. "In the beginning I felt
the strike wasn’t being handled in a profes
sional manner. Only recently have they
started to match the University power for
power by hiring lawyers and accountants.”
But a two-year resident isn’t striking be
cause “I don’t like ACT. The maintenance
claims are valid but really have nothing to
do with the strike. The main thing they want
is to get Amazon into their own hands. I’m
against the rent hike but I would prefer to
pay 10 bucks more than let ACT take over
running this place.’’
And a young Englishwoman tends to
agree in part with his complaint. “It’s a
double-edged thing. Part of it is the rent
hike, but part of it is they want to make
Amazon a tenant-run cooperative. If it were
a co-op, I’d feel obliged to help run it and I
just don’t have the time.”
However, she does think ACT represents
Amazon tenants. “I certainly wouldn’t try to
go around ACT and I think it’s doing a pretty
good job representing the students.”
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