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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 27, 1978)
Abortion for the poor question stalled By MARY BETH ALLEN Of the Emerald Oregon welfare recipients were kept in suspense for yet another day on the ques tion of whether or not abortion will be one of the services included in their Medicaid be nefits. In yet another stall tactic Thursday at the capital in Salem, the state Legislative Emergency Board rejected 8-7 a motion by Sen. Keith Burbidge, D-Salem, to continue state funding of welfare abortions, and ap proved a motion postponing the final deci sion until tomorrow. The decision to halt funds came in spite of poignant but restrained testimony by Linda Kaeser, an administrator for the State Adult and Family Services division. Kaeser’s agency had recommended con tinuing complete funding of abortions for women welfare recipients. Kaeser had maintained that $1.6 million was necessary to keep the welfare abortion program in existence. Much of her tes timony was aimed at dispelling what she considers myths about the program. If the welfare abortion proponents can persuade the swing vote on the 15-member commit tee, Sen. Jack Ripper, D-North Bend, that abuses such as affluent women utilizing the welfare abortion program can be checked, the motion may still have a chance at pas sage. "Data indicates minimal utilization of state-funded abortions by women from middle and upper-class backgrounds,'’ said Kaeser. She also stressed that “the inci dence of abortions among our clients is substantially the same as that among the general public.” Apparently in answer to other accusa tions, she said that there is “no general use of abortion as contraceptive procedure” among welfare program participants. In a final plea, Kaeser said, “Our program, which we are asking you to continue, ap pears to be used as intended by the legisla ture as a method of approving the abortion procedure for women throughout Oregon, who but for their poverty are representative of the public at large.” The pro-abortion forces have been stres sing the added burden to the taxpayers that phasing out the abortion program would create. When questioned after the board’s vote about this economic approach to the issue, Kaeser said, “There are reasons for taking the fiscal approach. The emergency board deals with funding; the full legislature decides issues. She added, “This is such an emotional issue.” Board members have been bothered by charges that physicians, hospitals and clinics around the state have been charging substantially higher prices to those patients on welfare than non-welfare patients Kaeser revealed in her Thursday testimony that one such clinic, Portland’s Lovejoy Clinic, has been charged guilty of such practices, and that the agency is involved in trying to recover $120,000 in overcharges. EMU renovation won’t raise food prices it me tiviu i-isriDowi is reno vated, repayment will not come from higher food prices, says EMU Director Adell McMillan. On Wednesday, Dusty Rhodes, EMU board chairer, said the $100,000 necessary to remodel the '50s style soda bar would be repaid to the state from food ser vice revenues. McMillan says Rhodes’ information was not en tirely correct. The EMU Board and the Uni versity Administration have put the request for funds on the Capital Construction Request list, which goes to the State Board of Higher Education. If the state board ap proves the request, it then goes to the Legislature. The funds are slated for the 1979-81 biennium year. Eventually, however, the money will come out of student's pockets. Each term students pay tuition and incidental, health center and building fees. All but the building fee go to in dividual institutions. The building fees, though, are pooled and used to pay off “bonded indebtedness” from the past building expendi tures, says McMillan. The Fish bowl renovation would come from this building fee. The other EMU renovations Rhodes mentioned Wednesday don’t require enough funds to make a capital construction re quest. Renovations ‘‘up to $50,000” come from EMU build ing repair reserves, McMillan says. The coatroom would cost about $12,000 to remodel and the bike area would run about $25,000 to enclose and remodel, says Rhodes. The spaces would either be paid for with EMU funds with leasers incurring part of the costs, or leasers would do their own re modeling. South University demos asked for input on platform ouuui university area uemoc rats may soon be asked for input concerning the Democratic party platform for the May primary contests. Craig Geary, a University politi cal science major and a newly elected precinct committee per son for the Democratic party, will be collecting ideas from precinct no. 239 Democrats to present at the party platform convention Feb. 4. Geary estimates there are 200 Demonstrators (Coo"nue<i ,rom page 1> pected to incite violence.” Davar was also charged with initiating a false report after he allegedly gave officers a false name. Arrested for trespassing were: Richard Bruce Weinraub, 28, of 291 E. 17th Ave.; Sheryl Stroll, 22, of 158 E. 14th Ave.; Cameron Lynn Kelley, 24, of 1841 E. 15th Ave.; John Martain Lanier, 26, of 1063 E. 21st Ave.; Falamak Bar daei, 23, 475 Lindale Dr., Spring field; Ferey Partovy, 22, of 2065 University St.; Farhad Lankarani, 24, of 2170 Patterson St.; and David Steven Miller, 25, of W. 10th Avenue and Madison Street. Also arrested on trespassing Something nice to wrap around your Valentine. FAMOUS Kt. ’S' SERPENTINE / 15" CHOKER OTB 7" BRACELET 8" ANKLET $9.88 $12.88 CONVENIENT CREDIT Student Accounts Welcome lI . \ V>ji vims ?ir» Oregon Daily Emerald charges were: Abdol Hossein, 24, of 2210 Olive St.; John Joseph Kaiser II, 21, of 111 N. Garfield St.; Michelle Marie Bobzien, 21, of 1231 Moss St.; Renee Suzanne Romanoff, 23, of 717 Highway 99N.; Ismet Guchan, 26, of 2170 Patterson St.; Teresa Louise Dach, 26, of 1573 Jefferson St.; Mansoor Ehsan, 20, of 2140 W. 16th Ave.; Ilene Loise Gusfield, 21, of 119 Elkay Dr.; Monica C. Lazano, 21, of 941 Almaden St.; Patrick James Zurcher, 29, of 2255 Patterson St.; and Myra Eve lyn Delay, 23, of 469 E. 15th Ave. (See related story Page 8) DUFFY’ 13th & Alder Friday at 4:00 Pitcher Sale live entertainment (no cover) Friday & Saturday 9-2 Foxe & Weasel ($1.50 cover) Tuesday €# Wednesday 9-1 Ron Lloyd 8 John Powell ($1 cover) Q to 300 registered Democrats in his precinct. Within the next week and-a-half, he will be talking to as many voters as possible and spending 15 to 20 minutes with each voter. Geary describes himself as an “ombudsperson" between the precinct and the political process. Besides gathering ideas for party platforms and policies, Geary says his job is to get people to vote. “My responsibility as a citizen is to be involved, ” Geary says. “Hav ing been schooled in political sci ence, I see a lot of things I don't like. The only way to change those those things is through the politi cal process.”’ Geary contacted James Klonoski, a University professor of political science and the state chairer of the Democratic party, about his desire to become more involved in party politics. Klonoski then sent him to the appropriate people and three weeks later he received a letter stating he had been elected a precinct commit tee person. Political parties are in need of people who want to become in volved, according to Geary. "There are very few people that want to be involved,”he says. "Very few people have the time.” Geary says he chose the Democratic party because it is “the party of progress and change.” Coca-Cola’s oil slicks ducks You’d think all the winter rain this year would have the Millrace ducks quacking happily, but ironi cally enough, it seems rain was responsible for a minor oil spill on the ducks’ home waters Thursday. It was the second oil spill in a week on the Millrace, and this time it was traced to the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. on Franklin Boulevard. Bob Wood, Coca-Cola production manager, said the spill resulted from rain washing oil from the company’s back lot into a drain that leads to the Millrace. “It looks much worse than it is,” said Mary Dinteman of the Department of Environmental Qual ity, adding that the ducks were in no danger. Wood said Thursday evening that plans were to construct a “boom” across the stream to contain the small oil slick gathering near the footbridge directly across the street from the University’s science build ings. He said equipment borrowed from Southern Pacific railroad would be used in the clean-up.
