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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1978)
State board OKs remodeling funds PORTLAND — University compliance with laws prohibiting discrimination against the hand icapped may be easier in the 1979-81 biennium. Accessibility for the handicap ped was listed as the number two priority on the Capital Construc tion Budget approved by the Oregon State System of Higher Education Friday. If the budget is approved by the legislature, the University could receive close to $1.8 million for construction. Section 504 of the federal Re habilitation Act, which came into effect in June 1977, prohibits dis crimination in hiring, enrolling, or providing services to mentally and physically handicapped persons in federally assisted programs. The law was passed without fund ing, forcing the University to make cuts in other areas of its budget. The University has until June 1980 to provide complete pro gram accessibility for the hand icapped. Other funds for Sec. 504 com pliance may come from a reserve fund proposal submitted to the board. The proposal calls for fund ing in three different areas: • A total of $200,000 for staff funding for all OSSHE schools. The University's share would be approximately $30,000. • A $160,000 general fund to be held by the State Board to meet individual institutions compliance needs related to Sec. 504. The money would be available to fund such services as tutors, interpret ers and readers. • A $40,000 central equipment pool for the purchase of equip ment needed to help the hand icapped. According to Melinda Grier, Compliance Officer for OSSHE, the equipment would be held centrally by the State Board. No federal money is available to aid University compliance. How ever, the Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) budget, now in committee, could allocate as much as $500,000 to the Univer sity, Grief said. Also at Friday's meeting, the state board, in its 15-minute-long consideration of capital construc tion, approved $1.56 million to continue the University’s six-year remodeling program. In approving its first construc tion priority, the board gave the University funds to help finish the program, which thus far has in cluded major additions to the School of Music and Gerlinger Hall. Projects that may now be undertaken might include installa tion of sprinkling systems in Es slinger and Fenton halls. Also among the first 15 priorities approved by the board were funds for additions and alterations to the University's School of Architec ture and Allied Arts, given ninth priority by the board, and campus-wide utility improve ments in steam service, given eleventh priority. However, Ray Hawk University vice-president for administration and finance, said priority listings were not final, noting that the legis lature might elect to move up the utility improvements. Hawk also said that it was un likely for the final budget to include funds past the first nine priorities, putting the architecture and utility improvement funds in jeopardy. daily emerald \J An Independent Newspaper Vol. 80, No. 12 Eugene, Oregon 97403 Tuesday, August 1, 1978 With temperatures high and skies cloudless, the Willamette River provides relief as well as fun for these inner-tubers. Last year at this time, the tubes would have dragged bottom ***' .^/\^> , •■ *-?**•<* f- '\' s' ^ Photo by Greg Gawlowski instead of floating - the drought slowed the river to a trickle. Women athletes edge toward parity By MARY FORAN Of the Emerald Women’s intercollegiate athletics will make some gains toward equity with the men’s athletics program in the coming year, according to a Title IX progress report sub mitted to HEW last week by Ray Hawk, vice-president for administration and fi nance and Title IX compliance officer. The report says that two coaches and a clerical assistant will be added to the women's athletic program staff, that $75,000 will be available for tuition scholar ships for women athletes next year, up from $11,000 in 1977-78, and that women ath letes will be using enlarged locker facilities and expanded central equipment and sup plies facility in the once males-only McAr thur Court. Such improvements are the result of the University's effort to comply with Title IX regulations by the July 21, 1978 federal dealine, the date on which this third and final corrective action plan was released. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and ac tivities assisted by federal funding. The University was the target of a com plaint filed in 1977 by Robert and Barbara Aiken, alleging discrimination on the basis of sex in the University’s intercollegiate ath letics program and questioning the University’s progress toward Title IX com pliance. Since then, the University has done more to comply with Title IX than many schools in the Northwest, according to Becky Sisley, director of women’s athletics in the newly merged Department of Intercollegiate Ath letics. “Most others aren’t doing reports,” she says, adding that the University ad ministration is more involved with Title IX compliance than administrations at “most other schools our size.” Women’s teams are now provided shoes and practice jerseys and can fly to out-of state meets like the men’s teams, whereas before they had to drive, according to Sis ley. Grants-in-aid to women athletes started in 1977-78 but are limited to tuition and fees due to AIAW (Association for In tercollegiate Athletics for Women) guidelines. The 13-page progress report describes steps already taken since the January re port plus other action the University will take to insure compliance with Title IX provisions on athletics. These include the planned de velopment of a softball diamond and discus-hammer and field hockey practice areas on the 18th Avenue and Agate Street fields. Also planned is the construction of a glass-enclosed display case for women's trophies which will be located in McArthur Court near the existing display cases for men, which the report says will “visually represent the consolidation of athletics into a single administrative structure.” Now women’s athletic awards are scattered in offices and other obscure areas where the public is not likely to find them. Sisley says that the display case idea has been over a year in coming, adding that even though there will only be one display case for all women’s sports, “It’s a start.’’ There are display cases for each men’s sport, but Sisley says that is due to the University’s “long years of history’’ in men’s athletics. According to the report, an audit of the coverage of athletic events by physicians will be carried out by the athletic medical staff next year to determine whether or not there is discrimination in the coverage of men's and women’s events. This was pro posed after much discussion of the subject caused a statement concerning “high-risk events" to be deleted from the report until further data is reviewed. Sisley says that the consolidation of men's and women’s athletics will give women better support services and will help with budget planning. When women’s athle tic offices are finally moved into the com bined administrative offices in McArthur Court, “the channels for communication will be there, says Sisley. “Just by osmosis things will improve.” Women s athletics are “going in the di rection of mens athletics,” says Sisley, which means it is more concerned with re venue production. This brings about other concommittant changes, Sisley says, “like the pressure to buy blue-chipper athletes and the pressure on selection and perfor mance." But that’s the coaches' responsi bility, says veteran softball coach Sisley, adding, There s evolving greater oppor tunities for women in sports.'
