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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 1978)
Local agencies disappointed Reactions strong against UYA cut Reactions are strong to the University’s recent decision not to supply matching funds for the University Year for ACTION (UYA) student volunteer program. ‘‘I feel that it’s criminal that they’re not going to refund the program,” says Bill Uhlhorn, direc tor of Eugene Emergency Hous ing, Inc., a non-profit organization which funs the Family Shelter House and the Pearl Street tem porary housing facilities, which are currently served by four UYA volunteers. “Concerned faculty, sfudenfs and community members axe being urged to write or call Uriivere sity Pres. William Boyd in support, of continued funding for the UYA program,” adds Maureen Sfevin, CSPA senior and UYA yolurtteer spokesperson. UYA students are'placed m community agencies for 12 months of learning/work experi ence to develop new programs or expand existing services at vari ous agencies for low-income per sons. Volunteers work 32 hours a week, attend weekly seminars and special workshops with UYA instructors, and earn 48 to 60 hours of credit for the year. Volunteers receive a living al lowance of $215 a month, medical insurance, a federal civil service credit of one year and a “chance to take... knowledge out of the classroom and put it to use in the community.” Some of the agencies served by UYA volunteers include Lane County Juvenile Corrections, Kaufman Senior Center, the 4J school district, area community schools, the Eugene, Springfield and Cottage Grove Employment Divisions, and the University Child Care and Development Center, to name just a few. The Family Shelter House served families in need of emergency housing for up to two weeks, rape and abuse victims, women who are mentally and emotionally disturbed and seniors, according to Uhlhorn. The UYA students provide sup port and counseling for women in crisis situations, and have been working to develop a rape crisis network with Womenspace. Uhlhorn feels that the UYA program is a "healthy mix” of theory and practice and has “a tremendous staff in terms of trying to find that balance" between the two. A year’s commitment is a “con siderable investment” of time for the average 20 year old, says Uh Ihom, “when you consider the al ternatives. Most students are much more carefree,” he adds. The UYA staff provides inten sive seminars, readings and con sultations to help students see problems and integrate them into their studies, says Uhlhorn, who got his masters in CSPA six years ago and spent four years as a group-home parent with his wife before his two years as director of Emergency Housing. Uhlhorn worked with three UYA volunteers last year and has four this year, with two serving the Family Shel ter House and two at the Pearl Street apartments, helping men tally and emotionally disturbed people learn social survival skills. The UYA students are respon sible for the day-to-day operation of the facilities, help with shop ping, cooking, social and recrea tional activities, and are expected to act as any paid staff member, says Uhlhorn. This provides a bet ter program for the clients and for the community in general. Agencies benefit from the UYA program by saving the cost of hir ing specialists. Uhlhorn says operating expenses for the two housing facilities are $60,000 a year, requiring a minimum of 10 people. It would cost his agency $26,000 to replace four UYA stu dents. "It’s cheap labor,” says Uh Ihom. “We pay $70 a month per student to the University which then pays $215 a month to the student.” This works out to about $1.68 an hour for UYA students compared to $4.23 an hour for a non-UYA social worker. If UYA students are not availa ble next year, Uhlhorn says they would definitely have to close one of their facilities and cut back on the services in the other. But Uhlhorn says the money is secondary to the learning experi ence UYA provides for the stu dents, a sentiment shared by UYA volunteers working in areas rang ing from Headstart to the Lane County Employment and Training (CETA) Division. Marcine Anderson, compliance officer for affirmative action griev ances against CETA, says that since June a UYA student has worked with her on Equal Educa tional Opportunity training ses sions, has helped her develop a computerized system for gather ing affirmative action data on CETA participants, and “generally does what she doesn’t have time to do.” Anderson is “really pleased” with the UYA program because she gets a “staff person who does quality, professional work for a committed amount of time." An derson, who graduated in CSPA, says that in relation to her own experience with field placements, “You can’t get that kind of know ledge out of books.” According to Anita Runyan, di rector of the UYA program, the University came up with the extra money needed to continue UYA after letters of concern from vari ous agencies and students were sent to the administration after the community learned about last year’s discontinuance decision. The UYA advisory committee hopes that a similar situation will occur this year, says Runyan, but (Continued on Page 9) services gear down with summer courses By TODD ADAMS Of the Emerald Though summer session ends this week, not all campus life wtH expire between now and the start of fall session classes the first week of October. Most summer courses end Fri day with the conclusion of the fi eight-week session, but 11-week classes last until September 1. Oregon Hall will retain its regu lar office hours, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday all summer. The Erb Memorial Union will remain closed on weekends, but building hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays have been set through September 10. The EMU will further curtail its hours September 11-17. The cafeteria, other food services and the Recreation Center will be open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oregon Wil derness Supplies will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Regular building hours will re sume September 18. The University Bookstore, al though not open on Saturdays until the second or third week of September, will remain open weekdays from 8:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The University library will re main open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. week days and Saturdays through Au gust 26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Football season ticket sales are reported to be ahead of last summer's pace at the athletic tic ket office located at McArthur Court. Regular office hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. will be in effect. The student health center will also remain open through the 11-week course session ending September 1. Tl Let’s Go! The Harvard students who put these guides together really get around: to the most exciting cities of Europe. Off the beaten track into the countryside. Discovering bargains everywhere and rechecking each year to see if that nice little hotel has become a tourist trap. In short, these guides are packed with up-to-date information of the adventuresome traveler on a budget The 1978-79 bestselling Let’s Go: Europe, and individual country guides are at the Bookstore today. upstairs in the TRADEBOOK DEPARTMENT uo BOOKSTORE 13th & Kincaid 686-4331 Open: Mon-Fri 8:15-5:30
