Emerald
Vol 83, No 20
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Thursday, October 1, 1981
Paul Olum
Enrollment declines
Olum: 3% cut won’t hurt
By ANN PORTAL
Of*M EmaraM
As of Tuesday, University enroll
ment dipped 2 9 percent — which is
better than the 3 8 percent
decrease recorded Friday, but still
about 400 students less than last
year at this time
The decrease probably won’t af
fect University funding, Pres Paul
Olum said Wednesday at his
monthly press conference
This doesn't impinge in any way
on the entitlement we get,” Olum
said He pointed out that the State
Board of Higher Education collects
the University's tuition, and that the
University always has collected
more tuition than estimated by the
state
An 11 or 12-percent enrollment
decrease would be necessary to
significantly reduce University
funding, which is based on full
time enrollment, Olum said
Olum said he was "a little sur
prised at the decline, but could
not identify a specific cause A
breakdown of freshman through
senior enrollment may help pin
point where the slide occurred, he
said
"We knew that this was a year in
which we couldn't guess very
well ”
However, even with fewer
students, many course enrollments
are very tight, Olum said Business,
computer science and journalism
courses are especially crowded,
although there has been no major
reduction in course offerings, he
said
Turning to problems at other
Northwest colleges and universi
ties, Olum said the University of
Washington's declaration of finan
cial exigency worries him, par
ticularly because he believes Wa
shington typically has been better
off financially than the University
has been
The speed with which they went
into financial exigency shocked
me"
Reflecting on Portland State
University’s recent declaration of
financial exigency and accompan
ying program cutbacks, Olum said
that in spite of program trimming at
tbe University this year, he still
feels there are no entire programs
that can be cut on academic
grounds.
The University has dropped pro
grams in previous years, and now
has the number of departments
and schools a liberal arts university
should have, Olum said.
“We don’t have any good offer
ings to sacrifice, frankly ”
Pres Blumel's decision to deal
with budget cuts by eliminating
programs is his own resolution of a
leaner budget. Olum said, adding
“there is some difference in our
attitude ”
Shifting to problems closer to
home. Olum berated the Emerald
for its Monday editorial on the
University's Environmental Law
Clinic.
He said the editorial implied that
a decision on the controversial
Pacific Northwest Resource
Continued on Page 3A
Financial aid stops
taking new GSLs
By ANN PORTAL
Of lh* EmaraM
Today is D-day for Guaran
teed Student Loan applications
for the 1981 -82 academic year
The D is for delay As of today,
the old GSL rules no longer ap
ply and the financial aid office
will stop accepting GSL ap
plications according to Ed Vig
nol, financial aid director
No GSL applications will be
accepted until the Department
of Education sends more com
plete instructions for dealing
with new regulations, Vignoul
says
Although the financial aid of
fice received notice Tuesday of
new regulations — in a letter
dated Sept 9 — specific
procedures were not included,
he says
Effective today, GSL ap
plicants whose families earn
$30,000 or more have to com
plete a financial need test The
interest rate stays at nine per
cent, but the minimum annual
repayment amount has been in
creased to $600
Financial aid already has
processed a tremendous
number of GSLs this year, Vig
noul says Seven thousand
students have applied already
this year compared to 5,400
students who applied for GSLs
lasf year
Many of the loan applications
came during the last weeks of
summer, meaning that a lot of
students still are without their
money because of a two-month
processing period
What did they expect?" Vig
noul says We told them they
should allow six to eight weeks
for processing "
A backlog exists at banks and
at the state scholarship com
mission. he says but deferred
tuition and emergency loans —
which have been increased
from a maximum of $150 to $250
— are available for students who
cannot yet pay tuition
In spite of student complaints
and problems with financial aid
money this term. Vignoul says
he is unwilling to accept the
blame for delays caused by a
lack of initiative on students'
part
The financial aid staff worked
overtime to mail revised finan
cial aid packets to students by
August. Vignoul says, estimat
ing that his office caused only a
tiny fraction of the hold-ups
students are encountering
"We really did have our act
together," he says "If we screw
up, I will always admit to that
and I will rectify it "
A large number of people
swore they turned in the blue
Student Eligibility Report
required to receive Basic
Educational Opportunity Grants
only to go home and find the
three copies mailed to them
during the summer sitting in the
bottom of a drawer, Vignoul
says
"I don't want anyone to wait
(for financial aid) if we make a
Continued on Page 3A
Photo by Bob Baker
Sugary doughnuts and caloric cakes are all that have greeted bagel seekers since Monday
Emu refuses to humble itself
to 20 percent bagel increase
Oi Vey1 Bagels have been
missing from the EMU since
Monday
Humble Bagel Company —
the bakery that supplyied the
EMU with the popular snack
— hiked its price 20 percent,
causing the campus food
service to scramble for
humbler prices, says Jim
Coyington, EMU food service
director
But bagels should be back
on the shelves today,
Covington says
Covington says he has
located a Portland bakery
that will supply the cafeteria
with “quality" bagels at a
more reasonable price
The bagels should be
available Thursday morning
for 30 cents, he says