Emerald
Vol 83, No 53
feugene, Oregon 97403
Tuesday, November 17, 1981
Feds foil GSLs;
10,000 affected
By ANN PORTAL
Of the Emerald
A "turf war between Congress and
the Federal Reserve Board froze the
processing of many Guaranteed Student
Loans last week, causing a scramble by
Congress to reverse a recent reserve
board decision
The Federal Reserve Board sent a note
to all national banks ordering them to
fulfill a "Truth-in-Lending" disclosure
requiremenf already waived by Con
gress Two Oregon banks — apparently
the first to understand the note s im
plications — quickly stopped processing
GSLs last week The halt now is spread
ing to national banks in three other
states
The Truth-in-Lending law requires
lending institutions to disclose informa
tion about the origination fee on any
loans
In Oregon, the Federal Reserve
Board s decision holds up between
3 000 and 4,000 student loans with 200
to 300 new loans coming in each day that
also cannot be processed, according to
Jeff Lee, executive director of the
Oregon Scholarship Commission
It has gotten to be a fairly serious
thing," Lee says
A letter from Oregon Sen Mark Hat
field delivered to the Federal Reserve
Board Monday urges the board to take
immediate action to reverse the decision,
says a Hatfield staff member
"I am appalled at this decision of the
Federal Reserve and am dismayed at the
insensitivity and disregard accorded to
the thousands of college students who
depend on the Guaranteed Student Loan
program to help finance their higher
education experience," Hatfield s letter
says
Congress originally exempted GSLs
from the Truth-in-Lending requirement
♦or this academic year to speed up GSL
processing, already weeks behind at
many banks
Nationwide smokeout blasts off Thursday
Graphic by Max DeRungs
The American Cancer Society believes it's time for
smokers everywhere to grit their teeth and tell the
Marlboro man to take a ride
To get the point across, the ACS set aside this
Thursday as the Great American Smokeout day The
organization is asking smokers to stop puffing for at
least 24 hours.
The nation-wide event creates a "supportive envir
onment” for smokers wishing to kick the habit, says
Cynthia Kane, campus organizer for the Smokeout
Pledge cards, to be signed by students participating in
the Smokeout, will be available at EMU information
tables Tuesday and Wednesday
Pledge cards help strengthen the commitment to
stop smoking, Kane says, adding that non-smokers are
encouraged to sign a pledge to help friends who smoke
Most smokers have an ‘‘it-can't-happen-to-me”
attitude and disregard the strong scientific evidence
that shows a correlation between smoking and lung
cancer, she says Even so, the information table will
include literature on the dangers of smoking
The Tobacco Institute’s claim that there is not
enough evidence to prove cigarettes are harmful is
“ridiculous," Kane says
"You can question any research but the evidence
is definitely there "
Kane backs up her assertion with a six-page "fact
sheet" compiled by the ACS that shows tobacco can
cause more than lung cancer Some findings in the
report show that:
• Nicotine, a known poison, is found in the breast
milk of nursing mothers who smoke
• The chances that a child will contract pneumonia
or bronchitis in the first year of life are increased if the
mother smokes
• Moderate-to-heavy smoking increases the risk of
miscarriages, stillbirths and pregnancy complications
• Kidney diseases and cancer of the pancreas now
have been linked to smoking
• A non-smoker breathes the equivalent of one
cigarette when in a closed room with 10 smokers
puffing away
Kane says she won’t be disappointed if one in five
University smokers gives up cigarettes
"If one person stops smoking because of my
efforts, it’s worth it."
The only banks involved are national
banks — U S National and 1st Interstate
in Oregon — and the only loans affected
are those on which the promissory note
had not been signed by Aug 23
Those loans are subject to the new
5-percent origination fee and the Federal
Reserve Board ruled that fee cannot be
exempt from the Truth-in-Lending
requirement
But that ruling conflicts with the law, as
determined by Congress, and bank
representatives say they will process no
more loans until the conflict is resolved
Ed Vignoul, University financial aid
director, says he's heard that several
House and Senate members sent letters
to Federal Reserve Board members
telling them to "back off "
"But they still haven't," Vignoul says
The decision seems to have been
made without Federal Reserve Board
governors knowing about it, Lee says
Letters sent by Congressional members
have attempted to further explain the
intent of Congress in waiving the lending
requirement, he says
The reserve board is expected to
reconsider the decision at a Thursday
meeting, and Lee says a members of
Oregon Sen Bob Packwood s, staff as
sured him the board now "knows the
intent of Congress," and "it sounds" like
the decision will be reversed
Even if the decision is reversed, GSLs
that include the 5-percent fee will be
delayed an additional two or three
weeks, arriving close to the end of the
term, Vignoul says
"Some of these students were count
ing on the checks to pay their second
and third installment of deferred tuition
And obviously, some of these people
need this money to iive on" he says
Vignoul says his advice to students in a
financial bind is to take out an emer
gency loan Late fees will not be waived
for students who still haven t paid tuition
because they re waiting for GSLs, he
says
The lights shine late in PLC University administrators are trying to save money
by keeping excess lighting and heating to a minimum
Neglected lights, heat
wasting energy budget
Knowing the University must
prepare for a $150,000 cut in the
1982-83 energy budget, Ray Hawk,
vice president for administration and
finance, has asked for new ideas on
conserving energy in campus build
ings
The goal of his request last Friday to
deans, directors and department
heads is to find ways to see that lights
are turned off in classrooms and of
fices, and that windows in upper
floors are shut
A survey of campus buildings con
ducted Nov 5 between midnight and 4
a m showed 24 buildings with an
excessive number of lights still on and
many with upper-floor windows open,
Hawk says.
There are opportunities for saving
electricity and heating costs if ways
can be found to solve this problem, he
says
Campus security regularly closes
and locks windows and doors that
provide outside access to buildings,
but does not have the staff to handle
lights and windows throughout all
campus buildings, Hawk says
University employees may not be
aware that, in order to save money,
custodial s ifts have been changed
and custodial personnel no longer are
available to take care of lights and
windows, he says.
The survey found five buildings with
no open windows or excessive light
ing problems: the library, Science I
and Science HI, Oregon Hall, and the
student health center
In the other buildings, the lighting
problem ranged from 5 percent ex
cessive lights on in Johnson Hall to 90
percent of classroom lights left on in
the Education Building, according to
the public safety office survey
Other buildings with more than 50
percent excessive lights on through
out the building included Allen Hall,
Friendly Hall, Gerlinger Hall, Chap
man Hall and the music school.