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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1981)
Student lobbyists gird up for higher education fight By MIKE ANDERSON Of Vw Emerald Student lobbyists have their work cut out for them this year, as state-mandated budget cuts threaten the quality of higher education in Oregon The willingness of some state legislators to reduce the size of higher education and the federal government s eagerness to trim financial aid will keep student lobbyists busy in upcoming months, ASUO officials say This year, the ASUO will work closely with the professional Oregon Student Lobby, says Dave Burns, the ASUO’s legislative coordinator While the ASUO will channel much of its lobbying through the OSL, it also will coordinate student support that is critical for an effective campaign. Burns says In preparation for the special session of the state Legislature Jan 11, the ASUO has published an information packet encouraging students and their parents to write letters in support of higher education The packets will be distributed in the EMU and University dorms Information reflecting the problem's urgency, sample letters, and the names of influential persons in the state to whom students can write all will be in the packet, according to Burns "Right now is the time for students to help," Burns says "Anything less than a thousand or two thousand letters will be a failure.” "It's important for parents to write from their districts for continued support of higher educa tion," says John Stewart, ASUO vice president for state and public affairs A few well-placed letters, from eastern Oregon for example, will have a tremendous impact," Stewart says Letters from influential people are effective, agrees John Moore, ASUO executive coordinator and former OSL lobbyist Moore has been helping Burns target key members of the community who will be urged to write letters "We will try to identify students who live in key districts and train those students so they can contact important persons and upstanding ci tizens in their communities "We want them to serve as intermediaries who can get these people to write letters," Moore says ASUO Pres Rich Wilkins, who also serves as OSL chairer, says he will take care of coordinat ing ASUO lobbying with OSL efforts "We have to voice our concern on what could happen if these budget cuts were passed, and suggest other alternatives," Wilkins says There are other ways the state could relieve its financial situation that would be less devastat ing than a 20-percent cut to the state’s higher education budget, he says Advocates of the budget cuts say tuition hikes can compensate for the lack of state fund ing, but this is not the solution, Wilkins says "Legislators must realize that the University can't always go back to the students and raise their tuition," he says "We can't allow tuition to go up so high that students will be denied access through pricing " Because the problem is so serious, ASUO officials say it is important for students to find the time to write letters despite the conflicts dead week, finals, and registration present. "It's a matter of devoting 10 minutes to write a letter to save a whole year of education,” Burns says After lobbying for less-destructive budget cuts in Oregon, efforts will turn to Washington, D C and federal financial aid, Stewart says Direct lobbying is difficult for financial aid cuts because they are a federal — not state — issue, according to Stewart Letter writing will be essential, he says "Letters are effective We need letters to be written to congressmen, especially Mark Hat field." Sen Mark Hatfield, R-Ore , is chairer of the Senate Ways and Means Committee Hatfield "is a key player in Senate delibera tions and in the future of financial aid,” he says Stewart says he has been working with Hat field's staff to remain informed on developments in Washington, and with Ed Vignoul, University financial aid director, to determine the effects of financial aid cuts at the University The problem is more serious than most peo ple realize, Stewart says "A lot of people aren't going to be able to come back to school," Veterans organization to fold The University Veterans As sociation (UVA) has announced this year will be its last on campus Although director Dave Isen berg submitted goals for 1982-83 to the Incidental Fee Committee, a Monday memo addressed by Isenberg to IFC member David Gibson and ASUO Executive member Dean Larsen reiterated his conclu sion that the organization is no longer desired on campus Other agencies are available to help Vietnam veterans, there is "a new breed of post-Vietnam vets on campus" and campus concern about future foreign wars has decreased, stated Isenberg's memo, in explana tion of UVA's dissolution “For the most part they are content to rely on the new vet erans clerk and assume that Uncle Sam will provide, and prefer not to do anything on their own to ensure they get what is owed them in terms of benefits," Isenberg wrote of the "new breed" of veterans In a recent interview, Isen Sexual abuse suspect held on bail by police A 37-year-old Mexican transient arraigned Monday on a "menacing" charge is a "very strong suspect" in a number of sexual abuse cases that occurred on campus this fall, accord ing to a Eugene COP team spokesperson Joseph Ballard, arraigned in the Lane County District Court, was charged with "verbally sexually harassing" a 42-year-old white woman the evening of Nov 26 near 14th Avenue and Ferry Street, says COP team member Skip Stokes Ballard, booked on the menacing charge Dec 4, also is a suspect in the Dec 2 sexual abuse of three University students, according to Sgt Rick Allison of the Eugene Police Depart ment. The three women, all either 17 or 18 and residents of Willcox Dormitory, were mailing letters in the early afternoon at 15th Avenue and Moss Street when a man approached them, grabbed at their breasts and chased them, Allison says Eugene police currently are investigating several other recent incidents of sexual abuse on campus, and Ballard is a suspect in those cases, Stokes says Ballard is being held at the Lane County Jail Bail is set at $2,500 berg stated flatly, "I'm not going to babysit them" The UVA is a one-man opera tion and few efforts are made to recruit new members, Isenberg says Efforts to find veterans to continue the group's operations made between the time he wrote the goals and Monday were fruitless, he says “It's not going to hurt the general student body" directly or immediately, he says It will only hurt campus veterans in a year or two when, he predicts, the federal government will weaken veteran benefits pro grams "The things it (UVA) could do won’t be available when they (veterans on campus) need it,” Isenberg says of the discontin uance of the group Those veterans who have the energy to continue pro-peace and other such movements will find other outlets, he says In place of the UVA, the "ASUO and IFC (should) estab lish some sort of military infor mation center which can provide information on the draft, troop deployments, military strategies, " the memo reads Isenberg says he will maintain UVA books for the rest of the year and he recommends that Students for a Nuclear Free Fu ture be allocated UVA's current office next year "The group did what it was supposed to do" but is at the end of its usefulness, he says r 12 EXP DEVELOPING AND PRINTING 12 e*poiur* CO*OT pnnt fill developed and printed • C <1 process only $2.29 On* Coupon P*» Custom* «edne"'*t>'P Ca»n Vatue i"20 o’ On* Cent roueon must »ccOMP»ni o«o<« Offer Expires 12-19-81 One_d a yJ Mm _d e v e I o p i n g _s e rvice uo BOOKSTORE 13th & Kincaid Mon-Fri 8:15-5:30 Sat 10:00-3:00 Textbooks (M-SS20 General Books (M-3S10 Supplies MA-4331 BETTER BITES Nutritious snacks packaged and delivered* Show you care with a personalized gift from Better Bites Items include: Natural Juices and Sodas Cookies Granolas Exotic Fruit Butters and Spreads Natural Licorice Gift boxes and car bags available ’Prices include mailing or delivery Cali your order today: 485-0037 or 345-3876 SPEED LIMIT MIN UTES Fine us $2.00 We. at Domino's Pizza, believe no more than 30 minutes,should pass from the time you place your order to the time we place your delicious pizza in your hands If we exceed that limit, you save S2.00. 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