Emerald
Vol 83, No 70
Eugene. Oregon 97403
Monday, December 14. 1981
Star light,
The retirement tower next door to
the University Inn found its own un
Photo by Bob Baker
star bright
ique way to celebrate Christmas with
a large, lighted star
Atiyeh’s budget approach angers senators
By RON HUNT
Of th* Emaratd
Gov Vic Atiyeh's "cut and watch ’em bleed to
death" approach — in the words of Sen Ed Fadeley,
D-Eugene — has Oregon legislators on edge as they
prepare for a Jan 11 special session
Before heading to Hawaii for a vacation, which
legislators publicly criticized, Atiyeh said he doesn't
plan to ask the Legislature for tax increases and he
wants the property tax relief program left untouched
Although he didn't say so. Atiyeh wants basic
school support saved from the knife also, several
legislators say
We're starting from a disaster" with this ap
proach, says Fadeley, co-chairer of the Joint Ways &
Means Committee The governor has not yet shown
any leadership "
What Atiyeh has done — "leadership" or not — has
irked several legislators Atiyeh called the Legislature
into special session in response to a projected state
deficit (estimated at $240 million as of Thursday) for
July 1, 1983 And he ordered state agencies to cut 20
percent from already lean budgets
By protecting school support, property tax relief.
Legislative issues
special session
_I
Emerald graphic
and refraining from tax increases, Atiyeh's plan would
mean $240 million cut from other areas of state
government such as higher education and human
resources
In a letter to the state Board of Higher Education,
Sen Jim Gardner. D-Portland, says. "The course the
governor has laid out for dealing with the deficit is
irresponsible His tentative decision to carve the entire
deficit out of higher education, human resources and
other state programs is a politically motivated abdica
tion of gubernatorial responsibility.”
If the governor keeps the same frame of mind,
Fadeley says, there'll be "bad news for everybody,"
especially for those going into high*- education
"The governor is off on the wrong track (by not
requesting tax increases) and it appears to us that he's
simply setting up for the election," adds House Majority
Leader Grattan Kerans, D-Eugene
In criticizing Atiyeh, Fadeley says, "Where Noah
believed the deluge was coming and tried to do
something about it, Vic is taking everybody to the
deepest water and pushing them overboard two by
two "
Legislators, although asking for leadership from
Atiyeh, have a variety of ideas for dealing with the
projected deficit Ideas include raising liquor prices, an
income tax surcharge, a graduated corporation tax, an
insurance premium tax and even the politically-charged
sales tax
In an election year, no decision we make is going
to be popular," says Senate Majority Leader Dell Isham,
D-Lincoln City But there comes a time when you have
to be responsible, regardless of the consequences,"
says Senate Pres Fred Heard, D-Klamath Falls
Ed board increases
tuition $49 per term
By DONALD COULTER
Of th* Emaratd
It's official — tuition for resident
students will go up $49 a term, starting
Winter term
That was the decision handed down by
the State Board of Higher Education
Friday in a 7-4 vote The "surcharge'' will
increase tuition from $275 to $324 Ad
ded to $89 in mandatory fees, the total
tuition package will jump to $413 a term
for residents
Tuition for out-of-state students will
not increase Since enrollment figures
for nonresidents are substantially lower
this term, board members feared that
even more out-of-state students would
turn away from the University if they were
assessed a surcharge Currently, nonre
sidents pay $1,256 a term for tuition
One of the board members who voted
against the surchage was Marion
Weatherford, the board s student repre
sentative Weatherford said the increase
is unreasonable considering the econ
omic means that many students have
‘ Such a large increase is unjustified,"
said the Oregon State University junior
"The board is sending out a signal to
students that we re going to charge more
for offering less "
Weatherford said the decision to ex
clude nonresidents from the surcharge
was made because "out-of-state re
sidents took an excessive burden
when tuition rates were set last year."
The tuiton increase will be used to
offset a $10-million deficit in the state
system's budget for the 1981-82 school
year The deficit is a result of an almost 4
percent decrease in enrollment from last
year
Board president Ed Harms questioned
whether students would benefit in the
long run if the state system would have
absorbed the cuts, instead of raising
tuition By failing to raise tuition now.
Harms said next year the system would
have had to deny registration to 5,000
students, as well as laying off more than
480 faculty memebers and 115 classified
staff
“I just wonder if students would be that
much better off,” Harms said
In other board action, board members
approved $8.3-million in program cuts —
a 4 percent cut in next year’s operating
budget — and adopted a priority list for
the four "packages'’ designed to comply
with possible 20 percent across-the
board cuts ordered by Gov Vic Atiyeh
Approval of the four percent cuts
means that about 250 faculty and 81
classified jobs will be eliminated from the
system's 1982-83 budget In addition,
fewer students will be admitted to several
professional schools starting next fall
At the University, 46 faculty and six
classified positions will be eliminated. In
addition, the School of Architecture and
Allied Arts will have to deny admission to
30 freshmen and the Law School is
considering reductions of its entering
class Almost all University departments
will be forced to tighten their curriculum
By approving and prioritizing the four
packages designed to comply with a
possible $47 1-million cut in education,
Chancellor Roy Lieuallen said that the
matter is now out of the board’s hands
and has become a political decision” to
be made by Atiyeh and the state legisla
ture
“The final decision should not be
made by the board but by the state
legislature,’ Lieuallen said.
Each of the four packages represents
a five percent cut in next year's operating
budget The first package includes pro
gram reductions, an increase in instruc
tional fees and a 1.5 percent pay cut for
full-time employees The second pack
age represents a 6 5 percent cut in FTE
positions The third and fourth packages,
virtually identical, will mean cutting 420
faculty, 84 staff and 5,000 full-time
students.
Board member Robert Ingalls sug
gested reversing packages two and
three on the priority list Ingalls said the
salary cut in package two would ”do
more to damage faculty morale than
anything we could do ”