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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1982)
State to lay off 500 employees SALEM (AP) - There are no acceptable alternatives to proposed layoffs of some 500 state employees, Executive Department chief Bob Smith told legislators today Smith told the Joint Ways and Means Committee that state officials will not arbi trarily force public employee unions to renegotiate their contracts with the state "We as management do not intend to impose unacceptable pay cuts in the name of a reduced work week on public employees." Smith said Union spokesman Chuck Mendenhall said a survey several weeks ago showed most of the 18,000 members of the Oregon Public Em ployees Union prefer layoffs to reopening their contracts "At this point, I don't see any acceptable options to layoffs." Mendenhall said in an interview However, he said the union hopes the special session of the Legislature this month will prevent some of the proposed layoffs by reducing property tax relief and basic school support and approv ing other tax hikes Gov Vic Atiyeh's plan for balancing the 1981-83 state budget includes holding vacant 1,100 state positions About half of the slots al ready may be vacant and about 500 people now em ployed would lose their jobs Smith said the average monthly cost of each of the state's 43,468 propositions is $1,747 Smith was unable to tell Sen Tony Meeker. R-Amity, how much money already appropriated to agency bud gets is not being spent due to unfilled positions Meeker said the Legislature ought to be able to recapture those funds "I'd just like to know what is open to us to do that does not take renegotiating,” said Sen Jack Ripper, D-North Bend Smith outlined several op tions that would not require reopening the contracts, but repeated that the alternatives were unacceptable. He said leaves without pay or shortened work weeks would reduce indispensible positions at state prisons, in stitutions and state police “We flat have to have the coverage to provide the ser vice to the people of the state,” agreed Sen. Keith Burbidge. D-Salem Sen. Jim Gardner, D-Port land, asked if the Legislature legally could disappropriate $80.6 million scheduled for state employee salary in creases “You may remove the money, but it doesn’t dimin ish the obligation to pay the higher approved pay raises," Smith replied He said if the Legislature removed the funds, the salary hikes would have to be implemented by laying off enough workers so that the state could afford to pay the increases to those remain ing PIANO PRACTICE ROOM NOW OPEN Use of room possible by signing for key at the EMU Main Desk. University Senate recommends tougher measures for cheaters By ANN PORTAL Of *m Emerald The University Senate moved to toughen academic sanctions for cheating Wednesday when it suggested students should not be allowed to drop courses until cheating charges have been resolved If the University Assembly approves the sen ate's recommendation, students no longer could withdraw from courses to avoid taking an F if convicted of cheating The revision was the result of a case last year in which a student dropped a course before the professor could award a failing grade. George Strubel, associate professor of computer and information science, said he doesn't know exactly how often this happens, but he said it has hap pened in his classes several times "Students evaporate before anything more can happen," Strubel said Part of the revision requires professors to notify department heads before accusing students of academic dishonesty. After telling the department head, the professor is to schedule a conference with the student. The conduct code now requires professors to talk first to the student. A new section that would be added to the code directs department heads to prevent students from dropping courses “pending dis posal of the incident.” If the incident results in a grade of either N or F — two possible penalties in cheating cases — the student would be forced to take the grade instead of dropping the course. If no penalty results, or if the incident does not result in an N or F grade, the student still would be allowed to drop the course, even after the withdrawal deadline. In other business, the senate decided a grade of C- should be considered passing. The grading system previously defined the passing grade as "C or above," and a student recently received an no-pass for a C- grade. “The C- should be considered as satisfactory work and worthy of a P grade,” a Scholastic Review Committee motion said. The senate agreed, in spite of objections made in a letter from some architecture and allied arts faculty. Those faculty members suggested a com plete reconsideration of P-NP grading. Many students consider passes “a lazy C," although that grading system may "best accommodate a quality effort” in certain courses, said a member of architecture’s faculty advisory committee. The senate took no action on the recommendation, however. The senate also recommended changing what is considered a punishable drug-related offense The new version would prohibit the "illegal creation, processing, cultivation, broker ing or possession of controlled substances" on University property or at University activities. The change passed, but almost was defeated by abstentions. Crimes against the state should be dealt with by civil authorities, said psychology prof. Barbara Gordon. Lawmakers want cuts halved SALEM (AP) — Legislative leaders want proposals drafted by Friday outlining state agency cuts of an average 5 percent — about half the amount recom mended by Gov. Vic Atiyeh to balance the 1982-83 budget. Senate President Fred Heard, D-Klamath Falls, and House Speaker Hardy Myers, D-Portland, met with chairmen of Ways and Means subcom mittees Tuesday to request the budget outlines. The 5 percent cuts would reduce state agency spending by about $65 million, compared with about $120 million proposed by Atiyeh. The gover nor’s total recommended cuts of $147 million include savings in basic school support and other non-agency areas. Sen. Jim Gardner, D-Port land, said Heard and Myers in structed the Ways and Means members to make recommen dations based on what cuts the budget committees believe can be made without causing substantial problems in the operation of state government. Myers and Heard will review the budget proposals over the weekend and are scheduled to appear before the Joint Ways and Means Committee on Mon day to announce their plan for preventing a projected $239 million state deficit. SHOE SALE ^On Campus ^ Save 50% and more! Reg 30.00 to 36.00 Reg. 40.00 to 44.00 14.99 19.99 Reg 50 00 to 52.00 Reg. 50.00 to 62.00 24.99 29.99 FAMOUS BRANDS QUALITY FOOTWEAR BOOTS ON SALE TOO!
