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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1982)
Higher ed: Fighting for its life m w Groups mass for lobbying efforts KATHERINE EATON,chairer of the University senate, recently noted “the frustration of rhetoric" in letter writing campaigns designed to sway the legislative tied of cutting University funds in order to meet an anticipated shortfall of state money. Some faculty, staff, ASUO officers and students have decided to forgo the letter writing and take the process one step further-in the form of lobbying at the capito! during the Legislature's special session Lobbying for faculty and staff will be headed by the Oregon Federation of Teachers AFL/CIO According to a spokesperson in Portland who heads the state wide lobbying effort, the federation opposes "any cuts in agency budgets “ “There have been too many cuts already we’ve already been weakened beyond repair. " the spokesperson says The federation also says that political motivation is behind the legislator's decisions According to the federation's representative, most legislators are more concerned with looking good tor re-election than doing what is best for state agencies “I think that point is right on," the OTF spokesperson says "In the special session of 1980( which was also an election year), we couldn't even get them to listen We talked revenue, revenue, revenue, they said cut." The lobbying efforts of the ASUO's executives began last week, when the ASUO recruited a number of students to make up a lobbying delegation coordinated by the state and public affairs division of the ASUO Lobbying the revenue committees of both houses, students will be asked to offer one day a week for the special session's duration ASUO officials expressed an anticipated "attrition" among students, especially as the session goes on longer, ASUO executive coordinator John Moore told the Student University Affairs Board Jan 7. Interested students attended a two-hour informal session given by Curt Simic. University vice president for public services, and Bob Watrus, executive director of the Oregon Student Lobby The Oregon Student Lobby is an organization representing the students of most of the state colleges and will be in charge of lobbying the joint Ways and Means Committee and its education subcommittees Students on the lobbying team " will be briefed assigned committees and debriefed each day they lobby and will be able to use a University car to travel to Salem The lobbyists will be required to bnef John Stewart ASUO vice president for state and public affairs, the morning after they return from Salem Interested students should talk to Stewart. ASUO legislative coordinator Dave Bums, or ASUO secretary Marcia Noble “What I have seen is good." Watrus says about the ASUO s efforts to organize student lobbyists The ASUO has made a good effort to reach out to students and get them involved he adds Watrus is uncertain, however, about the effect the OSL will have on the special session “The barriers (to students influencing legislation) are considerable But the students' case will be made In terms of a crystal ball, it's very hard (to tell),” he said WATRUS IS CONFIDENT that the legislature won't restructure higher education because such a move would take considerable time, and legislators don't want a long session Legislators are more likely to say, “Something has to be done about transfer payments. ” he savs Student University Affairs Board members plan to lobby in Salem Tuesday hoping to first talk to legislators from their home districts and then lobbying other key legislators and observing relevant committees Gov Vic Atiyeh will meet with the Board at 3 p m Members are planning to present a strong case in opposition to the S28 million budget cut he proposes for higher education The Graduate Teaching Fetlowsh ip Federation is also planning lobbying efforts for the first day of the special session aimed directly at legislators GTFs and other interested parties are planning carpools to travel up to Salem Members also suggested some form of a demonstration According to Charlie Aker an employee of the GTFF the main thrust of their efforts will be discussions with legislators During a recent convocation, GTFs brainstormed about which legislators to target for a campaign Classified staff members in the Oregon Public Employees Union gathered last Thursday to discuss options in their efforts at lobbying According to Becky Bragg, the University representative of the OPEU, plans were still uncertain as to how many people would actively participate But. says Bragg, "we want to do as much as we are able to do " The OPEU group in Eugene is planning several events The first on their agenda is a lobbying effort scheduled for the Jan 26 Id estimate two carloads, says Donna Glather, who works in the AAA library "That doesn't sound like a lot." says Glather, "but when people have to take vacation time to get away, it is (a lot) THE OPEU is going to form a caucus in earty February to take "testimony” to present to legislators They also plan a voter registration drive to tie-in with the special session Thomas Brady a University history professor and member of the University chapter of the OFT says that while University staff are permitted to lobby, they are restricted in that they may not represent the University, only themselves as individuals The tone that most of the University employee s unions are taking is best stated by the OFT representative "Even taking a 5 percent cut is unacceptable ” By Debbie Howiett and Dane Claussen Cover photo by Bob Baker Board’s decision angers legislators ONE ISSUE CERTAIN to emerge at the special session is just how much influence legislators should have over areas of higher education to be trimmed — or slashed A letter presented to the State Board of Higher Education in December indicates some state representatives and senators may try increase their participation in those decisions "We are concerned about the process you have used to arrive at decisions about reductions," says the letter, signed by 27 legislators and presented to the board by one signer, Rep Margie Hendrik sen, D-Eugene "We feel that it is your responsibility as a Board to provide informed public oversight and decision-making,” the letter continues "If you fail to exercise this responsibility, it is predictable that the Legislature will exercise it for you — not because legislators are better informed or have more time, but simply by default." Rep Grattan Kerans, D-Eugene, another letter signer, says he thinks many legislators stiH agree with the philosophy contained in the letter Those legislators would rather have quality at all of the state institutions, with no additional cuts in the already austere budgets, he says But if that isn't possible, the colleges and universities can't continue to engage in the mindless, bureaucratic approach" of a certain percentage cut applied to each institution, Kerans says "I think a growing number of people have the same feeling " State board members apparently" have a different attitude, he says Chancellor Roy Lieuallen has been a strong higher education advocate for20 years and is doing his best to maintain the present level of service, Kerans says I can stand on his side of the structure and see his view perfectly " Yet Kerans says he thinks curriculum matters and program reductions have ended up at the special session "by default," and that's too bad, he says Legislators have made program decisions before, such as eliminating state support from physical education during the 1981 session, but legislatorsdo not necessarily have the background to make those types of decisions, Kerans says But he says the time has come to make realistic choices The goal no longer appears to be across-the-board cuts in which "the good, the bad and the ugly all get it the same "We seem to be or that track, and there seems to be no force to stop that track." By Ann Portal $2,119 <0 ■O w ■o c 3 ■C C Z UJ Q 3 fr CC cc UJ Q. z o UJ CD < CC UJ > < •^$1,993 • PERCENT CHANGE IN AVERAGE COST • ONE STUDENT (1964-65) (1969-70) (1974-75) (1979-80) YEAR (1980-81) STUDENT STATE 1964-1980 UP 142% UP 153% 1980-81 UP 11% DOWN 6% OVERALL UP 153% UP 147% 1982 TUITION Where do we go from here? SOURCE Keith Jackson. State System of Higher Education (1981-82) Atiyeh’s cuts may be partly passed LEGISLATORS APPEAR unlikely to accept all of Gov Vic Atiyeh's ideas on what should be cut from the higher education budget But his proposal is the important foundation on which state politicians will build Atiyeh's budget plans include a $28 1 million cut to be absorbed by Oregon’s state colleges and universities His proposal, based on four 5-percent packages prepared by the State Board of Higher Education, accepts the first two packages of cuts, each totaling more than $11 million The governor's proposal agrees with the areas earmarked for cuts by the board Although the board would have control over how cuts would be distributed, those submitted to (and approved by) Atiyeh offer a clue as to what areas could suffer in another round of cuts The items in Package One include: • $1.5 million to be gained through a tuition increase (which a board representative says would probably mean keeping the $49-per-term surcharge imposed for this winter and spring terms). • $2.98 million gained from a 1.5 percent reduction in the Full-Time-Equivalent of all classified staff and faculty. The board says this would require equal a four-day layoff for 12-month personnel, with a slightly shorter layoff for 9-month personnel. • $3 37 million worth of program reductions (which actually were prepared in case of budget problems last fall and already are in place) • $1 million in summer session and “other program” cuts. This cut would delete all state support of summer term, so students would have to shoulder 100 percent of the cost of that term, meaning another tuition increase. Students have, in the past, paid 94 percent of the cost of their summer education • $2.8 million gained from changes in debt service requirements and debt serving earnings that can be applied to the operating budget (this requires no cuts, but is only a transferring of money from one area to another) Package 2 has only one item: a 6.5 percent Full-Time Equivalent reduction in the salaries of all classified staff, administrators and faculty. Added to the 1.5 percent reduction in Package 1, the total time 12-month staff would be layed off is 20 days. Nine-month employees would be layed off 16 days. By Ann Portal Graphic by Max DeRungs __ It’s Simple...Higher Education Needs Your Help Volunteer to Lobby for the Support of Higher Education As a student at the University of Oregon, you have an investment in your future Don’t let that investment slip away because of proposed budget cuts in higher education. By volunteering as a legislative lobbyist for the ASUO, you can play an influential role in decisions con cerning higher education during the Oregon legislature’s special session. By being an ASUO lobbyist in Salem once a week, you’re not only aiding the fight for higher education funding, but you’re receiving valuable experience in govern ment procedures V77777? So don’t let your investment go to waste Higher education needs your help For more information, contact John Stewart, ASUO Vice President, at 686-3724, or drop by the ASUO offices, Suite 4 in the EMU. | Focus on Jewish Culture Art and Community: Focus on Jewish Culture is a series of public events in conjunction with the current exhibition Danzig 1939: Treasures of a Destroyed Community, at the University of Oregon Museum of Art. Events are coordinated by the Russian and East Eu ropean Studies Center. The Significance of the Danzig Collection. VIVIAN MANN. Curator of the Exhibition. Mon day. January 18, 7:30 p.m. Erb Memorial Union. Room 167, UO. Art, Ritual, and Community. Tuesday, January 19, 7:30 p.m. Lawrence Hall, Room 107, UO. Panel with University faculty and local artists. Jews in Diaspora. Wednesday, January 20, 7:30 p.m. Temple Beth Isreal, 2550 Portland St. Two distinguished films: Danzig 1939 and the Academy Award winning Number Our Days. SPONSORS: University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Am, )e«vi>h Student Union. Cultural Forum. Campus Interfaith Ministry Museum of Art Eugene community Temple Beth Isreal. Council of Jewish Life. Hadasiah These events are Danzig and Its Jewish Popula tion Between Two World Wars. Roger Chickering, Professor of History. Thursday, January 21, 7:30 p.m. Erb Memorial Union, Room 167, UO. Image Before My Eyes. Satur day, January 30, 8 p.m. Temple Beth Isreal, 2550 Portland St. A film concerning life in Jewish Poland before World War II. Kapeiye. Wednesday, February 10, 8 p.m. Temple Beth Isreal, 2550 Portland St. admission $2.50 (no advance tickets). Con cert of East European Jewish folk music by the acclaimed traditional klezmer band from New York. Events are free of charge, with the exception of the Kapeiye concert, and open to the public. For more information, contact Mark Levy, (503) 683-2215 or 686-5053. mad#* possible by grants from the Oregon Committee for the Humanities (an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humani ties). the Oregon Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Dorot Foundation HOW TO PAY FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL A Get yourself accepted by an accredited Medical or Osteopathic school O See Craig Ostrem at the EMU TODAY from 9 a m. to 4 pm C Make your appointment to see if you qualify for a Naval Commission. D After qualifying, go to Med school with tuition and fees, books and supplies, plus a little spending money ($530 per month). E For more information, go to step (B) LET US PAY YOUR WAY! To the Faculty of the University of Oregon.: Chancellor LAeuallen has failed,, the State Board of Higher Education has failed, Governor Atiyeh has failed—all those to whom Oregon had entrusted the care of its colleges and universities. Now it ts the legislature's turn. tVe, the U. of O. Federation of Teachers (AFT 3209, AFL-CIO), urge you to join with public employees' unions and other groups in taking our case directly to the legislators. Don t yield to the temptation to play "beggar-thy-neighbor’ about how cuts should be made, across-the-board or selectively? Salary cuts or program reductions? The faculty was not consulted about such plans, nor will be consulted until collective bargaining comes to our campus. IVhat we can do now is to write to our legislators today and urge them to find new revenues for higher education and human resources. kVe can urge them to stop the Atiyeh-fostered drift ofstate revenues away from state purposes (higher ed, human resources) toward local government (schools, property-tax relief). Oregon doesn V need a sales-tax, it needs only a state government with the courage to base taxes on ability to pay. IVe need, for example, a graduated corporate tax; and we need to recover for public purposes some of the estimated t600 million which, following the Reagan tax cuts, Oregonians will not pay in federal taxes. Voices have been sounded in the legislature against the Atiyeh "re-election budget-cuts. ” Let’s support them. IVrite to your legislators today. Executive Committee, U. of O. F. T. Tom Brady (Hst), pres. Cheyney Ryan (Phil), v.-pres. Bill Cadbury (Speech), sec. Leila IVrathall (LERC), treas. EDUCATION STUDENTS: AT LAST: —Short, practical, step-by-step process -including Lesson Plans HOW TO: ★ MAINSTREAM ★ MEET NEEDS OF ALL ★ DEVELOP RAPPORT & CONTROL Australia/U.S. TEXTBOOK ADOPTION Assured success! “LIVING TOGETHER EFFECTIVELY -A CLASSROOM APPROACH” By Lucy Ruthrauff Catley (Whitcombs and Tombs Pty Ltd , Marrickville, NSW . Aust, 1977) $11.95 (postage and handling included) ORDER THIS VALUABLE TEACHING TOOL NOWI SAL MAGUNDI ENTERPRISES P O. 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