Wednesday May 12, 1982
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 83
Number 150
Olum forms force to combat racism
By Ann Portal
Of &*• Bmwmk)
A faculty/student task force
has been formed to study recent
racial harassment problems on
campus, University Pres Paul
Olum announced Tuesday.
Several incidents of
harassment, ranging from graf
fiti and racist remarks to
"somebody feeling pushed,”
have occurred at the University
in the past few months, Olum
said He declined to identify
specific episodes of harass
ment.
Olum attributed the incidents
in part to the current national
mood Similar and more serious
instances of racial harassment
have been reported all over the
country, he said, pointing out
that racial harassment violates
both University policy and a new
state law
"We thought it was important
to take some kind of action Any
kind of racism is utterly unac
ceptable," Olum said
Members of the task force
include Diane Reinhard, assis
tant education college dean and
task force chairer, English Prof
Edwin Coleman; Susanne
Endow, property control man
ager in the business office; Bar
bara Nicholls, Counselor of
Student Athletes; Law Prof. Wil
liam Randolph; Psychology
Prof Myron Rothbart and
Biology Prof. George Strei
singer
Alan Contreras, ASUO Vice
President of Program Adminis
tration, is the student member of
the committee
Turning to other topics during
his monthly press conference,
Olum said University admission
applications are running well
behind last year That may be
because students are applying
to fewer schools, he said. Also,
entering freshmen may not think
they need to apply as early,
because of declining enrollment
and less crowding in the dormi
tories
"Everyone is expecting a sig
nificantly lower entering class,"
Olum said
Responding to a question
about the effectiveness of
recent higher education lobby
ing at the Legislature, Olum said
he thought there was an "enor
mous difference” in the attitude
of legislators during the special
session compared to attitudes
during the previous session.
Community support in the
Eugene area also seems to be
increasing, he said. But that
increased support may not have
much direct effect at the
University, he said, because the
Legislature awards higher
education a lump sum each
biennium.
special session, the withholding
of raises for faculty, does not
seem to have caused many
faculty to leave, Olum said.
“We think we're in pretty
good shape for next year. We
haven’t had a mass exodus at
all. The thing that we worry
about is so many people have
offers — or offers of offers,” he
said.
The University is the only
We thought it was important
to take some kind of action.'
The University must lobby for
both this campus and higher
education in general, Olum
said. Battles between the Legis
lature and the State Board of
Higher Education and its staff
also may not represent the
problems of individual institu
tions, he said, noting that so far
higher education hasn't
achieved the results it would like
during recent legislative ses
sions.
One indirect result of the
higher education institution in
Oregon that he knows of not
giving at least a 4-percent salary
increase, Olum said. That in
crease at the University would
cost about $1 million, he said,
adding “frankly, we don't have
the money.”
Olum criticized a report is
sued last month by the Oregon
Educational Coordinating Com
mission as having errors about
national and University data and
incorrectly interpreting infor
mation.
The OECC report reviewed
the 1982-83 budget requested
by the State Board of Higher
Education and criticized a
number of higher education is
sues, such as admission and
grading standards, tuition
levels, intercollegiate athletic
funding and remedial course
policies.
“There are things that con
cern me a lot in the coordinating
commission’s report. (The
commission) ought to be com
ing out much more strongly as a
group in support of higher
education,” Olum said.
University personnel in the
student services office are
preparing a detailed rebuttal to
some of the commission’s find
ings, he said.
However, Olum said the com
mission's criticism of how the
state board has made cuts in the
higher education budget are
“serious and important and
need to be considered.”
Even within the state system
there was “serious disa
greement” on how the last
round of cuts should have been
made, he said.
Breezy jazz quartet
cools warm afternoon
Four Jazz musicians entertained lounging students yes
terday afternoon In front of the EMU as the temperature
reached a balmy 68. Temperatures In the sixties are
expected again today.
Photo by Erich Boeketheide
/
LTD lays off
19 workers
By Marian Green
Oltha Emerald
Nineteen Lane Transit District em
ployees will become victims of budget
reductions June 6 when the district lays
them off, according to an LTD represen
tative.
On June 6, 10 bus drivers, three main
tenance workers and five management
employees will be out of work. In addi
tion, the district will lay off one informa
tion clerk June 1, says Ed Bergeron, LTD
marketing representative.
Bergeron says the lay-offs are a result
of the reduced budget planned for the
1982-83 fiscal year. LTD's projected $7
million budget for 1982-83 is $1 million
less than the 1980-81 $8 million budget
and $400,000 less than the present
year’s $7.4 million budget.
Unionized employees will be laid off on
a seniority basis, and management per
sonnel will be laid off according to need,
he says.
The personnel reductions are accom
panied by service cutbacks, he says.
“Most of the cutbacks are ones that
are cut back anyway in the summer,” he
says.
Further reductions will come this sum
mer in late evening runs and Saturday
service, “where people weren't riding
much anyway," Bergeron says.
But he acknowledges that “it’s going
to be harder to take the bus to the show.”
In the University area, those routes
include early morning runs on the
Amazon, U of O/Laurel Hill and U of O
buses. For detailed information on the
service reductions, call 687-5555.
In the past, LTD would use the lax time
created by slower summer months for
special workshops in areas such as
defensive driving, he says. This summer,
budget reductions will force elimination
of that practice, he says.