Oregon daily _ _
emerald
Need a Job?
Unde Sam
is hiring.
Page 8
Thursday, August 12, 1982
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 84, Number 16
-1
Ridin ’ on
to finals
This University student is no
doubt racing back from his tennis
“final" to face his desk at home,
piled high with books for other
exams
As term is washed away by
summer rains, some students
clean up their acts and study for
finals Others wear the same car
eless attitude day after day
Eight weeks of classes and
frivolity, including publication of
the Emerald, will cease and desist
this week with those mind-dredg
ing confessionals of academic
(incompetence called finals
Area merchants vent a de
spairing sigh as those students
dollars skip town While profes
sors and campus lawns sigh in
relief, knowing they will not be
trod upon by students for a
month
See you in September
Photo by Mark Pynes
Financial aid may match spring estimates
By Debbie Howlett
Of th« Emerald
The University's financial aid office
says all systems are go for fall term
registration Financial aid awards will be
dispersed and students should receive at
least as much assistance as tentative
award letters indicated last spring, ac
cording to Ed Vignoul, financial aid dir
ector
The office staff is in the process of
finishing checks of tax forms for PELL
Grant recipients, and Vignoul expects
the checks to be completed by the end of
the month
"We re going to be ready to go fall
term,” Vigr.oul says.
But Vignoul has strong words for what
he terms the absurdity of not yet knowing
the exact amount of financial aid the
University will receive for the coming
year
"It's absolutely absurd — it’s August
and we don’t have (official notification),"
Vignoul says. “We didn't even have a
reasonable idea until April 12."
Exact amounts probably won’t be
released until well after fall term begins,
Vignoul says In the meantime, "partial
tentative campus based award letters”
will most likely be mailed by Aug 20 from
the Department of Education in Wa
shington The tentative letters will allow
schools to distribute money for fall term.
According to Vignoul, the award let
ters will probably have little impact on
distribution of aid for fall term, assuming
that the financial aid office estimated the
amounts correctly
If the estimations are incorrect, Vig
noul says "you may be talking to
University given minority grant
By Cort Fernald
Ot the Emerald
The University has received a $69,320
award from the U S Department of
Housing and Urban Development to aid
12 minority students obtain degrees in
community planning or development.
The University is the only educational
institution in the Northwest to receive
such funding this year
Dean Runyan, head of the University's
Department of Planning, Public Policy
and Management, calls the HUD funding
"crucial to meet the needs of minority
students ." The program "will really help
students who wouldn't otherwise be able
to take advantage of this kind of educa
tional opportunity,” Runyan adds
Minority students eligible for the
University program will be recruited
throughout Oregon The students will be
selected on the basis of financial need,
interest in a career in community
development, insight into urban prob
lems for low-income and minority
groups, academic ability and profes
sional potential.
Because the award was announced
only last week, the University could not
recruit for fall term, Runyan says. How
ever, there are eligible University
students who will enter the program now,
he says.
“Next year we will recruit more broad
ly," Runyan says. The program will be
"used as a recruiting tool,” according to
Runyan
The University financial aid office will
check the students’ eligibility and han
dling the bookkeeping, according to Ed
Vignoul, director of University Financial
Aid.
HUD Community Development Work
Study Program enables 276 poor men
and women to spend one year at one of
54 participating colleges and universities
across the country. Students gain
professional experience by working to
plan, develop or administer activities
funded by HUD’s Community Develop
ment Block Grant or Urban Development
Action Grant programs.
"Our goal is to enhance the profes
sional leadership abilities of these
students, while enriching their under
standing of urban and economic
development programs," says Samuel
Pierce, HUD secretary. "This is also an
opportunity to attract a greater number
of minority men and women to careers in
state or local community and economic
development "
In addition to their academic work,
students in the program will use the
urban or community development grant
funds to complete internships with a
state, regional or local government
agency, an Indian tribe or a private non
profit organization
The funds will be used in conjunction
with the University's work-study pro
gram. The University will provide coun
seling and administrative support
services
Students who complete the program
will be required to work a minimum of two
consecutive years for a state or local
government or nonprofit agency funded
by CDBG or UDAG funds. Those who do
not complete their academic or profes
sional work will be required to repay the
educational costs
Most of the students in the program
will be in graduate programs leading to a
master's degree A few colleges and
universities in the HUD program will
focus on undergraduates in their senior
year.
The University's Department of Plan
ning, Public Policy and Management
offers two master's degree programs in
Urban and Regional Planning and in
Public Affairs within the architecture and
allied arts school.
someone else next time.”
Other good news is coming from the
financial aid front
The funding situation for PELL Grants
and Supplemental Educational Oppor
tunity Grants has also improved The
House of Representatives voted to add
$140 million to the PELL Grant fund and
$29 million to the SEOG. And Sen.
Christopher Dodd, D-Conn , has
proposed an amendment that would add
an additional $48 million to the SEOG
fund. The Senate tabled the measure
after some debate Tuesday and will vote
on it later.
"I don't think students will notice a
significant increase (in the SEOG), it
should be about the same,'’ Vignoul
says. But he is quick to recognize that
any added money is welcome.
And, the addition to the SEOG "might
free up some money and make my life a
bit easier,” Vignoul says.
The financial aid office has a new
payment schedule set for the PELL
Grants, but Vignoul says that total award
packages shouldn't increase substan
tially.
Vignoul also adds that the National
Direct Student Loan program is the har
dest hit by cuts in financial aid He notes
that in the 1980-81 school year, NDSLs
totaled nearly $3 million, this year the
loan total is expected to be about $2 2
million
But the good news now may be over
shadowed by the impending vote on the
balanced budget amendement. The
constitutional amendment is something
National Association of Student Finan
cial Aid officials and Vignoul say would
either eliminate or reduce substantially
the money allocated for several pro
grams — including the federal financial
aid program.
The Senate has already voted 69-31 in
favor of the amendment. The measure is
expected to be discussed in the House
by the middle of September. If passed, it
then goes to individual states for ra
tification.