Events introduce ‘Higher Ed Week’
By Debbie Howlett
Of (he Emerald
Two events in Eugene this Sunday and
Monday will mark the opening of the
second annual national "Higher Educa
tion Week ”
On Sunday, the city and the University
will jointly present a public "open house"
from 1:30 to 11 p.m at the new Hult
Performing Arts Center
On Monday, the University will cancel
afternoon classes for a "science and
culture" convocation featuring Stanford
University Pres Donald Kennedy
The convocation and the open house
were planned to provide forums sup
porting the academic values of the
University. Olum said
"These have been rough times, and
we want to restate in an upbeat way our
belief in higher education," he said.
The open house will begin at 1:30 p.m
Sunday in the lobby of the performing
r
Arts center holds open house;
classes end at noon on Monday
arts center with speeches by University
Pres Paul Olum and city officials and a
performance by the University's brass
choir. Guided tours of the facility will be
conducted from 2 to 8 p m
The center's technical staff will stage
special shows throughout the day to
demonstrate the facility 's state-of-the-art
equipment Refreshments also will be
served at the free event
Several musical groups from the
University will perform during the day
long event To cap off the open house.
University faculty members from the
dance, music and theater departments
will perform in the Silva Concert Hall at
8:30 p m in An Evening with the
University of Oregon Performing Arts
Faculty."
Also performing during the day will be
the University's song and dance troupe
and cast members from the summer
theater production of Harvey “
Lectures from faculty members will
include Computergraphics" by fine arts
professor Ken O'Connell and Holo
graphy Three-Dimensional Laser
Images" by physics professor David So
koloff
Both University and community
members are invited to the open house
The science and culture convocation
will begin at 1 30 p m Monday with a
procession of the University faculty in full
academic regalia
After the procession. Kennedy will
speak on the influence of new scientific
ideas on the humanities and contempor
ary culture
The ceremony will be held outside in
the Memorial Quadrangle north of the
University Library In case of rain, the
procession and convocation will move to
the EMU Ballroom
All afternoon classes will be canceled
to allow students and faculty to attend
Several special seminars will be held
Monday afternoon, beginning at 2:30
p.m The seminars include a speech on
"Cell Biology: The New High Tech." and
the film "The Day After Trinity." with
commentaries by Olum and Aaron
Novick. biology department chairer
Both men worked on the first atomic
bomb at Los Alamos. New Mexico.
Other seminar topics are "Hormones
from the Brain — Control of Human
Feelings," "Evolution and Religious
Truth" and "Darwinism "
SUAB tries again for cheaper bus passes
Students need
to match funds
By David Brown
Ol tha EmwiM
This fall, the Student University Af
fairs Board may try again for subsidized
Lane Transit District bus passes for
University students
Last fall. LTD proposed that the
student governments of the University
and Lane Community College help fund
a pilot program offering discounted
quarterly bus passes to students
ASUO funds, which totaled about $3
million last year, generally go either to
academic, physically or culturally en
riching programs. ASUO comptroller
Alan Contreras says But "marginal-'
programs have been funded with in
cidental fees in the past, he says
Members of SUAB. which represents
students in matters of University legis
lation. "tried as many financial open
ings as possible" last year but did not
have enough time to investigate all
sources of funding, says SUAB member
Mike Prothe
The pilot program already is suc
cessful at LCC, where it began last
wif.ter term
The Associated Students of LCC now
pay the transit district a
$1,200-per-term subsidy out of an an
nual budget of $50,000
In turn, the transit district charges a
discount rate of $36 per quarter to
full-time LCC students, ASLCC Pres
Paquita Garetea says The passes are
good for unlimited bus rides within the
Eugene-Springfield area
Other students and bus patrons must
pay $54 for the same three months
A $400.000 remodeling of the downtown Lane Transit District
bus terminal began this week But University students won 't
-'A~ Mm*.
Photo by Bob Baker
be getting fare discounts that Lane Community College
commuters are used to.
worth of passes
Close to 800 discount passes were
sold at LCC each term last winter and
spring Based on that rate, the transit
district s share of the subsidy could
come to $3,600 this fall, says Ed Ber
geron, LTD marketing director.
That projection doesn't leave much
room for revenue, Bergeron says, but it
does establish a strong patronage
among LCC students, who make up
more than 15 percent of the buses’
ridership. The quarterly passes also
eliminate the cost of processing passes
on a monthly basis, he says.
At the University, SUAB has run into
Bus depot moves around the corner
Don't expect to hop aboard a Lane
Transit District bus from the 10th
Avenue terminal near the downtown
mall.
Beginning this week, all Lane Transit
District buses traveling Eugene routes
will sojourn at a temporary central ter
minal on Charnelton Street near the
downtown mall
The new location allows workers to
revamp the old downtown mall termin
al.
Renovation blueprints include a
widened sidewalk extending one lane
into 10th Avenue, six weather shelters,
trees and six boarding sections, which
will consolidate buses covering similar
areas of town
Buses will depart from five alphabe
tized sections of Charnelton Street
between 8th and 11th avenues until
renovation of the old terminal is com
pleted
The terminal is set for completion
Dec. 17. The LTD customer service
center also has relocated to Charnel
ton, in the E & R Building at the corner
of 10th Avenue.
Riders have requested these im
provements for many years, says Ed
Bergeron, LTD marketing director.
Some people said they would ride the
bus only if the terminal were improved,
he says.
The Eugene government's push for
capital improvements adds a second
incentive for construction, Bergeron
says.
The project is co-sponsored by the
City of Eugene and Lane Transit Dis
trict, with the total cost about $425,000,
according to an LTD budget report
Eugene will foot about one third of
that bill, and LTD will provide the rest,
the report states.
Last May, Hank Perry, who was then
executive board officer of the union
representing LTD drivers, said that the
money should be used to avoid a June
lay-off of 19 employees.
“Our main charge is to carry people
from one place to another It’s not to
xlo all these things when times are
lean,” Perry said.
“some rather large stumbling blocks"
since the transit district suggested the
program last fall, Prothe says.
During spring term, he sgys, SUAB
proposed that the ticket subsidy be
funded by the University adminstration
with revenue from University parking
meters, parking passes and citations
But the students were turned down,
Prothe says.
The University already pays a man
datory employer s tax to the transit
district, says Ray Hawk, vice-president
for administration and finance. That tax
amounted to $276,000 on nearly 57
million dollars last year, he says.
“We ali are very sympathetic to
(SUAB’s) goals and objectives," Hawk
says. But the University should not have
to pay LTD twice, he says.
At LCC, the discount passes are
valuable because the community col
lege campus is a long distance from
downtown Eugene, Prothe says. At the
University, the passes could help
reduce traffic congestion, he says.
ASUO officials may reconsider the
pilot program this Wednesday at the
year’s first University Senate meeting,
Prothe says.