Vice-president takes on dollar decline
Lower enrollment, fees
means money maelstrom
By Rich Burr
Of the Emerald
As ASUO vice president of
administration and finance,
David Gibson is caught at the
center of a fiscal storm brewing
over the ASUO
Student government this year
is caught between rising costs
and declining enrollment. Gib
son says, while also facing more
new student groups applying for
funding because majors are
becoming more diversified
As the ASUO's financial
troubleshooter, Gibson is re
sponsible for dealing with these
harsh realities
This year's ASUO operating
budget is based upon enroll
ment of 15,200 students If en
rollment drops to 14,500 or
lower, ASUO-funded programs
may receive across-the-board
cuts, he says
"You're always in a shadow of
doubt because you don't know
exact figures, and we re going a
lot on instinct," Gibson says
with a nervous laugh
University Registrar Wanda
Johnson reported Monday that
fall term enrollment was 13.567,
down 9 percent from the same
time last year That means the
number of students enrolled,
and the incidental fees they pay.
are more than 6 percent lower
than the 14,500 students
necessary to avoid budget cuts
for ASUO-funded groups
If Incidental Fee Committee
members remain faithful to their
election pledges to keep in
cidental fees at last year's level,
some groups will lose all their
funding, he says
But the ASUO administrator is
looking at alternatives to drastic
cuts
Prospects are dubious for us
ing a voluntary payment
alternative to support student
programs, he says If
implemented, such a plan could
leave seven-eighths of the
programs without funding, he
says
With the quality of programs
we have and the number of
programs we have, the number
of services we offer to the
students, community, and
faculty, we'd be in serious
trouble if we had that voluntary
payment thing." Gibson says
For instance, there's a lot of
people on this campus that use
the Outdoor Center." he says
"Personally. I don't, and if I was
asked to pay for the Outdoor
Center, I might not ”
Voluntary payment could lead
to a referendum on the ASUO
itself. Gibson points out
"Last year's IFC at Southern
Oregon State voted not to fund
their student government," he
says "They got their funding
cut from like $20,000 to $3,000
"We'd be in serious trouble "
Gibson says he's considering
user fees for applicable orga
nizations Under such a
program, students would pay a
small fee for the service or
product, such as paying a rental
charge to borrow tools from the
Action Now Tool Library, he
says
A proposal requiring students
to pay postage on program
newsletters could encourage
students who do not receive a
newsletter to investigate the
group, Gibson says
Fluctuation of phone rates
has been a traditional problem
for the ASUO
Gibson says the uncertainty
about the phone rates must be
clarified The administration
and finance office will be con
ducting a study of possible
David Gibson
solutions, he says
Gibson says he's striving to
finish the budget book before
leaving office Last year's book
was not completed, and Budget
Director Sheila Schain and
Comptroller Alan Contreras had
to finish it, he says
Gibson says his office will
“cattleprod" the IFC to en
courage programs to file their
goals and budget requests on
time.
While on the IFC last year,
Gibson’s name placard read
1
Photo by Mark Pynes
“David Stockman" — Pres
Reagan's budget director — on
the back.
The image helped Gibson.
“It was just fun. A lot of
groups came in and thought I
was real conservative and put
ting up that kind of a front made
them talk to me more,'' he says
Gibson practices an efficient
type of conservatism.
“I'm a conservative by nature
— not just to make sure things
survive, but to make sure they
do a good job of surviving ”
Continued from Page 8
listed severely as it was being
dragged He said he and crew
men Roger Barney of Gearhart,
Ore , and Lloyd Wilson of Sven
sen, Ore . donned survival suits
because they thought the boat
would sink Parker said his
20,000-pound catch in the hold
helped counterbalance the
boat
The boat was pulled sideways
Correction
Articles in the Emerald have
incorrectly stated that the Kona
Cafe serves only sandwiches
and omelettes In fact, the
campus restaurant has daily
specials and baked goods as
well Their "Beggar's Banquet"
menu also changes every
Friday
Cash
For Textbooks
Mon.- Fri.
Smith Family
Bookstore
768 E. 13th
1 Bl. From Campus
345-1651
i
Find it in
the Emerald
at between four and six knots
for "a good 25 minutes" before
the cable holding the net broke,
Parker said
"It was probably lucky for us
that it did," he said.
In addition to losing between
$7,000 and $8,000 worth of net
and cable, Parker said, the in
cident pulled a securely bolted
winch about an inch off the
deck Parker said the lost
equipment and some of the lost
fishing time should be covered
by the Marine Fisheries Com
pensation Act.
Parker said he had seen some
whales the day before about 15
miles south of where the in
cident occurred But he said the
object in his net was no whale.
“It was solid," he said. He
said the force of the tow was so
great that parts of the nine-six
teenths cable were smashed in
to an oval shape.
In addition, Parker said,
another fisherman in the same
area, Gary Frederic, spotted a
submarine conning tower about
50 feet off his stern the day
following Parker s ride. Frederic
was operating the vessel Lafont
out of Newport, Ore., for the
boat's owner The Lafont was
reported out fishing Tuesday,
and could not be raised by
marine telephone.
U S Coast Guard Ensign Jeff
Vail said Parker had radioed the
Neah Bay Coast Guard station
at about 2:50 p.m. to report the
Howard M was being towed
sideways
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