OSPIRG tries comeback from cutback
Nader s visit may boost morale
sagging from cutbacks, apathy
By Rich Burr
Of the Emerald
OSPIRG, the Oregon Student Public
Interest Research Group, is attempting a
comeback after a year of disorganiza
tion The disorganization was the result
of a 1981 cutback of nearly 75 percent of
their funding
The student-run, nonpartisan group,
was started by consumer advocate
Ralph Nader Nader's campus visit in
1970 began the University group which
researches and lobbies issues of student
interest
The program may get a boost when
Nader visits the campus Nov 8 “If he
mentions us (in his speech), that'll be
great," Holonko says "Just the fact that
he'll be here will probably have a great
enough impact on OSPIRG.”
Starting with an optimistic attitude this
year, OSPIRG is trying to recruit students
into the organization, Holonko says The
group will start this effort Oct 19 with a
general interest meeting
Traditionally, the group received about
$42,000 per year in incidental fees In
1981, however, ASUO Pres David Eaton
slashed their funding by nearly 75 per
cent Eaton cited a lack of student ben
efit from OSPIRG as reason for the cut
back.
"OSPIRG was nothing but a jumble
last year," says Gretchen Brevoort,
University OSPIRG director The group
forgot about its student-run philosophy
and direct student involvement
df creased, says Tanya Holonko, a staff
organizer
While Holonko says PIRGs are grow
ing nationwide, Gibson says the Oregon
State PIRG system is dying
“More and more schools are starting
to drop OSPIRG," he says. "It's a big
question mark as to whether it's going to
survive or just have an OSPIRG in
Eugene ”
Four universities participate in the
statewide OSPIRG organization Oregon
State University and Southern Oregon
State College dropped out because of
lack of funding and interest, Brevoort
says
OSPIRG has other reasons to worry
about funding
Examining a Rutgers Univeristy PIRG
funding system this year, a circuit court
said, “We have been presented with no
convincing reason why PIRG should not
obtain its financial support through pure
ly voluntary contributions." The court
took no action
"That might be a thing for us to look at
this year because it is a public research
interest group," said David Gibson,
ASUO vice president of finance and ad
ministration. “But if we do that, we might
have to do it for Survival Center."
OSPIRG is content with its funding
through mandatory incidental fees,
Brevoort says
One way OSPIRG tried to increase its
student benefit last year was to survey a
large number of students. Gauging the
public interest is a difficult task, Brevoort
says
Students also indicate public interest
by applying for a OSPIRG project.
Through a series of questions, the
Photo by Dave Kao
There are students who are interested and concerned, OSPIRG director Gretchen
Brevoort says, but future funding is a problem.
group determines whether the project is
workable
"First, does it fit in with what the
majority of students in Oregon want and
is it a workable issue, given the times?”
Brevoort says "There's a whole
procedure that's gone through, and
believe me, one student, just because of
one interest, does not get his project
OK'd '•
Presently, the group is planning a
November utility symposium and is help
ing with the ASUO voter registration
drive to develop students' "citizenship
skills,” Holonko says.
SEARCH garners respect
Classes fill, doing well considering budget cuts
By Tom Gronke
Of the Emerald
The office is hard to find, the
records of the last 10 years are
being updated, and expansion
is difficult because funds are
tight, but the alternative educa
tion program called SEARCH is
doing well for a program con
sidered dead last fall
"We re outgrowing our bud
get," says Mary Hope, director
of SEARCH (Student Explora
tory Action Regarding Cur
ricular Heterodoxy) This year's
budget of $6,936 is 3 4 percent
more than last year and enroll
ment may be one-third more
than last year, according to
Hope
SEARCH is a student-run
alternative education program
founded in 1967 It allows
students, faculty, and members
of the community to organize
and teach classes of their own
design Although unpaid,
SEARCH teachers earn three
credits for the experience
Both credit-earning classes
and non-credit workshops are
offered through SEARCH
Students sign up for credit
earning classes through the
department sponsoring the
class
When Hope and Kevin Kouns
took over as program co-direc
tors last fall, they inherited
several problems. The program
had bad relations with many of
the college departments, the
records of the program were in
a pile of boxes, and enrollment
was the lowest ever
At the time, SEARCH had 83
students in eight classes, ac
cording to Kouns, who is now
an ASUO comptroller Alan
Contreras, also an ASUO
comptroller, says the program
was "on its last legs" several
months before Hope and Kouns
took over the program
"We had a lot of volunteer
helpers," Hope says, regarding
the program s turn around "It
was really a cooperative effort
Everyone in the program had to
work to build relations with the
college departments.”
"I can now talk to someone in
every department and at least
get some respect," she says "I
couldn't do that when I was first
here.”
SEARCH is offering 10 credit
earning classes and 10 non
credit workshops this term
SEARCH classes offered this
term include Medical Termin
ology (BIO 200), War in the Nu
clear Age (SOC 200), and
Intermediate Arabic (ROM
LANG 200)
Workshops offered include
"The Politics of Hunger," "
Psychology of Death," and
"Paganism & Witchcraft "
But budgetary constraints
overshadow the growth of the
program According to Kouns,
"the IFC is going to have to
decide whether or not to be
dedicated to this program."
In 1970, SEARCH'S budget
was about $10,000
SEARCH classes are availa
ble in the SEARCH office locat
ed on the mezzanine floor, room
111 EMU
Guide ranks colleges
from black perspective
NEW YORK (AP) — An upcoming Black Student's Guide
to Colleges" rating the academic and social climate blacks
can expect on 114 campuses includes some low marks for
some of the nation's prestigious schools
Black-white student relations at the University of Mi
chigan. for instance, are described as "the pits " Harvard and
Radcliffe Colleges are termed "impersonal "
Black students are "disenchanted and unhappy" at the
University of Arizona, according to the guide
The guide quotes a black student at UCLA as saying
there is "an atmosphere of de facto segregation on
campus."
Also on the negative side, the book documents a scarcity
of black faculty, even at an Ivy League school like Harvard,
where 12 out of 730 faculty are black
But it gives rave notices to the University of Iowa and to
Oberlin College, saying the small Ohio liberal arts school
"certainly has provided a welcome and comfortable environ
ment for most of its black students " And tiny, selective
Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., is called "tops"
for black students
The guide, to be published next spring by E P Dutton,
was edited and compiled by Barry Beckham, head of the
graduate writing program at Brown University A copy of the
final manuscript was obtained by The Associated Press
The book focuses on prestigious, predominantly white
schools, but also Includes many state universities and about a
dozen historically black institutions According to govern
ment figures, about 1 1 million of the nation's 12 million
college students are black
“Welcoming You
to Sunday
Worship”
9:30 - Informal Celebration
11:00 - Traditional Worship
1376 Olive Street
Oar poo I - 345-8764 or 344-4219
Ministers Bill Walker. Alan Birr
Campus Ministries. Sfu Shmv (Wesley Center)
Far more information coll Tom Kirk (Student Coordinator) ,'M.l *m»?
Pag* 16
PRECISION
HAIRWORKS
haircut
6
the way you
want it cut!
29th & Willamette
behind Patty’s Pizza
343-1182
9:30-600 Mon.*Fri.
9=30-500 Saturday
no appointments taken
Friday, October 8, 1982