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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 5, 1982)
Recent budget squeezes have brought intense pressures on the members of the Incidental Fee Committee, says ASUO comptroller Alan Contreras This has caused IFC members to serve fewer terms, which cuts down on the number of experienced officeholders. IFC members suffer burnout Burnout among Incidental Fee Committee members in the last few years is causing the office to lose its continuity, says Alan Contreras, ASUO comptroller IFC members are serving fewer terms, and the result has been a loss of experienced officeholders, says Contreras, the senior member of ASUO The committee in recent years has dealt with limited budgets and fiscal policies, which is more straining than granting budget increases, he says Officeholders rarely run for re election because of the pressures during their terms, Contreras says Some officials don't realize how much work an ASUO position requires and the constituent pressures from ASUO-funded programs, he adds Contreras has experienced the pressures from both sides In 1979, he was assistant direc tor for the Survival Center, and the following year he was appointed to the IFC to serve an unexpired term Contreras ran for election and won after his appointed term ended The following year he was assistant to the ASUO vice president of finance Last year he was ASUO budget director and filled in as vice president of finance and admin istration when Jim Edmundson resigned Contreras also has been in volved in politics outside the University He has served as a legislative intern in Salem and has worked on many political campaigns, the latest being Margie Hendriksen's successful bid for state senator Contreras says more graduate and law students are applying and running for ASUO offices, which adds valuable experience to the offices ASUO Pres C J Balfe says such a practice is being emphasized "In the past we ve hired people while having only a small amount of volunteers," he adds This year we've opened up our door and are emphasizing the teaching aspect of ASUO ” Contreras is an example of the "ASUO experts'" Balfe hopes will result from the open-door policy "Alan is part of a dying breed," he says Being the elder statesman of the ASUO has its benefits, Contreras says "I've been given a sense of perspective of what ASUO does and doesn't do." Contreras says "I've also become cynical about expectations of student government." Students need to be more practical in their expectations, Contreras adds The pressures and the limits of student government may be frustrating, but students still have chances to initiate worthwhile projects, he says By Stephanie Lewis and Rich Burr Increases? IFC says no Programs value service, won’t cut Despite an Incidental Fee Committee suggestion to prepare for budget cuts, some ASUO-funded programs say they will ask for increases Although fewer students are attending the University, the Survival Center is benefiting the same amount of students as in the past and has more people involved, says Jack Kapuscinski, program director Because of this, the group will request an increased budget for more student awareness, he says "We aren’t doing it for selfish reasons,” Kapuscinski says "We need to educate people about being more efficient in conservation methods " The Gay and Lesbian Alliance will request a small increase for telephone expenses, says Barb Ryan, GALA co director. Since the Gay Hotline folded, more people have called the office for assistance, she says The Student Bar Association will sub mit a budget request within a '‘reasonable” amount of this year's budget, says Steve Baldwin, SBA director and former IFC member The program will not inflate its request to absorb a possible budget cut, he says The SBA will request the IFC to con sider special program projects outside of the budget for funding, Baldwin adds. One program director said his group could absorb a 10-percent cut if necessary “We could continue to survive," says Rod Navaroli, Political Science Student Union director The program could only fund its Mock Senate class, however, if such a cut occurred, he says. A larger cut would hurt the group, Navaroli says “We'd take a beating,” he says “I don’t think the department would take any money out of its budget to support us." The PSSU is planning to eliminate its speaker fund for next year because speakers are too costly and the class needs more money for printing and du plication costs, Navaroli says The Council for Exceptional Children is planning on requesting the same budget amount, says program president Mary Gleason. If the program is cut, it will not be able to function because of its small budget ($133), she says. It is uncertain whether this year's allotment will be enough to sustain the group, Gleason adds Ryan says GALA cannot afford another budget cut because even a small reduction would be proportionally high considering its $2,071 budget Programs with fee-funded newspapers may have that portion of their budget cut, says IFC chairer Bart Hill. Program newspapers should rely on advertising to compensate for such reductions, he says "It would be a hassle,” Kapuscinski says. "It would cut down on the amount of articles " The Survival Center would need to hire someone to solicit advertisements for its newspaper, The Advocate, he says. It is difficult to get advertisers, Kapuscinski adds Baldwin, whose program publishes The Dissent, agrees The publication could not effectively attract adver tisements because of its small, restrict ed circulation, he says The idea is reasonable for groups having the capacity and paid personnel to do it, Baldwin adds By Rich Burr Photo by Dave Kao The IFC is trying to limit the number of programs requesting funds Photo by Dave Kao Bart Hill, chairer of the IFC. Questions whether the current support of students groups will be maintained. Political groups, and groups with fee-funded newspapers, are the suggested groups to get cuts. IFC asks groups to restructure More academic programs are asking for funds each year, con tributing to the IFC's budget problem. Hill says The committee is looking for a policy to deal with the trend, he says “We've been discussing the possibility of limiting the number of academic groups,' Hill says Politically-oriented programs may be added to the examination list, he says “Political groups or a group that has political ties or is pushing poli tical issues is always closely looked at." Hill says “It isn’t always in the student's best interests " Fee-funded newspapers proba bly will receive less money, he says Any group with a paper will be forced or pressured to make up more of their costs in advertising," says the Hill "They have a vehicle for revenue raising." The committee will continue negotiating with the Athletic Department about its budget, he says “What we might gain from nego tiations, we might lose by letting the State Board of Higher Ed or the Administration set (the fee)," he says The IFC is striving to keep its voting record consistent. Hill adds The committee does not want to be accused of playing favorites, he adds The committee also is contin uing the two-year-old process of defining its powers, he says. Hill says this definition may reduce the confusion about the committee’s power, Hill says. The committee will have to make "hard and difficult decisions’’ on policies and budget cuts while keeping the programs efficient and happy, he says. And although the committee would rather not raise incidental fees, “the situation may dictate otherwise,” Hill says. If current budget projections hold true, ASUO-funded organiza tions will be cut, says Bart Hill, Incidental Fee Committee chairer Enrollment predictions forecast further decreases, which means less incidental fees to allocate to programs. Hill says. Programs should plan for budgets with less money than this year's, he says “Don't consider asking for more,'' Hill says. Programs will be scrutinized for ways to make them more efficient with less money, Hill says. The IFC is not opposed to having more groups on campus but is reluctant to subsidize more programs, he says. If some programs can't handle another budget cut, they may have to restructure, Hill says Some groups may have trouble merging with other organizations because of each group's uniqueness, but the IFC doesn’t have the resources to subsidize such programs, he adds By Rich Burr B.J. KELLY’S FRIDAY & SATURDAY $2 50 cover $ 96 - 8 00 - 9:00 SUNDAY BATTLE OF THE BANDS FINAL! with FABULOUS SECRETS WHO KNOWS X-STATIC $2 00 cover 96‘ Buckets of Beer (32 ounces) 8-10 p.m. RALPH NADER will speak on CORPORATE and GOVERNMENTAL IRRESPONSIBILITY towards the Public and the Environment November 8th 12:30 p. m EMU Ballroom Students $1.00 General Public $2.00 All tickets will be sold at the door Sponsors OSPlRG, Survival Center, ASUG SOS. . EMU Cultural Forum —jurux Cultural Forum Presents i Psychotherapist NE SINGER Also author of Boundries of the Soul: The practice of Jung’s Psychology. Will speak on: The Many Levels of Man/Woman Relationships” November 12, 8 P.M. EMU Ballroom Students $1.00 General Public $2.00 Tickets at the door Dream workshop, Saturday, November 13th Details at Lecture Puma Hi top leather Reg. $54.95 NOW $3995 Converse Leather Low top Reg. $42.95 NOW $2995 ANDERSON’S SHOE SALE Nike Woman’s Racquette Nike Lava Dome Reg. $49.95 NOW $3995 HARVEY FOX’S Tiger Add Court Reg. $24.00 NOW M295 SPORTING GOODS EUGENE • CORVALLIS • ALBANY • SALEM On Campus Location Only Anderson's in the basement of the E M U. Hours 9:30 - 4:30 • Monday through Friday