Bio win’
them
blues
Oregon daily
emerald
Thursday, October 4, 1984
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 86, Number 25
Olum says more than enrollment improving
By Michael Doke
Of the Emerald
University Pres. Paul Olum delivered
a speech of cautious optimism Wednes
day, saying the University is in the best
shape he has seen since taking over the
campus reins four years ago.
“I feel good, very good, about the
University. After talking with faculty
and students I can sense a general upbeat
feeling despite budget cuts,” Olum told
the large crowd at the first University
Assembly meeting of this academic year.
The occasion was Olum’s State of the
University address.
Olum cited a larger than expected
enrollment, an impressive faculty and an
improved athletic program as areas
where the University excels.
“But speaking from my own
background, saying such good things is
highly risky,” Olum said, adding that he
almost felt the urge to “knock wood to
sway away the evil eye.
“The situation we are in now cannot
continue,” Olum said in reference to
budget cuts by the State Board of Higher
Education. “We can't go into the future
with this kind of funding.”
Enrollment, which was at 15,478 last
year, is expected to rise to 15.700 or
more this year, he said.
All community colleges and most state
institutions are down in enrollment this
year, he said.
All class levels, from freshman to
graduate, in the University are up in
enrollment and the dormitories are
filled. Olum said.
A high qualify University and a
r
boosted campaign in television and
radio advertising for the school are two
factors responsible for the increase, he
said.
"Though I’m not making a statement
in favor of ‘Quack Attacks’,” he joked.
"We got the message out about the
quality and types of programs,” at the
University, he said.
“The faculty here is extremely strong.
Their commitment and involvement is
somewhat rare in institutions across the
country,” Olum said.
And the University’s image has been
enhanced by an athletic program which
claims an NCAA championship for the
men’s track and field team in the spring,
an unbeaten football team and a
women's volleyball team that is current
ly ranked 13th in the nation.
But this sunny picture could give way
to dark clouds on the horizon, Olum
said.
The biggest threat to the University’s
health is passage of Ballot Measure 2, a
measure that could mean "disaster for
higher education in the state,” Olum
said on a personal note.
"There would be an enormous reduc
tion of funds for local agencies and
secondary schools if the measure passes.
State funds intended for higher eduction
could be transferred to these areas (local
government and secondary schools),” he
said.
Passage of the ballot measure could
also mean an enormous reduction in ad
missions to the University, Olum said.
“Property taxes have become too high
in many areas — especially for the elder
ly. I understand the frustration with no
tax reform. But if the measure passes
there will be an enormous reduction in
education funds,” he said.
Another dark cloud is the uncertainty
of the 1985-86 State System Higher
Education budget.
The budget still needs legislative
approval.
“It is a budget we strongly support,”
Olum said. He lauded the efforts of
Chancellor Bud Davis in submitting the
budget to the governor and meeting with
legislators across the state for higher
education support.
The University would see im
provements in faculty salaries, facility
maintenance, high-technology develop
ment, instructional equipment and
library acquisition under the budget, he
said. And students may even get a tui
tion freeze, Olum said.
‘‘The biggest problem with the budget
is that every dollar in it is restricted
money. There is no money at all for
restoration of base budget cuts. The
funds will only go into certain priority
areas,*’ Olum said.
‘‘Strengthening the entire University
is the only way this University can be all
that it ought to be,” he said.
‘‘Concering the future of the Universi
ty, well, we are at a crossroads,” Olum
said. ‘‘We can’t continue forever to go on
this way.
‘‘Our funding remains the lowest in
the country for an institution at our level
of quality. We are more poorly funded
than other institutions in die state
1
Paul Olum
system. Except for Southern Oregon
State College, we are the most poorly
per-student funded institution in the
state,” Olum said.
‘ ‘We have an excellent institution with a
quality faculty and this is getting known.
Eugene is a very good place to be a
scholar and teacher. Students are getting
a first-rate education,” Olum said.
If funding for the University would in
crease to an average level for institutions
with the same comparable quality, Olum
said, the University could ‘‘explode in
quality.”
Taking time out from a busy day
Louise Helleck, a junior high school
newspaper adviser, took time out from the
58th Annual High School Press Con
ference Wednesday to reminisce about
when she was a student at the University.
Helleck received a master’s degree in
counseling psychology here in 1968 and
now advises the Pioneer Post, the school
newspaper of Joseph Lane Junior High
School in Roseburg.
The statewide press conference of
fered secondary-school journalism
students a variety of lectures, tours,
workshops and contests throughout the
day.
Photo by Michael Clapp
Luts anger students
By Julie Shippen
Of tin Emerald
Students at Oregon’s colleges
are angry and frustrated with
the ways state budget cuts have
affected their education, accor*
ding to the results of an Oregon
Student Lobby survey to be
released this week.
Sherry Oeser, OSL director
and coordinator of the project,
said the survey was a response
to repeated discussions about
budget cuts among higher
education officials.
“The more we heard, the
more we thought, ‘If this is real
ly happening, what is the effect
on students?’ ” Oeser said.
“What we found was that
almost every aspect of student
life on campus had been af
fected in one way or another.
“One of the things this report
shows is that students are aware
of how they are being affected
by budget cuts,’’ she continued.
“Forty percent said they had
been adversely affected. That to
me shows that the budget cuts
have had an impact on people.”
More than 1,370 surveys were
distributed on seven state
system campuses during spring
and summer sessions. Oeser
said students answered 489 of
the surveys, representing about
a 35.5-percent return rate.
“We were trying to find out
from a consumer's point of view
how students have been af
fected by the budget cuts,” she
said. ‘‘They (legislators) tend to
look at tuition as a revenue
source, which it is, but I think
tuition has to be looked at like
any other item. When you’re of
fering someone a service, you
have to consider how much
they can afford to pay for it.”
Although students are the
“consumers” of higher educa
tion, it is unfair to ask them to
* Whenever there is a
revenue loss,
students are being
asked to pay the dif
ference by hook or
by crook.'
— Sherry Oeser
make up for the cuts, she said.
“Whenever there is a revenue
loss, students are being asked to
pay the difference by hook or by
crook,” Oeser said. “It’s not fair
to keep asking students to bear
the burden of budget
reductions.”
The questionnaire contained
16 questions in areas including
course offerings, tuition and
equipment and facilities. At the
Continued on Page 8