Oregon daily emerald., January 21, 1987, Image 1

Oregon Daily
Emerald
Where have all
the Rajneeshees gone?
See Page 6
Wednesday. January 21, 1987
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 88, Number 84
Photo tourlesv of The Register-tiiierd
The justices of the Oregon Supreme Court seat themselves at the opening of Tuesday s session in front of the
University law school. Students and faculty were able to observe the court as it considered five cases.
Oregon Supreme Court visits,
students see 'real-life' action
By Stan Nelson
Of the Kmerald
The Oregon Supreme Court paid a
visit to the University law school on
Tuesday, hearing oral arguments in
volving the First Amendment,
evidence seized at police roadblocks,
prayer at a public school commence
ment and other issues.
The court, which made its first ap
pearance at the University in con
junction with the law school's
course in legal research and writing,
has visited Lane County yearly since
1980.
The Oregonian Publishing Co. vs.
O’Leary case involved the question
of whether the media and public may
be excluded from that portion of a
criminal trial where a witness’s
testimony may be self-incriminating,
and whether self-incriminating
evidence in itself creates a privacy
right.
The Oregonian case arose from a
1984 Clackamas County murder trial
where a witness refused to testify on
the grounds he might incriminate
himself. The trial court judge then
closed the court to the public to
determine whether the witness’s
refusal to testify was valid.
The newspaper filed suit to
challenge the court’s decision to
deny its reporter access to the sum
mary hearing.
The plaintiff argued the state’s
provision to allow summary
judgments outside of the public is a
violation of the Oregon Constitution,
which prohibits tin; Legislature and
courts from imposing blanket exclu
sions on trial hearings.
And while the court privilege
against self-incrimination protects
against governmental prosecution or
Turn to Court, Page 5
Measure proposes
to limit student fees
By Chris Norred
Of thi* Kmrrald
SALEM — A measure designed to lower tuition by
cutting student iiiciti»'nt.il t«***s has bi*t*n proposed in the
Oregon Iioust* of Representatives.
The bill would lower tuition at the University by
about $41 per term, but student government leaders say
that savings would not be; worth the severe "decima
tion” of student programs and services that are funded
with incidental fees.
Rep. Ron McCarty. D-Portland. introduced the bill,
which would require the State Hoard of Higher Educa
tion to limit student incidental fees to a maximum of
$20 each quarter or $(»() per year.
The incidental fee is a portion of total tuition by
which students finance non-academic, student ac
tivities and services such as athletics, the EMU and
various minority student organizations.
" The problem is that the cost of tuition continues
going up to the point where the average student cannot
afford a college education. . .you're denying students
an education by having expensive incidental fees." Mc
Carty said.
Hut the benefit gained from cutting the incidental
fee would be minor compared to the damage caused by
loss of student activities and services, said katy
Howard. Incidental Fee Committee member.
"If you say $100 a year makes the difference
whether someone can go to college or not. you have to
stop and consider that it equals $1 1 a month.
"I can’t believe that $11 a month makes the dif
ference between attending college and not attending.”
Howard said. "Hut I do think $11 a month worth of
resources and activities, which the incidental fee pro
vides. really could make the difference in whether so
meone felt they could stay in school."
Hut McCarty believes that incidental fees are too
high and that those students who use a service or pro
gram should pay for it. McCarty said the proposal to
limit incidental fees was drafted after some students
had contacted him.
"A lot of them who contacted me said there were
certain functions of the incidental fees they objected to.
primarily the picking and choosing by the fee commit
tee. Then they brought up the fact that (the fees) were
still too high," he said.
However, the bill McCarty introduced contains no
guidelines limiting the functions of incidental fees.
Hut the state constitution requires that student
buildings such as the EMU be self-liquidating and self
Turn to Fees, Page 5
Five bills to be overridden,
say House demos in caucus
By Shawn Wirtz
Of Ihe Emerald
SALEM — House Democrats made a
final decision Tuesday in caucus to over
ride five bills vetoed by former Gov. Vic
tor Atiyeh.
The House will not put 10 other vetoed
House bills to a vote, said Assistant Ma
jority Leader Ron Eachus of Eugene.
“Usually it is because we don’t think the
votes are there based on the last session,
or the supporters want to try for what
they believe is better legislation," he
said.
The bills were previously passed by
both the House and Senate. An override
vote will require two-thirds of the
Legislature, and Eachus expects the five
to pass. “The last 1 understood was that
the Republicans would vote on the
merits of the bills,” Eachus said.
House Assistant Minority Leader Ran
dy Miller of l.ake Oswego said last week
that Republicans might vote against the
bills to retaliate against House Speaker
Vera Katz for considering eliminating
the proportionality rule in order to shore
up Democratic support on committees.
“I think we’re at a position now where
I hope it's not something people play
political games with." Eachus said.
"That doesn’t mean necessarily that
those who voted for it previously are go
ing to vote the same way. I assume there
will Ik; Republicans who, even though
they voted for the bills, in deference to
Atiyeh will abstain."
"Randy Miller doesn't speak for our
caucus," said House Republican Leader
Larry Campbell of Eugene. "We have no
caucus position. Kverv legislator in the
Republican party should make his or her
own determination.
"If my determination was that it really
didn’t make any difference to overrride
or not to override, 1 would probably vote
in deference to the (former) governor,"
Campbell said. "I can’t understand why
Turn to Override, Page 5
New bill to establish trust fund
as method of saving for school
By Shawn Wirtz
Of Mm Emerald
SALEM — A bill that would
establish a trust fund for parents to
begin prepaying their children s
education was filed with the House on
Tuesday and should be introduced
within the week, said Rep. David Dix
of Eugene.
"Passage of this measure will allow
families to set aside money in a state
trust fund that would be used to pay
for a college education." he said.
The tfUst fund differs from a savings
account in that “the money is held by
the state, and the state considers it as
its money." said Rep. Tom Mason of
Portland, co-sponsor of the bill along
with Dix and Rep. Mike Kopetski of
Salem.
The advantages of a fund ad
ministered by the state are that interest
from the account would be exempt
from state and federal taxes and that by
pooling the funds, a higher interest
rate tan be earned. Mason said.
"I* will not only give every family
the opportunity to realize the dream of
seeing their children complete their
education by receiving their
undergraduate degree, but it will also
provide the State System of Higher
Education with a secure tuition base."
Dix said.
If the measure passes, higher educa
tion officials can "begin to monitor
how many families are taking advan
tage of the trust fund." to predict
enrollment. Dix said. "Right now they
have no idea how many people are go
ing to attend." he said.
"The vehicle as it is now is taken
from Michigan." said Mason, who ex
pects amendments concerning the ad
ministration of the funds.
The "Oregon baccalaureate Educa
Turn to Fund, Page 5