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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 13, 1987)
Ducks down WSU in dual track meet See page 7 Oregon Daily Emerald Monday. April 13. 1987 Eugene, Oregon Volume 88, Number 100 Three student initiatives voided by ASUO Court By Carolyn I.amberson Of the Kmorild The ASUO Constitution Court dis qualified three measures from the ballot for the April 22-23 student general elec tion, Friday. Funding initiatives for the University Athletic. Department and the University marching band, and an initiative to save the Riverfront Research Park construc tion site were all disqualified because the court ruled that the signatures gathered for the initiatives were unconstitutional. However, ASUO President Steve Nelson, with the support of Incidental Fee Committee Chairwoman Jodie Mooney and Student Senate Chairman Randy MacDonald, will ask the ASUO Elections Board to make an exception to the constitution and place those three measures back on the ballot. The Court’s decision, written by Court member Mary Kay Menard, was sparked by a request from IFC member Bob Baldwin. Last week. Baldwin asked the Court to look into the constitutionality of three issues. Baldwin questioned the constitu tionality of the IFC’s role and procedure in placing the Oregon Daily Emerald's funding measure on the ballot, and ask ed the Court to declare the action un constitutional because the IFC did not get the wording of the ballot measure ap proved by the Court beforehand. He also asked the Court to declare all measures placed on the ballot by the ASUO Executive, the IFC and the Stu dent Senate unconstitutional for the same reason. In addition, he asked the Court to “declare as null and void any and all signatures which have been. . .gathered in support of any initiative measure, ex cept where such signatures have been af fixed to a petition in which the wording has previously received the specific ap proval of the Constitution Court.” The Court agreed with Baldwin on the final point, and nullified signatures gathered by the marching band, the Athletic Team Council and a coalition to save the Riverfront Research Park con struction site. These groups cannot re-solicit signatures because the Constitution re quires all initiative signatures to be in the hands of the ASUO Vice President two weeks before the election. There is. however, another constitu tional route to getting these measures on the ballot, Nelson said. Nelson, Mooney and MacDonald, as the heads of three branches of student government, will join together in asking the ASUO Elections Board to make an exception to “give the students the chance to have a say.” Nelson said. “We feel that the Court ruled correctly in this matter,” Nelson said. “But at the same time, these three groups did (gather signatures) with good intentions and with the understanding they had the approval of the Constitution Court.” Nelson stressed he was not supporting any of the measures by placing them on the ballot, but was simply giving Turn to Initiatives. Page 4 Raising the beat African drummer Chata of Oho Addy and Kukrudu played for about 200 people Saturday night at the “Caravan for the forgotten" dance in Condon School. The caravan consists of 20 Guatemalan refugees touring the western states and Texas. The group is raising money to help the peo ple of Guatemala. Photo by John (iiustina Two weekend fires bum campus dorms By Karen Engels Of tin Emerald Fires in two University dorms this weekend, one of which may have been arson related, are still under investigation, ac cording to campus security officials. Both fires caused minimal damage. One was in room 204 Cloran and the other in a DeCou laundry room dryer. The dryer fire appears to have been purposely set, officials said. The dryer fire apparently started around 3 a.m. Sunday when a DeCou resident was alerted by the laundry room smoke detector. Clothes in a dryer were on fire. A resident pulled the fire alarm and campus security, the Eugene police and Eugene fire department units were dispatched. The fire was extinguished in about 15 minutes, said Lindy Holt, resident assistant for Dyment. Holt was on weekend du ty for the Walton dormitory complex when the fire occurred. Damages to the dryer were estimated at $50, according to fire officials. The clothes were damaged and the dryer is out of use. Holt said. No damage to the room was reported, but the blaze is under investigation by Eugene police. The north side of Walton complex was evacuated for about 15 minutes. Holt said. The cause of the fire is unclear, said campus security of ficials. but newspapers may have been ignited in the dryer with the clothes, they said. The Cloran fire apparently started at 7:31 p.m. Saturday on a desk, spreading to curtains and the ceiling, according to resident assistant Susie Wilcox. Andy Cook and Shaun Notdurft, residents of the room, were at a movie when the fire started. The room’s fire detec tor sounded, a resident alerted Wilcox and another pulled the fire alarm. Turn to Fire, Page 6 District, teachers go back to table Mediators say insurance benefits major stumbling block By )anet Paulson Of lh« Kmcralil Bargaining teams for the Kugene School District and striking teachers reconvened Sunday at the Kugene Hilton to continue contract negotiations. Talks broke off Wednesday after negotiating teams worked through the night in an unsuc cessful effort to stop an impending teachers strike. State mediator John Vale met briefly with reporters at 6 p in. Sunday to say he had “nothing to say." Vale remains optimistic about contract negotia tions. "I’m always optimistic," he said. "They’re still talking.” Vale said he did not foresee a quick settlement and indicated that the insurance issue must he resolved first. The school district has proposed raising the teachers’ current $25 deductible to $100 per per son, with a maximum deductible of $300 per family. District spokeswoman (lay Campbell said medical insurance costs have increased by more than 500 percent in the past 10 years and are ex pected to increase 27 to 30 percent in the next year, thereby making the increased deductible necessary. The district also wants to delete from the teachers’ contract the requirement to specifically name Blue Cross as the carrier, in order to allow competitive bidding for the school district’s in surance business. Union officials have expressed a willingness to raise tin; deductible to $50, but they say that hav ing the insurance carrier named in the contract is the only assurance union members have that the quality of medical benefits will be maintained. Tom Doig, chief negotiator for the Kugene Kducation Association teachers’ union, said the insurance issue is a major hurdle in bargaining at this point. He said tin; school district chose not to accept the most recent proposal from the union, School district chief negotiator Steve Goldschmidt said he believes that the union has given some thought to the insurance proposals of fered by tht; district early Wednesday morning. “It is important on the insurance issue that whatever is agreed upon is consistent with the community’s ability to pay.’’ he said. Goldschmidt said another important issue to be resolved is that of assignment and transfer. The school district wants to be allowed to post job openings outside the district on August 1. rather than mid-August as is now done. The KKA does not feel that change is necessary. Principals of Kugene schools submitted plans to the school district Friday outlining their needs for staffing in order to re-open. Campbell said. The school district is taking applications for replacement teachers and will begin screening applicants soon. The district does not expect schools to open anytime this w'eek unless a settlement is reached, she said.
