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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1987)
Former sports-info, man has worldly perspective See Page 6 Oregon Daily Emerald Friday, May 1, 1987 Eugene, Oregon Volume 88, Number 114 State Board set to approve minority tuition, fee waiver By Chris Norred Of I hr Kmertld A plan to give free tuition to under represented minorities at state colleges and universities is expected to receive approval at the State Hoard of Higher Education meeting this month If approved, the plan will go into effect in fall 1987 The state's eight public four-year colleges and universities will provide tuition and fee waivers for Native Americans, Blacks and llispanics who graduate from Oregon high schools. The minority students will be eligible to receive the waivers for five years of college. The program is expected to cost $215),000 in its first year. "On average, the participation rate (in higher education) of these three minority groups is about one-half the rate of Asian and white students.” said Cary Christensen, the State Board director of school relations. “Our goal is to double their enrollment.” Only 6 percent of the Native Americans who graduated from Oregon high schools in 1988 enrolled in an Oregon college or university. Only 9 percent of the Blacks and 10 percent of the Hispanics from the Oregon high school class of 1988 enrolled in a state college or university, ac cording to the State Board newsletter. Those figures compare to the 16 percent of Oregon's white 1986 high school graduates who entered a state college or university. All together, Oregon’s state colleges and universities enrolled only 145 of the under represented minority students from the state's 1986 high school graduating class. "This program is being considered in light of the trend of rapidly increasing minority enroll ment in Oregon public schools, but a declining or stabilized minority enrollment in Oregon colleges and universities." Christensen said. Oregon higher education officials who are working on the plan are confident that the pro gram will accomplish its goal of doubling minori ty enrollments. Christensen said. The biggest enrollment gain is expected to occur in the fall of 1988. he said. "Two years from now, we’ll have 290 instead of 145 of the minorities from the state’s high school graduation class,” Christensen said. Lenanne Sylvester, the director of the University’s Black Student Union, said the State Board's plan is "very much needed." Tuition and fees at the University are about $1,500 a year. "If students can get in a situation where there's an extra $1,500 they don't have to worry about, that will alleviate the financial strain that creeps up" when students are con sidering a college education. Sylvester said. But Sylvester said money isn’t the most im portant part of a minority recruitment plan. "They have got to go out and talk to the students one-on-one, and say, ’This is what we have for you and it’s a good opportunity if you want to use it,’ ” she said. Christensen said the program will also aim to find and evaluate all the ways of recruiting and contacting minority students. "We’ll also be re-evaluating all the minority student academic support services on the cam puses." he said. "It doesn't do any good to get a lot of people on campus if you don't give support to them to keep them there." Earlier this year, leaders of minority organizations criticized state higher education of ficials for failing to serve the needs of minority students in the state. "We've been considering this (tuition waiver) program for some time," Christensen said. But such a program has become a top priori ty for the governor, the chancellor and the state's minority leaders recently, he said. Fathers may gain parental leave if proposed legislation approved By Kara Story Of lhr hmrrald SALEM — Mothers and fathers will both be able to take ‘parental leave" if Rep. Mike kopetski. D-Keiser. gets his way. House Bill 2321. sponsored by the Oregon Child ( ire Commission, and commission member kopetski, is currently being con sidered by the Senate l.abor Committee. The bill originally made provisions for both parents to take a combined leave of twelve weeks, but the House l.abor Committee amended the bill to give leave to mothers only. The amended bill then passed the House overwhelmingly. kopetski is still hoping to include fathers in the leave process by convincing the Senate l.abor Committee to amend the bill again. If the committee agrees, the bill will go to a conference committee before members of the House vote again on the bill. Kopetski is optimistic about the commit tee results but is concerned about the vote on the Senate floor. Kopetski said Senate Minority Leader Tony Meeker could prove to be “a key player.’* Rebecca Webb testified, quoting Boston pediatrician Berry Brazelton. Brazelton claims that solid bonding between parent and child during the first three or four months can provide the foundation for self esteem and foster healthy, successful children. Brazelton also claims the absence of such a parental bond can lead to insecure, troubled toddlers who may grow up to have emotional or psychological problems Webb, a former Portland television an chorwoman. said we do not yet know the con sequences of having a generation of youngsters raised by day care centers. Legislative issues She supports the bill because she lost her job at Portland television station KOIN after declining to sign a contract with the station saying she would return to work after an eight week maternity leave. Opposition to the bill is coming from business lobbyists who claim it would have a negative effect on Oregon. Kopetski said. Under the amendments suggested by Kopetski. employees must give a 30-day notice for a parental leave (except in the case of a premature birth). They also must use all ac Turn to Leave, Page 6 Filling big shoes Oregon quarterlrack Pete Nelson, the possible heir ap parent to Chris Miller, is getting some heated competi tion from nnlshirt freshman Hill Musgrave. The quarterback situation is one of the many questions the Ducks hope to answer in their final scrimmage of spr ing drills on Saturday at Autzen Stadium. Set> related story. Page 11. Photo by John Giustina Faculty seek support for striking teachers By Scott Maben Of the Kmcrald A petition declaring support for striking Eugene teachers is being distributed umong University faculty. The declaration originated in the sociology department and encourages the Kugene School Board to negotiate a com promise meeting no less than the minimum demands of the teachers. The authors of the petition are also soliciting faculty donations to purchase advertising space in the Register-Guard. The ad will include the declaration and the names of all faculty members who signed it. "We're concerned that a policy of confrontation towards the teachers could actually destroy the Eugene school system," said John Foster, assistant sociology professor. Foster, who co-authored the declaration with David Milton, associate sociology professor, said the petitions have been cir culating in all University departments since Wednesday. The declaration cites the 1980 "Report of the Carnegie Task Force on Teaching as a Profes sion." which states a major con cern of the 1980's is quality of American education. According to the report, teachers' salaries are among the lowest for occupations requir ing a college education. “...the conditions under which teachers work are in creasingly intolerable to people who qualify for jobs in the up per tiers of the American work force, the people who must now be attracted to teaching." the report says. Naming the 4J school district as one of the best in the nation, the faculty petition says the cur rent confrontation "is seriously threatening a first-rate school system and undoubtedly will Turn to Petition, Page 6
