Child care programs inadaquate; facility expansion needed
By Kara Story
Of th* Imvrtld
As th« University's popula
tion ages, there is an increasing
problem among students and
faculty who have children The
problem rests in the fact that
there simply is not enough
space for all children needing
supervision.
In the past, it was considered
a radical idea that campus ad
ministration would even con
sider addressing the problem of
child care, according to Dennis
Reynolds. Direr tor of the
University’s Child Care Center.
But Reynolds said there is in
creasing pressure on ad
ministration as a result of what
he calls "the second wave of the
women s movement "
As more women today decide
to enter the work force, as well
as have children, the need for
child care services increases
The services offered on this
campus are "grossly inade
quate." said Dan Williams. Vice
President of Administration.
The administration is
organizing a task force to ad
dress the child care needs of
parents on the faculty and staff,
and another task force headed
by the ASUO is looking into stu
dent options
Hill Shank and Nora Cowen
are the administration's Child
Care Study Committee co
chairs Shank said there are no
available facilities on campus
for faculty and staff The only
space he knows of is in the Col
lege of Education's Early
Childhood Center, which is
available for a small number of
three to five-year-olds, and is
only offered Monday through
Thursday mornings
"Not many organizations in
the public sector provide day
care and we ll try to see how
other universities have done it
and funded it." said Shank.
The Committee plans to
survey the faculty/staff com
munity beginning in September
and determine how many peo
ple have children not in school
and what their specific needs
are.
The next step would be to
determine the needs by child's
age. Younger kids need more
staff. Shank said.
Child care is not seen as pure
ly a women's issue and the
Committee will include both
men and women, as well as dif
ferent minority representatives,
said Shank.
"It's an important issue and
the sooner we can get the report
into the University, the sooner
the University can consider it,”
Shank said
"The more we can indicate
there is a real need out there,
the stronger our recommenda
tions will be." Shank directs
letters and phone calls on this
issue to either himself or Nora
Cowen.
Interested people can write
Bill Shank. University Library.
University of Oregon, or call
t>86-30yti Nora Cowen can be
reached through the College of
Education, University of
United Fashions Of Benetton
& benetton Valley River Center • 342-4007
Oregon. 68f>-3405.
The bulk of campus child care
options for students are provid
ed through six EMU ad
ministered programs. The six
programs each provide an
average of 20 spaces for kids.
That is not enough according to
Reynolds, who said that 13 per
cent of the student population
has kids, and half of those kids
are under age two.
The EMU programs are
limited to children aged two
through six, and there are few
programs available for school
age children. Reynolds recom
mends parents contact the
Eugene Latchkey program for
older children.
Infants and toddlers must
have a higher ratio of
adult/child supervision and the
EMU does not offer these ser
vices because the ratio require
ment makes it hard to break
even financially without mak
ing it too expensive for students
to use. said Reynolds.
Although there are not
enough spaces on campus to
meet all the child care needs,
Reynolds has suggestions for
those parents he must turn
away But he still urges all
parents to apply for space even
if it is after the deadline because
last year the program ended up
with availability. He attributes
that to the program's reputation
as being impossible to get into.
Turn to Child, Page 9A
Greek system a tradition
By Will Holbert
CM Ik* Finer aid
For many it's the ticket to life
long friendships, to social
adventure and to being part of
an enduring collegiate
tradition.
"It's more than a bunch of big
houses with funny letters on
them,” said one fraternity
president.
It’s the (’.reek system. At the
University it includes 11
sororities. 16 fraternities, and
an estimated 15 percent of the
student body. Becoming a
member of the Greek system,
joining a house, involves a com
plex ritual known as rush Rush
is a highly organized, week
long membership drive design
ed to match prospective
members — "RUSHEES" —
with a house fitting their per
sonalities. values and interests.
The houses decide which
rushees match their various
ideals in a system of mutual
selection.
Kush organizers form a com
mittee called "rush central,”
and at one point rushees fill out
their house choices on scantron
cards to be fed into a”rush com
puter.” aiding in the mixing
and matching.
Rush week at the University
falls between September 19 and
26. There will be a table for rush
registration in the EMU
Breezeway. Potential rushees
must pay a fee, which is $35 for
sorority rush, and $20 for frater
nity rush.
A process of elimination
starts during rush week when
the rushee pays a brief visit to
each house This allows the
ruslice to meet house members
and form first impressions of
each sorority or fraternity. Each
rushee is asked to choose,
"preference,’’ a number of
houses they consider good pro
spects. The rushees return to
their preferenced houses for
parties and another chance to
narrow their selections Both
rushes have four prefrencing
stages.
With 27 houses throwing a
varied number of rush celebra
tions in a week’s time, one im
agines he or she has achieved
party nirvana. But. the legen
dary beer bashes are no more, at
least not during rush. The local
Greek system instituted a dry
rush in 1983. banning alcohol
from the rush ritual.
Picking a house is a big deci
sion, "Being under the in
fluence of alcohol isn't going to
facilitate that decision." said
Steve Frichette, president of the
SAE fraternity.
Concerns behind image also
caused the move to a dry rush
“How do you explain to a
rushees' parents, that. yeah, the
house got him (drunk) and he
tripped und broke his leg Do
parents want him in the Greek
system after that happens'
said Chris Kunyard. rush chair
man for the Interfraternity
Council.
At the end of rush week the
rushees have narrowed their
preferences to three houses.
Rush organizers provide the
houses with lists of the
preferences, the houses then
compare the lists with their own
Turn to Greeks, Page 10A
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