Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 1990)
Editorial University looking to end rental crush Can it be true? Is the University seriously going to rescue us from dastardly rental rates in the area? If all goes as planned, it looks as if such a dream may come to light. Ust week the University announced plans to build more than 150 two-, three- and four-bedroom apart ments in the campus area. The units will most likely be built in the east campus and Amazon areas and will give first priority to older students and families. Most of all. the units will be rented at about 10 per cent below normal market rates. The University plans to borrow money from the state to pay for construction costs, and will then repay the loan with rent money taken in. Of course, the apartments won't be completed for another two or three years, so this plan doesn't really help our present housing crunch. As the situation stands now. apartment owners have to be relishing the undeniable far t that they can charge penthouse prices for t racket-hoses and still get an overwhelming re sponse from students One issue licit must he addressed concerns the University's already-implemented plan to cut enroll ment in the coming years and how this decrease in stu dents will atfe< t the demand tor area housing. Are we essentially going to reverse the present housing dilemma by having too much living space for too feu students? Are the now-overcrowded dorms go ing to be hastily abandoned once the new housing is i ompleted? According to Dan Williams, the University vita president of administration, such a .scenario is unlike ly Williams said the new housing plan was brought about because of a general glut in the rental market in the city, and "the decision (to build the complexes) lias little relationship with student enrollment " It may well l>e true that the housing plan is a reac tion to rising market rates throughout the city, but the University does treed to consider how a depletion of students will affect the demand for housing. It goes without saying that we desperately need more housing in the campus area. However, the Uni versity should consider the amount of new housing units it plans to build. The numbers should be relative to enrollment predictions for years to come, not enroll ment figures as they stand today. Because the housing problem today is exasperating and immensely frustrating to all involved, those in volved in finding a solution may go overboard in order to satisfy the complainers. The housing plan is commendable and long-await ed. But the planners should be careful not to affix a long-term solution to our present problem. r -I i 1 WINDER WW HWFEUS WUEN 7HF DHUGTfeSP r Deadline crunch for spring graduation At tins time in 4111 \ term i <t 11 winter or spring students have In remenibei <i seem ingly sudden glut of tie.idlmes l or those of us lin k\ enough to he grad uating before the vear lit)la. the most iinpor t.mt of these falls on I'riday . )an It) the .ip pliration deadline for spring term gradua tion Win so early7 It's a compile .ated pro cess. but it goes something like this ,ipp 1 \ - mg by the deadline will give the registrar's office enough time to lei graduating students know if they have met the University's re quirements Apply mg for graduation after the )an If) deadline is possible until the second week of spring term itself However, tilling out the necessary forms by I'riday will give graduat ing students an entire term to fix any short comings on their transcripts A c lerk at the registrar's office said many graduating seniors forget the deadline, and they are forced to apply without any prom ise of warnings from the University about such things as grade, credit and course re quirements Graduation application forms are avail able ill the registrar's ollice in Oregon Itall and should lie turned in liv a p.m. Friday when the oltii e i loses. I lie following deadlines also are upon all ot us, or soon will he: • Friday. |an. HI the last day lor winter term registration, and the last day to pay Ini lion. • Friday is also the last day to add classes And it. for whatever reason, students audit ing classes decide to take the course tor credit, this is the last day to do so • Friday. Jan. 2t>: the last day for students to drop classes without recorded Ws on then transcripts. • Also on Jan. 2t>: the last day to change a course from audit to credit without a VV ap pearing on your transcript. • Friday, Feb. 23: the last day to withdraw from courses, period. The dreaded (hut for .ill practical purposes meaningless, as it doesn't count toward any kind of grade point average) W will appear on a student's transcript. Students are encouraged to note these deadlines, because if you’re not careful, they may just pass you by. Letters Wei I-a rticula ted And\ Chirks rss,i\ (ODE. |.m id) would have lircii morv helpful had vuu made (hr effort tu i ouillrr thr spet ilu p«>»111s ol thr 11111‘ 111 x<* n I well articulated arguments against mandators he alth insurance for Ihiivrrsity students that havr appeared in the Enwr.iltl Major points vuu hdt unaddrrsscd iiu ludr the follow ing • Itoiilit that a single plan tan adequately address thr dispa rate nerds of thr student txidv |Ringer. ()l)E. Jan ••) • Ideas tor students who would have to add expensive health insurant e pavments to already strrti lint budgets (Overman. ODE. |an 11) • t he dubious authority of thr Student Health Insurance Coin miller to dictate health insur ant e dec isions tor thousands of students (Spencer. ()l)h\ |an. H; Mark. ODE. |an '•) • The failure ol SHK to com parison shop for insurance plans other than Prudential and submit the highlights of differ enl plans for student examina lion (|ensen. ODE )an H) •Thi" obvious reluctance of students to embrace am plan offered In the same SIIH that presided over the l'lH't-'M) in surance deb.u le As .1 health insurance carrier I am aware of the important e of health insurance I am also aware of the problem of the skvror kelmg t ost of health in surance. and I would welcome constructive ilisi ussion of ideas for ways the University com munity might address this problem However, it is not clear that SHU! has considered the health insurance needs of all students, the additional expense for peo pie who cannot afford it. the ethics of fort mg students to shoulder the burden of a more general health (are problem .mil its own demonstrated in abilitv to provide Universitv students w ith a good health in suraiK e plan Kathleen Freeman Graduate Student Stereotyping There are mam .k Is ( arried out tn adults that t an be t on sidered immature Not the least <>( these would Ik* stereotyping people into rtiee, ne.it. easv to hate groups Jeff (ioddard s letter "Cirow up" fan it) was a prime example The self prot laitned example of "Dig game hunting Oregon style" depit ted beer drinking hunters using "radio collared dogs" to tree a cougar Ooddard. if you would have looked, you probably would have had a better (bant e of finding a hunter that didn’t drink than you would have had trying to find a hunter who had even heard of radio-controlled dogs Cougar or bear hunting makes up only a small pert out age of the hunting done in Ore gon The majority of htg game hunting is for deer and elk both i an yield large amounts of meat In fat I. it you hud looked, you might even have found hunters who had learned from their fathers how to put meat on the table (and in the free/ er) This is going to be hard to believe, but once I met a hunter that didn't chew tobacc o, drink beer, own a 4 x 4. or refer to ev ery objec t as big 'ol . Your morality level is im pressive; however, if you feel a need to stereotype people, per haps you might consider an ex tended visit back to high si lioul If I remember correctly, stereotyping was tin- building bloc k of the soi lal structure f’al Malar h Student Slang In response to the sincere let ter by Tim Hughes {ODk. Jan 15) acknowledging the rude ness and insensitivity of the use of the word "sucks.” I must offer my applause It is high time we did away with such demeaning slang Yet. let's not stop there! Have a heart! The common expres sion. "let's bail," is just .is ruthless! It's origin (no doubt stemming from helpless sailors fa< ing the destruetion ot their ship with no other chain e hut to try to get ride ot oncoming water) cannot he forgotten It is disrespectful to utter "let's bail." when those were the last words ot many a lost seamen And we musn't over look the ali-too-fainiliar "what's up?" greeting This i asual salutation is obviously a result of mass ignorance and inhumanity: it's a subtle refer ence to homophobic liberal arts majors having a problem pass ing Astronomy 108. Thank you. Hughes. Phil Zuckerman Sociology --Letters Policy_— 1 he Emerald will attempt to print all letters contain ing comments on topics of interest to the University community Comments must be factually accurate and refrain from personal attacks on the character of others.
