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
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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
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