Forum addresses legislative impact of women
By Katy Moeller
Orxpan OMy l mm ok)
"Right now. I consider the legislature to be almost dys
functional." Gov Barbara Roberts said Tuesday night at
a forum titled "Women and the 1«M)3 Oregon legislature
What's next?"
More than 400 people turned out at the Eugene Con
ference Center to hear Gov. Roberts, Sens Tricia Smith
and Catherine Webber and Reps. Cynthia Wooten and
Avel Gortlly discuss issues
in the legislature that con
cern women.
The first of the panelists to
address the audience was
Gov. Roberts, who was crit
ical of the legislature in gen
eral and the House of Repre
sentatives in particular.
"The 1091 legislature is 3
months old and I have vet to
receive even the smallest,
teeny, tiny budget on my
desk." she said
"1 have signed only a total
of ZH hills in 3 months And
most of those quite frankly
have been housekeeping
hills," Roberts said.
Gov. Barbara Roberts
By this time Inst session, the governor tiacl signed at>
budget bills and 112 other bills.
Despite her general criticism of the legislature, the
governor did credit the efforts of women legislators
"Overall, even in this difficult and not-so-productivo
legislature at this point, the women in the legislature
have already begun to distinguish themselves in this ses
sion by understanding the value and technicalities that
am part of investing in children. investing in health t aro,
in vetting in work force development and in economic
development," Roberts said
"They know those issues and they are leading the way
of what needs to happen." she said
She talked about the proposed mandated, mandated
plus and recommended budgets and why she deemed it
necessary to propose three budgets
"I'm giving the legislature lots and lots of time to
understand the problem I’m giving them three budgets
so they hove lots of choices And I will probably win the
Ms Congeniality award." Roberts said.
"Or I probably would have, if I could have gone
through the whole session doing that. But I'm real close
to losing mv Ms Congeniality award." Roberts added
Roberts said she wanted to demonstrate i leorly to ImiiIi
the legislature and to Oregonians, w hat tin- chon es are
"The mandated budget is the budget that su\s we will
live with exactly the revenues we have and no more
Even in this most restrictive budget. I worked very hard
to provide for children, for prevention and for long-term
Investment " she said.
"'ll was very difficult to do liecause we re talking obout
a $12 billion whole in the budget." Roberts said
Be< ause she knew this would not he suffit lent, espe
cially in the area of human serve es. she drafted the man
dated plus budget, w hich added some small t ompommts
to the mandated budget that would help deal with the
severity of the mandated budget
"The inundated plus budget adds a T> cent twer and wine
tax increase What it did was fund programs fur alcohol
and drug treatment and drug prevention in our schools
and communities and t urret turn centers she saitl.
She also added a 5 10 cigarette tux increase to provide
funding for programs for senior citizens, people with tbs
abilities, critical mental health facilities for families anti
lor i liiUlren
Thu third added com(Kinent was the medical provider
lux This funds itii’ Oregon Health Plan
"Bv January of noxl year, 120.000 people who are
below the poverty lino and havn no hoallh corn now, will
lie covered," Roberts said
She ihon drnflod tho ret ommondod budget. whii h sho
said provides lax reform program for funding vdinmtion
Son Tricia Smith, disirit I tfi. m hood Roberts call to
at turn on tho issue of the budget, arguing that the man
dated budget would not provide Oregonians with neces
sary services and funding
"Please don't tolerate a mandated budget Please don't
tolerate budgets that don't have any money m them, that
decimate education, that kill our elderly, that leave our
children in the hands of their abusers, that put criminals
on the street without treatment and the access to the
kinds of things that will help them lead different lives
Don't let us do it to you," Smith said.
Smith said that the only good news tins session may
he The Women's Health and Wellness At t. whit h con
sists of !'• separate hills that she is sponsoring
"I submit to you that il men vs ere not safe in their
homes, if they were not safe in the work plat e. tl they
were not safe on the streets and not only that, it they
were violated or abused or killed, no one would say.
What was he yveuring'. Smith said
Smith i ited statistics that say one out of every lour
families hi Oregon w ill exponent e domes!it y iolent e
this year She sattl domes!i< \ iolent o is the single great
est cause uf injury to women in this t minify ami the sin
gle greatest cause of birth defects
"Dili you know that you tan lie beaten eyerv tlay of
your life" Smith said, "and your flatterer t an tie arresletl
each time ami likely won't he charged with a misde
meanor ever'"
Saferide buys new
cars, changes routes
By Jen Ellison
Or egon Daily Emerald
The addition of two new t ars
will enable Saferide to expand
its services to women.
Alter renting a car for an off
campus route last term. Saferide
recently bought two new Ford
Escorts. One wilLrepbu.e the old
Dodge van. and the other will lie
the permanent third car. said
Shoshanah Oppenheirn. volun
teer coordinator of Saferide
The third i ar will provide lb
additional off-campus rides each
night One ride i Destitutes pic k
ing up and dropping off one or
more women at the same place,
depending on spat e
The Incidental Fee Committee
gave Saferide SIS,000. which
enabled it to purchase the now
cars. The committee donated an
additional $3,000 from u
$100,000 student fee surplus
account, said Amy Neel, the co
director of Saferide
Saferide will also buy new
hike rat ks and child seats for all
of the c ars and a new wheelchair
lift for the van within the nest
two weeks
May 0. Saferide will have u
five-kilometer run and two-kilo
meter walk to help raise funds
for the equipment Sponsored by
Powerbur, tfio event will cost
each participant $15
"The old wheelchair lift
didn't m commodate all types of
chairs." Oppenheitn said
"We're looking for one that
will.”
Although the only wheelchair
accessible vehicle is used for the
on-campus route, accommoda
tions can be made for rides off
campus with advance reserva
tions
Safaride is changing its on
* campus route to include the
new Knight Library entrance
far ing the music building The
van will be at this stop 27 min
utes and 57 minutes after the
hour. This new stop is in addi
tion to the Instructional Media
Center stop on Kincaid Street
New hours for spring term are
7 p m to midnight Sunday
through Thursday, and 7 p m. to
2 a.m, Friday and Saturday.
Funded by student fees, dona
tions and fund-raising. Saferide
is available for all women on
campus or within 10 minutes of
the University. While the on
campus route runs on a sched
ule, off-campus reservations are
required in advance.
Monkey business
P*yj*0 by Anmofy f orr»#y
Three year-old Katie SchraU. visiting with her tamily from Danville. Calif. plays on the
jungle gym in Spencer Butte Park Wednesday afternoon
T-Shirt Design Contest
To Promote
The winning entry will win
a gift certificate for dinner
for two at Chanterelles!
Bring your designs to the
Women’s Center, Suite 3,
EMU, by 5pm, April 27th.
£a*
°*klt
Bolle'
*y
SfftV
«v0
AND MORE...
Be oes
\ ^REFLECTION IS OUR BUSINESS"
One of the Largest Selections in the Northwest
524 Valley River Center 345-9437
U/jdV
DANCING!
SPECIALS!
Open till 2:30 ant daily
on don't
Inn v to Ik* 2 I
to i*iijo\ our
food'"
Open 11 am to 10 pm
to all ages for food service
13th & Alder • On Campus • 343-0681