Oregon Daily
MONDAY. NOVEMBER 8. 1993
Tax issue has diverse support on both sides
□ Complex sales tax
makes decision hard
By MIchMl O'LMry
For toe Oregon Ounfy Emerald
ASUO President Eric Bowen
has an opinion on Ballot Measure
1 that many students can identify
with: "I hate the sales tax. but 1
hate inadequate funding for
schools even more."
"Of course, it’s a real paradox.
We re being asked to support pro
gressive programs with a non-pro
gressive tax." Bowen said.
In fact. Measure l has proven to
he such a complex political ques
tion that even Oregon's normally
predictable special-interest groups
are lining up against one another
in some very unusual ways.
"This ballot measure is com
plex because the issues are so
complex." political science Pro
fessor |im Klonoski said. "There's
no way to avoid looking at the
details if you want to make a good
decision."
Measure l's unusual combina
tion of progressive and regressive
features have led some liberal
groups to oppose it even though
it's the only plan to improve the
funding for Oregon schools
Liberal state Senator Hill
Dwyer. D-Springfield. said Mea
sure 1 is not the tax reform that
Oregonians need.
"The ends don't justify the
means, and that's what's wrong
with government Let's pay atten
lion to who is paying (ho hills,"
Dwyer said.
Oregon Fair Share, with its
fit).000 mom tars making it the
largest consumer watchdog group
in Oregon, has pushed for replace
ment revenue since the passage of
ltlOOs Ballot Measure 5. However,
the group opposes this tax plan.
"We're ideologically opposed."
said Lisa Hartrich, l.ane County
organizer for Fair Share. "We feel
Turn to SALES TAX, Page 8A
btate board
looking into
differential
tuition rates
□ Higher education body
examines financing
options in case sales tax
not passed by voters
By RIvars Janssen
Oregon Daily Emerald
The state Board of Higher Education is
looking into the feasibility of charging
different tuition rates for each state insti
tution. says the board president.
The board is also discussing whether
to charge different rates for certain pro
grams. such as levying a higher tuition
for art majors over English majors.
President Janice Wilson said she
doesn't expect the board to vote on such
a proposal any time soon, and that the
board is now only researching the issue
for the future. She did say. however, that
the issue could come up in the spring
when individual schools present thoir
budget requests.
The board is trying to figure out ways
to counteract the further 20 percent per
year cut in the general fund from 1995
97 if the sales tax ballot measure does
not pass Tuesday. If the tax passes, the
board would probably ease up on the
idea of differential tuition.
Currently. Wilson said, both the Uni
versity and Southern Oregon State Col
lege have implemented differential
tuition because those two schools charge
higher non-resident tuition than other
state institutions.
Differential tuition also exists between
the state's universities and colleges —
the universities charge S2.328 for under
graduate tuition for 1993-94 before stu
dent fees are added, and colleges charge
$2,178 before fees. In addition, some
schools already charge more for certain
programs, such as Oregon State Univer
sity's $300 resource fee for engineering
majors.
Traditionally, however, the state has
levied a base tuition for the state schools
to follow. The idea was to make public
education accessible for as many stu
dents as possible by keeping prices the
same. And that still is the idea. Wilson
said. *
"Why do we use public money for
education?" she asked, "because having
individuals in our society who are able
Turn to TUITION. Page 6A
Beautify a building
11
L
ANTttoJITroiiJIr. J
Junction City artist Ann Woodruff Miller works on a mural on the side of a building m downtown Springfield
The two-story mural depicts western and nature scenes and should be ready for the Dec 3 dedication
Actions of letter-bomber prompts safety class
□ "Unibom” strikes again and Oregon
invites speaker to educate mail-handlers
By Dore«n Johnson
For the Oregon Daily Emerald
Somewhere in the United States, someone has spent much of
the past 15 years building and sending letter-bombs to many
prominent people, including university professors. After almost
six years of silence, he struck again this summer.
In June, the actions of this serial terrorist re-established fear for
universities across the nation. A man known as "Unibom” (the
University bomber) struck again at Yale and the University of
California.
Acts such as these prompted the University of Oregon to invite
Lt. Gene Hunter of the Oregon State University's Office of Pub
lic Safety to speak last Thursday.
Hunter's letter and parcel bomb class is being taught at uni
versities all over the West Coast this year Hunter said this kind
of training is necessary, or else universities are leaving them
selves wide open for law suits and accidents, such as Unibom.
During the class, Hunter told the audience of some common
characteristics to identify letter bombs. People who handle a lot
of mail have to pay attention to every package that passes
through their hands and look for these signs.
"It s just like defensive driving." he said.
It is likely that a mail bomb will hove one or more of the char
acteristics. Some of them include suspicious instructions, leak
age, wiring poking out. errors in addresses, odd handwriting,
odor, too much postage, etc.
Once one of the signs have been recognized, the handler
should follow other procedures.
In the case of a university, the handler should immediately
contact the public safety office. They should then follow their
instructions as to what to do with the package.
Once the package is identified as a bomb, inspectors will try to
trace its sender. This (an be difficult because there is no profile
for this kind of terrorist.
Books instructing how to make bombs can be checked out at
any general library. This mukes it easier for anyone to make a
bomb and limits its composition only to the imagination of the
bomber.
Hunter also showed a video to the class explaining how some
of the bombs are made, and how the post office goes through the
process of finding letter-bombs.
With an average of 535 million pieces of mail a day going
though U.S. post offices, identifying the bombs can be extreme
ly hard.
This is why Hunter’s class is necessary, and anyone handling
mail'should be aware.