Oregon Daily
TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 16. 1993
EUGENE. OREGON
VOLUME 95. ISSUE 55
GTF union ratifies insurance contract
□ The contract will be the first
in Oregon offering part-time
employees health benefits
By Julie S wen sen
Oregon Daily [ merakl
In a historic move, members of the Gradu
ate Teaching Fellows Federation voted near
ly unanimously last week to ratify a
landmark union contract which will provide
health insurance coverage for the first time.
Ninety-nine percent of the members voted
for ratification of the two-year contract, said
Diane Rnu. a union representative for the
federation. Graduate teaching fellows, or
GTFs. share teaching responsibilities with
faculty members as part of their graduate
training programs.
Bargaining teams will work out the tech
nical details of the contract within the next
few weeks so it can be submitted to the Ore
gon State Board of Higher Education for offi
cial approval. The contract — which will
provide a .15 percent increase in employer
contributions to health insurance coverage
— will become the first such contract in the
nation for graduate students lit addition, the
federation will Ins nine the first public labor
union in Oregon to win health insurance
benefits for part-time employees.
The contract is a result of the federation's
14-yenr struggle to get the University to pro
vide health care for the more than 1,100
GTFs who teach here, most of whom are rep
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1
Students form group to support Kitzhaber
□ Committee will aid
candidate in
gubernational race
By David Brotherton
For the Oregon Dartv fmerak)
Democratic: gubernatorial can
didate John Kitzhaber joined about
20 University students Monday to
announce the formation of the
University "Students for
Kitzhaber" campaign committee.
The group will assist Kitzhaber
in his effort to defeat Oregon Gov.
Barbara Roberts in the state demo
cratic primary election May 19.
"1 entered the race for governor
out of personal concern over the
direction Oregon is headed,
Kitzhaber said at a news confer
ence in the EMU. "The state is
drifting. There is no common
focus, no vision for the future "
The former president ol the ()re
gon Senate announced his candi
dacy for governor Oct H>
Kitzhaber, 40, holds a medical
degree from Oregon Health S< i
ences University and currently
lives in Eugene
"There are those who choose to
view Oregon's i urrent economic
situation as a threat, but I prefer
to sis- it as a challenge," Kit/helier
said "We now have the opportu
nity to move beyond the reactive
posture regarding Measure i that
has gripped us for the last three
years."
Kitzhaber des< ribed his plans
lor redirei ting the wav in which
the state's economic decisions are
made and uillod for an end to par
Turn to KITZHABER. Pag*? 4
A
I
V >*<AAAN M» ,*MAU ’O' vi « t. /tw^ a
John Kitzhaber announced his candidacy at a press conference Oct. 16. On Monday Students for
Kitzhaber presented him with 200 of the 1000 signatures needed to qualify lor the ballot.
Student loans easier to obtain with new program
j University will participate in
new financial aid process
that eliminates agencies
By Rivers Janssen
Oregon Daily ErnmttkJ
Student loans will be cheaper and easier
to obtain as a result of the new Federal
Direct Student Loan program. U S. Secretary
of Education Richard Riley announced Mon
day.
The University is one of three West Coast
schools and 105 schools nationwide to par
ticipate in the inaugural program, which
will eliminate private lenders and guarantor
agencies from the financial aid process.
More than 1.100 schools applied for admit
tance to the program, which will supplant
the current federal loan program at the
school.
As of July l, 1994, member schools will
receive loan money directly from the U S.
Department of Education anti then distribute
the loans from their business offices, cutting
down the loan process from two months to
about two or three weeks while curtailing
paperwork and processing costs. There will
now be one lender — the department of edu
cation — as opposed to multiple private
lenders.
"It's a terrific boost," said Norm Wussells,
University provost. "We can simplify the
loan process for students and reduce costs
significantly.''
Students traditionally have paid an eight
percent processing fee to private lenders off
the top of their loans. That fee will either be
eliminator) or reduced to four percent.
University President Myles Hrund has
been lobbying the federal government for
inclusion in the program for the past two
years. Hep. Peter Defazio’s staff said the Uni
versity was selected because of its officially
managed program and low loan default rate
of less than five percent.
Brand said the ruling is a windfall for stu
dents.
"With the dramatic rise in tuition in the
last three years, the ability to obtain student
loons at reduced rates is very, very impor
tant to our students,” Brand said. "Anything
we can do to make it more affordable to
obtain a college degree is of great benefit to
students and our state."
Turn to LOAN, Page 5
Discussion
focuses on
safe, fun
sex image
□ LGBA
sponsors sex
issues lecture
By Lla Salclccia
Oragcf) IWy fm*x»V(
With now statistics
showing that AIDS not
only strikes at Intravenous
drug users, recipients of
blood transfusions, gav
men and heterosexuals,
hut lesbian women ns
well, the need for informa
tion about safe sex may I mi
greater than ever
At a Sunday lecture
titled "Safe Sex. Fun Sex,"
l.esbiau. Gov, Bisexual
Alliance co-[)irectnr
Rachel Duokor spoke
frankly to a group of til
women who identified
themselves as either les
bian. bisexual or straight
“You need to discuss
(sex) with vour partner.
You need to feel comfort
able. You need to discuss
the risk that both of you
want to take," [looker said
.it iiaba Yaga's Dream, a
women's i offeehnt'se
The presentation
focused on giving safe sex
a positive image and
showing how it tan be
fun.
Duakur then passed
around items she said
women should he using to
make heterosexual and
homosexual sex safer and
talked about fun ways to
use them because “vou
don't have to he ashamed
of enjoying sex. just pro
tect yourself
“ This is a dental darn,''
said Duekor, holding up a
blue sheet of latex about
the tbit kliess ol a surgical
glove "They are fla
vored."
l/sed now mostly by les
bians to prevent transmis
sion of infections from
oral sox, they are an uffec
tive way for people of
"any of the three sexual
persuasions" to protect
themselves during that
activity, especially if
someone has a cut or open
sore in their mouth, or
during menstruation,
Duuker said.
The product is available
at dontul supply compa
nies at a cost of about $12
a box. Dentists use thorn to
isolate one tooth, stretch
ing the dam across a
patient's mouth with the
isolated tooth sticking out
of a hole cut in the latex.
Turn to SAFE, Page 5