EDITORIAL
Colleges deserve
more state funds
It’ft almost official. Tuition n! the University will most
likely rise later this year.a reaction to higher edm ation's
shrinking budget.
The Oregon Senate passed a higher education budget
Thursday, which would cut about $55 million from the
Oregon State System of Higher Education's $615 to $620
million budget for 1005-07. l egislators also added ba< k
$2H million for a number of other higher education
penses. mu hiding fuudim* ■ ala: u*s nf f ult\ memlH-r s
The House is expected to pass the budget later this week
and send il to Gov John Kitzhabor's desk.
The bottom lino is that students can probably exper t
to pay 4 pen ent more for tuition over the next two years
•1 pen i'll! which few > an afforri to pax Mans students
are already stretched to the limit of what they can pay for
tuition, but tuition continues to increase every year One
can almost see tin* students packing their bags and leav
ing Oregon, heading for less-i ostly sources of a college
education.
Them may still be hope, as some of the extra money
expei ted to mi tie' state - general fund m.n be alio
t a ted to higher ed ur at ion, thereby easing the increase in
tuition
The budget reductions could have been more severe
Hopefully, more of the remaining funds, known as "add
bat k" fund'. I .Oi be applied to high'1! edm at loll Al»
extra monev could be added to the higher edm alien
budget toward the end of the legislative session, once the
extent of the unused funds becomes better known.
Budget t rum lies are incroasingly commonplace in
Oregon and higher education is regularly feeling the
ptm.h. Cuts to higher education and subsequent tuition
mt reuses an: forcing students to leave Oregon, reduc
ing revenues to the University even further.
But while il is true that the cuts could have been
worse and the tuition in< reuse higher, higher education
deserves better treatment in the Oregon Legislature. As
long as legislators decide thal higher education is not a
budgetary priority for Oregon, students will decide that
Oregon isn't a priority for them and leave the state. Stu
dents are not walking bank accounts capable of paying
any given amount stated by legislators When tuition
increases to a certain level, student! will not be able to
pay.
Legislators should increase higher education's bud
get with as many add-back funds as possible. If the state
has any hope of retaining students in its public colleges
ami universities, it should strive to keep tuition at the
lowest level possible.
But more importantly, legislators must ret ognizu that
higher education is not the first place to look when cut
ting money from the state budget. Higher education and
the lives of Oregonians will suffer if the Legislature’s
unfortunate habit continues.
Oregon Daily
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THE £NV//?onaA£^7AL LAWS
WAVE BEEN 4 SUCCESS,.
So /Vow WE CAnI
REPEAL T•
■ OPINION
Image of Bright shines on many
ANNF MosHt KoKNUIJ)
he was n woman of words
and a woman who had an
V_/ impin I on people, even if
it was tfu» first time someone
had met her
On April ,t(). Sue Bright, a
University student and a jour
nalist. died after a sudden fight
with pancreatic cancer. She was
71 years old Friends of Bright
gathered together Friday to
remember her and to share the
love they fell toward her
I met Bright last spring She
was taking an exercise class to
help her start the day After the
class, she'd go hack to her room
and write
She asked me about my class
es. what I was studying and
w hat 1 planned to do after 1 grad
uated She was ever-wanting to
know who someone was and
what that person was doing.
Her death was a shock
bet ause of how full of life and
sure of herself she was Bright
had so much to give right up
until the time she died
Of all the people I've met at
the University, she represented
someone who went after what
she most wanted to do with her
life in spite of setbacks. Her
death brought home how true it
is that life and death aren't fair
When Bright moved into
McClure Hall in 1‘tMH at the age
of 64, she decorated the wall of
her dorm room with a mural of
hand-painted Rainbow trout
heading in one direction, leav
ing one fish out of the crowd
and headed in the opposite
direction This fish. Bright told
her friends, represented w ho she
was Bright didn't pay attention
to what everyone else said or
did and went off in bar own
direction
Theresa i (undersoil met Bright
five years ago when Henderson
worked os a resident advisor
Nothing gut in the way of Bright
experiencing life. Henderson
said Everything she did she
took delight in
She even had a fiendish
delight for life l,ast year when
Bright believed new lighting hi
the hall of her dorm was too
strong, she arranged with a
friend to mute the lights with
colored plastic-wrap. She was so
happy to lie heating the system
She graduated from Eugene
High School in 1940 and
entered the University to study
journalism. In 1943. she joined
the Navy and taught celestial
navigation to pilots as part of
their ground school training
After raising two sons and
working for the public schools
in Laguna Beach, Calif., she
returned to the University to
pursue her first love of writing.
A woman who gave new
meaning to the term non-tradi
tional student, she never felt out
of place McClure Hall was
Bright's home — there wasn't
any place better Friends would
stop by her dorm room: sh d
listen to their problems and
serve them tea using a beautiful
tea set she had for decades.
She deliberately wanted to
live with people younger than
herself She made friends quick
ly and lived with people who
became her extended family
She would trv things other peo
ple wouldn't dare
Bright was easy to connect
with. It seemed she was farther
along the road than everyone
else. Few people lived up to
principles she held sat.red.
She was guided by the ideal
that people ought to In- trusted
During the time she lived in the
dorm. Bright always kept her
room unlocked She kept her
beloved Volkswagen hug
unlocked and kept the keys in
her car.
In 1991. she graduated from
the S< hoot of Journalism and
Communication with a degree in
news-editorial and won the Eric
VV Allen Jr. award for opinion
writing Karl Nestvold, former
associate dean for the journal
ism school, said she always
plunged ahead with her studies
Ever the journalist. Bright had a
lemlent y of knowing who,
where and when. Bright was
known for her ability to go at
something with feeling and great
academic strength. She didn't
dui k a challenge
Follow ing her graduation, she
wrote scathing editorials to the
weekly paper In Yachats. If she
couldn't fight about a cause dear
to her, she'd write about it
She continued studying cre
ative-writing and followed-up
her interest in family histories at
the University.
She delighted in living and in
reminding others that life went
on all around them Her favorite
color was orange She grew gera
niums outside her room and
friends named a horse chestnut
tree in front of her room, "Sue's
tree.”
Shortly before she died, Bright
said her only regret was she will
not 1m< here longer to have more
regrets What her heart told her
to do, she did with great dignity
Always maintaining her sense
of focus, a friend remembered
the time she sent him a postcard
of a group of old ladies with her
pu lure superimposed on it with
the saving "Old Ladies Home—
Your Room is Ready." She
reminded others of the continu
ity of life and how to be graceful
under fire.
Bright touched so many peo
ple's lives She left people with
the impression they were only
scratching the surface in the
short time they knew her.
Memory has to be stronger
than death
Anne MosecKomfeld is a
columnist for the Emerald