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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 7, 1998)
An independent newspaper Volume 99, Issue 70 HOMELESS Car camps are back The Eugene City Council is allowing reli gious organizations to open their parking lots for over-night car camping PAGE 4 TRAGEDY Bono dies in ski accident Sonny Bono, the comedian turned congressman, died in a skiing accident Monday. His death comes less than one it eek after the death of Michael Kennedy PAGE 6 WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 7, 1998 TODAY Frvhnmayer will speak at the Uni versity Assembly Meeting in Colum bia 150 at 3 pm. WEATHER Today Showers High 43. Low 36. Thursday Showers High 43. Low 33. Language Arts WENDY FULLER/Emerald Students attending a class in sign language begin with teaming the manual alphabet and practicing transitions between letters. Sign language still not accepted Although American Sign is used by 500,000 people, the University does not recognize it as a foreign language By Chris Kenning Student Activities Seportet Jo Larson-Muhr was 5 when her baby brother turned blue and stopped breathing. Larson-Muhr watched through a window as her panic-stricken, deaf mother ran franti cally to neighbors’ houses for help, only to see door after door shut in her face by peo ple who misunderstood her behavior and communication. By the time someone let her use a phone, the baby had died. “Back then things were different,” she re called. “I experienced being thrown out of restaurants because my parents were deaf. Turn to LANGUAGE, Page 3 WENDY FULLER/Emerald Professor Jo Larson-Muhr demonstrates to the class how one sign can mean more than one thing. OSSHE starts on higher ed proposal A committee will act on Gov. Kitzbaber’s recommendations to decentralize tuition and establish a new budget By Kari Thorene Higher Education Reporter “Now is the time to voice our concerns,” Oregon Student Association director Fid Dennis said about Gov. John Kitzhaber’s re cent recommendations to the Oregon State System of Higher Education. Kitzhaber addressed the OSSI IE board on Dec. 19, and his recommendations includ ed working toward decentralized tuition and establishing a new budget structure for state subsidies. He based his suggestions on reports he re ceived Five days earlier from the Higher Ed ucation and the Economy Task Force and his task force on higher education access. While the Higher Education and the Economy Task Force was gathering infor mation for their report, they “pretty much shut out students,” Dennis said. “They are not a public body. They didn't give an op portunity for public say.” Now that OSSHE is working on Kitzhaber’s recommendations, Oregon stu dents will have a chance to offer their per spectives, Dennis said. “I'm very glad the governor has given OS SHE the responsibility of dealing with the problem,” Dennis said, instead of leaving the creation of the proposals up to the task force. OSSHE has already started working on turning Kitzhaber’s suggestions into reality, Francesca Clifford of the chancellor's office said. “The board is ready to move ahead with the recommendations.” The Budget and Finance and the Governance and Struc Turn to PROPOSAL, Page 3 ASUO’s ‘Rental Rights’ campaign targets substandard housing Rentals in the area are just not up to par, and students don’t have to take it, the ASUO says By Doug Irving Student Activities Editor Rental wanted. Should have poor heat, bad locks, smelly carpet and question able neighborhood. Heartless landlord a plus. The ASUO isn’t looking for just any apartment or house it can showcase for its “Rental Rights" campaign. It's looking for the worst. “We can show the entire city how bad a house can get,” Vice President Ben Unger said. "We can give people the information so they can demand rights.” The ASUO’s flagship campaign this term is based on the charge that too many University-area rentals are substandard and unacceptable. The ASUO hopes to convince students they can often do bet ter. “We take it,” ASUO spokesman Jim Paustian said. “Many students are accus tomed to living in dumps. That’s not okay for the price we pay. It’s horrible." The campaign will take on the prob lem from both sides, educating students about their rights and pushing state and city officials to revise their housing stan dards. The ASUO hopes to use a “Worst House” campaign to show the conditions students might face. The campaign will use a single house or a tour of houses, Paustian said. Either way, it will force students, landlords and city officials to see what stu dents might face. Members of the ASUO also decided Tuesday night to focus on discriminatory rental practices that limit the numbers of students in housing complexes. The campaign might also include a land lord forum, where representatives from the major rental agencies would meet with stu dents to answer their questions and con cerns. Autumn DePoe, ASUO communica tions director, knows first-hand the prob lems with some area rentals. The sinks in her apartment last year spat out yellow water. The person she complained to suggested she boil the water before using it. “It's totally unacceptable,” she said. "An other place didn’t even have a door. It was taken down for some reason and they spent the night without a door.” State and city governments need to play their parts in improving rentals, DePoe said. The campaign will lobby officials to set comprehensive housing standards and develop a plan to enforce them, Faustian said. “You have a right to water,” he said. “You have a right to heat. You have the ba sic rights that you pay for.” The ASUO is also concerned that hous ing prices near the University have con tinued to increase, even though other housing options such as Ducks Village are decreasing demand, Paustian said. The Turn to CAMPAIGN, Page 4 This is the third story in a week-long series of articles that will look at what the ASUO hopes to accomplish winter term
