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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1998)
Wednesday, October 21,1998 Weather forecast Today Thursday Sunny Fog High75,Low36 High71,Low42 Jewish renaissance needed Edgar Bronfman says a Jewish renaissance would solve the crisis in Ametica/?k(pL 3 Linebacker anchors defense Chris Claiborne tries to live up to the Trojans ’ legendary No. 55 against the Ducks this Saturday/PAGE 9 An independent newspaper Volume 100, Issue 37 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon . d Photos by Matt Garton/Emerald (Top) Chase Brennan, 1, plays with one of the six pumpkins his family picked Sunday at the Herrick Farms pumpkin patch in Springfield. (Bottom) Marshall, Marlon, Coral and Denise Kanafsky gather around a potential jack-o’-lantern Sunday. A local farm offers students the autumn delights of hayrides and pumpkin picking By Nicole Garton Oregon Daily Emerald The crisp air carries only the occasional bleat of a goat until the faint roar of a trac tor engine approaches. Moments later, a hay wagon pulls up to the rustic scale at Herrick Farms in Springfield, and autumn revelers spill out, their arms stretched around plump, orange vegetables. Pumpkin season is ripe for the picking, and patch-goers have begun the search for those Halloween diamonds-in-the-rough. This weekend will be one of the busiest of the season, says Jennifer Wallstrom, a Linfield College student and helper at the farm. The best time to find the perfect pumpkin is in early October, when the field is full and not picked over yet, she says. But the patch is still bursting with plen ty of shapely selections to meet the strictest criteria, and pickers all have their own standards by which they choose. Springfield resident Jeanette Balthrop and her family pile pumpkin after pump kin onto the old-fashioned scale, barely finding room for all 15 of their future jack o’-lanterns. “We have four kids," she explains. “Everybody gets a big one, and then each of the kids picks a little one. ” After a morning spent wading through the orange-speckled patch, the Balthrops found plenty of pumpkins that meet their criteria — just the right size with a shape good for carving — and they weigh in at 152 pounds. Not a bad yield, but Wallstrom, who mans the scale, has seen bigger. “I think the most I’ve seen is up in the 200s. One of the big ones once weighed about 250 pounds,” she says. “Those ones can get pretty big.” Bend resident Mandi Brennan will vouch for that. Her biggest prize, a 219 Turn to PUMPKINS, Page 4 “It wouldn’t fit in anyone’s trunk, and I wasn’t going to leave my pumpkin. We had to seat belt it in. Mandi Brennan Bend resident Window open to consolidate loans New federal legislation allows combining loans into single-lender loans with lower interest rates By Teri Meeuwsen and Kristina Rudinskas Oregon Daily Emerald Students can now consoli date their loans during a four month window and pay less in terest when they pay off their loans after graduation. “It’s really frustrating to stu dents to have to pay back so much,” ASUO Vice President Morgan Cowling said. “I’ll have $20,000 of debt when I leave, and now I can save up to $1,000.1 haven’t [consolidated loans] yet, but I plan on it.” When the Higher Education Act passed earlier this month, it included dropping the federal aid interest rate from 8.25 per cent to 7.46 percent. ASUO and OSPIRG worked last year to ex tend the lower interest rate to apply to old loans as well as new student loans. “We all worked really hard to get this,” said C.J. Gabbe, ASUO federal affairs coordinator. “It was really a fight, and we’re Turn to LOANS, Page 8 Direct Loan Consolidation When: The deadline for applica tions is Jan.31,1999. Processing applications generally takes 60 to 90 days. What: An opportunity to combine some or all of your student loans for a lower interest rate. OSPIRG estimates the lower rate will save students $50 for every $1,000 of debt. Why: Consolidating loans gives students one monthly payment, may extend the repayment peri od, eliminates dealing with multi ple lenders and can give student loans the 7.46 percent interest rate. Who: Students must have one di rect or FFEL loan included in the consolidation request. Where: Students can apply for loan consolidation through the U.S. Department of Education or private lenders participating in the department's government guar anteed (FFEL) loan program. Call the Direct Loan origination Center at 1 -800-557-7392 or check it out on the web at www.ed.gov/Di rectLoan. Kitzhaber, Sizemore agree on higher ed The governor and his Republican challenger want a tuition freeze and accountability By David Ryan Oregon Daily Emerald In the wrestling match of the campaign for governor, some is sues set the Democratic and Re publican contenders clutching at each other’s throats, but high er education is not one of them. Both leading candidates for governor, Democrat incumbent John Kitzhaber and Republican challenger Bill Sizemore, want more funding for higher educa tion. Both candidates feel in creased taxes are not a way out. Both candidates want changes in the way universities are man aged. “I do know that [Sizemore] wants to hold down tuition,” said Kathy Eply, press secretary for Bill Sizemore’s campaign. “He thinks higher education is the one area of government that is underfunded.” Sizemore was unavailable for comment. Eply said Sizemore knows where he can get the money to fund higher education without raising tax es. “ [ S i z e - more] be 1 i e v e s there’s al KITZHABER ready enough money in the general fund and enough money to pay for a tu i t i o n freeze,” she said. “We’re flushed with cash.” SIZEMORE Gov. John Kitzhaber, like Sizemore, planned on putting a tuition freeze through the Legis lature, but he had concerns about the way Oregon’s budget is increasingly dependent on in Turn to CANDIDATES, Page 8
