OUS meeting
continued from page 1
During its meeting, which was
held at the University, the board
also approved its legislative con
cepts for the 2001 Oregon State
Legislature and listened to public
testimony from Western Oregon
University faculty about increas
ing pay rates. Rep. Ben Westlund,
R-Central Oregon, spoke at the
meeting in an attempt to promote
lobbying.
Autzen expansion approved
The board unanimously ap
proved the University’s request to
take the Autzen funding proposal
to the state Emergency Board to
keep the project on schedule for
its targeted completion date of fall
2002. The Emergency Board ap
proves funding for time-sensitive
projects while the Legislature is
not in session.
“The nature of the emergency
has to do with the phasing of the
construction,” said Lynda Swan
son, the university system’s direc
tor of facilities, who presented the
plan to the board’s budget and fi
nance committee.
Construction at the stadium can '
only be done between football
seasons, and the University
would like to begin work by No
vember of this year. This prompt
ed the request for emergency
funding from the state, Swanson
said.
The project will be funded
mainly through gift donations, an
ticipated revenue from the sales
C.J. & Peter
continued from page 1
this past year ... This year I am
working as the Multicultural
Board Center Chair ... I am work
ing as the US Student Association
Regional Director. I am on the
Jewish Student Union’s Executive
Board, and I am activities chair of
my fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi.
(PL) I am currently working as
the outreach director of the
ASUO. I am the co-director of tire
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans
gender Alliance. ... I was the co
ordinator of the hiring for the
summer internships for diversity.
f^^What sets you apart from
^^♦the other presidential can
didates?
A#(PL) We are 2 people who
♦ are coming from 2 very dif
ferent perspectives and because of
that we have a broad range of ex
perience that is necessary for cre
ating student government.
(CG) We are excited to have this
opportunity to work on the issues
that we care about and that we
have had a chance to work on for
the past few years and take into
the next level and continue to
work for students.
0# How did you decide to run
♦ together?
A#(CG) We thought there
♦ would be no better two peo
ple to have in the exec than two
people ... having different experi
ences within student organiza
tions and with the campus.
(PL) With that, we also are
working towards a common goal.
We can’t build a community at
the University without all of these
things we are promoting.
Q4 What do you consider the
♦ two most pressing issues at
the University, and what specific
plans do you have to address
those issues?
(PL) The most pressing issue
♦ first is what we talked about
before: access to education.... We
want to have a large voter registra
tion drive and empower students
to get involved in the political
process and try to affect change.
(CG) I think another really im
of sky boxes in the revamped fa
cility and $19.7 million in bonds,
which the school would repay
within a 15-year period, she said.
Dan Williams, vice president
for administration, noted that the
expansion is one attempt by the
University to find alternative
sources of revenue, which is nec
essary for the school to continue
to be financially sound, he said.
“This is a business decision
based on a sound financial fore
cast,” he told the board commit
tee. “The financial plan is quite
conservative. We don’t have any
reason to believe we won’t be suc
cessful.”
The financial plan would even
tually free up almost $2.3 million
in University general funds,
which may be added to the facul
ty salary pool. Some of the rev
enue generated could go towards
funding more women’s sports
programs to fully comply with Ti
tle IX, Williams said.
Public records debate
Several OUS concepts for the
2001 Oregon State Legislative As
sembly were also approved by the
board, including offering health
insurance coverage for graduate
students and increasing the sys
tem-wide student building fee be
tween 2001 and 2005.
Kellie Shoemaker, the legisla
tive director for the Oregon Stu
dent Association, raised her
group’s concerns about the fee in
crease proposal during the board’s
budget and finance committee
meeting. She asked that the board
9
ofth
portant issue at this University
too is the issue of how we are go
ing to build a diverse campus
community. ... It is something
students and administration are
working on right now, coming up
with a 5-year plan for diversity.
4What do you feel are the
♦ strengths and weaknesses
ot the University?
A4(CG) I think the greatest
♦ strength of the University is
the students who are here. Stu
dents here are working on so
many issues.... This is where stu
dents get power.
(PL) I would say the biggest
weakness we see is a lack of com
munication between students and
the administration.
0 ♦Critique Wylie and Mitra as
♦ executive. What would you
change?
A ♦(PL) Wylie and Mitra have
♦ done a really great job
streamlining the practices of stu
dent government. ... I can’t say
that I could do it better, but I can
say that I do want to make sure
that student government is ac
countable like it is now.
(CG) I have seen the ASUO do
ing a really good job this year.
With USSA and the US Student
Association, I have been helping
with some of the stuff they are do
ing and it has really shown their
commitment to reaching out
♦ Could you critique the di
versity issue on campus,
at changes, if any, would you
make?
A4 (CG) We want to make sure
♦ we include all students in
the dialogue going on around the
diversity issue on campus. We
want to make sure international
students are included in that dia
logue.
(PL) One specific thing we
would want to do is create a posi
tion that serves as a graduate stu
dent advocate, so that different
perspectives can be included in
the work the ASUO does.
Q^How would you represent
♦ the University at the state
level?
A ♦(PL) First, it is really neces
♦ sary we work with state and
national organizations in order to
9
YVhc
approve only the fee increase for
the first two years and readdress
the issue in 2003.
Despite her testimony, the
board approved all the legislative
concepts except a proposal to ex
empt donor information from the
public record.
The issue stirred up some con
troversy, as several members of
the public spoke during the pub
lic input session.
Rob Priewe, managing editor of
the Corvallis Gazette-Times,
spoke before the committee about
the importance of keeping all
records public.
“Frankly, I’ve never asked for
this information, and neither has
any member of my staff, to my
knowledge, but that doesn’t mean
it's not important that it’s part of
the public record,” he said.
“We’re living in a society that is
becoming less free and more para
noid. We already have too many
secrets, which only erode trust in
government.”
Priewe’s sentiments were
echoed by Jim Upshaw, a journal
ism professor at the University
and faculty adviser for the Society
of Professional Journalists. Up
shaw urged the committee to give
the issue more thought before
making a decision.
“This flies in the face of the
spirit of open society,” he said.
“Think about the message this is
sending.”
But University officials defend
ed the concept, and said individ
ual privacy rights are sometimes
more important than keeping the
be effective on state and national
student issues.
(CG) That also gives us an oppor
tunity to work with other schools
in Oregon to form a coalition with
working around issues that affect
us on a statewide level... It is im
portant we educate people about
both sides of the issues.
donor records public.
“This would be a limited ex
emption rather than a categorical
exemption,” said Duncan Mc
Donald, vice president for public
affairs and development. “The
University often wants the world
to know who their donors are be
cause it speaks to the quality of
the University, but often, it has to
do with concerns with family se
curity, because of their wealth.”
University President Dave
Frohnmayer also defended the
concept, noting that he was one of
the principal authors of the state’s
original public records law, but
now favored donor exemptions.
“The irony should not be lost
on anyone,” Frohnmayer said.
Approving the concept would
keep “very personal” information
about donors from being pub
lished or broadcast, he added.
The University already has a
rigorous process it requires
donors to go through before their
gift is accepted, and donations
“would be spent by the school in
the public’s general interest, in
daylight,” he said.
The committee voted to table
the public records exemption
concept for further review by the
board’s executive committee at its
March 17 meeting. The full board
has until April 14 to submit their
list of legislative concepts.
Need for more dollars
Funding for higher education
was a recurring topic during the
meeting as Rep. Ben Westlund
spoke about how to increase the
04 How do you see your rela
♦ tions being with the Univer
sity administration?
A4 (PL) Combining outreach to
♦ students ... finding out what
major issues are on campus, and
then using our position and our
access to the administrators as a
way to pass on that information
board’s odds for getting more
funding from the legislature in the
future.
“We need to increase funding
for higher education,” he said. He
urged the board to get to know its
local representatives and begin
lobbying the legislature as soon as
possible. He said the board need
ed at least eight champions of
higher education: two in each
caucus in both the Senate and the
House.
About halfway through the
board meeting, a crowd of about
75 people filed into the room,
some holding picket signs. Many
of them were Western Oregon
University students, faculty and
staff, who came to decry what
they said were low faculty
salaries that are preventing OUS
schools from recruiting and re
taining faculty members.
The Western and the WOU fac
ulty union are engaged in contract
negotiations.
Molly Mayhead, a humanities
professor at WOU, spoke to the
board about the “pitiful situation
of salaries at Western Oregon Uni
versity.”
“We lose faculty and our
searches fail,” she said. “As busi
ness owners, could you hire
someone at $9,000 to $10,000 less
than the national average? It just
doesn’t make good business
sense.”
Her testimony was met with
cheers from many in the crowd.
The board’s next regular meet
ing will be April 21, at Portland
State University.
and convey issues to administra
tors.
(CG) I think also in addition to
working to create forums where
other students can come and use
that access, like Peter said, to
make sure that student voices are
really heard with the administra
tion.
You're Invited!
Open Forum
on the
Role of Student Housing
in the 21st Century
A Consulting Team has been invited to campus to
solicit input on the subject of the role of student housing
at the University of Oregon in the next 50 to 100 years.
« What would you like the atmosphere on campus to
be like in the next century?
^ How could student housing play a role?
We welcome and encourage your ideas.
Please join us
Thursday, February 24th
from 5:30 to 6:30 pm
Hamilton Conference Room
located inside the Grab 'N Go Lounge at the Hamilton Commons
Questions? Call University Housing at 346-4277
or email us <housing@darkwing.uoregon.edu>
**% 'V-vrs