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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 26, 2000)
Advocates continued from page 1 tion,” said Kathleen Workman, the ASUO Non-traditional Student Advocate and student-parent. Student-parents argue that quali ty child care is expensive in Lane County and often exceeds rent bills. “The average student doesn’t un derstand the cost of having a child and going to school. My child care bill is more than my grocery bill,” Workman told legislators. Representative Vicki Walker is a strong advocate of the Child Care Block Grant because she reaped the benefits of federal funding when she attended school. “I am very supportive of need-base funding and funding for child care,” Walker said. Going into this year’s Legisla ture, the Child Care Block Grant is a part of Governor Kitzhaber’s pro posed budget. Workman said the waiting list to receive funding for child care fluc tuates between 700 and 900 peo pie a year. With the proposed budget, the waiting list would be cut down about half. The advocates of the grant and the students it benefits, which have been long ignored by the leg islature, hope to turn heads this year showing that the average GPA for a student-parent is 3.6. Representative Walker said, “It is hard to convince fellow repre sentatives that this funding is im portant because of the low per centage of students that vote.” Walker, along with Senator Susan Castillo and Phil Barnhart, who is seeking election into the House of Representatives, voiced their con cerns of the low percentage of stu dent voters. Jay Breslow, ASUO president, assured legislators that his admin istration would take giant strides to encourage student voting. Ac cording to Breslow, the voice of the students needs to ring throughout the legislator to gain the support of legislators on bills such as the Child Block Grant. Workman is concerned that most of the student-parents won’t see the State funding for child care until af ter graduation. Currently, the feder al government has allocated $5 mil lion to assist student-parents, though Oregon Higher Education only sees $52,000 of the funds allo cated on the federal level. The Oregon Child Care Block Grant would help play a impor tant role in shaping Oregon’s eco nomic future. “Work needs to be done, and everyone has to jump on board and work,” said Sen. Castillo. Child-care continued from page 1 For Amanda Stout, two genera tions of University child care have brought great changes along with a continued and powerful commit ment to students’ families. During the 1970s, Stout was a toddler growing up in Eugene. Stout’s mother was a full-time stu dent, pursuing her degree in edu cation while raising her daughter. Now, 20 years later, Stout is rais ing her own daughter, Anatonia. Stout, like her mother before her, is a full-time student, halfway to ward her degree in biology. The program began in 1970 af ter several months of student powered political activity, culmi nating with protests in the administration building. In fall 1969, students occupied the president’s office in Johnson Hall until the administration agreed to support child-care serv ices on campus. A committee was formed, which later that year rec ommended the funding of on campus facilities. In the summer of 1970, the child-care program began at the on-campus Moss House facility. Dennis Reynolds, EMU Child Care Coordinator, was a student r during those times and now heads up the program he has been with since its inception. “Students have made a commit ment to child care from its begin ning,” Reynolds said. “Through their incidental fees, every student continues to make their contribu tion to this program. ” Since then, the program has continued to grow, adding facili ties for preschoolers, kindergarten students and the children of Uni versity employees. Stout is part of the CCDC’s grow ing history. She guides her daugh ter through the program she fin ished more than 20 years ago. “I would ride on the back of my mom’s bicycle to the center,” she said. “It was so much fun and a great overall experience.” Because of the financial re sources offered through the pro gram, her mother was able to fin ish college, while Stout received fundamental nurturing through the CCDC. When the EMU Child Care pro gram began, it was financed pri marily through federal funds. However, the ASUO Child Care subsidy, funded entirely through student fee dollars, now pays up to 45 percent of child care costs for nearly 200 students. Federally funded grants, which just took effect this year, pay 75 percent of the costs for 15 stu dents. “In the 1980s, we saw a drastic shift in the way our program was funded,” Reynolds said. “The fed eral funding just disappeared, and students were left to carry the bur den.” Stout relies on the Federal Need Grant, Pell Grant and the ASUO Child Care Subsidy to help cover her costs. “I wouldn’t be able to go to school and raise a child without the support of student funding,” Stout said. With adequate funding, accessi ble facilities and a dedicated staff, Stout and her daughter are very happy with the program they have both been a part of. Between fall the study groups, test preparation and day-to-day worries, student-parents manage to get it done. Stout maintains a high GPA, which she’ll need when applying for graduate school. Back in the ASUO, students are hard at work, ensuring that quality child care at the University will not only continue but prosper. Kathleen Workman, ASUO Non Traditional Student Advocate, spends much of her time working on behalf of student-parents at the University. Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald Student-parents must juggle academic responsibilities with raising their children. The staff of the child-care pro gram is very energetic and educat ed,” Workman said. “I’m proud of the work they do.” Workman sits on the Child Care Family Support Committee, which meets every month, prepar ing recommendations to Universi ty President Dave Frohnmayer on student parent issues. Issues they’re working on include reno vations to child-care facilities, ad ditional changing rooms and a new effort to collect data on stu dent-parent families. Workman feels the benefits of quality child care are worth the costs, “Educated parents raise educat ed children,” Workman said. “The long-term benefits greatly outweigh the short-term expens es.” At the end of the day, the Stouts have put in an exhausting day of work. Knowing Anatonia is get ting the valuable enrichment nec essary for a growing child helps give them the energy to persevere and succeed. “This is a really wonderful com munity,” Stout said. “I feel great THEN HEAD TO MT. HOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR... LOOKingforagreara. nangouT this summer? summer couege 2000 MORE CLASSES! MORE POSSIBILITIES! In just one summer you can take care of an entire year’s worth of Science, Humanities/Social Science credits OR complete a major portion of your language requirements at MHCC’s Summer Language Institute. It all transfers toward your degree! Registration begins May 30. • Classes begin June 19. Summers at Mt. Hood Community College are SIZZLING! So MT. HOOD COMMUNITY COLLEGE - GRESHAM. OREGON CALL 503-491 *6422 FOR MORE INFORMATION. Improv Comedy Every Friday & Saturday §5.00 cover with purchase or . "Beat The Cover" Have Our New Dinner Buffet For Only §9.95 And Cover is § Included!!! RO. Box 3159, Eugene OR 97403 The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Mon day through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald PublishingCo. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. A member of the Associated Press, the Emerald operates inde pendently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. NEWSROOM — (541H46-SS11 Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz Managing Editor: Jack Clifford Community: Darren Freeman, editor. Andrew Adams, Josh Ryneal. reporters. Freelance: Eric Pfeiffer, editor. Higher Education: Ben Romano, editor. Adam Jude, Serena Mark strom, reporters. Perspectives: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas, editors. Jonathan Gruber, Beata Mostafavi, Whit Sheppard, Mason West, columnists. Pulse: Jessica Blanchard, editor. Rory Carroll, Joe Walsh, reporters. Student Activities: Jeremy Lang, editor. 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