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
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