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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2000)
DPS continued from page 1 DPS and its representation on cam pus — is DPS an enforcement agency qualified to use the red and blue lights, or is it simply a campus security organization hired to keep the peace? The answer depends on who is asked, and how they interpret the terms “police officer” or “peace of ficer.” “We’re considered a criminal jus tice law enforcement agency,” Pub lic Safety Sergeant Marte Martinez said. “Oregon Revised Statute 352 285 authorizes [state university] employees as public safety, called peace officers.” The State Board of Higher Educa tion could commission college public safety officers to become “peace officers,” Martinez said. However, no DPS employees have received that designation and Fitzpatrick and law enforcement of ficials said that even commissioned DPS officers would not be classi fied as “peace officers.” “We are not trying to represent ourselves as police officers [and] we are not considered peace offi cers,” he said. Sources outside the department said that the DPS is strictly a cam pus security organization whose of ficers are not certified as peace offi cers. Though the DPS wasn’t notified of a violation when the vehicle lights were installed, the issue is not a new one for the department’s staff. “There have been some ques tions about the lights,” Martinez said. “But nothing has come out of it.” While Eugene Police Department officers stated they are aware of the issue, they aren’t likely to take ac tion. “We’re not going to write them a ticket,” EPD spokeswoman Jan Powers said. “I believe it’s up to the University to resolve it and the state that mandates it to correct it.” DPS is using red and blue emergency lights in violation of the following Oregon codesand statutes, according to area law enforcement agencies: Oregon Driver Manual Code - Red Lights: Red lights or flashing red lights that can be seen from the front are to be used only on fire department vehicles, police vehicles, ambulances, school buses, worker transportation buses, church buses, vehicles escorting funeral processions, tow vehicles and vehicles used by Oregon Department of Trans portation Motor Carrier Division. - Blue Lights: Blue lights are permitted only on police vehicles or fire depart ment emergency response vehicles. Oregon Revised Statutes -816.350 Prohibited Lights (4): Vehicles operated by a police officer and used for law enforcement may be equipped with any type of police lights, but only such vehicles may be equipped with blue lights. Enrollment continued from page 1 challenging course work while maintaining a GPA of 3.6 or above, is one of those scholarships. In the case of JulieAnna Little, it did ex actly what it is supposed to do — keep a smart high school graduate within the state. Little, a freshman pre-journal ism major from Sisters, said she had considered some universities in Southern California, but ulti mately, the University’s reputable School of Journalism and Commu nication, in addition to the proxim ity and affordability of the Univer sity, swayed her to apply. “I wanted to be close to home and it’s cheaper to go here,” she said. The University is not the only in stitution in the state that has seen more students across its campus. Enrollment is up at almost all Ore gon University System institutions, including Oregon State University, where officials are expecting a stu . dent body of about 17,000, the largest that school has seen in al most 20 years. “This will be our fourth year in which our enrollment has gone up,” said Andrew Hashimoto, OSU’s vice provost for academic af fairs. “We’ve put in a lot of effort in both recruiting and retention of stu dents.” OSU’s enrollment had plummet ed to a 30-year-low of 13,784 just four years ago. Hashimoto said he credits the rise in enrollment to improved ori entation programs, recruiting and retention. The increase in enrollment at in stitutions across the state came as no surprise to Oregon University System spokesman Bob Bruce. “We had anticipated that there would be an increase in enrollment this fall,” he said. “Most Oregon universities have been [making] good recruiting and retainment ef forts.” He also said that one of the rea sons universities in the state are en rolling more students is that more high school graduates and their families are placing a greater value on higher education. But while university officials across Oregon seem to welcome more students with excitement about the growth of their respective institutions, some are looking at the growth with skepticism and con cerns about the quality of educa tion. While the number of students at the University has risen, the num ber of faculty members has re mained virtually unchanged. At OSU, additional classes were added to the original curriculum to accommodate the rising number of students, Hashimoto said. Howev er, he said that the institution won’t receive additional funds until next year. “The funds follow the students,” he said, adding that he’s not con vinced that the rise in enrollment comes at the cost of quality of edu cation. He said most faculty members are aware of the importance enroll ment numbers play in university funding and many restructure their lectures to accommodate more stu dents in bigger classrooms. Buch said he doesn’t think that an increase in the number of stu dents pursuing a higher education means the quality of education or the value of a degree has to suffer. He said a higher education has sim ply become more important in suc ceeding in today’s workforce, and students are merely trying to set themselves up for success. “I think the folks who are con cerned about that should take a look at what labor-workforce de mands are,” he said. “I don’t be lieve we are going to have a situa tion where we are going to have too many educated people.” Karen Sprague, vice provost for undergraduate affairs, said as long as the number of faculty members increases as student enrollment reaches new heights, the quality of a higher education does not neces sarily have to degenerate. Sprague said that while earning a degree continues to require stu dents to work hard, she doesn’t think that the rising number of de grees awarded has to come at the cost of degrees losing their value. “I don't think it matters how many people complete that work,” she said. “But you can’t just keep making classes bigger and bigger and bigger.” Jonna Lynn Mehrens, an unde cided sophomore thinking about majoring in sociology, said bigger classes and an increase in the num ber of students do not concern her. “I kind of like bigger classes,” she said. Mehrens said when the time to make a decision about where to go to college rolled around, she didn’t have to think very hard when she sent her application to the Univer sity. “It was the only place I applied,” she said. The Portland native said she had only heard good things about the University from her older sister and had always planned on pursuing a higher education at the University. ...celebrates the opening of three new offices this year by inviting undergraduates from the University of Oregon to participate in our annual, national, merit based scholarship: The Pace Setters Clllb. Listed on Inc 500's fastest growing and most dynamic companies in America, Balboa Capital is looking to engage the best and the brightest to apply for $1,000 awards based on the following criteria: • academic and campus/community involvement • professional commitment (internships, part time/full time employment) • goals, aspirations, and a proven passion for excellence Please submit the following no later than Tuesday, October 17th • A one page resume with a separate sheet listing three references of your choice • A five hundred word essay detailing the three most important ingredients for success Interviews will be held on the week of November 6th through the 10th with the winners being announced in the Oregon Daily Emerald on Friday the 17th of November. For any questions please do not hesitate to contact Scott Giffin, Director of Human Resources at 949-756-0800 or at scottg@balboacapital.com and feel free to visit our web site www.balboacapital.com 010065 Please send applications to: Attn: Pace Setters Gub 550 Kearny, Suite 520 San Francisco, CA 94108
