ASUO pushes to minimize upcoming tuition hike
■Student leaders have
organized a letter-writing
campaign to ask for support
from Oregon legislators
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
Members of the ASUO Execu
tive realize cuts in higher educa
tion funding
are imminent
this legisla
tive session,
but they be
lieve state
politicians can help prevent dou
ble-digit tuition increases for Uni
versity students.
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s re
cently proposed state budget for
the next two years includes $94.3
million less for the Oregon Univer
sity System, and although budget
details will be fiercely debated in
Salem in the coming months, Uni
versity President Dave Frohnmay
er told the University Senate
Wednesday that tuition increases
are coming.
“What’s being proposed [by
Kitzhaber] is a step back, maybe
two steps back,” said Brian Tanner,
ASUO state affairs coordinator.
But Tanner, who through his
ASUO position will work closely
with members of the Legislature,
OUS and the Oregon Student As
sociation, said the big question
now is how high the increase will
go in the next two years.
He said OUS proposed to
Kitzhaber a tuition increase be
tween 5 and 8 percent split be
tween the two years, and
Kitzhaber’s plan sets an increase at
8 percent.“But there is talk that it
could go higher than 8 percent,”
Tanner said.
ASUO President Jay Breslow
said he wants to halt the tuition in
crease at a biennium 5 percent, or
2.5 percent each year for the next
two years.
To do that, Breslow said, the
ASUO is organizing a letter-writ
ing campaign to a group of nine lo
cal politicians and two committee
chairs, trying to gain support from
the legislators who will vote on the
specific parts of Kitzhaber’s budg
et.
“It’s a mix of damage control
and proactive work,” Breslow said.
Tanner said the ASUO hasn’t or
ganized other campaigns, but he
wants to create some that will ad
dress the specific effects on stu
dents and faculty.
“More than the numbers, stu
dents want to know what it means
for them,” Tanner said.
Many, including Tanner and
Breslow, worry that higher tuition
will eventually decrease enroll
ment and hurt campus programs.
“It’s disappointing. The current
quality of programs is going to be
hurt,” Tanner said. “Innovative
new programs are going to be
hurt.”
On Wednesday, Frohnmayer
said it’s still too soon to know
what the final budget will mean
for students. He said he did not
want to “sound alarmist,” and an
end to the recent tuition freeze was
expected.
Tanner agreed that tuition was
going to rise eventually, but said
the situation is grim regardless of
the final numbers.
“There’s about an $800 million
shortfall in a state budget of about
$10 billion,” he said.
Breslow said that while the Uni
versity’s needs will remain crucial,
the ASUO plans to fight for the
proposed increased funding for
community colleges.
The Legislature will approve the
final state budget sometime in the
spring. But Tanner said as specific
parts are passed, it will become
clear who in government will fight
for higher education and exactly
how much money will be avail
able.
They might vote first on K-12
schools, which receive more than
half the state budget. If that deci
sion becomes bogged down in par
tisan politics, Tanner said, other
budget debates may become heavi
ly political as well.
“If it takes three months [to de
cide K-12], we’re in trouble,” he
said.
University to provide safety, health programs for workers
■The Labor Education and
Research Center has received
a contract that will fund the
new training programs
By Brooke Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
Thanks to a $1.8 million con
tract from the State Accident In
surance Fund (SAIF) corporation,
the University can now offer train
ing in health and safety programs
to labor union members off cam
pus.
SAIF, a public corporation that
settles worker compensation
claims, offered the University’s La
bor Education and Research Cen
ter the contract to increase the
r
availability of safety and health
training programs for labor union
members throughout Oregon on
Dec. 12. The funding will also
help University students explore
labor issues.
Established in 1977, LERC hosts
workshops on labor law and histo
ry, provides guest lecturers for
University departments and occa
sionally offers classes on labor-re
lated topics.
“Our goal is to look for sectors
within the labor communities with
the biggest safety problems that we
can have the greatest effect on,”
said Steven Hecker, associate pro
fessor and director of occupational
safety and health programs at
LERC.
Hecker said SAIF members,
along with various labor union
workers, will work with the re
search center on its advisory board
to determine the areas that need
the most training based on SAIF’s
injury claim data.
“We will be looking at health
care problems such as sprains and
infectious diseases and high-haz
ard industries like construction,”
he said, adding that training pro
grams will be developed where
they are most needed.
“We want to give people an
overall better understanding of the
elements of workplace safety,” he
said.
David Thurber, vice president
for policy holder services for SAIF,
said the contract is already in ef
fect.
“The plans are forming and the
advisory committee is underway
as we speak,” he said.
Thurber said the company was
seeking to provide a safety educa
tion system with longevity, which
is why it chose LERC.
“They’re designed to educate on
that same issue, so it was a valu
able place to partner and train Ore
gon workers,” he said.
One way the research center is
preparing to educate more people
is by hiring more employees.
Hecker said the organization is
currently in the process of adding
two full-time positions that should
be filled by spring.
Marcus Widenor, associate pro
fessor and interim director of
LERC, said there may also be more
graduate teaching fellows and stu
dent interns hired if the program
expands.
“We will be able to reach a lot
more people with this funding
than we’ve had in the past,” he
said.
Margaret Hallock, a LERC pro
fessor who also supervises the cen
ter’s internships, said students will
benefit from the contract.
“The funding will provide for
more internships that will give
students a hands-on experience
about concrete issues of the labor
workplace, so students will be left
with a better understanding of the
labor economy,” she said.
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