Proposed Budget Increases
Group Name Proposed 2001-02
M u Iticu Itu ra I Center $91,349
Designated Driver Shuttle $119,000
Oregon Future Lawyers Association $5,357
Numbers are approximate
Current 2000-01 % Change
$70,349 30
$105,000 13
$300 1686
SOURCE: ASUO Program Finance Committee
Big budget decisions loom
■ In the coming weeks, the
PFC will hear from groups
asking for sizable increases
By Emily Gust
Oregon Daily Emerald
After a week of budget hearings
for the more than 100 programs on
campus, some of the largest pro
posed increases have yet to come
before the ASUO Programs Finance
Committee.
Many increases so far have been a
result of the new stipend model ap
proved by the Student Senate last
year.
Stipends are the monthly pay
some students receive for their work
in ASUO programs, and in past years,
amounts have varied from group to
group. Under the new model, how
ever, the stipends will be standard
ized for all ASUO groups.
Last week, the new model in
creased the ASUO Constitution
Court’s budget more than 140 percent
when stipends for its justices jumped
from $30 a month to $75 a month.
Both the PFC and the senate will
propose larger budgets because of the
stipend model, PFC Chairwoman
Mary Elizabeth Madden said.
But student government groups
are not the only ones that might re
ceive increases in payroll.
Some of the Multicultural Cen
ter’s increase will be for payroll ex
penses, but the amount is still sub
stantially less than the $31,000 it
received last year to bring MCC Di
rector Erica Fuller to the group.
A larger increase this year ap
pears to be the $12,500 the MCC is
asking for in its programs funds.
In recent years, the MCC has not
received large boosts to its program
accounts. But if the PFC grants the
group its budget in full, it will have
more than double what it has re
ceived in the past.
Members of the MCC declined to
discuss the specifics of the increases
in their proposed budget.
“We currently, at this time, have
no comment,” said Brandy Alexan
der, public relations coordinator for
the MCC.
The PFC will also consider a large
increase for the Designated Driver
Shuttle, which received $63,157
last year. In addition, DDS went to
the ballot and asked students for an
additional $31,843 to cover mainte
nance and operating costs. Added
together, DDS had a total budget of
$105,000 last year.
For next year, DDS is asking for
about an additional $14,000. much
of which is for payroll.
“Payroll is our biggest budget,
and we’re still going to be really
close to being in the hole at the end
of the year,” said Jeff Salchenberg,
co-director of DDS.
In contrast, the Executive will ac
tually spend less on stipends than it
has in previous years. ASUO Finance
Coordinator Jonathan Gray said that
funds for Executive stipends will de
crease from $35,000 to $31,000.
Aside from that decrease, the Ex
ecutive is still hoping for a 3 percent
increase of about $7,500.
“We tried to keep everything
down because we knew a lot of oth
er groups need increases,” Gray
said, but added that $4,500 of the in
crease would be impossible to avoid
because of higher dues for the Ore
gon Student Association.
Some substantial percentage in
creases for next year result from
ASUO rules that limit first-year
funded groups to $300.
The Oregon Future Lawyers As
sociation will be asking the PFC to
grant it $5,357, nearly a 1,700 per
cent increase from its first-year $300
budget.
Jennifer Greenough, the OFLA’s
executive vice president, said that
much of the increase will be to help
publish the group’s undergraduate
journal, the Oregon Advocate. Each
issue costs about $500 to publish,
and the OFLA wants student fees to
cover half the cost while the group
raises money for the rest.
The PFC will treat groups that are
asking for large increases the same
as others, Madden said, taking into
account how much they spent last
year, how well the groups used their
funds and how the additional funds
will be spent.
“There is no set formula,” Mad
den said. “Some may get all of their
asked increases, [and] some may
only get a portion. We won’t know
until the hearings. ”
Inventions yield rewards for UO
■ The Office of Technology
Transfer moves University
inventions into the market
By Brooke Ross
Oregon Daily Emerald
Since 1992, the University’s Of
fice of Technology Transfer has
earned $1.2 million from new in
ventions and discoveries made by
University faculty and staff, illus
trating that higher education can
impact today’s economy.
The technology office, estab
lished in 1992, assists outside in
dustries with developing Universi
ty inventions by helping to secure
patents and licensing agreements
and to facilitate the development of
startup companies based on the
University’s inventions. Licensing
income has increased from $50,000
in 1992 to more than $300,000 to
day, and that income, along with
patent costs, has launched the office
past the $1 million mark.
“As inventions and discoveries
are made at the University, we don’t
want them to stay within the walls,”
said Don Gerhart, the director of the
Office of Technology Transfer. “We
want them to move forward in ap
plication and benefit others.”
The office has worked with in
ventions that include new designs
for loft beds and optical networking
devices, and discoveries involving
developments in stroke treatment
technology, he said.
Gerhart said everyone involved
in the invention process benefits
from the money earned by the new
products and research discoveries.
"It’s almost like recycling,” he
said. “The inventions are created
here, go into application, and the
University gets money back. ”
Laura Smit Emerald
Don Gerhart, director of the Office of Technology Transfer, spends most of his time
behind a computer administering patents and licensing agreements for inventions.
Gerhart said when an outside man
ufacturer buys the license agreement
to an invention, the earned money is
split among the inventor, the inven
tor’s department and the University.
He said the Office of Technology
Transfer depends on the University
for financial support because it usu
ally takes five to 10 years for a man
ufacturer to develop a product for
the open market, so money is not
made right away.
The Office of Technology Transfer
didn’t experience a large jump in in
come until recently, when several
products finally reached the market.
“I think we’ll see the growth
we’ve seen in recent years contin
ue,” said Richard Linton, vice
provost for research and dean of the
graduate school.
Companies interested in Univer
sity-developed products must also
promise to pay a license agreement.
Over the years the number of agree
ments has grown, so the return po
tential for the University has grown
too, Gerhart said.
Linton said the ultimate goal for
the office and for University re
search in general is to develop more
entrepreneurial opportunities for
the faculty. The funds to support
this come from two sources.
He said licensing agreements
from the Office of Technology
Transfer contribute $250,000 to
$300,000 annually for additional re
search opportunities, and competi
tive grants and external agencies
such as the National Institute of
Health provide $60 million annual
ly for sponsored programs.
“It is my goal to invest the money
back into further development for
faculty research,” Linton said.
Gerhart said he is not worried
about a possible economic down
turn because it will have little effect
on future research opportunities.
“Invention and discovery happens
Turn to Inventions, page 5
UNIVERSITYo/ OREGON
BOOKSTORE
Author Events
Willie Weir
January 17th at 7:30 p.m.
Willamette Hall • Room 100
Willie Weir appears as a guest of the University Outdoor
Program and the UO Bookstore this Wednesday. Willie has
hiked his way around the entire globe and now comes to
Eugene to regale us with his adventures in India. His
presentation will be high-lighted by a slide show and a
booksigning for his book, "Spokesongs."
William Kittredge
January 24th at 7:30 p.m.
William Knight Law Center • Room 175
William Kittredge will read from his new memoir, "The
Nature of Generosity." This powerful new book, a further
ing of his earlier "Hole In The Sky," looks at the complexi
ties of life in the modern West amid myths that do not
easily relent. A booksigning will follow.
Admission to Author Events is free and open to the general public.
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in helping new students and their families
during UO summer and fall orientation
programs? ■
Apply for 2001 Student
Orientation Staff!
Applications are available in 372 Oregon
Hall and are due Wednesday, January 24th.
For more information, come to one of our
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in Rogue Room, EMU and January 17 at
5:30p.m. in the Metolious Room, EMU or
call us at 346-1159.
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