Thursday
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Who want$ to be
a college graduate?
D
o you think you’re going to be a mil
lionaire? Well, then join the ranks
of millions of college students who
are disillusioned enough to believe
they’ll be living the high life after undergrad
uate study.
According to a rather official looking sur
vey from JobTrak.com, 71 percent of college
students actually believe they’ll be million
aires (and most think that it will happen be
fore they’re 40). I’m assuming the 29 percent
of college students that were realistic about
their future earnings are ceramics, history and
music theory majors, in touch enough with
the after-college job market that they aren’t de
luded and believing their bank accounts will
include seven-digit figures.
Really, it’s no surprise that money is the
driving force behind students’ reasons for go
ing to college (or that college warps our view
of how much we’re actually worth). With sto
ries of dot-com successes and sensational TV
shows that hand away money in exchange for
self respect, youth are disillusioned into the
belief that acquiring wealth comes easily.
Somehow, after scraping our pennies together
and begging parents for care packages for a
minimum of four years, college students still
believe they’ll be rolling in the dough after
graduation.
Maybe you really believe you’ll be hobnob
bing with Trump 10 years from now. Just in
case, let’s break it down—something my par
ents taught me to do at a young age to curb
those “high expectations” and cure the inabil
ity to give myself reality checks.
Let’s take our friend Howard (a fictional
character, of course; real college students are
rarely this on top of it). Howard
graduated from our fine cam
pus with a degree in business
(because I know all of you
business majors think you’ll
be making the big bucks).
Howard was a good student
and actually spent more time
studying than guzzling beers
at Rennie’s, so be graduated
with a 3.5 GPA, helping him
land a great job at an estab
lished company in Austin,
Texas.
Our dear Howard was for
tunate to start out with a re
spectable sum of $38,000 per
year, a fortune compared to
the minimum wage he earned
ME, MYSLEF <Sc IRA
YOUR TRUST FUND
rniit, uni i mu iiiitii
Bryan Dixon Emerald
delivering pizzas to other broke
college students. Of course, the first
thing Howard planned on doing was treating
himself to a new car, since he left his patched
up Volkswagen back in Eugene (where all
Volkswagens go to die). And Howard planned
on buying the newest entertainment system
to spruce up his new bachelor pad.
Then reality sets in. His $3,166 monthly
paycheck is actually only $1,995 after Uncle
Sam takes out his 37 percent. Howard is lucky
enough to have insurance benefits provided
by his company, so he doesn’t have to worry
that a crazy night at the bar, resulting in hav
ing his stomach pumped, will set him back a
month’s pay. But he does have to deduct $145
for his company’s plan.
Now Howard is left with $1,850 — a meager
amount compared to the original $3,500, but
still not bad for a fresh-faced 25-year-old eager
to make his mark on the world. Howard still
has to pay the rent on his one-bedroom apart
ment, which though not plush, is in an area
of town where he can actually park his car
without fear of theft.
The pad bites off a chunk at $700 per month,
and an additional $450 goes to electricity (the
air conditioner runs 10 months out of the year),
cable, Internet access,
laundry, phone (long distance to call parents
and friends back in Oregon), as well as groceries
and household items (hey, even mac-and
cheese costs money).
So Howard is left with $700 per month after
paying the basic cost of living. And now, the
dream of that brand new Toyota Celica is fad
ing fast — he’s looking at $450 per month for
the Celica and full coverage insurance (yeah,
because Howard’s not on mommy and daddy’s
plan anymore). Instead, Howard pulls out the
latest used auto ads and buys the 1997 Dodge
Neon from the car lot down die street.
With this “sleek” gas-saving machine,
Howard only racks up $375 per month, in
cluding car payments, insurance, fuel and
maintenance (of course, he’s on the $1 down,
$199 per month plan).
So now, lovely Howard is left with just $325
a month. That gives him a whopping $81.25
per week, which has to pay parking meters,
parking tickets, lunch, nights at the bar, video
rentals, dates, new clothing, trips back home,
shampoo, toilet paper, etc. The point is, that
$81 is gone one
way or the other.
Bottom line: Howard’s $38,000 is
higher than the average graduate will
be earning, but even with this amount, the lap
of luxury is as distant as it was while he was
scraping burnt pizza dough off the pans at
Track Town.
Oops ... we forgot about paying back stu
dent loans. Never mind, Howard’s screwed.
Better ask mommy and daddy for calling
cards and grocery-store gift certificates for
Christmas. And by the way, does Austin have
its own version of LTD?
Though chances of making that cool mil
lion are slightly better than winning Power
ball, believing that the majority of us will be
millionaires is about as realistic as thinking
that Nader has a shot at the next presidency.
Sorry folks, but it’s not going to happen. Better
reconsider burying your rattletrap Volkswa
gen after graduation ... unless your dream
car’s a Neon.
Rebecca Newell is a columnist for the Oregon Daily
Emerald. Her views do not necessarily represent those
of the Emerald. She can be reached at rnewell@glad
stone.uoregon.edu.
Declining grievances misleading
Guest Commentary
Carla
Did you read the News and
Views article written by Sid
Moore in the Office of Affir
mative Action? In the arti
cle, titled “Grievances decline for
third year,” Moore is quoted as saying,
“.. .this reduction in grievance num
bers again seems to suggest that the ef
forts of the entire University commu
nity to correct inappropriate behavior
are having positive effects.”
I don’t agree! I have had the oppor
tunity to talk with various people on
campus who are literally afraid to
come forth and discuss their hostile
environments at the University. This
includes officers of administration,
classified staff and graduate and un
dergraduate students.
Folks have told me they are verbally
abused by being yelled at, in some cas
es profanity is used, they are held back
from moving into other positions be
cause they have spoken out against
discrimination, and they are treated
with disrespect on campus.
I personally have gone to Affirma
tive Action twice and been turned
away. I was told that there was nothing
that their office could do about the situ
ations. After I took a union steward
with me to Affirmative Action, some
thing was done about one of the situa
tions. I suspect that others have been
turned away, and if this is the case, that
would account for why the number of
formal grievances is declining.
According to OPEU Local 085 Chief
Steward Ellen Klaastad, “If you are a
staff person covered by a collective
bargaining agreement (such as GTFF,
SEIU/OPEU, GCIU) then the union
should be your first call; not the Office
of Affirmative Action, not Ken
Lehrman, not Sid Moore. OAA
cannot, due to collective bargaining
agreement, move anything forward if
the person complaining or inquiring
is represented by a union.
In general, if you are a "classified"
staff, the union only has 20 days in
which to file a grievance on discrimi
nation or harassment. Such shorter
timelines (timelines that are shorter
than Oregon or Federal Labor Laws)
are similar in all union contracts on
this campus. This wonderful univer
sity of ours has consistently denied
discrimination and harassment griev
ances due to timelines being missed.
While it may be true that the num
ber of‘formal grievances’ which OAA
files is down, the number of missed
timeline potential grievances and de
nied grievances due to timeline are in
creased for the SEIU/OPEU. Why? Be
cause it is not clear that OAA tells all
union represented employees on this
campus that they should immediately
call their union. It is not clear that
OAA tells these employees that a
timeline is ticking and that timeline
does not match the cushy period that
state labor laws affords.”
Are you a victim of discrimination
on campus? Have you been turned
away from Affirmative Action? Do you
believe what Sid Moore says? Would
you like your voice to be heard?
Please contact Sid Moore and tell
him how you disagree with his arti
cle. Let him know you are afraid to
come forth for fear of retaliation. Let
him know you have come forth, only
to be “blacklisted” or have your prob
lem not get resolved. Let him know
you are aware of hostile environ
ments on campus. While you’re at it,
why not let President Frohnmayer
know how you feel. They can be
reached at sidmoore@oregon.uore
gon.edu, 346-2985 and pres@ore
gon.uoregon.edu, 346-3036.
Carla McNelly is the membership organizer
for SEIU/OPEU Local 085 at the University of
Oregon.
Letters to the editor
Have fun with ASUO election
Hurray for Eric Qualheim and Brian Boone!
I was very excited to read about these candidates in Monday’s
paper. It was refreshing to read about candidates who not only
had some pretty good ideas about running campus, but are hav
ing fun with the election too.
It’s important to remember that even though we are adults, we
are still students, and the ASUO is student government. I think it is
very important to elect people who are in touch with the student
body. I hope everyone will join me in voting for Eric and Brian.
Jessica Lyski
freshman
psychology
CORRECTION
The photos for Wednesday’s Q&A with ASUO Executive candidates Bret
Jacobson and Matt Cook were inadvertently left off the front page.
The Emerald regrets the error.
COOK
JACOBSON