Legislature denies colleges extra funds
■ A shortfall in revenues
forced legislators to refuse
community colleges money
for increased enrollment
By Andrew Adams
Oregon Daily Emerald
Faced with lower state revenue
projections, the state Legislature’s
Ways and Means Subcommittee on
Education was forced to not grant
state community colleges an addi
tional $45 million they had sought
for enrollment growth.
This is just one example how the
state’s March revenue estimate,
which came in $108 million less
than expected, is causing turmoil in
Salem, as legislators wrangle over
where the scant fiscal resources can
be allocated. If May’s revenue pro
jections come in lower than the
March projections, the situation
will become even more dire, and
any budget cuts are likely to be
deeper.
Rep. Robert Ackerman, D-Eu
gene, who serves on the Lane Coun
ty Community College Board, said
he was not that disappointed with
the subcommittee’s action because
he knew it wasn’t specifically di
rected at community colleges. He
said it was just a sign of the bleak
budget times, which he expected
will make things even more diffi
cult.
Rep. Tootie Smith, R-Molalla,
said not passing the budget was not
easy.
“It was one of the most painful
things I’ve had to do,” she said.
Smith said she is a big supporter of
community colleges, and she would
work hard to find the funding.
“I’m not going to make any prom
ises, but it is one of my priorities,”
she said.
Community colleges had received
the $45 million for enrollment
growth in the original budget pro
posed by Gov. John Kitzhaber, but be
cause of the revenue estimates, it
does not appear likely that there will
be additional funding available for
community colleges.
Sen. Cliff Trow, D-Corvallis, said
the committee decided not to ap
prove the budget based on the ad
vice of the Ways and Means Com
mittee co-chair, Sen. Len Hannon,
R-Ashland, and the Legislative Fis
cal Office.
He said there still could be funds
available in other budgets that
could be allocated for community
colleges, and added that the alloca
tion won’t come at the expense of
other education budgets. Trow said
there could still be room for both
four-year institutions and commu
nity colleges to receive more funds.
“I don’t think the two are mutual
ly exclusive,” he said.
Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby,
served on the Emergency Request
board when community colleges
came before it last year to ask for addi
tional funding for increased enroll
ment. He said it is an unusual situa
tion in that community college
enrollment has continued to outpace
expectations. He said he would be
“going through the budget with a
fine-tooth comb” to secure the $45
million for community colleges.
If those funds do become avail
able, Schrader said community col
leges have priority in having them
added to their budget.
Conference to shed light on campus diversity
■The weekend conference
will explore diversity with
discussions on race and
discrimination
By Hank Hager
Oregon Daily Emerald
Disabilities, diversity, education and
environmental racism are just a few of
the many issues of concern on campus
that will be discussed during the “Poli
tics of Identity: Learning to Listen” con
ference, which begins today.
More than 200 concerned citi
zens and faculty are expected to at
tend the conference at the William
W. Knight Law Center. The various
topics will be analyzed through
panel discussions, conference or
ganizer Lorraine Brundige said.
“The main focus is to bring together
diverse communities from the city of
Eugene, the University and [Lane
Community College], with some col
laboration with [Oregon State Univer
sity], in order to address the political
and experimental issues surrounding
identity in an ever-increasing diverse
population,” Brundige said. “The
main topics center on issues of race,
racism and discrimination.”
Speakers from the University in
clude Scott Pratt, an assistant philoso
phy professor, Mia Tuan, an assistant
sociology professor, and Mark Tracy,
the assistant dean of student life.
“Diversity questions on the Uni
versity of Oregon campus have been
an important issue over the last few
years,” Pratt said. He said his dis
cussion, “All Men are White,” will
center on the issues of “whiteness.”
When asked what “whiteness” in
his speech referred to, Pratt said,
“That is the question.”
Phil Ferguson, a University associ
ate professor of education and com
munity support, said his discussion,
“Disability and Education,” will fo
cus on disabilities, which are often
not grouped with diversity.
“It is important for all elements of
diversity to come together and share
their experiences,” he said.
Cheyney Ryan, a University phi
losophy professor, said diversity is
directly related to the community.
“A principal focus of the conference
is diversity as a project of community,
hence as something which requires
the capacity to listen to one another,”
he said. “This seems like an easy thing,
but in fact it is very difficult.”
Associate Professor of internation
al studies Rob Proudfoot will deliver
the keynote speech, “Shattering the
Colonial Mind: Reclaiming and Re
membering Sacred Landscape of
Self, Spirit and Community.”
Lani Roberts, a philosophy pro
fessor at Oregon State, will end the
conference Saturday night with a
keynote address.
Roberts said her speech, “Social
Construction of Race: All the Little
Children of the World,” will “dis
cuss the concept that race is not a bi
ological but social construction. ”
She said race follows a sort of so
cial hierarchy, which is hard to dis
mantle.
“It is fundamentally immoral the
way the human community divides
itself,” she said. “It makes no sense
to me why human beings are so cru
el to one another.”
Roberts said most people who are
high on the social ladder are un
aware there is a division. She said
the purpose of the conference is to
reach out to those who are oblivious
/
to this separation.
Brundige said she chose Proudfoot
and Roberts to speak because they re
ceived high recommendations from
students, faculty and administrators
at their respective schools.
“These two individuals have gone
beyond the bounds of academic and
administrative duties in their effort to
create a more diverse environment at
the University of Oregon and Oregon
State University,” she said.
Assistant philosophy Professor
John Lysaker, who will be co-facili
tating Pratt’s panel on “All Men are
White,” said he will attend not only
to educate others, but to learn more.
“Diversity has clearly been a cen
tral term in a number of discussions
of what the University should be,” he
said. “It would be important to dis
cuss what diversity really means. ”
Brundige said there is a need “to
address the importance of changing
social dynamics taking place in Ore
gon, and our inability to deal with
these changes with the intent to foster
solutions, whether in die form of less
racism, curriculum needs or the
much-needed addition of faculty of
color to this campus.”
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