Co-op Family Center begins ‘RFP’ process
■ The bidding is set to begin
for groups looking to provide
child care services on campus
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
As contract negotiations with
large ASUO programs get under
way spring term, the Co-op Family
Center could face opposition from
similar providers wanting to fill the
center’s current role on campus.
No groups have yet come forward
to try to be the new child care
provider, but the Co-op Family Cen
ter, with the help of the ASUO, is
currently in the preliminary stages
of the complex “Request For Pro
posal” process.
ASUO Accounting Coordinator
Jennifer Creighton said a RFP
process means the Co-op Family
Center, or possibly another child
care provider, must have a contract
agreeing to tailor its services to the
ASUO’s requests and show how it
will meet those requests.
Other organizations, such as Lane
Transit District, are termed “Sole
Providers” and do not have to go
through the RFP process because
they are the only provider of a spe
cific service in Eugene.
Creighton said the Office of Busi
ness Affairs and Contract Office will
help the ASUO advertise about the
bid competition for the contract.
The advertising will explain that
the contract is open to those groups
locally that provide child care serv
ices similar to those the Co-op Fam
ily Center provides.
But Creighton said the details of
the RFP process for the Co-op Fami
ly Center are still in the very early
stages. She said ASUO President Jay
Breslow sent the Co-op Family Cen
ter a letter last week explaining that
by entering the RFP process, no
communication should take place
between the ASUO and the groups
involved who are the bidding for
the contract, including the Co-op
Family Center.
But Creighton said the ASUO can
still maintain contact with groups
about necessary current issues that
could arise such as student payroll
problems.
“We will know a lot more details
in a couple weeks after we meet,”
Creighton said.
Creighton said the RFP will be de
veloped by the ASUO on March 16
and will eventually be sent to the
State Attorney General’s office. All
contracting parties are required to
have signed their contracts by the
July 1 deadline, and University Vice
President Dan Williams will be in
volved in the process as the contract
ing officer from the University.
Alisa Stull, acting co-director
for the Co-op Family Center in
Spencer View Family Housing,
said she is nervous about the
whole contract process. But she
also said the group’s autonomy on
campus for the past 20 years will
be a major advantage for the group.
“We felt that going for the con
tract was best for the Co-op,” Stull
said. “We are comfortable with the
fact that we have been here a long
time and provide an invaluable
service.”
Creighton said the Co-op Family
Center received a funding increase of
$53,980 for the 2001-02 school year
from the Programs Finance Commit
tee. The center needs a formal agree
ment with the University and the
ASUO defining the services it pro
vides because it receives ASUO fund
ing from student incidental fees.
Tami Brown, acting co-director for
the Co-op Family Center, said while
the ASUO writes the RFP for the cen
ter, members of the center are not al
lowed to participate in the proceed
ings because it is an open bidding
process and other child care groups
can also compete for the contract.
“We hope it is written in a way that
Laura Smit Emerald
Six-year-old Withney (left) and her classmates listen as their teacher reads a story after
lunch at the Co-op Family Center. The center faces a budgetary uphill climb next term.
is conducive to what we are and what
we provide,” Brown said.
Brown said the Co-op Family Cen
ter is a non-profit group, not a Univer
sity program, though they receive
ASUO funding. Brown also said she
hopes the center will be competing
against as few other groups as possi
ble. She said she felt confident that
the center is unique based on its ex
tremely high parent involvement.
“We are hoping it will be an easy
process, but we haven’t gone
through it before and we don’t
know,” Brown said. “It’s a new en
deavor.”
Students discover Oregon bicycle laws the hard way
■ Some students are caught
off-guard for breaking bicycle
laws they didn’t know existed
By Darren Freeman
Oregon Daily Emerald
It was a Wednesday night, and
Carla Reitan, who was riding her
bike west on 13th Avenue near
Hilyard Street, was about to re
ceive a sudden, and expensive,
lesson about Oregon bicycling law.
“A cop walked out from behind
something and said, ‘You, stop,’”
the junior music and biology major
said.
Though Reitan had a red light
on the front of her bicycle, the Eu
gene Police Department officer
who stopped her issued her a tick
et for insufficient lighting.
According to Oregon law, a bicy
clist riding at night must ride with
a white light visible for at least 500
feet at the front of a bike. At the
rear of a bike, a red reflector or
light must be visible for up to 600
feet.
Reitan said she was unaware of
this law, and she felt it wasn’t fair
for her to be ticketed for breaking a
law she didn’t know existed.
“They never gave me a chance
to explain myself and just gave
me a ticket,” she said. “I make
maybe $58 per paycheck. I’m a
scholarship student, and I have to
make all my spending money.
[The $135 ticket] is a pretty big
hit.”
EPD Spokeswoman Jan Power
said police regularly ticket bicy
clists.
“Enforcement has been consis
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tent,” she said. “It’s just a matter of
being at the right place at the right
time, or at the wrong place at the
wrong time, if you’re a bicyclist.”
But many bicyclists, such as Re
itan, aren’t even aware of the laws
they break.
“When you’re riding a bike out
on the roadway, every law that
applies to an automobile applies
to a bicycle unless it’s logically or
physically impossible,” said Pe
ter Aguilar, an EPD officer as
signed to campus.
Susan Kelley, owner of Blue
Heron Bicycles, 877 W. 13th Ave.,
said many of her customers report
learning about bicycling laws only
after being ticketed.
“There seems to be confusion
about what is the law,” she said.
For more information regarding
these regulations, copies of Ore
gon laws are available at Blue
Heron Bicycles. Also, more infor
mation about bicycle laws and
safety are available on the Oregon
Department of Motor Vehicles
Web site, www.odot.state,
or.us/techserv/bikewalk/.
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