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Professor Frank Michel man lectured on the Supreme
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Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Tuesday
April 10,2001
Volume 102, Issue 124
Weather
today
high 53, low 41
Creative adaptation
R. Ashley Smith Emerald
Dancer Bill “Crutch” Shannon performs in front of an audience at the EMU Ballroom Monday night. Shannon discussed
his experiences as a dancer with disabilities and highlighted his points with videos from his travels around the world.
Crutchmaster’s stories, dance
serve to educate able-bodied
In a Monday
night
presentation,
Bill Shannon
sought to
teach the
crowd that
disabled
doesn’t mean
helpless
By Kara Cogswell
Oregon Daily Emerald
Performance artist Bill Shannon
spoke at the University last night as part
of Disability Awareness Week, but he
said the real reason he came was not for
the disabled, but for the able-bodied.
“This isn’t about me and being dis
abled,” Shannon said to the crowd of
approximately 60 people gathered in
the EMU Ballroom. “This is about you
and how you look at me. ”
Shannon said many of the chal
lenges people with disabilities face are
not a result of their disabilities, but of
the way the able-bodied treat them.
Many people see a person with a
disability and immediately assume he
or she needs help, Shannon said.
This became painfully clear to Shan
non one hot summer day in Chicago
six years ago. Shannon, disabled since
the age of five, said he was performing
his trademark acrobatic moves on
crutches when a member of the audi
ence pointed at the hat he had put out
to collect donations and sympatheti
cally asked, “Did you drop your hat?”
That day in Chicago became a turn
ing point in his career, Shannon said. It
inspired him to travel the world to put
on street performances investigating
how the able-bodied react to people
with disabilities.
As part of his speech, Shannon nar
rated while he showed computer
video footage depicting several of his
performances. Some of the videos
were of Shannon performing simple
Turn to Crutchmaster, page 4
Breslow testifies at
Legislature hearing
■ASUO President Jay Breslow
outlined the benefits of the
incidental fee when he spoke
to the state Legislature Monday
By Emily Gust
Oregon Daily Emerald
SALEM — On his second visit within
the week to the state. Capitol to talk
about the student incidental fee, ASUO
President Jay Breslow finally had his
chance Monday to tell members of the
Legislature why he thinks the fee is im
portant.
Last week, about 60 students from the
state’s public universities packed the
room during a public hearing before the
Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee
on Education. The subcommittee was
expecting to hear a panel of five college
students speak about higher education
funding.
But time permitted only one student
the chance to voice her opinion.
The remaining four students spoke
Monday, with two taking the chance to
address the likely 8 percent tuition in
crease over the next two years, and the
other two addressing the student inci
dental fee.
It was Breslow’s second time before the
legislators — the first came during a work
session over spring break when questions
about the fee were directed to him.
Monday, Breslow had the chance to
formally testify.
Explaining the “three guiding princi
ples” he sees governing the student in
cidental fee system at the University,
Breslow said the fee’s first benefit is that
it allows students to explore new ideas
and develop critical thinking skills.
A second principle, Breslow said, is
the important part the fee plays in the
University’s mission statement.
“The incidental
fee gives students
the opportunity to
learn outside the
classroom,” Bres
low said. It “allows
students to take the
theory that we read
in books and learn
in class and apply it
in a real-world situ
ation.”
Breslow related
his own personal experiences in the
Multicultural Center, a time that made
him realize he wants to work with chil
dren for the rest of his life. Without that
experience, Breslow said, he might not
know that his “true calling is youth ad
vocacy.”
The third benefit of student control of
incidental fees, Breslow said, is that it
provides a form of campus democracy.
Tu rn to Student fee, page 4
BRESLOW
Classified staff wants
contract reevaluated
■With budget cuts looming, the
classified staff of the Oregon
University System has expressed
concern over its compensation
By Andrew Adams
Oregon Daily Emerald
Classified employees and administra
tion officials from all seven institutions
in the Oregon University System will
meet in Portland Wednesday to begin
contract re-negotiations.
The current classified contract runs
through 2003, but labor representatives
said they wanted to reopen their con
tract in light of the potential scarcity of
available funding for the OUS from the
state Legislature.
Cheri Smith, a campus union leader,
said there are 1,230 classified employ
ees on campus, including groundskeep
ers, clerical workers, housekeepers and
food service personnel, as well as other
positions she said are vital to ensuring
the campus is run efficiently.
Discussion at the Portland meeting
will be limited to only “non-economic”
issues, since the Legislature has yet to
determine the final budget, but Smith
said several economic issues remain on
the minds of most classified employees.
“The one thing we have heard is that
if the governor’s budget continues as it
is, there could be some layoffs,” she
said.
While Smith said she understands
Oregon may be headed for some tight
economic times, she said the Legisla
ture should realize that the classified
employees are vital to maintaining
quality campuses.
Mark Zunich, an employee relations
manager with University Human Re
sources, said even though negotiators
are not discussing monetary issues in
the opening sessions, salaries will defi
nitely be discussed later.
“[Salary] is very important for all em
ployees on campus,” he said.
He said he will join other manage
ment representatives from state univer
sities and administrators from the OUS
at the meeting in Portland. Zunich said
he expects sessions to be held on other
campuses in the Willamette Valley fol
lowing the meeting.
Despite the budget constraints, Zu
nich said he was fairly confident that
any contentious issues that might arise
in the re-negotiations would be handled
without much discord.
“Money is always scarce, and there is
an amount of tension,” he said. But he
Turn to Classified, page 4