www.dailyemerald.com An independent on Daily Emerald Aiming for the top * Spring cleaning Pole vaulter Niki Reed would love nothing more Volunteer to clean cam pus for University Day and than to win a Pac-10and NCAA title. PAGE 11 come awav with a free T-shirt pagf <; Thursday May 17,2001 Volume 102, Issue 151 Weather today Spring cleaning Volunteer to clean campus for University Day and come away with a free T-shirt. PAGE 5 PARTLY CLODDY high 60, low 45 Since 1 900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Forecast won’t stop tuition hike ■After a tough wrangling session in Salem this year, the state’s higher education budget is still coming up $96 million short By Andrew Adams Oregon Daily Emerald The May economic forecast, one of the last pieces of the state budget puz zle, has been released, and there ap pear to be few implications to the high er education budget. However, a 4 to 5 percent tuition hike is now almost assured, as no ma jor funds have been found to help fill holes in the state budget. While the forecast does paint a slightly rosier picture, it does not have any significant positive impacts for funding for Oregon’s seven public uni versities. Those close to the budget wrangling taking place in Salem say that while the picture hasn’t improved, it hasn’t worsened, which in this fund ing period may actually be a good re sult. Oregon University System spokesman Bob Bruce said the budget forecast “shows only a modest im provement” to the state budget, and can not be directly applied to higher education. Released Monday by the state De partment of Administrative Services through the Office of Economic Analy sis, the forecast is an analysis of Ore gon’s economy in relation to the rest of the nation, and provides a base for the formation of the state’s budget. While the state’s overall budget will remain $12.1 billion for the 2001-2003 bienni um, there is now an extra $20 million for legislators to add into the budget mix. Bruce said OUS will remain opti mistic about funding and said there will be a renewed effort to fill some of the holes. “We have people in Salem working on this all the time,” he said. Turn to Budget, page 3 Marchers will take back city streets ■The 23rd annual Take Back the Night March will focus on combating oppression and empowering victims By Lindsay Buchele Oregon Daily Emerald The streets of downtown Eu gene will be filled tonight with voices saying, “Hey hey, ho ho, sexual assault has got to go” when an estimated 500 people take part in the 23rd annual Take Back the Night March. Sexual Assault Support Ser I™. vices and the University Women’s Center are hosting the event, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the EMU Amphitheater and will feature music, commu nity speakers, the march and an open forum for sexual assault survivors. “The march in Eugene has come to symbolize a stand against not only sexual assault, but also against all forms of op pression,” said Katie Antos, the community education coordina tor for SASS. Antos said the idea sprouted from an International Women’s Day Celebration held in Brussels, Belgium in 1976. The celebration grew in conjunction with the In ternational Tribunal of Crimes Against Women and spread throughout the world as a grass roots effort aimed at raising awareness about violence against women. The first march in the United States took place in San Francis co in 1978 and drew 5,000 women marchers, Antos said. It was an effort that shut down San Francisco’s pornography strip for one night. Eugene’s version of the march features several local speakers, in cluding community activists and Turn to March, page 3 On a whiff and a prayer i . Tom Patterson Emerald Nothing says spring term like whiffleball, right? Pete Korstad connects with a Todd Johnson pitch in front of the University Health Center Wednesday afternoon. One survivor’s story brings campus sexual assaults to fore ■A woman’s struggle to overcome the trauma of sexual assault may help others to reach for help as well By Beata Mostafavi and Emily Gust Oregon Daily Emerald It was the first weekend of school during her freshman year, and Paige*, a recent pledge at a Univer sity sorority, was partying at a house with some fraternity members and a couple of friends. Paige had no idea that within the next few hours, she would be vio lated—causing her anguish and forc ing her to lose an entire term of school — and that the pain would only stop pulsing after she took a step forward to fight what had happened to her. Paige is one of many students that have experienced sexual assault in their lifetimes, yet often their stories are never told. According to the FBI, rape is one of the most underreported crimes, and nine out of 10 cases are never brought to the attention of authorities. Between January and March, Sexual Assault Support Services had contact with 964 sexual assault survivors, including 270 Universi ty students. But in the University’s Depart ment of Public Safety’s records for 1999, no cases of rape were reported at the University. Director of DPS Tom Fitzpatrick said no one reported any cases of sexual assault to DPS, even though organizations and University de partments are supposed to file re ports of rape with DPS every year. This year, however, there will be at least one case included in the University’s report. Filling in the gaps At the party, Jared*, whom Paige had met at a football game a few days earlier, gave her a glass of “jun gle juice,” a mixed alcoholic drink. A short time later, she began to feel ill. Paige knew almost no one at the party, so she asked Jared to give her a ride back to the residence halls. But before taking Paige home, Jared said he needed to stop on the way and pick something up at his fraternity. Paige later realized that the fraternity was not on the way, as Jared had told her. Rather, it was in the opposite direction. “I remember the red light before crossing the street [to the fraterni ty],” she said. “And that’s where I Turn to Survivor, page 4