Student Senate spends $200,000 on diversity
■The ASUO representatives
dispense more than $500,000
of students’ incidental fees
By Emily Gust
Oregon Daily Emerald
After a long and heated discussion
Wednesday night, a closely divided
ASUO Student Senate took the first
step toward establishing a Center on
Diversity and Community (CODAC)
when it granted the project $200,000
from the overrealized fund—which is
extra student incidental fee money
that comes when enrollment is higher
than expected. The decision must still
be ratified by ASUO President Jay
Breslow and University
President Dave Frohn
mayer before it is offi
cial.
Breslow said CO
DAC would bring to
gether students and fac
ulty to learn in
hands-on workshops and engage in
cutting-edge research opportunities.
Half the request is earmarked for
student activities next year. The other
$100,000 is for a holding account, and
whenever someone donates to the
center, the donation would be
matched with funds from the account.
The administration has also provided
what it can—$100,000—so that if all
goes as planned, the center’s organiz
ers will have $400,000 with which to
“kick start” the center, Breslow said.
After that, Breslow said, he hopes
CODAC would be able to function on
its own with the money it will raise.
But many senators expressed con
cern about using so much money to
start a center that may not be funded in
coming years.
“I’m a little bit leery of this proposal
... when the future of this center is
very uncertain,” Sen. Skye Tenney
said. “I would hate to see $200,000 go
to something great and then not be
able to fund it.”
Breslow, however, said CODAC is
worth the risk. “This is something I’m
willing to put my faith in,” he said.
Breslow also pointed out that the
University administration is fully be
hind CODAC.
“Frohnmayer... has shouted—ba
sically from the rooftop — that this
center will happen,” he said.
Sens. Andy Elliott and Jackie Ray ar
gued it is not a good idea to finance an
academic department through student
incidental fees — which should be
used to back student-oriented plans.
But Sens. Serene Khader and Katie
Howard said CODAC is not an aca
demic department—and that the cen
ter would benefit them as students on
campus. Khader-said it is the senate’s
“moral obligation” to tackle the diver
sity issues on campus.
In other business, the senate granted
$150,000 out of the overrealized fund
for campus lighting near the Bean resi
dence hall complex. It gave another
$41,209 to the EMU Child Care and
Development Centers for a minibus,
$8,075 to Campus Recycling to buy
reusable dishware for outdoor campus
events, and $16,300 to the Counseling
Center to upgrade its computers. The
senate also depleted another half of the
general surplus by granting several
special requests.
Breslow said while the funds con
tained in the overrealized account
could possibly go back to students, he
does not think that is the most benefi
cial way to use the money.
“We can give every student about
$20” of what is left in the account,
Breslow said. “Or we can buy amaz
ing things on campus.”
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2001 SUMMER SESSION • JUNE 25-AUGUST 17
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Airport debate slows budget talks
■The Eugene City Council’s
budget committee forwards
its final recommendations
By Sue Ryan
Oregon Daily Emerald
How should Eugene spend its mon
ey in the coming fiscal year?
A budget committee knows.
Members of the City Council-ap
pointed committee met Wednesday
night to finalize recommendations for
the coming fiscal year. The City Coun
cil will vote on the report Tuesday.
The final vote of 12-1 approved a
budget that was $157,289 more than
the target budget of $1,275,583. The
committee recommended that the
shortfall be covered with money from
the city’s reserve funds. Committee
member David Kelly, who is also a city
councilor, voted against the recom
mended budget.
“1 do not support it as it stands,” he
said. “There are issues where preven
tion services and drug prevention are
not adequately funded. ”
The two largest items on the budget
—for the construction permits depart
ment and the airport — generated the
most debate. The committee voted 5-7
against using airport revenues to pay
the $496,447 on the facility’s bond debt.
Committee member Bonny
Bettman, the motion’s sponsor and a
city councilor, said the proposal to use
the funds to pay down the bond was
reasonable.
“It does not affect the viability of the
budget,” she said.
Others supporting the motion em
phasized that the burden of the bond
should be removed from people who
live within the city of Eugene.
Several committee members spoke
against the idea of stepping up repay
ment, saying to do so would harm the
airport’s competitiveness. “I am
against depleting capital to accelerate
debt repayment,” committee member
Jack Lucier said. “I am a loan officer,
and I see this problem all the time. ”
The committee approved two new
positions for the Planning Department
by making a one-time transfer of
$400,000 from the city’s general fund.
The committee also discussed imple
menting a tracking system for the con
struction permits division, which
would measure the amount of time
employees spend answering ques
tions from the public.
The committee’s recommendations
included other proposals. The Human
Services Commission will receive
$69,000 that was originally cut from
its budget. In addition, the Eugene
Public Library’s Bookmobile will be
funded for two years.
Opponents of the Bookmobile mo
tion argued that with an upcoming
levy for the library, the city should not
be committing resources for daily
services. “The library system is on ten
uous footing,” committee member
and City Councilor Gary Rayor said.
“It depends on the will of the people. ”
Committee member Scott Meisner,
a city councilor, contested Rayor and
spoke in favor of the motion. “The
two-year period is giving time to cover
the lapse from the levy’s passage to im
plementation,” he said.
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