Task force calls insurance
‘feasible’ for OUS students
■A health task force appointed
by the State Board of Higher
Education will propose atrial
version starting in fall 2002
By Leon Tovey
Oregon Daily Emerald
University health centers at
schools in the Oregon University
System offer an array of services at
a fraction of the cost of off-campus
medical centers, but there are some
tilings they just can’t provide. As a
result, students without insurance
can sometimes find themselves in
dire straits.
In order to address the healthcare
situation, the State Board of Higher
Education passed a resolution in
March 2000 assembling a student
health insurance task force. The
task force was charged with deter
mining whether it would be possi
ble to institute a student health in
surance program for the entire Ore
gon University System. Last week,
the task force had its answer.
“We’ve come to the conclusion
that it looks like a feasible thing,"
said Larry Roper, director of the
task force. “After two years,
we’re now closer to the end than
to the beginning.”
The task force has narrowed its
focus from extended insurance for
all OUS students to a more man
ageable plan of mandatory basic
insurance, Roper said. This would
give students access to care out
side university health centers at a
cost similar to what they pay at
the health centers.
While the details of the plan
still have to be ironed out, Roper
said, the idea is that the cost of
the insurance would be added to
the existing health fee paid by all
OUS students.
Wind energy provides
alternative to fossil fuels
■ For a higher electric bill,
Eugene residents have the
option of using wind power
By Diane Huber
Oregon Daily Emerald
Since April 1999, Eugene Water
and Electric Board has offered its
customers the option of getting a
percentage of their electricity from
Wyoming wind generators as part of
EWEB’s wind energy project.
Choosing to use wind power costs
extra, but it allows clients to have
more control over where the money
they pay for their monthly electric
bill is allocated, EWEB Energy Ser
vice Department Manager Mat
Northway said.
“You know a portion of your bill
is going to a specific, renewable re
source,” he said.
According to a September 2001
National Renewable Energy Labora
tory study, Eugene ranked seventh
in the nation for having the highest
participation rate in “greenpric
ing” programs, with 3.5 percent
of customers paying extra to use
10, 25, 50 or 100 percent wind
power.
He said residences usually
choose the wind power option, and
although there is no demographic
breakdown, North way suspects that
students are using wind power.
Northway said students tend to be
more a ware of environmental issues
and have small houses with man
ageable electric bills.
OSPIRG’s energy campaign
leader, Jacob Meyer, allocates 10
percent of his electricity to wind
power. He wants to increase to 25
percent, but the cost is holding him
and his roommate back.
He said he supports wind power
because it is the fastest growing en
ergy source in the world and will
move the country away from a re
liance on fossil fuels.
“As individual citizens, we can
make a choice to support progres
sive utilities,” he said.
OSPIRG campus organizer Paul
Helstrom added that wind power is
a more favorable alternative to other
types of renewable energy, such as
solar or hydroelectric power, be
cause of its cost competitiveness.
Birds were once an additional con
cern because they would fly into the
blades, but modern windmills are
constructed to protect birds, he said.
The Wyoming windmills con
structed for the EWEB project were
built to reduce bird mortality,
Northway said. Birds often die be
cause, after perching on top of the
windmills waiting for prey, they
swoop down to snatch a bird and
get caught in the blades, he said.
But the Wyoming windmills
were built with rounded tops and
all power lines are underground,
which prevents perching. The
blades also move at a slower speed
and are painted.
Northway said that once the pro
gram was launched, there was a
steady increase in customers until it
leveled off a year later in April 2000.
Since then, there have been two rate
increases, which has pushed some
people to drop out of the program.
Overall, North way said participation
has remained steady.
For more information, call
388-WIND.
Diane Huber is a student activities reporter for
the Oregon Daily Emerald. She can be reached
at dianehuber@dailyemerald.com.
News brief
Search dog was up to big task
SEATTLE (KRT) - Highly trained
and obedient, focused and tireless,
Ricky, a 3-year-old Rat Terrier, is the
smallest urban search dog in the
country. He can climb aluminum
ladders, run complex patterns on
command and tell the difference in
the scent of the living and the dead.
For 10 days starting Sept. 19,
Ricky and his trainer, Janet Linker,
a Seattle firefighter and dispatcher,
worked the night shift at the site of
the terrorist attack on the World
Trade Center, searching for sur
vivors and, toward the end, bodies.
They were sent as a part of Puget
Sound Urban Search and Rescue -
62 firefighters, police, doctors, engi
neers, public-safety personnel and
three other search dogs. They were
one of 28 elite teams coordinated by
the Federal Emergency Manage
ment Agency (FEMA).
Ricky sat quietly recently on top
of the podium in front of the Seattle
City Council, wearing his official
vest adorned with official patches
from FEMA and Puget Sound Ur
ban Search and Rescue, while the
human members of his team re
ceived thanks and commendations.
Linker and Ricky worked togeth
er with trainer Kent Olson and his
canine search partner Thunder, a
golden retriever, to locate several
victims in the rubble, among them a
firefighter and a policeman.
— Caitlin Cleary
(c) 2001, The Seattle Times. Distributed by
Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
According to Dr. Gerald Fleischli,
director of the University Health
Center and a member of the task
force, the goal is to keep the cost to
students in the $20-$25 per term
range. Students at the University cur
rently pay a $96 per term health fee
that helps subsidize the Health Cen
ter — allowing them to charge $6 for
an office visit that might cost be
tween $50 and $75 somewhere else.
However, there are some services
that the Health Center does not offer,
and that’s where the new plan comes
in, Fleischli said. For example, the
Health Center does not provide CAT
scans or MRIs. Fleischli said one of
the aims of the new OUS plan is to
offer students access to off-campus
medical services.
Details are still being debated
about what treatments or costs the
new coverage would subsidize. The
biggest problem, according to Fleis
chli, is that different health
centers have different needs.
For example, the University of
Oregon’s health center is the
only OUS facility that has its
own X-ray machine, so the task
force needs to determine
whether the insurance will cov
er X-rays before submitting a
proposal to the State Board of
Higher Education.
The next step would be for the
board to approve the proposal.
Tim Young, a University political
science major and student repre
sentative to the Board of Higher
Education, said that while he
hasn’t seen any proposals, he
would have a number of ques
tions before approving a policy
of mandatory basic insurance.
“My big concern would be how
this relates to the Oregon Health
Plan,” he said. “A lot of students
over 24 have access to the Oregon
Health Plan, and I would like to
know how this would affect
them.”
The Oregon Health Plan offers
medical, dental and mental health
benefits at little or no cost to Orego
nians below the poverty line. It is
available to Pell-eligible students
statewide who have not been cov
ered by major health insurance
providers for at least six months.
Fleischli, however, is confident
that the process will go forward,
and he said that if all goes well the
new coverage could be in place as
early as next fall.
“We’re a couple weeks away
from giving a proposal to the
board,” he said. “Our recommenda
tion will be to implement a trial
version of the program in the
fall of 2002.”
Leon Tovey is a higher education reporter for
the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached
at leontovey@dailyemerald.com.
The Money is
NOT There!
A few local politicians are playing a shell game.
They need another $71 million
to pay for the West Eugene Parkway.
Where will they find it?
FANTASY: "The money for the West Eugene Parkway is there."
FACT: Ballot Measure 20-54 clearly states that the money is NOT there.
"If WEP is included on funded project list, other projects totaling at
least $71.2 million must be removed from list, or... need to be funded
from other federal, state or local revenues."
FACT: The state has only $17 million for the WEP. $71 million is missing!
WEP can only be paid for with a combination of the following:
HIGHER TAXES! CANCELED ROAD PROJECTS!
CUTS IN PUBLIC SERVICES!
FACT:
The WEP would destroy 50 acres of unique wetland habitat
that is home to endangered species.
Protect Eugene's Quality of Life.
Vote NO on the West Eugene Parkway.
iffil. It's Highway
Robbery!
For more information, to volunteer, or to make a financial contribution, please call 686-6761 or visit our website: www.westbynorthwest.org/no20-54
Authorized and paid for by "No on 20-54 RAC — Audrey Erickson, Treasurer
Recycling makes a world of a difference.