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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 3, 2002)
Measure 13 could create ‘rainy day’ fund for schools ■The May 21 primary election may affect the University when Oregon voters decide on proposed education budgets By Brad Schmidt Oregon Daily Emerald Oregon voters will decide in the May 21 primary election if Ballot Measure 13 is worth busting open the state’s school system piggy bank, a move that could directly af fect University students. Measure 13 would convert the state’s existing education endow ment fund of an estimated $278 million into an education stabiliza tion or “rainy day” fund. The two funds differ in that the endowment fund spends only the revenue earned on interest while leaving the principal untouched. The stabiliza tion fund could be tapped at any time, perhaps wiping it out com pletely. With its passage, Measure 13 would authorize the legislature to use any portion of the endow ment fund with a three-fifths ap proval from each legislative house. If approved, $220 million will go directly into the state school system in May 2003 to counteract the re cession and Oregon’s budget short1 fall. The Oregon legislature cut school budgets by $332 million for the 2002-03 school year. University students will be di rectly affected by Measure 13, said Chip Terhune, spokesman of the Our Kids Deserve Better commit tee. If the measure passes, many scholarship funds will be cut, un less the legislature allocates a por tion of the remaining fund to schol arship programs, he said. But Terhune said that given the situa tion, the odds of the legislature routing money to scholarships are “next to none.” “If you’re looking for long-term solutions and making no attempt to help school funding, why would you raid the one fund dedicated to school funding?” Terhune said. “It doesn’t make any sense.” Supporters of the measure say that, despite cutting the fund to $58 million, it will grow to more than $600 million over the next 10 years. Each year, 15 percent of the net proceeds of the state lottery, or about $50 million, are deposited into the fund. State Rep. Lane Shetterly, R-Dal las, is a member of the committee that proposed the measure during the legislature’s second special ses sion. Shetterly called the measure “a wise use of resources available to fund schools” and said he’s “pas sionately” in favor of Measure 13 because it would create a long-term stability fund and it represents the best option to fill the financial void caused by budget cuts. While the possibility remains that Oregon may not pull out of its recession, Shetterly said it is “highly unlike ly” that the proposed fund would be completely drained. But because Measure 13 propos es the immediate allocation of such a large proportion of the existing fund, the measure has its share of opponents. State Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eu gene, said Measure 13 fund would build up only about half as fast as the current fund. “A rainy day fund has to build up fast enough so that the next time it rains you have money to spend,” Barnhart said. Ballot Measure 13 was created to meet the desire for a stability fund and to prevent tax hikes, said Bob Applegate, press secretary for Gov. John Kitzhaber, D-Oregon. “It would be better for about six months,” Applegate said of the measure. “Then it would fall off a cliff in about a year.” The endowment fund, estab lished in 1995, has generated inter est that has been used for techno logical advances, facility upgrades and opportunity grants, with the principal remaining untouched. Ken Rocco, legislative fiscal officer for the state, said the current fund will earn about $15 million in inter est from July 2001 to July 2003. Of that total, he said, 75 percent will be used to pay off outstanding bonds with the remainder given to the scholarship commission. E-mail reporter Brad Schmidt at bradschmidt@dailyemerald.com. News brief Four research universities to present findings Today the annual “Philosophi cal Collaborations” conference be gins with University graduate stu dent Gary Wright and philosophy Professor Mark Johnson present ing “Rigor or Rigor Mortis? The Survival of Clinical Judgement in an Age of Economic Rationality” at 7:30 p.m. This year’s theme is “Values, Cat egories, and Practical Delibera tion.” Graduate student and faculty pairs from four research universi ties will present on various topics, all in McKenzie Hall room 240A, today and Saturday. Wright is a physician earning his doctorate in philosophy. His work focuses on why standard medical protocols do not give a complete picture of a patient’s condition and why a philosophical shift in the system is necessary to provide bet ter treatment. To set up Wright’s findings, Johnson will explain why viewing the body as an organic whole, rather than a machine with parts to be fixed or replaced, will bene fit patients. “Human beings are not just bags of symptoms,” Johnson said. Saturday at 9 a.m., Ken Himma and Ronald Moore, a team from the University of Washington, will present “Resurrecting Legal Positivism.” Then at 11 a.m., Donna Marcano and Ronald Sundstrom, a pair from the University of Memphis, will present “Racial Categories and Subjectivity.” Ryan Spellecy and Leslie Francis from the University of Utah will give the final presentation, “Legiti mate Expectations and Advance Di rectives,” at 2 p.m. Saturday. Sessions are free and open to the public. For more information call 346-5547. — Serena Markstrom In Partnership with UO Bookstore! AMDB Check us out at: www.voscomputers.com Extreme Performance For Windows®XP! 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The course will define recent literary trends in our country, some of them as they are happening now. There will be discussion, some lecture, along with assigned papers. Monday through Thursday Open to all students with sophomore 2:30-4:20 p.m. standing or above. You do not have to be June 24-July 19 an honors student to take this course 307 chapman . ProfesSor Henry Alley SATURDAY# MAY 4™ • 8 pm Largest tequila bar in Eugene Break the $100 pinata and win cash! • Prizes and contests all nisht Ions!! Eat the worm contest Rock ‘n Rodeo 44 E. 7th 683-5160 To earn a 4.00 in Brewolosy all you need to know is STEELHEAD. □ 9 Award-Winning Micro-Brews □ Soups, Salads □ Ribs n Fresh Pizza □ Sandwiches □ Pastas □ Burgers □ Spirits □ Home-Made Rootbeer TAKE A BREW HOME IN STEELHEAD'S BOX O' BEER Steelhead Brewing Company 199 East 5lh Avenue Eugene, OB Phone 686-2739 Eugene, OR - Burlingame, CA - Fisherman’s Wharf. San Francisco, CA - Irvine, CA
