Census
continued from page 5
here is because of the conven
ience,” Grover said.
But Bell, and many other resi
dents, said location is not the only
deciding factor. The neighbor
hood’s atmosphere is also a major
draw. The area is high-density with
little space between houses and
apartment complexes, adding to
the close-knit social atmosphere.
At night, some people go from
party to party, others bump into
friends on the street and make plans
like friends would if they lived in a
small town. Bell said he’s looking
forward to walking half a block to
see what his friends are doing on a
Friday night — instead of them be
ing just a few feet away in another
room. He adds that he’ll appreciate
the extra control over his privacy.
“I’m getting older, and all the
freshmen are still 18,” Bell said.
When the weather is nice during
the day, students relax on porches,
balconies and yards, studying or
chatting. They sit on rickety plastic
furniture, or recliners and couches
they purchased at nearby garage sales
— or simply claimed from the side of
the road after other students moved
out and abandoned the furniture.
But Grover said the social life is
the biggest drawback to her time in
the neighborhood, and she’s look
ing forward to leaving.
“I’m a country girl, so the biggest
problem is the traffic,” Grover said.
“Both foot and car traffic.”
She said she’s had to deal with a
number of bizarre invasions of her
privacy, including the time she and
her two roommates came home last
month and found a couple having
sex in her garage — or Friday night
when a massive party turned into a
riot 100 feet from her front door.
Franz said the two amorous
lovers politely and apologetically
left when once she found them, but
there was nothing she could do but
watch as riots charged and fled up
and down her street.
Eyster agreed that, regardless of
the drawbacks, students are going to
want to live as close to campus as
possible, and he thinks the West
University Neighborhood can ex
pand. He said property owners need
to take the initiative. The area is
high-density and much of the prop
erty is old and could be tom down,
making way for larger apartment
buildings. Eyster said national com
panies like the ones that built Duck’s
Village and the University Com
mons could also renovate the area.
“All it would require is for some
one to buy the property,” he said.
In the meantime, Leavitt said the
University is looking at institutional
changes it can make that would
have an effect on rental rates, such
as expansion of LTD express routes
to campus.
She said there could be unintend
ed benefits from University Presi
dent Dave Frohnmayer’s May 20 de
cision that all Greek houses must
achieve higher academic standards
and have alcohol and drug free hous
ing by December to remain affiliated
with the University. She said once
Greek houses adhere to Frohnmay
er’s new standards, administrators
will be more comfortable suggesting
the Greek system as a housing op
tion, taking some pressure off the
rental property in the neighborhood
and helping the Greek chapters im
prove their recruitment and mem
bership, which has been down over
the past few years.
“I would really like our Greek
houses to be at a place we can rec
ommend to people who want to
live with others but don’t want to
live in a full apartment,” she said,
adding that many administrators
also want to build a new residence
hall as soon as possible to house the
large incoming freshman classes.
Leavitt is part of the 17-member
Enrollment Management Council, a
group that analyzes enrollment fig
ures and makes suggestions for
how the school should handle the
ebb and flow of students.
But so far, the council has focused
solely on how the increased student
population will affect the availabili
ty of classrooms, professor offices
and public computer terminals. The
group hasn’t said who should work
on how enrollment affects housing
in the West University Neighbor
hood or any part of Eugene.
“You have to ask, ‘Is that even part
of the institutional mission?”’ said
Associate Vice President Jim Buch,
the chairman of the committee.
Eyster said he wouldn’t be sur
prised if other national companies
are looking at building more prop
erty like Duck’s Village and the
University Commons, which
would be attractive to some West
University residents with the abili
ty to commute to campus. Eyster
added that he hasn’t heard of any
specific companies with their eyes
on Eugene, but “I’d be surprised if
there aren’t any.”
“They can see this bulge or boom
just like anybody else,” Leavitt said.
E-mail managing editor Jeremy Lang
at jeremylang@dailyemerald.com.
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Adam Jones Emerald
Michael Grey, left, and Aaron Bliznut play a little ‘Urban Frisbee’ in the intersection of 14th
and Mill street within the West University Neighborhood.
Enrollment jump catches
administration by surprise
■The University’s physical
facilities may not be able to bear
the strain of more than this
year’s 20,000 expected students
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
Enrollment is expected to sur
pass 20,000 students for the first
time this fall, a sudden jump that
caught many administrators by
surprise.
A September 2001 report by the
17-member Enrollment Manage
ment Council predicted the student
population wouldn’t surpass
20,000 until fall 2005. Jim Buch,
the council chairman and associate
vice president for enrollment man
agement, said that when council
members submitted their report,
they expected enrollment to remain
steady between 16,000 and 17,000
— which it had done from 1994 to
2000 — or even drop slightly be
cause of a year full of bad press.
“In the past 18 months, the Uni
versity of Oregon’s image has suf
fered from several public contro
versies,” the report said.
The report cited the secretary of
state’s audit of the school, the in
vestigation of women’s basketball
coach Jody Runge that led to her
resignation and the school’s depar
ture from the Worker Rights Con
sortium factory monitoring group,
a decision that led Nike CEO and
University alumnus Phil Knight to
vow never to donate money to the
school again.
“These high-profile events have
a cumulative effect on public per
ception,” the report said.
But after a year of football and
basketball championships, the Uni
versity’s departure from the WRC,
Knight’s subsequent return to do
nating and a number of research ac
complishments by professors, Buch
said the school’s public image im
proved — at the same time that
high school graduating class sizes
are increasing.
“The flip answer is that every
body wants to come here,” Buch
said. “There is going to be contin
ued growth. There’s going to be
continued demand if the Universi
ty continues to be an attractive
choice.”
, . So far, neither the council nor
any ojhej- University committee has *
officially discussed a cap on enroll
ment, Associate Vice President
Anne Leavitt said, but she ac
knowledged that administrators are
aware of the urgency that the
20,000 plateau presents.
“The physical facilities (on cam
pus) are really not equipped to han
dle many more than 20,000,” said
Leavitt, who also sits on the enroll
ment council. “We have to get to
work on this.”
University Housing Director
Mike Eyster said this isn’t the first
time the University has faced a sud
den increase in enrollment. In the
early 1990s enrollment jumped
into the 16,000 student range, and
independent rental companies saw
an opportunity to expand into the
Eugene market. Two companies
bought land north of campus near
Autzen Stadium to build the Duck’s
Village and the University Com
mons apartment complexes, join
ing the Chase Village complex.
Both opened in the late 1990s when
enrollment had leveled off and, for
a few years, vacancy rates were
high there and in the West Univer
sity Neighborhood.
But those empty apartments are
filled now, according to the fall
2001 report by Duncan and Brown,
a local company that studies hous
ing trends in Eugene
“The campus area appears to
have recovered from ... four years
of high vacancy,” the report said,
noting that 2001 was the first time
in four years that rents have in
creased in the neighborhood.
“While the increases (in rent) are
few and small, it does indicate a
change in the direction of the
market. ”
University Housing runs the resi
dence halls and limited graduate
student housing only, but Eyster
still keeps an eye on where his resi
dents will go when they leave the
world of bunk beds and cafeteria
meals, and he noticed the vacancy
rates starting to fall more than a
year ago.
“There is no question that enroll
ments play a huge role in the va
cancy rate in the campus neighbor
hood and other student housing,”
Eyster wrote to administrators in a
December 2000 e-mail.
. E-m^iil Managing Editor Je/efny l^ng, ( ,,
■ atjeremylang@d^ily^meralcj.com.. .