Oregon daily emerald., July 11, 2002, Image 2

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Thursday, July 11,2002
Oregon Daily Emerald
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor:
Jenni Schultz
Oregon signs new softball head coach
Kathy Arendsen has had playing
and coaching careers described as
‘nothing short of amazing’
By Brad Schmidt
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Athletic Department an
nounced Wednesday that its search to
find a new leader for the Oregon soft
ball team ended with the hiring of for
mer collegiate pitching star and for
mer Mississippi State head coach
Kathy Arendsen.
Standing next to his prized signee
in the Casanova Center, Athletic Di
rector Bill Moos looked minuscule
next to the 6-foot-3-inch frame of
the 43-year-old Arendsen, a coach
who thus far has compiled a record
of 374 wins in her 13 seasons
and wrho hopes to add to that total
with Oregon.
“It’s a tremendous honor and privi
lege to join this magnificent Universi
ty and outstanding athletic program,”
said Arendsen, who resigned Tuesday
as head coach of Mississippi State’s
softball team. “I felt that this is the
right place for me to be.”
Hoping to restore success in Eu
gene, Arendsen said she hopes to
build on Oregon’s strongest point
— solid hitting.
“I know there’s some great players
here,” she said. “It’s just a matter of us
getting a stable program, something
that (the players) can count on.”
Arendsen said she had a chance to
play every team in the Pacific-10 Con
ference while at Mississippi State
— except Oregon. Nonetheless,
Arendsen said she is familiar with
Oregon’s players and added that she
hopes to aid in the development of
what is currently lackluster pitching.
“Our intent is to be in a position
where we can compete realistically
for a conference championship,”
Moos said of Arendsen’s hiring.
“And in the sport of softball, if we
can be competitive in that regard, we
can certainly be competitive at the
national level.”
In her 13 seasons as a head coach
at Western Connecticut State, East
ern Illinois, Yale and Mississippi
State, Arendsen has had only one
losing season.
Moos praised Arendsen’s tenure at
Mississippi State and called her back
ground “nothing short of amazing.”
He added that he hopes to see his
newly-signed coach make an immedi
ate impact, both on and off the field.
“Kathy’s got, of course, a tremen
Brad Schmidt Emerald
Athletic Director Bill Moos announced Wednesday that former Mississippi State softball head
coach Kathy Arendsen will take over Oregon’s softball team, which went 24-30 this past season.
Arendsen has a career winning-percentage of .573 in 13 seasons.
dous reputation and a very recogniza
ble name in softball,” Moos said. “I
think that will help immediately in
the recruiting process and also with
our current players.”
Mississippi State Athletic Director
Larry Templeton said Arendsen was
very upfront in her decision to leave
the school and added that he
thought she was looking for another
challenge.
“She wouldn’t have gone just any
where,” he said. “We’ll miss her.”
Arendsen joins an Oregon team that
went 24-30 this past season but won
only two of 21 games in the competi
tive Pac-10. Arendsen’s coaching du
ties began immediately Wednesday as
she called Oregon players over the
phone to speak briefly with each and
to introduce herself.
The hiring of Arendsen marks
Oregon’s third softball coach in as
many years. Rich Gamez resigned in
October 2001 after an audit showed
a $5,700 discrepancy in the team’s
travel fund. Arendsen takes over
for Brent Rincon, who served as Ore
gon’s interim head coach this past
season.
“It took a very special opportunity
for me to leave,” said Arendsen, who
admitted she was sad to leave Missis
sippi State.
So does that mean Arendsen will
have mixed emotions on Aug. 31,
when Oregon will take on Mississippi
State in the football season-opener?
“No way! I’m a Duck fan,” she said
with a laugh. “I’ll be pulling for the
home team without a doubt.”
Contact the sports editor
at bradschmidt@dailyemerald.com.
Kitzhaber decries budget plan specifics
The governor said he doesn’t agree
with taking money from school
trust funds or issuing bonds
against a cigarette tax
By Jan Montry
Oregon Daily Emerald
As the world turns, so does the state
budget battle.
At a press conference Tuesday, Gov.
Kitzhaber announced that he believed
the latest legislative budget proposal
is “fiscally irresponsible.”
“(Legislators used) extraordinarily
complicated actuarial maneuvers that
make the kind of accounting you saw
with WorldCom and Enron seem rela
tively simple in comparison,”
Kitzhaber said.
Pining-. the.. press.. conference,.
Kitzhaber specifically named aspects
of the proposal he disagrees with but
refrained from announcing whether
Pass or
veto them — a de
cision he plans to
make Thursday.
The governor said
he disputes issu
ing bonds against
a cigarette tax
(House Bill 4056),
taking money
irom a scnooi trust
fund (HB 4055)
and letting
KITZHABER
schools borrow funds from future
budgets (Senate Bill 1022).
“I think we need to ask ourselves,
when the nation is expressing out
rage at corporate bookkeeping prac
tices, should the state of Oregon
adopt essentially the same prac
tices?” he said.
Democratic Sen. Susan Castillo of
Eugene, who will be the state schools
superintendent next year, said she
would have liked to see more long
term compromises in the proposal.
“I’m hoping (Kitzhaber) does sign
what he does support and leaves his
name off the parts he doesn’t sup
port,” she said. Castillo added that
she will continue to fight education
al cuts in the event of a fourth spe
cial session.
Democratic Leader Kate Brown of
Portland said she doesn’t agree that
the budget is fiscally irresponsible be
cause it adds an additional $320 in
revenue for the 2003-2005 biennium.
Turn to Budget, page 10
UO’s admission
standards will
increase in 2003
The University announced Monday that students will
need to have a 3.25 GPA and 16 credits of college
preparatory courses in order to be accepted
By Jenni Schultz
Oregon Daily Emerald
For the first time in 10 years, students applying to the Uni
versity for the 2003-04 school year with a less than a 3.25 GPA
will not be guaranteed admission.
The University announced Monday that the minimum
GPA required for guaranteed admission will increase from 3.0
to 3.25 as well as at least 16 rather than 14 credits of college
preparatory courses.
This change marks a response from the University to
the increase in enrollment over the past decade and to the
decrease in state funding.
I 5 r-1 Rakino aHmiccirm ctnnrlnrHc tine tioon
a topic of conversation for the University
for some time, but administrators weren’t
expecting to have to implement any
changes so soon.
“We have talked about (raising stan
dards) for years,” University President
Dave Frohnmayer said. “(The rise in en
rollment) caught us two or three years be
fore we predicted,” he said. “We weren’t
expecting enrollment to be more than
FROHNMAYER 20,000 until 2004 or 2005.”
Frohnmayer does think that the change
in admission standards might eventually provide a better im
age for the school. “A school’s reputation is increased by the
school maintaining high standards,” he said.
Frohnmayer attributes the rise in enrollment to the fact that
the number of high-school graduates is increasing and that
“the University is a very desirable place to attend,” he said.
North Eugene High School Principal Peter Tromba was dis
tressed by the news of the requirements and is worried about
what the changes will do to his students.
“We’ll definitely end up sending some of our students to Lane
(Community College) or OSU,” he said. “Out of all four high
schools, we struggle the most with admission requirements.”
Tromba also believes changes like this will result in grade
inflation. For example, if a student has a 3.2 and needs an A
in a chemistry class to get a GPA boost, it would be difficult
for a teacher to turn that student down, he said.
Along with the increase in GPA, students must now also
have 16 credits of college prep courses for guaranteed admis
sion. Previously, students only needed a 3.0 GPA and 14 col
lege prep credits.
Assistant provost for enrollment management at Oregon State
University Bob Bontrager said that the changes “make sense.
“We’re both in very similar situations, and we both have to
make some hard choices,” he said.
OSU is looking at making some similar modifications, but
officials are also piloting a new “writing instrument that will
determine the level of motivation and experience in over
coming obstacles of the applicant,” Bontrager said. “GPA by
itself doesn’t have much predictive validity,” he added.
Although the alterations will affect 10 percent of his stu
dents, South Eugene High School Assistant Principal Larry
Soberman is in favor of the changes.
“It’s a good move for the University — for it to continue to
become a top-quality University,” he said.
Frohnmayer is hopeful that the new standards will in
crease the value of education at the University.
“Hopefully, this will do what raising GPA standards and
test scores did for intercollegiate athletics,” he said.
Contact the managing editoratjennischultz@dailyemeralci.com,
New UO admission standards
On Monday the University announced changes to the current
admissions policy. Students must now meet the following
requirements to be guaranteed admission:
Previous G PA: 3.0
Current GPA: 3.25
Previous College Prep credits: 14
Current College Prep credits: 16