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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 2002)
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com Online edition: www.dailyemerald.com Thursday, August 8,2002 Oregon Daily Emerald Editor in chief: Michael J. Kleckner Managing editor: Jenni Schultz A new spin on an old favorite The annual Lane County Fair is set to begin Tuesday and will feature traditional activities, as well as a few new ones by Jenni Schultz Oregon Daily Emerald When Noble Wheeler was a young man in 1922, he began showcasing chickens at the Lane County Fair. Since then, the fair has grown into some thing catered to more than just farmers, but to Wheeler, farming and agriculture are still “what the fair is all about.” The 89-year-old farmer is now the sheep and swine su perintendent, and he estimates that 225 sheep and 25 hogs will be shown at this year’s fair, which begins Tuesday. He remembers when the fair was centered around farming and agriculture, but he concedes that “things have changed” and the fair might “need the other stuff, too.” Aside from the bustle of agricultural attractions at this year’s fair, there will be auditions for the “got milk?” cam paign, a real stagecoach from Wells Fargo, midway games and rides, fried food, wine tasting and more. “There are quite a few new and different things this year,” fair spokeswoman Carrie Matsushita said. She particularly stressed the talent show and the National Dairy Council’s mobile “got milk?” contest. There will be two winners of this national competition; one will be a guest on MTV’s “Total Request Live” and the other will be featured in an ad in Rolling Stone magazine. The annual Dress-Up Parade for Dairy Goats is Saturday at 5 p.m. Yes, that’s right, owners and goats don costumes and compete for the Best Dressed award. Dairy goats superintendent Shirley Gardner began the pa rade a few years ago after seeing a similar contest at a fair in Idaho. Gardner, an fair veteran of 31 years, will be supervis ing approximately 300 goats this year. Her area will also feature a goat cheese contest and a demonstration on how to separate goat milk, which is hard er to do because it is not homogenized, she said. She may also chum some fresh butter. The fair will run Tuesday through Aug. 18. Fair hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Courtesy photo In addition to traditional fair attractions, the event also features a full schedule of concerts. From Three Dog Night to Foreigner, musical waves will fill the main stage every evening. For reserved seats to the shows, ticket prices range from $10.50 to $14.50. Daily admission is $8 for people age 16 and older, $6 for children ages 6 through 15 and free for children age 5 and younger. Season passes are also available for $14, or for $10 with a Bi-Mart card. For more information, go to www.atthefair.com. The price won’t be a deterrent to Wheeler. He’s one 89 year-old who will definitely be at this year’s fair. And as for next year? “As long as I’m healthy and able to do it, I will,” he said. Contact the managing editoratjennischultz@dailyemerald.com. UO to increase energy fee $5 per term Despite students’ efforts to conserve energy on campus, the school’s energy fee will increase this fall to $20 per term By Jillian Daley Oregon Daily Emerald The University’s energy fee will in crease this fall to $20 per term, up from the spring term fee of $15, despite the “Doin’ it in the Dark” student-led con servation effort this past year. The ASUO campaign, led chiefly by former ASUO President Nilda Brook lyn, lowered the energy fee from the original proposal of $30 per term, but she had hoped to eliminate the fee. The fee was originally inspired by Oregon’s move to ration energy to allevi ate the California energy crisis in 2001. The state also had, and continues to have, lower-than-normal levels of avail able energy. Eugene Water & Electric Board officials said that the decreased availability and increased use of energy continues to cause prices to rise. “EWEB found it necessary to raise rates three times in 13 months: April 2001, November 2001 and May 2002,” EWEB spokesman Steve Hill said. EWEB contracts with the University for energy, so when EWEB’s rates go up, it affects the University. “The terms of that contract allow the rate of the contract to be adjusted when EWEB raises its rates,” he said. Campus energy fee Scott Abts Emerald Brooklyn says it is the use of the money that seems unfair, not the fee collection. “I think that one important aspect is that when the energy fee was collected, it could be used for anything under fa cilities, so it wasn’t slated just for energy costs,” Brooklyn said. She said that the energy fee is an un necessary and unwelcome addition to student costs. “If we have to get an energy fee, then what exactly does our tuition pay for?” she said. Brooklyn said the fee makes lit tle sense when students are already shelling out so much money per term. Vice President for Student Affairs Anne Leavitt explained that Provost John Moseley is keeping the energy fee separate from tuition because of its un desirable quality. “If the Provost had his way, he’d do away with it. He keeps it separate from tuition and other things because he’d like to get rid of it,” Leavitt said. The Oregon University System ap proved the energy fee levy at the Univer sity’s request. OUS spokesman Bob Bruce said the fee increase lessens the University’s financial burden. “Tuition covers instructional costs and a small part of operating costs,” he said. “The ongoing costs of operating campuses continues to rise, and the uni versities have to pay for that.” Bruce also said that a number of other universities have energy fees. However, Washington courts deemed the energy fee illegal in recent proceed ings, which Brooklyn said makes the practice questionable. Despite reservations about the fee, Brooklyn worked with the University to limit the financial impact on students, and the campaign succeeded in reduc ing energy usage. Yet the price of energy continues to go up, hamstringing efforts to eliminate the fee. The ASUO conservation efforts re duced energy use from between 11 and 15 percent, but energy costs for the Uni versity still went up by $1 million, which is discouraging, facilities direc tor George Hecht said. “The cost of those unprecedented in creases have been passed on to the stu dents,” he said. Contact the reporter atjilliandaley@dailyemerald.com. Kitzhaber kills Legislature’s budget plans The governor decides to veto a bill package designed to balance the state budget while maintaining K-12, community college budgets ByJanMontry Oregon Daily Emerald Gov. John Kitzhaber announced Wednesday night that he will veto a bill package aimed at balancing state budget shortfalls while maintaining K-12 and community college budgets. House Bill 4056 and Senate Bill 1022 would allow schools to update their budgets before the coming school year unless the Legislature decides to override Kitzhaber’s vetoes at a session Aug. 16. “These two bills — and particular ly the second one — are symptomatic of what is wrong with politics today: avoiding difficult political choices and postponing action on important public needs,” Kitzhaber said. However, local school officials expressed dismay that Kitzhaber would veto a package allowing them to prepare for next year. Marie Matsen, vice president of college operations for Lane Community College, said LCC will have to cut $8 million if the veto is upheld in the Legislature. This comes after a $2 million cut LCC has already made for the current year. Together, the two bills would provide $367 million, but they could create budget problems in the future. The bills will not affect the University’s budget. House Bill 4056 is designed to allow Oregon to sell cigarette tax funded bonds to provide financing for education in the next school year. The debt incurred would then be paid back over the next six years. “In short, (House Bill 4056) directs us to educate our children today by borrowing from their schools tomorrow,” Kitzhaber said. Senate Bill 1022 would allow K 12 and community colleges to move state payments into the next biennium, essentially forcing edu cation to borrow money from the next budget cycle. “This maneuver is not materially different from a corporation taking future projected profits and show ing them on today’s book in order to give the shareholders an inflated picture of the financial health of the business,” Kitzhaber said. While a veto would give the Legislature another chance to draft a package that Kitzhaber could accept, officials from Eugene School District 4J are worried about how they will begin the school year without a finalized budget. 4J spokeswoman Barb Bellamy said a complete veto of the package would mean an $8.2 million cut from their budget. This cut, along with a $4.7 million cut if Measure 13 fails in September, will result in $12.9 mil lion cut from the 4J district alone. “Once we begin eliminating teachers, we begin elim inating classes, and that’s not something you want to be doing in the middle of a school year,” she said. If Kitzhaber’s veto survives the Legislature in August, he will call a fourth special session in September. Veto . that. m nail! R-Oaitas: “The govern actions this evening 1 funding ever made to our !ir put Contacttherepoiteratjanmontry@dailyemerald.com.
