An independent newspaper
9
http://www.dailyemerald.com
Tuesday, May 13,2003
Since 1900
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
w_._mm_
Volume 104, Issue 152
Executive
elections
debt raises
questions
The Student Senate is reviewing
ASUO Executive spending after
actual election spending nearly
doubled the budgeted amount
Jennifer Bear
Campus/Federal Politics Reporter
The ASUO Executive, normally held as
a poster child of fiscal responsibility, is un
der the careful scrutiny of the ASUO Stu
dent Senate because its election account
is nearly $5,000 in the red. Taking into ac
count that the election budget for the year
was $6,000, that means the Executive has
spent almost $11,000 in election activities.
The Executive hasn’t decided on a
course of action, even though there’s
more than a $10,000 surplus in the
spring fundraising account that could
easily be used to repay its debt. Officials
have given many different explanations
as to how the Executive spent more
money in the election than a typical stu
dent spends on a car.
ASUO Finance Coordinator Nadia
Hasan said a record number of candi
dates in the general election, an un
planned special election in the fall and an
increase in Emerald advertising rates
added up to create the $4,946.35 deficit.
ASUO President Rachel Pilliod agreed
with Hasan.
“The reason we went in debt so much
is not because we went willy-nilly with
our spending,” ASUO President Rachel
Pilliod said in defense of the Executive.
To help get rid of the alarming debt in
the election account, the Executive sub
mitted a special request for $3,845 to the
Senate and was scheduled to have the re
quest discussed at last Wednesday’s
meeting. But before the Senate acted on
the agenda item, Pilliod appeared at the
meeting and said the Executive had de
cided to withdraw its request.
“We felt we could have done a better
job preparing,” Pilliod said, adding that
the Executive wanted more time to chip
away at the election deficit.
Although the request has been with
drawn, that hasn’t stopped senators
from expressing concern over the state
Turn to Debt, page 12
Plan would curtail tuition waivers
The Oregon Joint Ways and
Means Committee may make
a $30 million cutback in fee
remissions in 2003-05
Jan Montry
News Editor
Repeatedly cast as the underdogs
in an epic higher-education funding
battle, students in the Oregon Uni
versity System could stand to lose
even more financial aid options in
I-—
the next budget biennium.
The state Joint Ways and Means
Committee co-chairmen have pro
posed a #30 million cut in fee re
missions at Oregon universities as
part of their 2003-05 budget plan,
which was released last month.
Fee remissions, called a “critical
recruitment tool” by University ad
ministrators, are reductions in tu
ition offered to needy or highly
achieving students used to recruit
students and provide better access
to education.
The University alone would
stand to lose $10 million of the #30
million cut, plus the potential of an
additional $5 million in lost tuition
revenue that could result from
more than 1,600 students leaving,
according to University officials.
In a letter to Sen. Kurt Schrader,
D-Canby, one of the two chairmen
of the committee, University Presi
dent Dave Frohnmayer opposed
the fee remission cuts, citing “unin
tended consequences” of the de
crease. Frohnmayer said fee remis
sions are not an expenditure of
state general funds — which are
used to help fund universities —
nor do they represent income that
OUS could receive if fee remissions
were removed.
“The impact of this proposed fi
nancial aid cut seriously damages
our best programs to recruit Ore
gon’s best and brightest students
Turn to Tuition, page12
Dangerous situations
After a man
refused to stop
harassing a
student, DPS
officers found he
was on parole for
several sex
offenses.
Photo illustration
Mark McCambridge
Emerald
Playing it SAFE
SASS officials stress safety
education as an important
tool in combating potentially
unsafe situations
Caron Alarab
Safety/Crime/Transportation Reporter
She said “no” several times. She
said “no thanks” to the walk home,
to writing down her phone number
and to telling him her room num
ber. But what appeared to be an in
nocent conversation gave a sex of
fender enough information to
attempt to locate a female student
at her residence hall room.
Thanks to her persistence, the
help of resident assistants and the
diligent action of campus officers,
the paroled suspect was prevent
ed from finding the student, who
was given the chance to set a valu
able example for the rest of the
campus community.
In late April, the student had at
tended the spring term French
Film Festival, which was coordi
nated by the Romance Languages
Department and ended at about
11 p.m. As people were leaving af
ter the last film, the student said a
man approached her and asked
her to coffee and a discussion
about the film.
“He seemed a little sleazy,” she
said, “but not at all dangerous.”
She originally thanked him for
the offer and declined, but the
man persisted and pointed out
how moving and emotional the
film had been. She agreed with
him and changed her mind.
Turn to Safe, page 4
6,000
5,000
SARS cases
4.000
3.000
2.000
1,000
Cumulative reported cases by country
Adelle Lennox EmeraldSOURCE: World Health Organization
University will not restrict admission
of students from SARS-stricken areas
UC Berkeley has restricted some
students from SARS-affected
countries, but the University says
it has no plans to follow suit
Lindsay Sauve
Family/Health/Education Reporter
University officials said they are not re
stricting admission of students from
countries with Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome outbreaks, even though the
number of cases of SARS has been
steadily rising.
University of California at Berkeley
recently made headlines by deciding to
restrict all incoming international stu
dents from SARS-affected countries.
The decision was made because univer
sity officials said they could not ade
quately provide care and evaluation for
so many students.
In a May 10press release, UG Berkeley
announced that it will only lift restric
tions for about 80 students. Special hous
ing will be established to monitor the stu
dents’ health.
“We are updating our policy in appro
priate ways to accommodate as many
students as possible from SARS-affect
ed areas without compromising the
health of any member of the Berkeley
community,” UG Berkeley Chancellor
Robert M. Berdahl said at a campus
press conference.
University spokeswoman Pauline
Austin said the University has no plan to
follow Berkeley’s example. Students from
affected areas, as well as any travelers af
filiated with the University, will follow
Centers for Disease Control guidelines
for monitoring symptoms.
CDC has imposed specific guidelines
for schools and universities that instruct
officials how to monitor students ex
posed to SARS. Students are asked to
watch diligently for symptoms such as a
Turn to SARS, page 4
1A# A1 -m ..j ' "m
Weather: Today: H 70, L 43, partly cloudy / Wednesday: H 70, L 43, partly cloudy I On Wednesday: Promotional Wal-Mart CDs distributed on campus could harm computers