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Introduction to Native
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JUNE 23-AUGUST 15
English in Summer
2003 SUMMER SESSION • JUNE 23-AUGUST 15
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Jessica Waters for the Emerald
Junior Cory Portnuff (left) and junior Dan Parsons spread new bark dust in the flower beds near Johnson Hall at University day.
University Day roots
students to community
At the 13th annual University
Day, students and teachers
helped beautify campus
and dedicated The Moon Tree
Neota Genske
Freelance Reporter
More than 800 students, teachers
and faculty volunteered to spruce up
the campus by picking up litter,
painting trash can lids, planting flow
ers and spreading bark dust in honor
of the 13th annual University Day,
organized by the University’s Facili
ties Services.
“I think it’s amazing that students
and faculty can come and help out
the campus that they walk on every
day,” junior Jennifer Ames said.
According to the Facility Services
Web site, University Day started in
the 1880s as a “Glass Rush” intend
ed to unify students and beautify the
campus. It became competitive and
even caused some violence among
the undergraduate classes. The Uni
versity’s first president, John Wesley
Johnson, then turned the event into
a campus beautification day instead
of a competition.
University Day became a school
tradition until the 1920s when Par
ents’ Weekend became the prominent
event each spring term. University
Day was not celebrated again until
May 17,1990, when it became an offi
cial campus event. It is now usually
observed on the Thursday before
Spring Family Weekend each year.
“It’s a great tradition,” junior Gory
Portnuff said. “We’ve done it for
many years ... for me, it’s a chance
to give back to the community.”
Senior Josh Mann said the event al
lowed students to do something for the
campus they wouldn’t normally do.
“I like to feel rooted to where I
am,” Mann said. “If you get to plant
flowers, uproot ivy — it helps me feel
more connected to campus.”
Every year, one specific part of
campus is dedicated to University
Day. This year, The Moon Tree, lo
cated south of the EMU on 13th Av
enue, was the center of attention.
The tree is from a group of Douglas
fir seeds that were taken to space in
the Apollo 14 Mission. The seeds or
bited the moon 34 times before they
came back to earth. In 1976, the
seed was planted in the area where
Willamette Hall now stands. The tree
was uprooted and moved to its cur
rent location when construction on
Willamette Hall began.
Ames said University Day brings
the campus community together for
one purpose.
“There’s only a few events (on
campus) that do that,” Ames said.
“When you walk down the street and
see the project you did yesterday,
planted flowers or painted trash lids,
you see the difference you’ve made,”
Ames said.
Neota Genske is a freelance writer
for the Emerald.
Education
continued from page 1
hopes of increasing access to higher
education and nurturing the minds of
an informed, capable citizenry.
But what does that mean to the av
erage bill-paying student? A helping
hand, courtesy of the U.S. govern
ment, in paying off hefty tuition bills.
Abbie McClain, a fifth-year senior
at the University, remembers how dif
ficult life was before she started re
ceiving money from the Higher Edu
cation Act in the form of a Pell Grant.
During her junior year at the Univer
sity, McClain said she was feeling
crushed by the burden of paying for
her education while trying to retain
the teachings that cost her so much.
Killer 70-hour work weeks on top of
classes and participating in theater
productions caused McClain’s grades
to take a nosedive.
“Not having that money makes
everything harder,” McClain said. “I
think that the stress definitely hin
dered my ability to take more class
es and get my degree done with.”
Now McClain works six hours a
week instead of 70, and she is able to
provide for herself and go to school
with the help of a Pell Grant that cov
ers roughly 80 percent of her tuition.
Thousands of students at the Uni
versity depend on aid just like Mc
Clain — which is why people who
are involved in higher education,
such as teachers, administrators,
students, parents, taxpayers and
politicians, are all in a tizzy about
the upcoming re-authorization of
the Higher Education Act and how
the government might alter the vital
piece of legislation.
Congressional Republicans have
set their sights on reforming the
Higher Education Act, and their pri
mary target is increasing accounta
bility. Members of the House Com
mittee on Education and Workforce
held a hearing Tuesday, questioning
whether all the money that is in
vested in institutions of higher edu
cation produces a worthwhile re
turn. Some education experts have
been saying the quality of education
in American universities isn’t worth
the sheer amount of money being
pumped into the system by state
and federal sources, tuition increas
es and private donations.
“I am most interested in learning
more about what institutions can and
should be doing to assure the Ameri
can people that the investment in
higher education as a student, parent
or taxpayer is one that will produce
results and assist with lifelong career
pursuits,” committee Chairman John
Boehner said at Tuesday’s hearing.
University Director of Federal Af
fairs Betsy Boyd said financial aid is
definitely the most important fea
ture of the act to the average stu
dent, and comes in many different
forms, including work study, Pell
Grants and borrower benefits from
loan programs like Stafford and
Perkins loans. In fact, more than 60
percent of University students re
ceive some form of financial aid.
Through the Higher Education
Act, the federal government invests
millions of dollars to specifically
help students at this University. In
2001-02, for example, the govern
ment invested more than 09 million
in Pell Grants for needy students at
the University.
Boyd said from the University’s
perspective, the most important
change needed in the Higher Educa
tion Act is an increase in need-based
student aid like the Pell Grants. One
of the problems with the current act
is that it makes students rely more
on loans and borrowed money. As a
result, world-weary undergraduates
enter the workforce with a diploma
weighed down by thousands of
dollars of debt.
However, issues revolving around
the re-authorization of the act are
still in the early stages of develop
ment. Boyd said Tuesday’s hearing
really only set up markers and
themes for discussing the act and so
it’s very hard to react to any of the
things that were brought up without
a proposal for Congress to vote on.
Contact the senior news reporter
at jenniferbear@dailyemerald.com.