Some foreign students remain in Eugene for summer
Travel costs and the possibility
of travel restrictions convinced
many international students
to remain in town this summer
By David Nelson
Freelance Reporter
The majority of students at the Uni
versity can go home for the summer
relatively easily or inexpensively,
should they choose to do so. 'Ihis is
may not be as easy, however, for inter
national students.
And whether they've decided to stay
in Eugene or head home, international
students at the University and else
where made the decision under unique
circumstances this year. Because inter
national students are far from home,
they must contend with high travel
costs. Some also have to cope with po
tential travel difficulties resulting from
restrictions on countries that are be
lieved to harbor terrorists, or countries
that have a high incidence of the Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome
This year, about 50 percent of inter
national students are staying to take
classes during the summer, said
Magid Shirzadegan, associate director
of the Office of International Pro
grams. Shirzadegan said that percent
age is only slightly higher than most
years, however, adding that very few
international students simply take a
vacation during the summer.
Students from certain SARS-affected
countries may have stayed for fear that
they will not be able to return in the fall.
If their home countries have an in
creased incidence of SARS, a small
chance exists that travel restrictions
would prevent their return in September.
Ryohei Ishii, a freshman Japanese
student said he knows students from
Hong Kong and China who were par
ticularly concerned about returning
home "because they are faced with (a)
strict immigration situation to begin
with." News of SARS is "making them
more concerned about their trip back
to (their) home country," the business
major said. This summer, Ishii went
home to Japan, where there have been
few reports of suspected SARS cases.
Even though fear of SARS and terror
ism may play a major role in some stu
dents' travel plans, not all international
students remaining for the summer are
doing so for the same reasons. One
such student is Brikena Haxhiraj, who
originally came from southern Albania
and has studied in other U.S. schools as
well. She is working on a master's de
gree in educational leadership.
Haxhiraj has international friends
here, some of whom are staying for the
term and others who are returning to
their home countries for the summer,
she said. Some students graduated at
the end of spring term but wanted to
live in the United States, so they stayed
to look for jobs, Haxhiraj said. Other
students stay to further their education
by taking more classes. Others still re
main for economic reasons: They can
not afford the travel costs required to
visit home for every vacation.
Haxhiraj is not taking classes over
the summer, but is instead continuing
her present job at the Office of Inter
national Programs, where she works
with payroll. Work is not Haxhiraj's
only reason for staying, however.
"I like staying during the summer
in Eugene because it is nice and
quiet," she said.
David Nelson is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.
Tuition
continued from page 1
students to get University degrees,"
he said.
Moseley said another option might
be to cancel the implementation of a
15 percent discount for classes taken
before 9 a m., a program that is also
awaiting approval from the board.
I iowever, the financial gains from that
would only be about $300,000 to
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$400,000, he said.
The University is not alone; other
schools are facing similar challenges.
Oregon State University is calling for
an extra $25 charge per resident under
graduate credit from 13 to 16 credits. If
the changes are delayed to winter term,
the school may have to cut about 150
courses for winter and spring terms.
"We're looking at roughly $1.2
million in lost revenue," said OSU's
Office of Budget and Fiscal Planning
Director Gil Brown. He added if the
board rejects the changes completely,
it will result in a total loss of $3.8 mil
lion, $500,000 of which would have
gone towards financial aid. Lost rev
enues affect both the school and stu
dents, Brown said — fewer classes
may mean longer times to graduate,
which also means students pay more
tuition and other expenses for their
additional time at the college.
Portland State University is asking
for the complete elimination of the tu
ition plateau, which would raise tuition
by 18 percent for some students. Asso
ciate Vice President of Finance and Ad
ministration Cathy Dyck said PSU
would be out $ 1 million net in the fall
if the board rejects the proposal. She
said PSU felt it was necessary to insti
tute the changes for several reasons, in
cluding the fact that it would be more
equitable for its students. Sixty-one per
cent of undergraduate students take
fewer than 12 credits and therefore do
not benefit from the plateau.
"We get a lot of people who are go
ing for a degree part-time," she said.
"We see ourselves as different."
Due to tuition plateaus, part-time
students often have to pay more than
they otherwise would to make up for
funds lost when full-time students
pay the same amount of tuition for a
certain range of credits.
If the proposal fails, PSU students
may also have fewer classes on the
schedule, Dyck said.
Eastern Oregon University is also
asking for an end to its tuition plateau,
which would raise average resident tu
ition by about 20 percent. EOU Assis
tant Vice President of University Ad
vancement Tim Seydel said failing to
implement the changes would have a
serious impact on the school.
"As a small university we don't
have the kind of buffer to absorb
costs like a large university," Seydel
said. "We're the local mom and pop
store ... The impact is a lot more se
vere on us."
EOII, the smallest university in the
OUS system, would feel a pinch of
$700,000 to $900,000 should the ed
ucation board ax the plan. Seydel
said the changes are necessary be
cause the Eastern is already hurting
for money. It lost about $3.1 million
in state funding in the past biennium
and is expecting more fiscal cuts this
biennium. The money gained from
the tuition increase would go toward
alleviating the effects of those cuts.
"It's a couple of shovelfuls to fill in
the holes that we have," he said.
Contact the reporter
at ayishayahya@daityemerald.com
Lillis
continued from page 1
include bands of decorative brick
work, four planters for trees and flow
ers and a ramp that will put traffic
level with the sidewalks. The plaza
will still allow traffic to pass, with
about 16 feet between planters, said
Janet Lobue, construction project
manager for Facilities Services.
"The planters are there partly to pro
vide places for trees, partly for places
for people to sit and partly as a refuge
for people crossing the street," said
Fred Tepfer, planning associate with
University Planning. "Part of the
thinking was to make it feel more like
a pedestrian environment, and less
like a vehicular environment."
He added the planters work to
"keep the traffic in the middle of the
street" and slow it down by providing
visual cues that the area is primarily
for pedestrians.
"One of the things we strove to do
with the way the courtyard was laid
out was to offset the planters and
make a ramp," Lobue said. "So bicy
cles and cars go up there and they
have a tendency to slow down. The
other thing, culture-wise, is it opens
up that whole quad. I think in that re
spect it'll serve the campus really well.
It'll be a very clean space because of
the way that it's laid out."
In addition to Memorial Plaza, the
firm is constructing an East Court
and North Court, directly adjacent to
Lillis. The East Court, located next to
Gilbert Hall East, will consist of a
lowered concrete courtyard sur
rounded by areas of vegetation. The
North Court, located at the north en
trance to the complex near the Com
puting Center, will be quite spacious.
Gilbert Court, located in front of
the complex between Gilbert halls
East and West, will have more planter
boxes, brick work and outdoor seat
ing areas for the cafes inside Lillis.
'Ihe construction of Memorial Plaza
is not a new idea on campus, Tepfer
said. In the 1980s, when the University
constructed the west gate where East
13th Avenue and Kincaid Streets meet,
planners began including ideas for a
plaza in front of the business school.
Lobue said the architects designing
the area are veterans of University land
scaping, saying they also planned the
landscape around the science complex
and the entrance at University Street
and East 18th Avenue.
"1 think this is one of the nicest
ones the/ve done so far,* Lobue said.
"I think it's going to be a remarkable
addition for the University."
Jared Paben is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.
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continued from page 1
Two students, one representing
the ASUO, also attended the forum,
but they were unable to side with
University efforts.
Campus Outreach Coordinator
Shannon Tarvin said she could not
give an ASUO position on the issue
because inadequate time was provid
ed for student input.
"The ASUO Executive feels that, at
this time, there are far too may vari
ables to determine the possible reper
cussions or benefits," she said.
Contact the managing editor
at janmontry@dailyemerald.com.
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