NEWS BRIEF
University reworks
student privacy code
University officials have complet
ed their final version of the re
vamped student privacy code,
which includes updates aimed at
bringing the school in line with fed
eral regulations that allow the gov
ernment to secretly obtain student
information.
The code, like earlier versions, al
lows the publishing of e-mail ad
dresses in the student directory and
deems that student requests to block
their information from publication
will become 'effective as soon as is
reasonably practicable.'
The only noticeable change in the
final version is the controversial sec
tion allowing University officials to
yield to federal requests and silently
hand over student infonnation. In the
language, the sentence allowing the
compliance does not take effect until
Dec. 10, while the rest of the code
went into effect last week.
That delay was created to allow
the Faculty Senate time to debate the
language before it goes into effect,
said Randy Geller, director of policy
and legal affairs. Late last school
year, representatives from ASUO and
biology Professor Frank Stahl com
plained about the lack of input they
were allowed in the formation of the
updated privacy code.
There may not be much to debate,
however. Since the legislation took ef
fect in the mid- 1990s, University offi
cials have been obligated to comply
with requests allowed by the law, re
gardless of school code. The Universi
ty, however, has never been asked to
hand over information without noti
fying the student.
Jared Paben
RETIREMENT
continued from page 1A
"Most of them have to do with
changes in PERS," Davis said.
According to the PERS Web site,
the Oregon Legislature passed nine
bills calling for various alterations to
the retirement system during the last
session, and some bills amended pre
vious bills already passed in the ses
sion. Human Resources Benefits Ad
ministrator Helen Stoop said
employees were uncertain how the
alterations might affect them.
"Employees who were close to re
tirement found their benefits might
not be greater in the future and in fact
they may be less," Stoop said.
Some of the changes were to take
effect on July 1, 2003, which prompt
ed some professors to retire before
that date in order to receive the bene
fits the program currently guarantees,
Stoop said. She said it is still not com
pletely clear how changes to PERS
will affect state workers since PERS
still has to develop administrative
rules to determine how alterations
will be implemented.
Some of the bills are currently be
ing challenged in court proceedings.
"It's difficult enough making a deci
sion about retirement especially if you
don't have the answers and things
keep changing," Stoop said.
As various bills were passed, pro
fessors like Moore said they had to
weigh their options carefully.
"It's because I'll make more mon
ey retired than I will teaching,"
Moore said of his final decision.
"(Under the changes), I'd have to
work six more years to build my pen
sion back to what it is now."
Political Science professor John Or
bell, who has taught at the University
since 1967, said PERS changes nudged
him into retirement, too.
"Financially, it seemed like a sensi
Jessica Waters Photo Editor
Political Science Professor John Orbell has been at the University since 1967. He plans to
continue his teaching and research, despite his official retirement at the end of last year.
Die thing to do, he said. When the
Legislature was in session, he said,
nobody was certain what the final de
cisions might be.
"It seemed like there were some re
ally risky prospects," Orbell said. "It
seemed like it was the right time to
get out, given the uncertainties."
Orbell added that the passage of
time also factored into his decision.
"I recognized at some time I'd
need to retire," he said.
Davis said many of the professors
will be returning to teach; retired
professors can work a maximum of
1,039 hours per year. Davis said many
would not be working that much,
however.
"Many of these people will be con
tinuing part time, so we'll still bene
fit from their services," Davis said.
She added that the total number of
faculty has not decreased, because the
University had 46 new hires in
vanous departments.
Moore said he will continue teach
ing classes this school year because he
has always loved his engagement
with the department and his interac
tions with students.
"I wasn't expecting to (retire) and I
didn't want to let my department
down," he said. He added that when
he finally leaves, he still intends to
volunteer as a teacher, as well as gar
den and spend more time outdoors.
Even in retirement Orbell also plans
to nurture his intellectual pursuits.
"What I realized is that retirement
wouldn't change my life one bit," he
said. For Orbell, research and teach
ing go hand in hand, giving him a
constant supply of new ideas for the
classroom.
"1 have some strong research inter
ests that will keep me going," he said.
Contact the news editor
at ayishayahya@dailyemerald.com.
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