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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2004)
An independent newspaper http://www.dailyemerald.com Sun Devils take one from UO Page 7 Monday, January 26,2004 Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 105, Issue 85 Senate affirms higher ed board appointments The Oregon Senate approved all seven of Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s new appointees to the State Board of Higher Education on Thursday By Nika Carlson News Reporter Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski s push for an investment in high er education got an official boost Thursday when the Oregon Sen ate approved all seven of the governor's new appointments to the -State Board of Higher Education. Former Oregon Gov. Neil Goldschmidt, who is expected to lead the board and whose appointment drew intense scrutiny and criticism during a Senate committee meeting, was approved by a 25-4 vote. The 11-member board is now composed almost entirely of Kulongoski's appointees. "This board is going to focus on ensuring that a college education in this state is not limited to those who have the means to af ford it," Kulongoski said in a press release. "It must also continue to ensure that the ed ucation and training of our graduates on Oregon's public campuses are meeting the economic and work force needs of the state." Kulongoski announced a four-part initia tive for focusing on higher education in No vember, saying the system needs to focus on being accessible to all Oregonians, training _ students in sought-after fields, investing in programs that spur the state economy and generally reinvesting in higher education. When Kulongoski made his announce ment four board members stepped down to give the governor room to make new appointments. "I think that the change in the board was to make a statement about the importance the governor wants to give to higher education in the state," Vice President of Academic Affairs Lorraine Davis said. She added that the new members, who she said are strongly committed to education, will serve the state well. Turn to STATE BOARD, page 10A Neil Goldschmidt State Board of Higher Education appointee Police face forensic staff layoffs Casey Roberts, a scientist at the Oregon State Police Springfield Forensics Lab, will lose her job fora second time in three years if Measure 30 fails. Roberts was laid off after voters rejected Measure 28 in 2003. Adam Amato Senior Photographer Oregon State Police will cut 56 percent of its forensics positions if Measure 30 fails, leading to a massive backlog By Jennifer Marie Bear News Editor More than half the employees at the Ore gon State Police's forensics division stand to lose their jobs if Measure 30 fails, and such a massive loss in manpower could translate into a slower-moving wheel of justice OSP spokesman Lt. Glenn Chastain said without the extra funding from Mea sure 30's tax increases, OSP will be forced to cut $3.92 million from its budget. That would mean laying off 60 forensic posi tions out of 107, a 56 percent reduction. Locally, that would lead to reducing the staff at the OSP Springfield Forensics Lab to three scientists, according to lab direc tor Brad Putnam. Forensic scientist Casey Roberts will be one of the workers to lose her job if Measure 30 fails. Roberts has worked at the Springfield lab for three years analyzing evidence for the presence of illegal drugs, and in her time at the lab, Roberts estimates she has worked on around 1,500 drug cases for the state "I was the only full-time drug chemist, and that's a lot to be on one person's shoulders," Roberts said. "And if I get laid off, who's going to do it?" Putnam said if Measure 30 fails and OSP is forced to reduce half of its forensics posi tions, labs across the state will have to cope by arranging cases in a priority matrix. High priority crimes like homicide, rape and aggravated assault will be handled first, and low priori ty cases like property PART 3 OF 4 Thursday: Education Friday: Social services Today: Police Tuesday: Pros and cons theft and drug case^vill be dealt with last. But Putnam said there is a problem with this system: High priority crimes would keep coming in and the low priority ones would just sit in a file and not get finished, which would create a huge backlog. Putnam said he's already seen this occurring since Mea sure 28's failure in 2003. 'Ihe Springfield lab is dealing with a backlog of450 drug cases, Putnam said, which is an "unprecedented" number. And if Measure 30 fails, the Turn to MEASURE 30, page 10A OSPIRG budget causes controversy at PFC meeting A motion to defund OSPIRG was defeated during a PFC funding debate Thursday By Moriah Balingit Freelance Reporter Thursday night's Program Finance Committee hearing was a hotbed of controversy, with PFC reaching deci sions for the budget proposals of the Student Bar Association, MEChA and OSPIRG after intense debates. The budgets for the Recreational Sports Program and Physical Activity and Recreational Services were passed with a few snags at $152,961 and $779,293 respectively, and the PFC voted unanimously to defund Quiz Bowl after it failed to show. The central topic of debate during OSPIRG's controversial hearing, which drew nearly 50 supporters, was the trans parency of the group's budget, which was not itemized to the specificity that some PFC members desired. OSPIRG transi tioned from a referenda process just two years ago and thus has had trouble get ting its budget up to PFC standards. For PFC Sen. Colin Andries, this lack of transparency was reason to motion to defund the group. The motion failed. Andries also expressed concern that OSPIRG's funding does not benefit the University proportionally, as OS PIRG consolidates funding it receives from its university chapters into a statewide fund for efficiency. "(The funds) just go to Portland, and they get to spend it as they please," he said. Senior Tim Johnson, chairman of the University's Oregon Student Pub lic Interest Research Group chapter, said he believes it was more than the numbers that bothered Andries. "I felt that he was making a deci sion based on ideological reasons as opposed to the numbers that were be fore him," he said. "We'd attempted to contact him on numerous occasions to clarify any budget concerns he might have about our group, and he didn't... express the type that would warrant deftind ing our group." Andries insisted the implication that there were political motivations behind his decisions is "a complete fabrication," adding that it was prima rily the lack of transparency in the budget proposal that concerned him. The members finally came to a consensus after two and a half hours of tedious number-crunching and de bate. PFC members approved the ASUO Executive recommendation of $115,265, a 14.6 percent increase from last year's budget. Despite his previous motion to defund the group, Andries voted for the proposal. "I had already lost... 1 was support ing the PFC," he said. The Student Bar Association hearing was another item on the docket that drew a fair amount of controversy. PFC voted to table the budget proposal after ASUO Senate President Ben Strawn pointed out a potential conflict of interest "My primary concern is that Colin (Andries') signature is on the front of the budget," Strawn said. Andries, who put together the budget as SBA's Business Officer, refused to say whether he would abstain during the organization's next PFC hearing. MEChA's budget hearing was hin dered by their troubled fiscal past. Some PFC members were hesitant to increase the group's budget because its audit indicated that all of the funds had been transferred to cover its budg et deficit. The group's budget was frozen after it spent itself into deficit after hosting a statewide conference. "We've never let bad leadership be an excuse before," PFC Vice Chairman Toby Piering said, referring to the group's fiscal problems. PFC eventually decided on $20,072 for the group, a 7.6 percent increase from last year. The budget passed 4-2 with one abstention. Moriah Balingit is a freelance reporter for the Emerald. WEATHER LOW 40 imsioe: Campus buzz.5A Classifieds.10A Commentary..2A Crossword.11A Horoscopes.11A Sports.7A MEXT issue: Peter Hockaday watches a friend change lives
