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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
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change lives