PFC increases Emerald budget in tense hearing
After an hour-and-a-half
of debate, PFC voted to raise
the Emerald’s budget
by 1.2 percent for 200405
By Moriah Balingit
Freelance Reporter
A feeling of tension dominated the
Rogue Room on Monday as the Emer
ald weathered an hour-and-a-half
ASUO Programs Finance Committee
meeting where the ASUO Executive
urged for a $12,000 decrease from the
previous year's allocation.
The Emerald's request of $121,025
was met by a $ 106,503 Executive rec
ommendation. PFC allocated
$ 120,407 for the Emerald, a 1.2 percent
increase from 2003-04.
Emerald General Manager Judy
Riedl said the Emerald raises more than
three-quarters of a million dollars
through advertising and other activities.
The amount the Emerald requested
from PFC is the projected deficit Editor
in Chief Brad Schmidt said.
"It's the amount that's vital to the
Emerald because it's the amount that
will be required (for us) to remain sol
vent " Schmidt said.
The Executive used a formula to cal
culate its recommendation that mostly
took into account readership numbers
taken from an Emerald survey, the stu
dent population and cost per paper,
among other things.
ASUO Vice President Eddy Morales
said the Executive recommendation
was "generous."
Riedl severely objected to the pro
posed budget cuts, citing increased
production costs and a larger student
population.
"Given that we provide the same lev
el of service to a larger student body,
why should we get cut?" she asked.
A large part of the hearing was devot
ed to debating exactly which formula
should be used to determine the Emer
ald's allocation and the validity of the
readership survey the Emerald provided.
"A readership survey should be part
of (determining the allocation)... but I
don't think this should be the one,"
PFC Chairman Adrian Gilmore said.
His and other PFC members' skepti
cism with the readership survey was
because the survey was based on only
300 readers, which, according to
Gilmore, is not sufficient in determin
ing an accurate campus-wide reader
ship figure..
Other PFC members were con
cerned that the allocation would be
funding papers for non-students,
thus disrupting what ASIIO Presi
dent Maddy Melton described as
"the spirit of what (incidental fees
are) for — for students."
PFC member Michelle Rose voiced
her concerns on providing non-stu
dents with papers.
"I don't think it's fiscally responsi
ble," she said.
Another concern was that too many
papers were being printed, but PFC
member Toby Piering defended the
Emerald, saying, "It's not in their best
interest to waste money by printing too
many papers."
PPC member Colin Andries formulat
ed the final figure that PFC eventually
agreed on by taking the readership sur
vey out of the formula. The budget
passed by a slim one-vote margin, 4-3-0.
ASUO spokeswoman Taraneh Foster
did not comment on how ASUO felt
about the final decision, but said that
the large discrepancy between the Exec
utive recommendation and the final al
location was "interesting."
"(ASUO) strives to be as accurate as
possible and protect the incidental fee,"
she said.
Moriah Balingit is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.
COUNCIL
* continued from page 1
The standards the group are propos
ing — which support complaints re
garding weatherproofing, structural in
tegrity, heating and plumbing—would
not interfere with state standards and
would be enforced on a complaint ba
sis, group officials said.
Ward 3 City Councilor David Kelly,
the University-area representative, said
that in all likelihood there would not
be any public hearings on housing
standards until the fall, given the usual
ly lengthy process the city goes through
to explore a new issue.
"1 truly found the prioritizing experi
ence a little bizarre tonight, that we
couldn't give a priority to (housing
standards)," Kelly said.
The City Council had been prioritizing
issues for the Planning and Development
Department to address.
Nathanson — along with Ward 6
City Councilor Jennifer Solomon,
Ward 5 Councilor Gary Pape and Ward
4 Councilor George Poling — said that
though they thought housing stan
dards were an important issue to ad
dress, they wanted more time to gather
information about the standards.
Taylor said that city staff is already
in the process of surveying West
University neighborhood renters
and local property owner organiza
tions to see what their housing con
cerns and priorities are.
He added that given the volume of
input from students and the support
from city councilors and Mayor Jim
Torrey for public comment, it is unlike
ly that public hearings will take place
during the summer.
"I assure you that the city manager
and myself, who set the agendas,
will not allow these hearings to take
place until students come back,"
Torrey said.
Melton said she was encouraged
by the councilors' words but was still
dissatisfied.
"I feel like issues such as the en
forcement of housing standards can
not be put off/' she said.
Contact the city/state politics reporter
at nikacartson@dailyemerald.com.
UNDERDOGS
continued from page 1
In Tennessee, Edwards blamed
free trade for the decision by Carrier,
the air conditioning giant, to close a
plant in McMinnville, Tenn., and
move 1,300 jobs away. Edwards was
unmoved by the fact that only some
of the jobs are being moved to Mexi
co; the rest are going to Texas and his
home state of North Carolina.
"Most of these jobs that are leav
ing this country aren't going to
Charlotte, North Carolina. They're
going outside our borders," Edwards
said. "We need to have a different
trade policy in this country."
James Mears, 49, one of those los
ing his job, walked out of a closed
door session in a barbecue restau
rant with Edwards considering
switching his vote from Kerry.
"I think I may vote for him," Mears
said. "Bush doesn't have any concern
about the American worker."
Added Kathy George, a quality co
ordinator at the Carrier plant whose
husband, Randy, is also losing his
job there: "Because his father
worked in a mill, he's more in touch
with reality. We've got to have a
change of power in Washington."
Clark spent a gray and rain-spat
tered Monday boasting of his humble
roots and his proposals to cut middle
class taxes as he campaigned
through the economically depressed
towns of Union City, Dyersburg and
Ripley in West Tennessee.
"I spent my life rolling up my
sleeves," Clark said.
Responding to a question, he said
he opposed gay marriage, but that
"it's a matter that the states have to
decide." He also compared his
record with that of President Bush:
"I've forgotten more about national
security then George W. Bush has
ever learned."
In several towns, voters Monday
raised the question of Bush's own
service in the Air National Guard
during the Vietnam War.
The allegation of "Bush not re
porting to the Guard is a big issue
to veterans," said Gary Paschall, 47,
a real estate appraiser in Union
City. "It's offensive. Did you see
Bush on 'Meet the Press'? He did
terrible. I'll vote for whatever it
takes to beat Bush."
Kuhnhenn, with Kerry, reported from
Tennessee. Hull, with Clark, reported
from Tennessee. Tom Fitzgerald, with
Dean in Wisconsin; Tim Funk, with
Edwards in Tennessee; and Steven
Thomma in Washington also contributed
to this report, (c) 2004, Knight
Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
CAMPUS
BUZZ
Tuesday
Belsky Lecture featuring a talk by Science and
Environmental Health Network Executive Direc
tor Carolyn Raffensperger, entitled "The Public
Trust and the Precautionary Principle: Visionary
Tools for the Environment and Public Health,"
Alumni Lounge, Geriinger Hall, 7:30 p.m. Re
ception follows.
CORRECTION
In the guest commentary "OS
PIRG should account for funds"
(ODE, Feb. 9), Colby Reade’s
name was spelled incorrectly.
The Emerald regrets the error.
CAMPUS SUN&SPORT WESTSIDE SHELDON
343-3333 343-8318 343-5555 484-9999
766 E. 13th 762 E. 13th 1740 W. 18th 2540 Willakenzie
“Greasers
and Gringos”
Latinos, Law, and
The American _
Imagination
Author
Steven Bender
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
BOOKSTORE
UOBookstore.com
Reading and Book Signing
7 p.m. Thursday, February 12
UO Bookstore - FREE
The UO Law Professor examines the origin and evolution of Latino
stereotypes and their widespread effects.