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Thursday, February 19, 2004
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
JK._
Volume 105, Issue 102
Against the odds
In the face ofconstant setbacks, Jodene Heider is struggling to re-enroll at the University
By Jared Paben
Senior News Reporter
Jodene Heider can't live the way she
used to before her pseudotumor appeared
in 1994. The pseudotumor often makes
her daily routine difficult, obscuring ap
pointments and responsibilities in a thick
fog of short-term memory loss.
Friends help her with these things, but
there are
some battles
they can't
help her fight.
For about a
year, Heider
has battled,
unsuccessful
ly, to re-enroll
at the Univer
sity.
Her first
hurdle has
been the
daunting task
of paying for
school. She
can't get fi
nancial aid
and she can't
afford to pay
out-of-pock
et, she said.
Heider is still working on incompletes
from when she had to quit school in win
ter 2003 due to a slipped disk between her
vertebrae. Those incompletes are prevent
ing her from getting financial aid, she said.
The second hurdle is her unstable
health, which is one of the reasons finan
cial aid won't give her money, she said.
Heider said she is considered a liability be
cause if she were to get sick or die she
would not be able to pay back the loans.
Jim Gilmour, associate director of the
Office of Student Financial Aid, said that
while he can't speak about a specific stu
dent's situation, his office can stop aid if a
student is not able to consistently meet his
or her academic requirements. Financial
aid is strictly meant for school, and when a
student can't attend school, the financial
aid office has no choice but to stop giving
aid, he said.
"In some cases, students have to leave
school for a term or two until they're pre
pared to come back to school and contin
ue their academic work," Gilmour said.
Heider's attorney, Alice Plymell, is help
ing Heider get financial aid so she can en
roll in classes.
'They say they will not let her enroll un
til she gets her medical condition stabi
lized," Plymell said. "That's my under
standing from (Heider). My
understanding of reading about pseudotu
mors is the shunt only lasts about a year
and then it has to be replaced, so I don't
know what kind of stability the University
is looking for. I think we're going to have
to put some pressure on them."
Director of Disability Services Steve
Pickett has known Heider for two years,
l ie said Disability Services is now helping
1 leider take care of her incompletes so she
can continue toward her degree. In a Feb.
2 e-mail to Heider, Pickett said his depart
ment will help her with incompletes but is
unable to assist her with the classes she's
Turn to ODDS, page 3
By Chuck Slothower
News Reporter
When students walk into the EMU fall term, they may no
tice a few changes. The EMU Interim Planning Committee, a
subcommittee of the EMU Board of Directors, is looking into
shuffling groups around to better utilize the building's limited
office space.
The hottest piece of property up for grabs is 71 EMU, which
used to house a branch of the University Child Care and De
velopment Centers. The child care center relocated to Moss
Street during winter break, and now several groups are vying
for the prime office space that is sitting empty on the EMU's
Turn to EMU, page 3
PART 4 OF 4
Editor's note: The story of
University student Jodene
Heider is a four-part series
examining the hardships of
living with a pseudotumor.
For previous stories, see
www.dailyemerald.com
Monday: The sickness
appears
Tuesday: Kicking off a
friendship
Wednesday: Finding a
home
Today: School and life
struggles
Jodene
Heider has
her blood
pressure
checked
in the
McKenzie
Willamette
Medical
Center
Emergency
Services
Department.
Physicians
decided not
to perform
the spinal
tap she had
requested
because
they said
she has had
too many,
Heider said.
Tim
Bobosky
Photographer
Restructured
higher ed board
to meet at UO
The State Board of Higher Education, which
includes seven new members, will address
Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s education agenda
By Nika Carlson
News Reporter
The newly reformed State Board of I Iigher Education is com
ing to campus today and Friday for its first official face-to-face
meetings.
Ihe 11-member board, including the seven newly appointed
members, is ready to tackle Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's four
step agenda for higher education, and the members plan to in
troduce themselves to each other and the campus community.
"It's a good board, a very diverse board, with very comple
mentary skills," board member Kirby Dyess said. "I didn't
know anyone on the board before the nominations."
The skills and backgrounds of the group members seem to
Turn to BOARD, page 4
Committee seeks
campus groups
to fill EMU space
The EMU Interim Planning Committee
is accepting applications to fill empty offices
as they try to maximize the building's space
Controversial Christian church group starts Eugene chapter
The International Churches of Christ
has drawn criticism for its practices
By Jared Paben
Senior News Reporter
Some came to the Sunday service in jeans and
sneakers, while others wore suits and ties. Men
and women of different ethnicities were gath
ered together for the service in the basement of
the Red Lion Hotel Eugene.
They talked casually until 10 a.m., when they
stood and began singing loudly and proudly.
"Lord, we sing your praises loud," they sang.
"Sing them to the stumbling crowd. Sing of Je
sus and his Word. Sing until the earth has heard.
Hallelujah!"
It was the fourth official meeting of the
month-old Eugene chapter of the International
Churches of Christ, a Christian church that has
been accused by critics nationwide of aggressive
evangelizing, harassment of those wanting to
leave the church and of authoritarian control
over church members.
The Boston Globe reported campuses nation
wide have labeled the group a cult and banned
it.
Now, University Christians and students are
dealing their own criticisms toward the church.
Political science ma}or Lilly Foxx was a mem
ber of ICC in Beaverton when she was 16, and
she is one of those who oppose the arrival of the
church in Eugene. Foxx said escaping the church
was difficult for her, and she said she's worried
they'll find her again.
As a member, the church knew everything she
did, she said. She wasn't allowed to talk to any
body outside of the church — not even the post
man — unless she was "bearing fruit," the
church's expression for recruiting new members.
"I think about how unhealthy that atmos
phere was and I honestly don't hope that for
other people," Foxx said.
Dick Beswick, director of the University Chris
tian Fellowship, said he can admire the group's
"zeal" and agrees with many of its beliefs, but
Turn to CHURCH, page 4
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