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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2004)
An independent newspaper http://www.dailyemerald.com Ducks prepare for Bears, again Page 5 Tuesday, March 2, 2004 Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon Volume 105, Issue 111 South Eugene High School senior Kai Davis (right) plans on following his father’s footsteps into the University. Roxanne Samer (left) and Katie Cissel (center) are considering the University as a backup. Tim Bobosky Photographer Admissions predicts application drop Applications are coming in slower than in 2003-04, likely due to higher tuition and admission standards By Chelsea Duncan News Reporter Tuition increases and a tougher guaranteed admissions policy seem to be having an effect on the number of students applying to the Univer sity for fall term, Director of Admissions Martha Pitts said. Freshmen applications are coming in later than usual this year, and although there are no hard numbers yet, Pitts said she expects fewer people will apply for fall entrance for the first time in about four years. "I think it's likely that by the end of the process we will be down slightly in applications," she said. "But the quality of applicants still seems very high." Last year, a record number — 10,200 — of high schoolers applied to the University, Pitts said. Of those, about 8,600 were admitted and about 2,800 enrolled, said Kirk Koenig, senior associate director for operations in the Office of Admissions. Although the University's priority application deadline was lan. 15, the Office of Admissions will accept applications as long is there is space, which makes it difficult to determine exacdy how many people are applying at this stage, Pitts said. But Pitts said she is worried that the guaran teed admission requirements, which were changed from a 3.0 GPA and 14 academic units to a 3.25 GPA and 16 academic units last year, could have students doubting their chances of ac ceptance to the University. "We're concerned that there are some stu dents who are counting themselves out of the process," she said, adding that she has been working with high-school counselors to en courage students to apply. South Eugene High School junior and sen ior counselor Greg Smith said many students look to the University because it is close to home and they may have had family members who attended. "U of O is always a popular choice," he said. But for the past couple of years, he said, stu dents have expressed concerns about attending the University because of a growing student Turn to DROP, page 8 Report: Student STD risk hits 50% North Carolina researchers found nearly half of all STD cases in the United States occur in 15 to 24 year olds By Lisa Catto News Reporter Students who are sexually active and under the age of 25 have a 50 percent chance of contracting a sexually transmit ted disease, according to a report released Feb. 24 by the University of North Caroli na at Chapel Hill. The report, conducted by UNC's jour nalism school and titled "Our Voices, Our Lives, Our Futures: Youth and Sexually Transmitted Diseases," was compiled by a panel of experts representing several health organizations throughout the country. The investigation also included a panel with young adults from all over the country ranging in age from 17 to 24. Together, both of these groups came up with some startling statistics based on re search and data provided by organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Social Health Association. The report stated that nearly half of all STD cases occur among young adults age 15 to 24, and nearly half of new HIV infec tions occur in that age group. It also stated that 15-24 year olds will spend at least $6.5 billion for lifetime medical costs relating to the treatment of STDs that were contracted in 2000. Turn to REPORT, page 8 EMU Board committee prepares revision of own budget In the wake of a recall, the EMU Board of Directors will present a new funding recommendation today By Chuck Slothower News Reporter The EMU Board of Directors re called its own budget Feb. 18 so it could reevaluate how it calculates re serve funds. But the EMU Board Bud get Committee has resolved the budg et issues and will present its funding recommendation of more than $3.4 million for 2004-05 to the full board at its meeting today. The EMU Board, which gives stu dents a voice in governing the EMU, is responsible for allocating funding to the many programs housed in the EMU, including the EMU Ticket Office^ EMU Food Services and The Break. EMU Board Chairwoman Christa Shively said the main factor behind the recall was the board's desire to fully comply with a new Oregon University System model governing reserves. "For the most part we've been re ally consumed with budget issues," she said. Pressure from ASUO student sena tors, who thought the budget was inadequately scrutinized, also played a role in the EMU budget recall, EMU Board member Rodrigo Moreno-Vil lamar said. "(The ASUO Student) Senate was concerned that we didn't look into de tail enough," Moreno-Villamar said, adding that the budget process has been "extremely, extremely confusing." ASUO Student Senate President Ben Strawn said a lack of collabora tion between EMU Director Dusty Miller and the EMU Board was also a factor in the recall. "I saw it as the director's responsibility to approach the board with the infor mation he had and he didn't really do that," Strawn said. The EMU Board Budget Committee wants to build up reserve funds to stabilize the EMU budg et. Ihe approach will involve saving in crementally for high-cost expenditures. "The EMU has always been viewed by (other) student government bod ies as self-contained or self-sufficient," Shively said. Shively said the reserve funds would enable the EMU to maintain its self-sufficiency by providing finan cial security in bad budget years or in case of unexpected occurrences. "It's land of like a rainy day fund in certain respects," Shively said. The new method of reserve budgeting, prompted by an OlIS five year plan, will enable the EMU to plan for repairs and purchases ahead of time and spread out the costs over several years. "The budget committee felt that it was really in the best interests of stu dents to implement the OUS model now," Shively said. The recall enabled the EMU to change how it will pay for the $ 180,000 renovation of 71 EMU, a large office va cated by a branch of the University Child Care and Development Centers. The budget committee had origi nally planned to pay for the Turn to EMU, page 4 WEATHER LOW 35 HIGH 55 INSIDE Campus buzz.8 Crossword.7 Classifieds.7 Nation & World.3 Commentary..2 Sports.5 Aimee Rudin talks military action