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Shaquala Williams returns to UO Page 7
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 105, Issue 162
Housing code
step gets OK
from council
The City Council unanimously agrees Monday
to draft a housing ordinance proposal, which
will be presented in a session before summer
By Parker Howell
News Reporter
The Eugene City Council unanimously approved a motion
Monday night to draft a housing ordinance similar to one
used in Corvallis, moving Eugene residents closer to a new
housing code.
The motion called for city staff to create an ordinance that
would provide for local enforcement of housing standards.
Housing regulations are currently provided by the Oregon
Residential Landlord and Tenant Act; however, the city lacks
ways to enforce these rules, and renters seeking recourse
against their landlords must use the city court. Linder the
suggested ordinance, negligent landlords could face fines.
Ward 3 City Councilor David Kelly, who represents the Uni
versity area, said staff will present an ordinance proposal to
the council at a work session before the council recesses for
the summer. He said final action on an ordinance probably
will not occur until the fall when students return to campus.
If approved, the code would go into effect in two phases. First
multi-family units would be incorporated as early as January
2005. The second phase would expand the program to include
single-family units and duplexes, effective as early as July 2005.
The city currently has about 30,000 renter-occupied hous
ing units, according to city documents.
The Corvallis code covers four habitability standards, man
dating that landlords must maintain structural integrity,
plumbing, heating and weatherproofing of their buildings.
Under the Corvallis program, a tenant must show docu
mentation that he or she has informed the landlord about a
situation and has allowed the landlord 10 days to correct the
problem before filing the complaint. Complaints are handled
Turn to HOUSING, page 6
Buy-back scams
strike bookstores
The University and Smith Family bookstores
have had an increase of stolen books sold back
By Lisa Catto
News Reporter
University students who sell back textbooks for strangers
could unknowingly be committing a felony.
Eugene Police Department Officer Randy Ellis has been in
vestigating about a dozen instances of stolen books sold back
to the University Bookstore and Smith Family Bookstore over
the past month. Ellis said the books are stolen from various
bookstores or from students, adding that most of the suspects
who have been apprehended are addicts who sell the stolen
books to buy drugs.
He said that in most cases, someone asks a student to sell
books to the University Bookstore using his or her student
identification card. The perpetrator promises shared profits in
exchange for the favor.
"A student will get his or herself in trouble by thinking they're
helping someone and earning some extra cash," Ellis said.
University Bookstore General Manager Jim Williams said
Turn to BOOK SCAM, page 3
CALLS FOR CHANGE
Erik R. Bishoff Photographer
University Committee on the Status of Nontenure-Track Instructional Faculty cochairman Greg
McLauchlan opens the town hall meeting Thursday night in Columbia Hall.
Finding equal ground
The University’s nontenure-trackfaculty committee recommends policy
changes that address issues such as job security and faculty awareness
By Chelsea Duncan
Senior News Reporter
Nontenure-track instructional
faculty — who make up about
45 percent of the University's
teaching faculty — are calling for im
proved salary, compensation, hiring
practices and working conditions.
Members of the University Commit
tee on the Status of Nontenure-Track In
structional Faculty presented their draft
of recommendations to an audience of
about 60 people at a town hall meeting
Thursday. The committee's proposal
seeks to address the needs of these facul
ty members, who teach about 40 percent
of undergraduate student credit hours.
"We're talking about a big part of the
University of Oregon instructional la
bor force," said sociology Associate Pro
fessor Greg McLauchlan, the commit
tee's co-chairman.
Tenure-track faculty members must
undergo intensive six-year reviews to
achieve the status of tenured associate
professor. And because nontenure-track
faculty are often part-time or have less
stable contract renewals, many feel they
do not enjoy the same job security, op
portunities for advancement or recog
nition as their tenure-track counter
parts, according to the committee.
For three years, the committee has
been compiling data about NTTIF, in
cluding information on hiring, promo
tion and employment policies.
McLauchlan said the committee is now
moving from a focus on studying to a
focus on policy implementation.
"We're really at a crossroads right
now," he said.
The policy recommendations include
five themes, the first of which is based on
the need for a well-informed and inte
grated instructional faculty. Committee
Turn to TOWN HALL, page 3
Student
loan rates
to reach
new lows
As of July 1, current students
and new graduates will pay
2.77 percent on variable rate
Stafford loans, down from 2.82
By Andrea Coombes
CBS MarketWatch (KRT)
SAN FRANCISCO — Despite the
specter of rising interest rates, student-loan
borrowers will soon enjoy the lowest rates
in 39 years for the year beginning July 1.
The variable rate on federal Stafford
loans, the most common, drops to 2.77
percent from 2.82 percent for current stu
dents and new graduates, according to Sal
lie Mae, the student loan lender. Graduates
will pay 3.37 percent, down from 3.42 per
cent, and parents with PLUS loans will pay
4.17 percent, versus 4.22 percent.
"Interest is accruing at a very slow pace
compared to prior years when the rates
were as high as 8.25 percent," said Patricia
Scherschel, consolidation product execu
tive at Sallie Mae.
Student loan rates are reset each year on
July 1. They're tied to investment yields on
short-term Treasury bills based on May's fi
nal auction, plus an additional formula.
Some borrowers planning to consolidate
existing variable-rate loans into a single
fixed-rate one would best wait until after July
1. The Education Department allows those
with a single variable-rate loan or a mix of
fixed and variable loans accumulated over
the years to refinance into one fixed-rate
loan with longer repayment schedules.
The consolidation rate for Stafford bor
rowers already in repayment will be 3.375
percent starting July 1, down from 3.5 per
cent, according to Sallie Mae.
But for Stafford borrowers in a grace pe
riod or those in deferment, the consolidat
ed rate is unchanged for the coming year:
2.875 percent.
That's because the process of calculating
the fixed rate, in which a weighted average
of rates is adjusted upward to the nearest
one-eighth of a percent, can smooth out
minor changes in loan rates.
Parents with PLUS loans would also
find their consolidated fixed rate un
changed for the year, at 4.25 percent.
Until now, it's made sense to time a loan
consolidation: If you think rates are going
to fall on July 1, you wait.
That may change in coming years. Some
in Congress are suggesting replacing con
solidated loans' fixed-rate perk with vari
able rates, because the government's sub
sidy of such loans — it pays lenders the
difference between borrowers' fixed rates
Turn to LOAN RATES, page 4
WEATHER
LOW
43
HIGH
80
INSIDE
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Commentary.2
Crossword.11
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