Duck football player released from the team for repeated rules viotlations I 5
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Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 24 | Wednesday, September 29, 2004
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University junior Eric Ball
returns to school after seriously
injuring himself on a July hike
BYCANELAWOOD
NEWS REPORTER
After breaking his pelvis, puncturing a lung,
cracking his tailbone and suffering other
injuries in a fall during a hike at Ape Cave
near Cougar, Wash., University junior Eric Ball
plans to return to finish his hike to the cave's end.
He insists his injuries won’t stop him from
completing the trek or doing other things
he loves, such as skiing, sailing, rock climbing
and hiking.
But Ball had to overcome something most peo
ple never will — the 21-year-old biology and phi
losophy major was born with an impairment that
distorts his vision. He can’t see well, and, unlike
most people, he can’t drive or play ball sports.
“I would imagine that it’d be like a normally
sighted person looking through a telescope or
binoculars the wrong way,” Ball said.
But according to Ball and his family mem
bers, his disability has never been limiting.
“Eric’s always been in talented and gifted
programs and was working toward his Ad
vanced Placement diploma in high school with
out any help. Generally, he just goes to class
and figures it out on his own,” said Melody
Ball, Eric’s mother. “We’ve always let him try
things he’s had an interest in, and we let him
make it work for him. ”
“1 think he’s adventurous and he likes to do
things that are exciting to him,” said Jenny Lee,
Eric’s girlfriend of two-and-a-half years. On July
5th, Eric and four of his friends began a hike in
Ape Cave, near Mount St. Helens. The group
was about three-quarters of a mile into the cave
when it noticed a rock shelf about 10-feet high,
Ball said.
“There was a large rock built out of the shelf
that had a rope tied to it; me being the usual ad
venturous person that I am, 1 climbed the rope up
there,” Ball said. Once Ball was up on the rock,
VISION, page 4
Tim Bobosky | Photographer
Eric Ball, a partially blind University student with a passion for the outdoors, surveys the University from near the Heart
of Campus Tuesday. His handicap doesn't stop him from sailing, skiing, rock climbing and hiking. "I would imagine
that it’d be like a normally sighted person looking through a telescope or binoculars the wrong way," he said.
Support,
voting key
topics at
Kerry rally
Hosted by Carry Oregon,
Tuesday's event coordinated
several pro-Kerry campaigns
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Looking out over the faces of about 100
University students in a dimly lit lecture hall,
Michelle Dixon, Carry Oregon student out
reach director, asks audience members to
raise their hands if they are scared by polls
about the recent presidential debate.
Nearly 100 hands shoot into the air.
Poised before the crowd, Dixon springs
forward as she asks how many people do
not feel represented by the polls, which
show that President Bush may win the state.
Once again, a forest of hands rises, and irate
shouts echo throughout the room.
But Dixon tells the crowd not to worry.
“We can win the election here,” she said.
"We can be the campus that wins the state
of Oregon for John Kerry.”
Dixon and other speakers addressed stu
dent supporters of democratic nominee John
Kerry during a rally Tljesday night in an ef
fort to coordinate student involvement in the
Kerry campaign. As the audience snacked
on cookies, pizza and soda, the representa
tives from regional and campus Kerry cam
paigns emphasized the importance of the
University and Eugene communities in win
ning Oregon for Kerry. The meeting kicked
off of a coordinated effort between several
groups of Kerry supporters, including the
University College Democrats.
Lane County Commissioner Peter Soren
son also addressed the crowd. Sorenson en
couraged students to participate in state and
local elections, citing gay marriage and the
potential dissolving of the SAIF Corporation
RALLY, page 4
Legislature to blame for tuition hikes, survey says
Despite Executive opposition, a reduced tuition plateau may ease
costs for some University students who carry lighter class loads
Bret Furtwancler | Graphics editor
This graph shows the tuition plateau as credit hours rise for fall 2003, winter and spring 2004, and fall 2004
Mandatory fees are not included.
BY MORIAH BALINGIT
NEWS REPORTER
Students this year are bracing themselves for
higher tuition rates, with fall term tuition rising
as much as 15 percent for some students. In
spring 2004, resident undergraduates taking 15
credits paid $1236 for tuition — this year, they
will fork out $1419.
Institutional Research Analyst J P Monroe
said the state legislature is mostly to blame for
the increases.
“It was really a failure of the legislature to fund
higher education which resulted in the increases,”
he said. He added that the state legislature is only
responsible for about 14 percent of the Universi
ty’s budget this year, the lowest contribution yet.
“It’s certainly less,” Monroe said. “It’s been
going down.”
The failure of Measure 30 last year, which
would have created an income tax surcharge,
also added strain to the University’s budget and
created a $1.5 million budget shortfall. Last Jan
uary, Senior Vice President and Vice Provost
John Moseley said the University would be
forced to raise tuition, cut programs or do both
to compensate for the shortfall.
According to Monroe, programs and classes
were spared, though departmental budgets
were cut.
“There’s a hiring freeze and a wage freeze, so
through those steps we’ve been able to absorb
some of the cuts,” he said. “But in terms of actual
courses taught, that hasn’t been affected yet.”
ASUO President and Oregon Student Associ
ation Chair Adam Petkun said he’s unhappy
with the increases and wants to see the state
step up to the plate.
“It’s time for the state legislature to start in
vesting in higher education because the costs
are becoming unbearable,” he said, adding that
“funding for need-based aid hasn’t kept pace.”
According to Petkun, the OSA is lobbying for
a tuition freeze, which would mandate that tu
ition stay the same for the next two years and
would require an additional $55 millioninvest
ment on the part of the legislature.
In addition to the tuition increase, the so-called
“tuition plateau” has also been changed. In Fall
2003, students would pay the same tuition rate
for 13 credits as they would for 16 credits, or
$1,196 for a resident undergraduate. This plateau
created an incentive for students to take more
credits and graduate on time. However, Monroe
said the University felt plateaus were unfair be
cause students taking less than 13 credits were
subsidizing the discounts for other students.
The plateau changed for winter and spring
terms of 2004, so that students paid an additional
$20 for each credit between 14 and 16 credits.
This year, the plateau has once again been
reduced. Students can expect to pay more for
that same range of credits, though those credits
are still discounted.
Monroe added that so far adjustments in the
plateau have not affected students carrying
TUITION, page 4