• Friday •
Better Than You
Battles II
Hip Hop
8:oo pm, $8 advance, Sio door
• Saturday •
North Mississippi
Allstars,
Dirty Dozen Brass Band,
Hie Rising Star Fife £ Drum Baud
Blues/Jazz
8:oo pm, $17 advance, S17 door
• Sunday •
Scum of the Earth,
Do? Fashion Disco,
Northwest Royale, DFive9
Heavy Metal
8:00 pm, S12 advance, $14 door
• Tuesday
Walking Ashland,
Sherwood,
Hie Streetlight Cardiacs
Pu nk Rock
5:00 pm, $j door
• Wednesday •
Fro? Eyes,
Botox, Ahimsa Theory,
Under Enuff
Canadian Prog-Noise
8:00 pm, $5 door
• Thursday, November 4 •
Built to Spill
Rock
8:00 pm, Sts advance $17 door
All Ages Welcome
687-2746
01743
- poppiV—
_/4n&4oli&.
V.
Lunch
Monday through Saturday
Dinner
7 Nights a Week
992 Willamette
Eugene, Or 97401
343-9661
J
Tango Milonga
Every Friday & ah Ages
Saturday
Night
Live music
Tango DJ's
Performances necessary
Introduction to Tango class at 8pm
Tango social dance from 9pm-lam
*Costumilongas this weekend
The Tango Center
194 West Broadway
downtown Eugene
A non-profit community center
dedicated to the music & dance of
Argentine Tango
www.tangocenter.org
★AMERICA VOTES 2004 ★
Public accident insurance
under Measure 38 knife
Some suggest SAIF needs to be reworked; others say going
private could increase competition and benefit consumers
BY KARA HANSEN
NEWS REPORTER
The way injured workers are in
sured by businesses in Oregon could
undergo a revolution if voters approve
Measure 38, a hotly debated initiative
to abolish SAIF Corp., the state-owned
workers’ compensation company.
The measure, proposed by a group
funded by SAIF’s largest competitor,
Liberty Northwest, has faced statewide
debate. Liberty-backed Oregonians for
Accountability claims on its Web site
that SAIF is corrupt and should be
abolished. Two of the state’s major
business groups, Associated Oregon
Industries and Oregon’s office of the
National Federation of Independent
Business, have assumed public stances
against the measure. But several local
labor groups aren’t sure a complete
dismantling is the right type of reform.
If voters approve Measure 38 on
Nov. 2, the State Accident Insurance
Fund would stop issuing new policies
in January of 2005 and would be dis
mantled by 2007, opening Oregon’s
semi-public workers’ compensation
system to competition.
The state would have to keep pay
ing out SAIF’s obligations and would
set aside money for potential lawsuits
from policyholders.
According to financial estimates,
eliminating SAIF would cost the state
about $104 million annually in lost rev
enue and would require recurring ex
penditures of $1.8 million to $5.5 mil
lion annually, as well as a one-time
expenditure of $2.2 billion to $2.4 bil
lion. The state would receive a one
time revenue increase of $32.6 million
from the sale of real property.
For many people, the decision boils
down to ambiguity about the mea
sure’s outcome.
“I have a lot of uncertainty with re
gard to what the economic impact
would be with abolishing SAIF,” Uni
versity Economics Professor Larry Sin
gell said. “There are a lot of potential
arguments on both sides.”
For Singell, the decision comes
down to the likelihood for competition
and the potential costs.
“Generally, as an economist, competi
tion is a good thing,” he said. “Competi
tion tends to discipline firms that oper
ate inefficiently. It forces firms to get
their acts together, or they go out of busi
ness because they’re not profitable.”
Singed pointed to Michigan as an
example of what Oregon could look
like if voters approve Measure 38. The
state sold its insurance fund, which fu
eled competition between private
firms, subsequently lowering insur
ance rates and benefiting consumers,
he said. Still, Oregon is a smaller state
than Michigan, he noted, and might
not attract as many firms to provide
competition.
The insurance market also typically
isn’t public, he said.
“There isn’t any obvious reason
why a state should have an interest in
providing insurance,” Singed said. “If
you think about most insurance, you
purchase it from private companies,
and insurance markets usually work
pretty wed, particularly when there’s a
fair amount of competition, because it
keeps the companies honest.”
Singed is also uncertain of the transi
tion’s cost to state residents.
“The proponents say theie is no
cost. They say that liquidation of the
firm’s assets will pay for it, but oppo
nents say they’re misleading you,” he
said. “I would support it if I under
stood that the cost is relatively low, but
it could very wed be costly to switch in
terms of tax and interest rates. ”
Oregon AFL-CIO President Tim Nes
bitt said although shifting to a private
market could spur rate-lowering com
petition, there are benefits to public
and semi-public systems.
“Looking at experience around the
country, you have more public input to
the structure and more administration
benefits when you have a public or
semi-public agency with less private
domination,” he said.
He said states with private markets
experience “the worst of both worlds,”
with higher costs and fewer benefits,
but he’s mostly worried about SAlF’s
long-term obligations.
Young workers with permanent dis
abilities who are covered by SAIF can
collect benefits for 50 or 60 years, he
said. Although audits of SAIF’s re
serves appear to cover those costs, he
worries the money will run out.
“You need a good calculation of
those costs,” he said. “I worry if you
sell off SAIF to the lowest bidder, and
that bidder turns out to be an under
bidder, you’re going to be breaking
promises down the road because you
can no longer pay for them.”
Cat Riggs-Henson, chief officer for
the Lane County Labor Council, said
SAIF may need to be reformed, but
that doesn’t necessarily mean it should
be abolished.
“If government is there, you have a
system of checks and balances,” she
said. “In a private system you can’t guar
antee that the costs will be contained. ”
Sarah Jacobson, a volunteer at the
Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Net
work, a local coalition of the national
workers’ rights organization Jobs with
Justice, also advocated reform, but
said she didn’t see a reason to disman
tle the company.
“It seems like there are ways to re
form SAIF Corp.,” she said. “It serves
an important public purpose.”
karahansen @ daily emerald, com
Central Presbyterian Church
We Welcome You
o 8:30 & 11:00 AM worship
S www.cenfralpresbychurch.net
^ 555 E. 15th Ave. • 345-S724
GOOD FOR: THS
SPIRIT
Reach out to students
with an ad here
346-4343
HHHHHHNhHmHNHHHHHHnHhNMm
Baha’i Faith
“So powerful is the light of unity that
it can illuminate the whole earth.”
- Baha'u’llah
To learn about the Baha’i Faith
and our activities in the
Eugene/Springfield area call
344-3173 or 1-800-224.
0O-224JNITE.
01506126
www.bahai.
org
a=^ff. ..:
3 Central Lutheran Church (ELCA) e
Welcomes You!
Holy Communion:
Sundays 8:15 & 10:45; 6:30pm
s Student/Young Adults Bible Study
§ Sundays, 7:30 pm
g 18th & Potter-345-0394 e
—« *
Campus Ministry
Grace Lutheran Church
18th & Hilyard (just west of campus)
Sundays at Grace
Worship services:
8:30 am & 11:00 am
Thursdays
Student Dinners: 6 pm
Bible Study: 7 pm
| Contact Dave at 342-4844 or david@glchurch.org
www.glchurch.org
Wesley Foundation United
Methodist Campus Ministry
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
Wednesday Night Fellowship
6:30-8:30
Free supper followed by
singing, conversation & prayer.
g 1236 Kincaid St. • 346-4694 • www.uowesley.org • jeremyhp@uoregon.edu
Find a
supportive
community
in the guide to
Spriritual Programs
every Friday
ssMifl
L \
St: Thomas Mors
NEWMAN CENTER
Feathers ttfffM?
Duck into Newman.
St. Thomas More Newman Center...
Catholic Campus Ministry
Social Connections
Coffeehouses
Student Dinners
Sports Events
Faith Community
Engaging Masses
Meaningful Retreats
Guest Speakers
Societal Commitment
Mexico Mission Trip
Charity Fundraisers
Social Service Projects
Wednesdays 9:00 pm
Midweek Social & Student Mass
Sunday Student Mass 7:50 pm
Corn Maze
Friday, Oct. 29 6:50 pm.
$10, scholarships available.
Meet at Newman center.
rcia class
Wednesday, November 5
7*9:00 pm
November 12
Coffee House, 7:00 pm
1850 Emerald Street (south of Hayward Field) • 346-4468
visit our Web site at newmanctr-uoregon.org
or send us an e-mall to newman@newmanctr-uoregon.org