Grant gives museum funds
to provide dasses to public
BY HALEY GORDON
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Visiting the newly renovated Jor
dan Schnitzer Museum of Art this
term will include more than a tour.
The renovation, which nearly
doubled the building’s original size,
included spaces for community and
student education.
A $17,000 grant from the Oregon
Community Foundation has filled a
new art studio with tools, tables and
supplies for classes and workshops.
The studio will provide “hands-on
experience relating to the exhibits
upstairs,” museum spokeswoman
Katie Sproles said.
Visitors will be able to check out
six new “art packs” that will have
material and activities relating to
the current exhibit. The grant will
also provide scholarships for people
to take classes in the studio, making
it more accessible, Sproles said.
Museum Educator for University
and Community Audiences Becky
Tonkin said the grant money goes
toward several events and programs.
In addition to museum tours
ending in the studio, the museum
will also hold eight-week long
classes relating to the museum
and the exhibits. The classes will
be broken into sections for chil
dren and adults, with subject mat
ter and inspiration coming from
the pieces on display.
The money will also be used for
outreach programs. The museum
will create art kits for schools on a
variety of subjects from Japanese art
and culture to photography, Tonkin
said. These kits are either taken to
the schools for free or for a fee.
The extra space will also give the
museum a place to hold teacher
workshops, family days and free
days for people to come in and do
art projects, Tonkin said.
The Oregon Community Founda
tion is a non-profit organization that
builds an endowment from private
donors and splits it into grants and
scholarships. A group of board and
community members decides
which applications best meet the
need for grants. Created in 1973, the
OCF has assets worth $500 million,
according to its Web site,
www.ocfl.org.
“We get 250 applications each
grant cycle, two cycles a year,” Se
nior Program Officer Jeff Anderson
said. “We award 90 to 100 grants
each cycle, so it’s pretty competitive.
We look for proposals with cultural
opportunities for the community. ”
The group also visited the muse
um before awarding the grant.
“Connecting educational institute
with the broader community was a
real strength of this proposal,” An
derson said.
The money for the grant came
from the Mr. and Mrs. Edmund
Hayes Sr. Fund and the Edna L.
Holmes Fund.
The museum will re-open Jan. 23
with an Andy Warhol exhibit. Stu
dio classes start Jan. 26 for children,
teens and adults.
Tuition: Tax system decreases flexibility
Continued from page 1
Monroe said the University
would like to have state funding
back in the 30 percent range but
the situation is not going to im
prove much in the short term. A
rise to 30 percent would mean
more than doubling state funding
in its current state.
“Every year the University raises
tuition, it does so reluctantly,” Mon
roe said.
Martha Pitts, the director of ad
missions at the University, said the
rise in tuition may discourage stu
dents from submitting an applica
tion. However, Pitts said the Univer
sity is still able to offer financial aid
and points to an increase in Pell
Grants as a method for students to
afford a University education.
“1 think the University has made
some educational decisions that
shows students that this is a good
decision, including students’ ability
to lower tuition by taking evening
classes, a lower teacher-to-student
ratio and strong research pro
grams,” Pitts said.
Although the University is begin
ning to place caps on how many
students it can accept, Pitts said
even in the University’s most selec
tive year, there is still an 85 percent
rate of enrollment at the University
to those who apply.
“We worry that students see the
higher requirements and count
themselves out,” Pitts said. She
advised prospective students to sub
mit a second essay explaining any
extenuating circumstances that may
have affected high school grades.
As for the University and its en
rollment in future years, Pitts said
caps will be kept for the next few
years, provided the state budget re
mains the same.
For the state’s biggest schools —
the University, Portland State Uni
versity and Oregon State Universi
ty — the decrease in state support
and increase in tuition has not de
terred students, and the applicant
pool continues to grow. Yet for
smaller Universities like Southern
Oregon University, Eastern Oregon
University and Western Oregon
University, the pressure is on for
them to keep pace with the larger
schools. However, they have more
difficulty convincing students to
enroll and pay the higher tuition
costs, said Bob Kieran, the Director
of Institutional Research at the Ore
gon University System.
“Enrollment has gone up and
state funding has gone down,”
Kieran said. “Universities have to
act like businesses. They can’t take
unfettered growth while there’s
less money.”
Kieran said the rising tuition
combined with lower state spend
ing on education has created a
catch-22. The amount given to the
state university system is calculat
ed on a projected enrollment basis.
But with the state spending budget
for the university system going
down, there’s less of that central
money to split up among the uni
versities which invariably leaves
students to foot more of the bill
than in previous years. This in turn
may deter students from pursuing
a college education.
Kieran said state spending is in
come tax based. While most states
have “greater flexibility” due to
sales tax, Oregon does not have ad
ditional tax revenue to add into
state programs.
“It’s less stable if it’s income tax
based,” Kieran said. “Unemployed
people don’t pay taxes and this is a
time when we need (that money)
most. That’s at a state level so it af
fects everything.”
Kieran said each university is fac
ing different issues, but smaller Uni
versities also have an uphill battle in
other aspects.
“I’d say (smaller universities)
have a smaller margin from which
they can draw resources,” Kieran
said. “The bigger universities have
more flexibility with larger founda
tions. When they get tight, they
have an alumni they can tap.”
Research analyst Monroe said it’s
important for the state to display its
commitment to education.
“The reduction in state support is
disturbing and so far we’ve been
able to hold our own,” Monroe said.
anthonylucero@ dailyemerald, com
PERCENT OF UNIVERSITY
FUNDING FOR UNIVERSITY FROM STATE AND TUITION
UO therapy groups
provide confidential
support for students
The Counseling and Testing Center will host a new group
for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students
BY AMANDA BOLSINGER
NEWS REPORTER
College years can often be tumul
tuous ones for young adults. Many stu
dents are living on their own for the
first time and facing new life situations.
Others feel isolated and alone, strug
gling with different problems.
To combat this, the University
Counseling and Testing Center hosts
several therapy groups each year,
ranging from specific groups, such as
one serving students who are bipolar,
to much broader groups, such as a
group for women.
This term the center is adding a
new one for lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender students. However,
the group is not simply a support
group for LGBT students, but rather a
therapy group for students exploring
different personal relationship and
identity issues.
“These groups are a great oppor
tunity to have a discussion support
ed by a counselor,” said Chicora
Martin, director of LGBT Education
al and Support Services. “The
groups will be a really supportive
environment for students. ”
The groups are confidential, private
therapy sessions that often offer more
for the individual than one-on-one
therapy sessions, said Sue Orchard,
who is leading the LGBT group. In the
group setting, students can discuss dif
ferent issues with other students going
through similar situations. Having a
close group also allows for a bigger
support net. For students struggling
with similar problems or feeling like
nobody else understands them, it is of
ten beneficial to hear about other peo
ple’s experiences, Orchard said.
“The groups are for students look
ing to get counseling in a very safe, car
ing environment,” Orchard said.
The LGBT group has not been
formed yet, but Martin said a couple of
students have already contacted her
for information about the group.
“They were finding out if it was a
safe place,” Martin said. “Now they
are really looking forward to it.”
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, TLans
gender Queer Alliance, a student-fee
funded ASUO group, did not contact
the UCTC about hosting the group
and is not directly associated with the
group. The UCTC is constantly devel
oping new and different groups
based on the different needs of stu
dents, Martin said. The groups are
only available to University students
and are free.
“It’s a really great opportunity to
have available on campus,” Martin
said. “The groups are something that
students can make of it what they
want and need.”
The LBGT process group is tenta
tively planned to meet on Thursdays
from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the coun
seling center. Interested students
should contact the UCTC at 346-3227
for more information.
abolsinger@dailyemerald.com
Suicide: Bill introduction
is on hold to guard students
Continued from page 1
the proposed four mandatory meetings
with a University psychologist or psy
chiatrist. Students are considered high
risk if they have reported they’re suici
dal, have the means to commit suicide,
have a family history of suicide or have
tried to commit suicide before.
Ryan said students occasionally
need help and are unwilling to accept
it, estimating the University sees few
er than one case each year. He said
he feels the bill’s concerns are legiti
mate but are ones the University has
already addressed.
“What we’re trying to do is find
our way toward something that will
allow us to prompt that student to ac
cept help,” Ryan said. “It would not
be the option we would immediately
leap to.”
The bill also states the decision of
whether to let a student stay at school
should be based solely on judgments
made by a psychologist or psychiatrist.
In addition, the bill mandates students
be “treated in the strictest privacy.”
Ryan said while the administration
would make the final decision on
whether to remove a student from
school, his or Holmes’ recommenda
tion would heavily influence that deci
sion. Also, he said a student’s privacy
is already protected by industry ethics
and federal law.
Whittenburg said he proposed the
bill out of concern University officials
might err on the side of “too much
judgment on people’s lives rather than
too little.”
Vice President for Student Affairs
Anne Leavitt said in November that
students who show suicidal behaviors
but refuse help place the entire cam
pus community in distress.
“A student who is threatening sui
cide every night actually is creating a
crisis in the community around
them,” she said. “It holds the com
munity hostage.”
Holmes said the updated policy will
better protect the entire University
population, which outweighs concern
for a student who is suicidal, disrup
tive and refusing services.
“We need to tell those students you
can’t stay here, be in school and do
that,” she said. “It’s not good for any
body else and it’s not a solution."
However, Whittenburg said he felt
placing the campus community over
the student “was not a very human
way to look at things. ”
Morrisette said he will wait to in
troduce the bill until he has received
more input from the Oregon Student
Association and has had a chance to
review a draft of the University’s pro
posed policy. Morrisette must intro
duce the bill by the end of February,
he said.
“I’m going to wait,” Morrisette said.
“I’m not going to introduce a bill based
on something that isn’t a problem and
have a big war in my hands. ”
ASUO President and Oregon Stu
dent Association Chairman Adam
Petkun said he has mixed feelings
about mandating leave for suicidal
students, but was “not sure state ac
tion is needed.”
karahansen@ daily emerald, com
News editor Jared Paben
contributed to this report