Today Thursday Friday
High: 47 High: 44 High: 42
Low: 36 Low: 28 Low: 29
Precip: 50% Precip: 20% Precip: 10%
IN BRIEF
Film series celebrates
Scandinavian culture
On Tuesday night, the Friends of
Scandinavian Studies film series con
tinued with “Ofelas,” or ’’Pathfinder,”
a Norwegian film.
On the second Tliesday of every
month, the community group meets to
watch and discuss a Scandinavian
film. The event is free and open to
the public.
“Pathfinder” is based on a Sami leg
end and chronicles a young boy’s fight
against evil on the frozen plains of
northern Norway. The 88-minute film
is in Sami with English subtitles.
“It’s an exciting, even scary film,”
Michael Raymer, a University
physics professor and Friends board
member, said.
Raymer said that Scandinavian films
are especially interesting because they
portray a distinct way of life.
“It shows a different perspective
than what we often see in the U.S.,”
he said.
Visit scandinavian.uoregon.edu for information about
the Friends of Scandinavian Studies film series.
University Scandinavian studies
professor Virpi Zuck agreed it is impor
tant for people to learn about different
lifestyles. She said the director, Nils
Gaup, is Sami, a Norwegian minority
that lives in the north of the country.
The film shows Sami customs, beliefs
and beautiful scenery, Zuck said.
“It may be the first Sami film,” Zuck
said. "For that, it’s interesting.”
At every Friends film showing, a
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professor introduces the movie and
gives cultural context for what the au
dience is about to see. Often, an infor
mal discussion follows the film.
The film showings usually attract
10-25 people, Zuck said.
Bagdade said that the group is im
portant because it supports the study
of Scandinavian language and culture.
“There’s a great deal of passion for
the Scandinavian program,” she said.
Friends is composed mostly of com
munity members and has little student
involvement, Raymer said, adding that
he hopes future events, like the
“Pathfinder” showing, would attract
University students and unite them
with people from the community.
“It brings the community on cam
pus and makes them feel involved,”
Raymer said.
In addition to showing Scandina
vian films, the group buys books and
movies for the Scandinavian depart
ment, hosts guest lectures, offers
scholarships and raises money to sup
port the academic program.
— Catherine Ryan
LTD: Autzen possible solution to problem
Continued from page 1A
Employment Manager Chris Lonigan
on Friday to discuss the possibility of
a strike and to brainstorm ways to
curb the negative effects a strike will
have on the University community.
Petkun said the ASUO has concen
trated on informing students who rely
on the bus about the potential strike in
order to give everyone time to think of
alternative ways to get to and from
campus, which Vobora said was one of
the purposes of the meeting.
“We want people to be able to find
options to get to class and school,”
Vobora said.
There will be updated information
on the negotiations between union
representatives and LTD available on
the ASUO Web site at
asuo.uoregon.edu and car pool
sign-ups on LTD’s Web site at ltd.org.
Hicks said the University’s solution
to the array of problems that could
arise from a lack of bus service will “be
a mix of things,” but the main focus
will be on coming up with ways to ac
commodate the additional parking.
Using the Autzen Stadium parking
lot may be an option, but Petkun
pointed out at the Friday meeting that
the lot could pose safety problems be
cause of the length of the walk and the
lack of lighting along the way.
Hicks said the University is looking
for a way to provide a bus or car pool
to the family housing areas, particular
ly Westmoreland, located about three
miles west of campus.
None of these options have been
formally set up, and Hicks said it is still
not known whether any sort of
alternative transportation is possible.
“I don’t know if any of these options
are going to be viable,” Hicks said. “I
just don’t think there’s anything really
that’s in place.”
Vobora said the only way to avoid
massive transportation problems for
the community is to avoid a driver
strike by mitigating the negotiation
process. LTD cannot operate if its driv
ers strike, Vobora said, and the conse
quences of a strike are nearly impossi
ble to prevent.
“There isn’t a silver bullet out there
that’s going to solve all these prob
lems,” Vobora said. “The best thing we
can offer in the community is encour
age people to plan ahead and look at
carpooling.”
For information on the LTD-ATU negotiations, go to
asuo.uoregon.edu.
For car pool information, go to ltd.org.
Negotiations between LTD and the
Amalgamated Transit Union, the
union representing the workers, have
been going on since May 2004. ATU
has accused LTD of slashing employee
benefits while unnecessarily increas
ing funding to other areas of LTD.
Carol Allred, ATU executive board
officer at LTD, said everyone involved
in the negotiation process understands
how problematic a bus strike will be
for the community but said the long
range consequences of accepting an of
fer from LTD that is not up to the
union’s standards could be even more
devastating to the community.
“We set a standard for community
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work,” Allred said, adding that accept
ing LTD’s current offer would be taking
a step backward in the way of workers’
rights.
“If we start going backwards, that’s
going to drag the rest of the people who
work in this community right along
backwards with us,” Allred said.
Allred said LTD has a large surplus
but is still making cuts to services and
raising fares, stressing that the medical
plan offered in the new contract is of
lesser benefit than the previous plan.
Vobora said he feels the public has
“been a little misled” by some of the
media coverage and newspaper ads
paid for by the ATU.
He said LTD has presented the best
contract it can and the medical plan of
fered is necessary “so that we’re not ex
periencing such liigh premium rates.”
LTD is working to balance the need for
good employee wages and benefits
with the need to maintain quality serv
ices well into the future, Vobora said.
Vobora said LTD will post informa
tion about the contract and the benefits
it offers on the its Web site.
“People can go take a look at that,
and they can make a judgment about
whether we’re being fair in this current
economy,” Vobora said.
No meetings are currently scheduled
between ATU and LTD, but both sides
say they are hopeful a strike can be
avoided, and if one does happen it can
be as short as possible.
“It’s our desire to resolve the issues
as quickly as possible and get buses
back on the street,” Vobora said.
meghanncuniff@ daily emerald, com
■
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Marine association
denied additional
funding by ASUO
Westmoreland Tenant Council's budget suffers sharp
decrease due to past inefficient spending habits
BY JORDAN THIERRY
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
Monday night’s ASUO Programs
Finance Committee meeting began
with an apology by PFC Chair Per
sis Pohowalla for her “unprofes
sional behavior last week” and an
agreement by PFC members to “re
spect what others have to say. ”
Oregon Marine Student Associa
tion’s budget hearing lasted nearly
an hour. OMSA included a $1,900
increase in its budget for
gym memberships.
OMSA representative Ahna Van
Gaest said the fees were necessary
because the program is located in
Charleston, Ore., and “we pay for the
gym here, but we cannot get to it.”
PFC member Mason Quiroz ex
pressed concern regarding allocat
ing student incidental fees to an
outside gym.
“How do we justify when to give
money for a gym pass to students
who can’t get to the gym for what
ever other reasons?” Quiroz asked.
Senator Kevin Day backed
Quiroz’s point.
“I don’t think any student takes
full advantage of the incidental fee,
and so I don’t think any money
should be taken out because they
are not taking full advantage of
their fee,” Day said.
Controller Carie Henderson sug
gested OMSA make a Senate request
for money for gym equipment.
PFC denied OMSA’s budget in
creases for gym membership fees
and passed a budget of $4,485, an
8.8 percent decrease from last year.
The Pit Crew’s budget proposal
underwent scrutiny from the PFC,
which was concerned about the
group’s job descriptions, including
a stipend position of $625 for the
PC president.
“For the biggest organization on
campus, I think it is representation
al of the work involved,” PC Presi
dent Eric Weckert said.
As a point of clarification, Quiroz
said, “Stipends are not compensa
tion for work; they are for expenses
that incur during the work.”
Weckert appeared to be puzzled
by what seems to be a popular mis
communication between the ASUO
and group leaders — that stipend
and work-study payroll positions are
meant to serve different purposes.
In the end, the stipend was ap
proved, and a budget of $1,506 was
passed, an 18 percent decrease
from last year.
The Westmoreland Tenant Coun
cil’s budget proposal suffered signif
icant decreases due to inefficiently
spending ASUO money in the past
two years.
PFC withdrew the group’s
stipend positions and passed a
budget for WTC of $257, a striking
89 percent decrease from last year.
PFC, page 4A
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