Vices revealed I Section B
An independent newspaper
unvw.dailyemera Id. com
Since 1900 | Volume 106, Issue 107 \ Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Students doubt justice of fees
Students at satellite campuses criticize the lack of access
to adequate health centers, gyms and classroom desks
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
As University administrators study
the equality of mandatory fees for Uni
versity students, out-of-town and part
time students concerned they are not
receiving the full benefit of their fees
continue to wrestle with fees they say
are unfair.
Students, including those studying
at satellite locations in Portland
and Charleston, pay about $471 a
term in mandatory fees, about $180
of which student government uses to
fund student groups. But students in
Bend don’t pay the fee, and some stu
dents at the other satellite campuses
say they have battled red tape in at
tempts to stop paying for services
they don’t receive.
Portland Student Action Council, one
of the groups advocating for equal
fee distribution, has tried unsuccessfully
to resolve problems obtaining
transportation and recreation center
access provided to students in Eugene.
Now, group representatives say
health-care fees and departmental fees
are also cause for concern, compound
ing the group’s problems.
“It’s almost overwhelming,” PSAC
Vice President Britt Nelson said.
Nelson said a concern among PSAC
students is the University of Oregon’s
health service fee assessed to the Uni
versity’s 90 Portland students to allow
them to use Portland State Universi
ty’s health center. For about 10 years,
students have paid the University’s
health service fee to receive services
that cost less for PSU students,
Nelson said.
Between fiscal years 2001-02 and
2003-04, Oregon University System fee
information shows that the Universi
ty’s health-care fee has been as much
as $26 more per term than PSU’s. Dur
ing that time, University students in
Portland were charged the higher
University fee, Nelson said.
Based on those fees, a student
who studied from 2000-01 through
2001-02 would have paid about $120
more than the PSU fee assessed
during that period.
University Health Center Director
Tom Ryan said he was “under the im
pression that (University students in
Portland) paid the PSU health fee
rather than our fee.”
“I would have to say that it has
always been explained to me that
we just paid each other’s fee,” he
said. “That would be an excellent
question if they’re actually paying our
fee and something we need to look
into further.”
He said when he arrived at the Uni
versity, he was told the University had
an arrangement with PSU in which
University students in Portland paid
the PSU health fee for health care
received from PSU facilities.
He said the University has similar
arrangements with Oregon State
FEES, page 4A
Differences in health service fees
Per-term fees in dollars
■ University of Oregon
H Portland State University
Parker Howell | Senior news reporter
Students at the University’s satellite campus in Portland, who receive health care
through PSU, say they have been paying more for the services they receive than PSU
students. The students are concerned because they have paid the University's health
service fee, which has often been higher than PSU’s fee for the service.
Committee
examines
proposed
plan update
Members question the methods
to be used for the first revision
to the Campus Plan since 1991
BY MEGHANN M. CUN1FF
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
The complexity of campus development was
revealed Tuesday afternoon as the Campus
Planning Committee met to discuss proposed
revisions to the Campus Plan.
The plan is being updated for the first time
since 1991, and the Campus Planning Commit
tee’s 12 members spent an hour and a half dis
cussing the proposals, making suggestions for
improvements and questioning the review
process’s effectiveness.
Some members are concerned the review
process ignores the conceptual planning
process that project organizers have set in stone
before going to the committee.
Architecture professor and committee mem
ber G.Z. Brown questioned why the plan con
centrates on many small individual projects
rather than focusing on the overall develop
ment of the University and trying to connect the
different “synergies” on campus.
University Planning Associate Christine
Thompson said the individual-project focus the
plan may seem to incorporate could be a result
of the “piece by piece” way in which the cam
pus was constructed.
The 102-page draft campus plan includes a
process to examine proposed sites for stand
alone building projects that would include a
Campus Planning Committee review.
Committee members questioned the review
process, expressing concerns that problems can
arise when a project is up for review after it has
PLANNING, page 3A
Two University alcohol policies conflict
Tim Bobosky | Photographer
At the Public Safety Advisory Group meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Department of Public Safety CpI. Michael Eppli,
left, asks whether an amnesty policy for extremely drunk students would encourage less drunk students to drink
more to avoid being penalized while DPS Interim Director Thomas Hicks looks on.
Citing potential alcohol-poisoned
students contradicts the Office
of Student Life's education plan
BY KARA HANSEN
NEWS REPORTER
The Department of Public Safety is enforcing
a policy that conflicts with information dis
pensed to students by the Office of Student Life.
DPS automatically issues a municipal cita
tion when responding to calls where a student
potentially has alcohol poisoning if that student
is under 21 years old and is sick enough to need
transportation to a hospital, DPS Interim Direc
tor Tom Hicks said at a Public Safety Advisory
Group meeting Thesday.
But the Office of Student Life hands out in
formation cards on alcohol poisoning that say
there will be no consequences for students
who call to get help, said Laura Blake Jones,
associate dean of students and director of the
Office of Student Life. She said the DPS policy
is “a little bit different than what practice has
PSAG, page 8A
Programs Finance Committee
Emeralds budget request approved at appeal
BY AIBING GUO
DAILY EMERALD FREELANCE REPORTER
The Oregon Daily Emerald
will receive a 3.8 percent, or
about $4,500, increase in fund
ing from student incidental fees
for 2005-06 after the ASUO Pro
grams Finance Committee for
mally approved its budget
proposal by a 4-0 vote Tuesday.
At the hearing, the ASUO Ex
ecutive proposed a budget of
$111,992, a 6.9 percent decrease
from last year. The appeals
hearing was the second PFC
meeting for the Emerald this
year. In the first hearing on Jan.
20, PFC approved an $111, 992
budget, which was the ASUO
Executive recommendation.
PFC member Mason Quiroz,
who was prohibited from voting
because of an ASUO Constitu
tion Court injunction, said
the Emerald should work out
a model or formula that could
effectively evaluate the perform
ance of the newspaper and
determine how much funding
it should receive each year.
Quiroz said the issue should
have been discussed long before
the hearing and “it is too late”
to discuss the issue in a
one-hour hearing.
Emerald General Manager
Judy Riedl agreed that a model
or formula would make the hear
ing much easier, but the ASUO
hasn’t worked with the paper to
create one.
“We’ve been trying to do
that for the last two years, and
it just doesn’t seem to happen.
Once the hearing is over, the
PFC is busy, the ASUO is busy,”
Riedl said. “There was supposed
to be a budget note attached
to our allocation last year; it
never happened.”
But Riedl said she was opti
mistic that a formula is possible in
the near future.
PFC member Khanh Le pro
posed that the budget should
be set at $120,000 instead of
$125,000 to save students’ money.
He said the proposal was a
compromise to the Emerald’s
proposed $125,000,
“I just want to make sure we do
not waste any money from the
student incidental fee,” he said.
Riedl said the newspaper has
been working hard to save stu
dents’ money, but the $125,000
proposal is a reasonable figure
considering increasing opera
tional costs — press, rent and
stipends — and decreasing adver
tising revenue.
“Advertising has been in a
slump nationwide,” Riedl said.
“Newspapers everywhere are
PFC, page 4A