Today
Tuesday Wednesday
High: 66 High: 65 High: 61
Low: 45 Low: 44 Low: 44
Precip: 20% Precip: 10% Precip: 30%
IN BRIEF
Oregon Guard, Reservists
to receive free tuition
Oregon National Guard and Reserve
members who have served in areas of
active hostility since Sept. 11,2001, will
receive free tuition at Oregon Universi
ty System colleges starting fall term
2005, OUS reported Friday.
The State Board of Higher Education
approved the Voyager TUition Program
at its March 4 meeting. The program
will waive remaining institutional fees
not covered by federal tuition assis
tance for eligible Oregon Guard and
Reservists. All seven of the state’s pub
lic universities will offer the remission.
According to a press release, OUS is
working to exempt the program from
legislative fee remission caps.
Students must be Oregon residents,
admitted to the campus they wish to
attend and working on their first de
gree in order to be eligible for the pro
gram, according to an OUS fact sheet.
Students must exhibit satisfactory aca
demic progress to continue receiving
assistance.
The University is expected to receive
less than 100 Voyager-eligible students.
OUS calculated that more than 600
would use the program statewide for
an estimated total payout of $316,900.
— Adam Cherry
Campus construction
project closes sidewalk
For the duration of the Living
Learning Center construction project,
the fencing along the north side of
East 15th Avenue will be moved
onto the street. Students can use the
temporary crosswalk at the east end
or the raised crosswalk at the west
end in place of the walkway on the
street next to the site. The sidewalk
will be closed to provide moving
space for heavy equipment.
The Department of Public Safety
also asks students to avoid creating a
traffic hazard alongside the construc
tion site. Those with questions or
comments may contact DPS at
346-5444 or the project manager,
George Bleekman, at 346-2625.
— Emily Smith
Hazelnut industry reacts
against deadly fungus
SPRINGFIELD — Authorities have
discovered a deadly fungus on the
branches of the nation’s oldest com
mercial hazelnut orchard.
The Eastern filbert blight has, in the
past, decimated Oregon’s hazelnut in
dustry and led to a quarantine of af
fected orchards as recently as last year.
As part of an aggressive campaign
to stamp out the blight, officials will
spray the 80-acre Dorris Ranch as early
as next week. The Dorris Ranch is the
oldest commercial hazelnut orchard in
the nation.
Located just south of Springfield,
the trees at the Dorris Ranch orchard
date to 1903, and more than half of
all commercial filbert trees in the
United States originate from the
ranch’s nursery stock.
Officials have been scouring trees all
over the region for signs of Eastern fil
bert blight, which infiltrated Lane
County orchards about a decade ago.
At Dorris Ranch last August, or
chard manager Garry Rodakowski
found little black pustules on a single
branch of a single tree — evidence that
the blight had landed.
Rodakowski cut and removed
the branch and flagged the tree for
close observation.
— The Associated Press
Programs Finance Committee
Three student positions take big cuts
Pay for the president, vice president and radio station
general manager may be 75 percent less next year
BY PARKER HOWELL
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
Despite last-minute concerns
that new pay rates approved for
student-group leaders would
unfairly cut pay for the ASUO
president, vice president and the
general manager of campus radio
station KWVA, the Programs
Finance Committee finalized its al
location of student money Friday.
The new pay rates reduce funding
for each of the three positions by
three-fourths or more. Pay for the
president and vice president posi
tions will drop from $8,400 per year
to $2,100 per year, while the general
manager’s pay will be cut from
$6,600 to $1,500 per year.
The PFC approved a 6.91 percent
increase for a total budget of about
$5.23 million next year.
Although it falls within the
maximum 7 percent increase allowed
by the Green Tape Notebook, the
budget exceeds the 5.62 percent
benchmark approved by the ASUO
Student Senate earlier this year.
Senators will hear the budget
during its Wednesday meeting.
The PFC targeted the stipend
model for cuts, approving an 8.9 per
cent overall increase earlier in the
process as a way of remedying ex
cess budgetary spending. Stipends
came under scrutiny this summer
when University President Dave
Frohnmayer expressed concerns that
some groups received more money
for stipends than programming.
By decreasing the number of paid
positions some groups can have,
reducing pay for all positions by $25
and changing payroll stipends into
scholarships, the PFC was able to
save enough money to use its budg
et recommendations for all groups.
The committee previously consid
ered using the ASUO Executive’s
recommendations, which only
account for groups’ spending and
fundraising habits.
Yet ASUO President Adam Petkun
told the Emerald he is concerned
that reducing the president’s stipend
from $700 per month to $175 per
month next year will deter some
students from running for the office.
He said students vying for the posi
tion need to be able to work about
40 to 60 hours per week with “very
little pay.”
“What I’m worried about... is that
it affects who has the ability to run for
ASUO president in the first place,” he
said, adding that the reduction might
make the ASUO a “place where only
the privileged can work. ”
KWVA General Manager Charlotte
Nisser expressed similar concerns to
the PFC on Friday, noting the gener
al manager’s pay will decrease from
$550 per month to $125 per month.
She said students who work as the
general manager are working the
equivalent of a full-time job because
they are on-call 24/7 in case some
thing goes wrong at the station.
Petkun said the president’s
duties also prohibit a student from
working other jobs to supplement
his or her income.
“I think that if someone’s dedicat
ed to the job, it’s very hard to have
any work outside the ASUO at the
same time,” he said.
He said the vice president would
be similarly affected.
Despite his concerns, Petkun said
it was necessary for the PFC to ex
amine stipends.
“While I definitely see this as a
PFC, page 12
BUS SERVICE MAY CEASE ON
MARCH 7th, 2005.
LTD Wants to Make Sure
You Still Have a Way to Go.
As early as March 7th, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), Local 757, may
go on strike. Lane Transit District (LTD) will not be able to operate bus
service during the strike. Once a settlement has been reached, LTD will
be committed to getting buses back on the road as quickly as possible.
LTD’s Guest Services office will be closed but if you call 687-5555 we will
have staff to assist you.
What you can do:
► Register at ltd.org for carpool-matching. It’s easy and fast. Sign up to
drive as well as ride.
► RideSource will continue to run and serve those passengers who are
eligible. We expect demand to increase significantly. Medical
appointments may be given priority over other trips.
► Go to the LTD website for information on ways to get around including
links to the City of Eugene for Bike Path Maps.
Please plan ahead. For further information,
log onto www.ltd.org or call LTD at 687-5555.
cP
Lane Transit District