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American foreign
Policy Debate
(with audience participation)
between
The Irish National Championship
Debate Team
and
The University of Oregon
Debate Team
on the resolution
“Pre-emption is justified”
TONIGHT!
Monday, March 28, 7:00pm
182 Lillis (Business School, 955 E. 13th)
Admission is free. Come early
sponsors: Irish Times, UO Honors College Forensics Program, UO Concerned Faculty for Peace and Justice.
We've got sp
at www.dailvemerald.coni
Aid: Bush administration
recommends variable rates
Continued from page 1
future deferrals in the event of
life changes.
“Students are entering into a
long-term relationship with their
loan agents,” Rudy said. “While we
would love to have their business,
we might not be the best fit
for everybody. ”
Also on the way is President
George W. Bush’s proposed budget
for 2006. The Bush administration is
recommending changes to the loan
consolidation program that would
eliminate fixed rate consolidations,
instead keeping loan rates variable
with an 8.25 percent cap. Variable
rates fluctuate with the markets,
causing potential upward and
downward swings. These changes
could cost students thousands of
dollars every year if they don’t con
solidate at a fixed rate before the
new budget is approved.
“There’s absolutely no reason for
graduates not to consolidate their
loans,” Rudy said. “However, they
need to act now.”
But according to the Direct Loans
Web site, if students have the possi
bility of repayment through a vari
ety of government programs, such
as Americorp or a qualified teacher
loan repayment plan, they may lose
that opportunity if they consolidate
their loans.
The University Office of Student
Financial Aid and Scholarships, al
though not able to offer loan consol
idations, can help students sort
through the mountain of questions
they may have. The office’s Web
site is financialaid.uoregon.edu.
While graduating seniors may be
tied up with final papers and job
concerns, they should still make
time to prepare financially,
Rudy said.
“The most important thing is not
to wait until the last minute,” Rudy
said. “If you procrastinate, it could
be very costly to you in the future.”
sheldontraver@ daily emerald, com
LTD: Refund amount will be
based on service days missed
Continued from page 1
President Adam Petkun and ASUO
Vice President Mena Ravassipour
today to hammer out the details of
the reimbursement process.
“I’m not
sure if there’s a
way to get it
back to stu
dents this year,
but we’re go
ing to try to
find out,”
Petkun said.
Vobora said
he arrived at
the $38,276
figure by tak
ing the quar
terly amount
for the service
contract with
the University,
dividing it by
the number of
weekdays in
the quarter
and multiply
ing that num
ber by 14, the
number of
days payment
for bus service
is to be
reimbursed.
Had the total
number of
days in the
quarter been
used rather
than the total
number of
weekdays, the
amount
refunded
through the
spring term
contract credit
would be
$27,218.
Vobora said
he chose to use
the number of
TIMELINE OF A STRIKE
Jan. 21 - Amalgamated Transit Union Divi
sion 757 gives Lane Transit District its 10-day
strike notice.
Jan. 29 - LTD/ATU Community Committee
organizer Claire Syrett asks at a union rally for
both sides to continue seeking alternatives to
the strike.
Jan. 30 - Union members vote to accept
the committee’s offer to enter a 35-day cool
ing-off period and allow an independent audi
tor to examine the negotiations, averting a
strike slated for Feb. 1.
Feb. 1 - LTD implements a portion of its fi
nal contract offer, declining the committee's
intervention offer. The union announces its
intent to strike on March 7, the end of the
35-day cooling off period.
Feb. 8 - The committee meets with the LTD
Board of Directors to ask questions about the
contract negotiations. The committee meets
afterward to discuss what members said was
a lack of concrete answers from the board
members.
Feb. 10 - ATU files an unfair labor practice
complaint against LTD, something an LTD of
ficial said is a common strategy used by
unions in labor negotiations.
March 4 - A last-chance mediation session
between the union and LTD fails to produce
an agreement.
March 7 - Bus service ceases across Lane
County as ATU Division 757 goes on strike.
March 10 - A team of mediators, including
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and community
committee member Margaret Hallock, serve
as room-to-room messengers during a
17-hour mediation session at the Eugene
Hilton Hotel
March 13 - Union members approve LTD's
contract offer, a result of more than 25 hours of
mediation over the course of four days.
March 14 - Bus service resumes in Lane
County.
weekdays in the quarter rather than
the total number of days because it
gives the University a more gener
ous reimbursement amount and
preserves positive relations in
the community.
“I just thought it was fair; some
people may not,” Vobora said. “I
think it’s a reasonable way to do it
and we’re doing it consistently.”
Vobora said the LTD Board of Di
say in which
reimbursement
method to use
because “we
didn’t feel like
we needed to
go to the board
to do this.”
LTD is going
through a simi
lar process of
reimbursement
for businesses
in Lane County
that pay for bus
service, Vobora
said.
Vobora said
refunding stu
dent money to
the University
is a simpler
process than
refunding mon
ey to business
es because bills
for those busi
nesses are
based on the
actual number
of employees
who use the
service for that
billing cycle,
something that
cannot be de
termined until
the end of the
quarter.
“Every other
group, you
don’t know
‘'■what the total
cost is for the
year,” Vobora
said. “For them
we’re using last
quarter s employee count to deter
mine what the amount would be for
the quarter.”
meghannciiniff@ daily emerald, com
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