Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1992)
Pa jd 4 THE CLACKAMAS PRINT February 5,1992 Student takes action Education better use for lottery funds To the Editor, The State of Oregon is at this time suffering from the deteriora tion of its school systems. The time has come for the voters of this state to make some tough deci sions on how we as a state shall continue to fund education. A peti tion is about ready to be circulated to the voters to put an amendment to the constitution of the State of Oregon on the November 1992 ballot of the state’s general elec tion. The subjects of this amend ment are on how the state should best utilize state lottery funds. At this time, the state legislature is required to spend lottery funds on economic development At this time, there are not'rules or guide lines established to indicate what economic development is. The state legislature determines what economic development is without any guidelines to follow, which in the view of the author of this amend ment does not benefit'the general population. Lottery funds would best serve the residents of Oregon if the state lottery funds are spent on developing a strong educational base for the three state educational systems: general educational (K- 12), the community college system and the state’s higher education system. The state cannot expect to remain economically strong and competitive in the world market when we are not training our resi dents to compete on an equal edu cational level as those with whom we are competing. At the begin ning of the 1991-92 school year, Chemeketa Community College had a 23 percent increase in full time enrollment while the college gen eral budget increased by only 4.7 percent. Many students were un able to enroll in the classes they needed because of overcrowding. Oregon is losing thousands of jobs in the timber industry each year. If we no longer have the ability to take these productive Oregonians in and retrain them to once again be a continuing asset to our state, they shall become a burden this state cannot afford to support. Our best chance for economic stability is to invest in our future, investing in the education of the people that shall carry this state to economic stability. The voters should be aware that supporting this amendment to the state constitution will not by any means solve our educational funding problems, but it will take funds that the state already receives and make the best use of those funds to benefit the most Oregoni ans. Lottery funds will only make up a small portion of the funds that are required to operate our school systems, but it is a right step to wards true economic development Linn Hilderbrand President, Associated Students of Chemeketa Community College Salem, Oregon ASG backs proposed state amendment By Jennifer Lessard News Editor CCC’s Associated Student Government (ASG) voted to sup port a proposed Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Oregon calling for a 100 percent of alloca tions of lottery funds going towards education in the state, in their meeting on Jan. 23. According to Lauri Mayfield, ASG President, not all members were in support of the amendment, but the majority agreed to support it Mayfield explains that even if the amendment does not pass the Oregon vote in November, “just getting it on the ballot will increase awareness. It is a step in the right direction.” She explains that the amendment Dortravs the effort of college students to take part in solving governmental problems and making a difference in their’s and many other’s future. According to Linn Hilderbrand, President of the Associated Stu dents of Chemeketa Community College and the author of a pro posed amendment to the State Constitution regarding the utiliza tion of lottery funds, the main ob jective of the amendment is to “use lottery funds in a more efficient manner.” Hilderbrand has purposed that 5 percent of the lottery funds to go toward the general education(K- 12) system, 35 percent to go to ward the community college sys tem, and the remaining 15 percent to go toward the state higher edu cation system. The Legislature approved lot tery allocations for 1989-91 in the sum of $131 million. According to those figures publi shed by the state in last year’s budget, 14.5 million dollars out of theapproximate $131 million went toward the three divi sions of education. The Workforce 2000 was dealt 6.7 million to work with, while the Department of Higher Education was dealt 1.8 milion and the general fund for the Depart ment of Education received anoroxi- mately 6.0 milion. In all, 11.07 percent of the lottery funds in the state last year were earmarked for education. The remaining funds went toward helping fund the De partment of Correction s, economic development, regional strategies, special public works, the strategic reserve fund, tourism, small busi ness development and other state agencies. Hilderbrand explained that “this isn’t good enough,” schools are lacking adequate funding and Ore gonians are suffering because of this. Accordi ng to H i lderbrand, he “wanted to make a difference.” Hilderbrand believes that us ing the lottery funds in a different way “will benefit the state.” Hilder brand compiled information, vis ited the state building on several occasions and drew up a proposed amendment to the state constitution of the State of Oregon. He submit ted the proposal to the Secretary of State’s office to ensure his amendment was legally and for mally correct. He also passed the petition through the Attorney General’s office. According to Hilderbrand, the lottery money has created, under the title of Economic Develop ment, a $100 million “slush fund for the Government.” Hilderbrand quoted an esti mated $200 milion will be raised through the state lottery this year. Hilderbrand will be speaking before a congregation of the state college presidents on Feb. 13 re garding his proposed amendment He is also scheduling lectures throughout the state educating Ore gonians about the amendment and the current allocations of lottery funds. Legislative Approved Lottery allocationsfor 1989-91 ($131 million) Proposed utilization of Oregon lottery funds Proposed Amendment to the Constitution of the State of Oregon All Oregon State lottery funds shall be utilized to support the Oregon educational system. Fifty percent of funds shall be utilized by the general education (K-12) system, thirty-five percent of funds shall be utilized by the community college system, and fifteen percent of funds shall be utilized by the state higher education system. All lottery funds shall be utilized strictly for the expansion of facilities, new construction, renovation of existing facilities, the purchase of new equipment, and fortargeted job training, exclud ing facilities and equipment utilized exclusively for inter-school or intercollegiate athletics of any of the school systems. The Oregon State Lottery Departme nt shall set up an ac count as of January 1st, 1993, in which the state lottery funds shall be deposited throughout the year. The State Lottery Department shall distribute the aforementioned funds to the three separate Oregon education systems on December 31st of each year. The administrators of each of the three state educational systems shall be responsible of the proper distribution of their lottery funds. The Oregon State Legislature shall not take into considera tion the use of state lottery funds when determining the state edu cational system’s yearly operational budgets. State lottery reve nues vary from year to year and cannot be considered a constant source of income. Mexican Chapas Mayan Slide Show Tomorrow 12:30-1:30 In B239 Join intrepid explorers Nancy Mikleton and Rebecca Nielsen as they dive into the jungles of southern Mexico. Visit the ruins of Bomampak, Yaxcitilan and Palenque via backroads, rivers and hiking trails to some of the least accessible Mayan Ruins on the Guatemalan- Mexican border. Get twice the pizza for the same $$$! Dept, of Corrections Business Development Tourism Mise, state agencies Education Regional strategies . • y Special public works All Small, Medium, & Large Pizzas U2 price in store every Monday 5pm through 8pm
