May 20, 2011 Issue No
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Public and Government Follow us on Facebook: Affairs Update www.facebook.com/uogcr May 20, 2011 Issue No. 61 On May 11, versions of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) act were reintroduced in both the On May 19, Gov. Kitzhaber’s education U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, less restructuring bill, SB 909 passed out of the than twenty-four hours after President Obama Joint Ways and Means Subcommittee on called on Congress to take steps forward on a Education. The bill had been the subject of comprehensive immigration reform bill that a public hearing on May 17 that ran over would put the nation’s eleven million the time allotted so the committee undocumented immigrants on a pathway continued discussion of the legislation at toward citizenship. The DREAM Act provides its Thursday morning meeting before a route to citizenship for current college ultimately passing it. The legislation now students and military enlistees who were awaits deliberation in the full Joint Ways brought to the U.S. as dependent children, and Means Committee. through no fault of their own. Under the proposed law, to receive citizenship, (Continued on page 6) applicants must have come to the U.S. as children, be long-term residents, graduate from (Continued on page 6) Economists have optimistic forecast.………………….2 SUNA neighbors receive award………………………..2 On May 17, Lane County voters decided a UO supports tuition equity in House………………...3 number of local ballot measures as well as Community bids Linton farewell………………………3 local boards and special district directors. Campus policing gets support………………………….4 Voters defeated City of Eugene ballot Professor honored with NAS membership…….…….4 UO turns out for legislative town halls……………….5 measure 20-182 that would have instituted Uncertainty ahead for Title VI…………………………5 a city-wide personal income tax to fund Eugene 4J and Bethel School District schools. For more information about this newsletter, please contact Jared Mason-Gere at (541) 346-5381 or [email protected]. If you are interested in inviting (Continued on page 6) government officials to a UO event, please contact us first at 346-5020 or [email protected]. We can help! 1 As opposed to recent economic recoveries, the Office of Economic Analysis expects a steady recovery over the coming four years. In a joint meeting of the Oregon Senate Fi- While this means a slower total recovery, nance and Revenue Committee and House they expect increased stability, and when Revenue Committee on May 12, the state the economy eventually enters recession, economist released the June Economic economists expect it to be less deep than Forecast. the current recession. The tone was one of cautious optimism. In The PowerPoint slides that accompanied total, the state general fund is now the state economist’s presentation can be projected to collect $49 million less than found HERE, and the full May 2011 Eco- was estimated in the March forecast, with nomic and Revenue Forecast can be read newly planned administrative cost savings HERE . leading to a total additional $15 million deficit over the projections from March. State Economist, Tom Potiowsky, remarked that Oregon, like the nation as a whole, continues a slow recovery that will eventu- ally lead to additional jobs and state revenues, but continues to face major On May 19, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy budget shortfalls. According to Potiowsky, awarded the City of Eugene Neighborhood Oregon has seen surging job growth in of the Year honor to the South University recent months, particularly in population Neighbors Association (SUNA) for their centers, and unemployment in Oregon is work on campus neighborhood livability beginning to approach national averages. issues. SUNA's efforts were described as Oregon had the 7th fastest job growth of the innovative and a model for other neighbor- 50 states for the month of March, and on a hoods to emulate. year-over-year basis, job growth in Oregon is at 1.8%, the strongest quarterly job SUNA was recognized for its organization growth since the fourth quarter of 2007. of the March 2010 Neighborhood Livability Summit, and participation in the Neighbor- The state is seeing strong increases in hood Livability Work Group. UO partici- personal income tax receipts, and some pants in this monthly work group include increase in corporate income tax and capi- staff from the Office of the Dean of Stu- tal gains receipts. However, economists dents, the Department of Public Safety, the expect corporate tax collections to fall off Office of Government and Community Re- as the strengthening economy leads lations, and students from the CommUni- businesses to invest in capital and hire versity Resource Assistant program. workers, which will decrease profits. SUNA's leadership is part of an ongoing In the long term, economists are concerned collaborative neighborhood livability effort about the impacts of retiring baby boomers by neighbors, the UO, the City of Eugene, and subsequent downward pressure on property owners and managers, and stu- state income tax receipts. dents. 2 University of Oregon President Richard On May 3 community leaders and elected Lariviere joined ASUO President-elect Ben officials joined university faculty and staff Eckstein in submitting written testimony gathered to honor Vice President for supporting Senate Bill 742 that would con- Research Richard W. Linton, who will step sider certain students to be residents for down this June after over 10 years of ser- the purpose of determining tuition and fees vice to the University of Oregon. at Oregon public universities. Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and Lane Metro SB 742 would allow undocumented Partnership CEO Jack Roberts praised students who have been in the country at Linton’s work at the UO in a ceremony that least five years and in Oregon at least three also included speeches from University to pay resident tuition rates at the state's President Richard Lariviere, University seven public universities. Students would Provost Jim Bean, and a host of university have to demonstrate that they are actively faculty and staff. working toward U.S. citizenship to qualify for the lower tuition. Ten other states, in- cluding Washington and California, have passed similar laws. Lariviere had previously signed a letter with Oregon State University President Ed Ray and Portland State University Presi- dent Wim Wiewel, urging passage of the bill in the Oregon Senate. SB 742 passed the Oregon State Senate with a vote of 18 in favor and 11 opposed. Mayor Piercy praises Rich Linton (right) as The bill is currently under consideration Provost James Bean (center) looks on. by the Oregon House of Representative and received a hearing in the Committee on Congressman Peter DeFazio’s district direc- Rules on May 11. The bill can be tracked tor Karmen Fore read remarks included in here. the Congressional Record lauding Linton’s record of accomplishment. Linton joined the UO in 2000. He previ- ously served as chief research and interna- tional programs officer for the University of North Carolina System and as a chemistry professor at UNC-Chapel Hill. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1973 from the University of Delaware and a doc- torate in chemistry in 1977 from the Uni- versity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 3 At a hearing of the Oregon House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, May 10, a variety of education and law enforcement stake- University of Oregon chemist Geraldine holders turned out to provide testimony in "Geri" Richmond is among 72 U.S. scien- support of SB 405, which would allow the tists elected into membership of the Na- UO Department of Public Safety (UODPS) tional Academy of Sciences. Richmond to transition to a sworn police department. joins six other UO faculty among the acad- emy's current roster of 2,000 active mem- Testimony began with explanations of the bers. legislation from State Senator Floyd Prozanski (D-North Douglas and South Membership in the NAS is one of the Lane Counties), Frances Dyke, Vice Presi- highest honors given to a scientist or dent for Finance and Administration, and engineer in the Doug Tripp, Chief and Executive Director United States. The of the Department of Public Safety. They new members will were followed by testimony from Lane be inducted into the County, the Oregon Association of Chiefs academy next April of Police, and Chief Pete Kerns of the during its 149th an- Eugene Police Department. All indicated nual meeting in that they saw an opportunity for improved Washington, D.C. service delivery, greater efficiency, and safer operations. Richmond Established in 1863 by an Act of Con- A number of parents, students, and campus gress and signed into law by President area neighbors also made the trip in order Abraham Lincoln, the academy has served to share their support. to "investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art" ASUO President Amelie Rousseau and two whenever called upon to do so by any de- other students testified in opposition. partment of the government. SB 405 has been scheduled for a Work Read more about Richmond Session on Tuesday, May 24. It is then expected the legislation will be moved to the full House floor for a vote. 4 Area state legislators held a series of town hall meetings with the public in recent Due to language accompanying the weeks to talk about everything from trans- recently-passed 2011 budget bill, funding portation to the state budget. A number of is unsettled for international education UO advocates attended the town halls, urg- programs, including foreign language and ing support for SB 405, the campus polic- area studies programs, Title VI of the ing legislation, the New Partnership, and Higher Education Act.