Lane County plans
for redistricting
Lane County Commissioners will decide on a redistricting plan for the county 9 a.m. Tuesday in the Commissioners’ Conference Room at 125 E. Eighth Ave. Districts are being adjusted to reflect changes in Lane County’s population from the 2000 Census. The county has five voter districts: West Lane, Springfield, South Eugene, North Eugene and East Lane.
The commissioners have considered three options for redistricting and must implement new boundaries six months before the May primary election.
— Sue Ryan
ASUO fundraising
dinner canceled
The fundraising dinner to aid in the relief effort for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, sponsored by ASUO, the International Students Association and Students of the Indian Subcontinent, has been canceled.
The event was originally scheduled for tonight, but ASUO President Nilda Brooklyn said the planning committee decided to cancel it. She said they didn’t want to put on a dinner that wasn’t a quality event.
“Why put on a fundraising dinner that could raise $600 when we could do one that raised $4,000?” she said.
Although it was not ASUO that initiated the project, Brooklyn said there has been interest to hold a fundraiser for victims of Sept. 11, and that the dinner could be rescheduled.
“It is definitely something we are considering doing for next term,” she said.
— Anna Seeley
PFC, EMU Board
see budget increases
The ASUO Student Senate discussed benchmarks for the ASUO Programs Finance Committee and the EMU Board at Tuesday’s meeting.
A 69 percent increase for the PFC passed 9 to 2, with one abstention, and a 6 percent increase for the EMU passed 8 to 5.
The benchmarks serve as a goal for the organizations when they create their budgets next term. Senate Vice President Andy Elliott said if the groups want an increase higher than their benchmark, they must have justification.
The PFC’s unusually high benchmark was due to the new ballot measure passed in the Fall 2001 Special Election that gives the PFC a one-year exemption from the 7 percent budget-growth limit. Senator Mary Elizabeth Madden said the benchmark could increase student fees by approximately 3 to 4 percent.
The EMU Board requested a 7 percent benchmark, but some senators worried that too high an increase would discourage groups from making possible cutbacks in their budgets.
The Senate debated allocating a 5 percent benchmark, which the EMU Board said would hardly the cover the 5.15 percent needed to maintain current service levels.
— Diane Huber
Domestic violence clinic
receives additional funding
The Oregon Attorney General’s Office recently helped expand the services of a Lane County domestic violence clinic.
The County Domestic Violence Clinic of Legal Aid, which provides legal services to low-income victims of domestic violence and stalking, received a $274,000 grant from the attorney general’s office in August.
The grant money has allowed the clinic to hire two new attorneys and two new advocates specifically charged with bringing the clinic’s services to rural and Spanish-speaking victims of domestic violence.
The clinic, which is co-sponsored by the University School of Law, also offers internship opportunities to University law students. Each term, up to 10 third-year law students get to represent clients in court — usually in cases involving contested protective orders.
According to clinic director Marlene Drescher, the students, most of whom have never tried a case before beginning their internships, represent about 75 people per year and win about 85 to 90 percent of their cases.
The clinic first opened in January 1999 and currently serves about 550 clients per year. The grant will help the clinic to serve more clients and reach previously unserved groups in the community, Drescher said.
“We feel that the Latino community has been underserved,” she said, “both because of language and culture barriers and because of a lack of community resources in the past.”
— Leon Tovey