Support student parents
Child Care Block Grants are awarded on the basis of need to help low-income Oregonians attend Oregon’s non-profit institutions of higher education. Although the additional funding requested for the Child Care Block Grant will not assist all of the eligible low-income students, it is estimated that the waiting list (now more than one year) would drop to half of that or more with $3.9 million.
The Oregon Student Association has launched a statewide letter-writing campaign to let Oregon legislators know that we care about the needs of student parents and that we are going to fight our hardest to secure funding for the Child Care Block Grant this legislative session. The ASUO is part of this letter-writing campaign, and I encourage all of you to get involved. On May 25 at 6 p.m. the ASUO will sponsor a dinner with legislators to discuss funding for the Child Care Block Grant. This will be a great opportunity to voice concerns to our legislators. For more information on the event you can contact Kathleen Workman at 346-0632 or stop by the ASUO office.
Parents seeking a higher education or attending our fine community colleges, public and private colleges and universities are absolutely key to Oregon’s future economic vitality and growth. The Child Care Block Grant program is critically important in assuring that low-income Oregonians in all sectors are able to play a role in shaping our future.
Melissa Unger
history
A hypocritical institution
Nike CEO Phil Knight argued that the University was hypocritical to join the Worker Rights Consortium while not treating its own employees fairly. He should have noted that the University cannot comply with basic labor law.
The University is withholding vital employment information from the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF). University counsel claims that it cannot share this information without the individual GTF’s consent under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Is the University committed to FERPA? Well, how many students have received mail and telephone solicitations for a Discover Card? The chorus of “yeses” is attributed to the University providing Discover Card with some students’ information. According to University officials, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires the release of this information. At the same time, the University does not fulfill its legal obligation to release employee information to the GTFF.
So, to sum up: the University is the ideal forum of free inquiry and critical thinking. The University provides information to an organization whose goal is to get students hooked on consumer debt. The University fails to provide information to an organization whose aim is to get students hooked on free inquiry and critical thinking. If the University is not concerned about the latter values — and, consistent with labor law, dealing fairly with employees who promote these values — then what is this University about?
Max Brown
GTF, political science
