Kitzhaber to announce

revised budget plan
Gov. John Kitzhaber will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. today to announce his plan to re-balance the 2001-03 state budget.
The announcement will come nearly two weeks after Kitzhaber released a preliminary plan of cuts to the state budget totaling $830 million. Kitzhaber said the proposed cuts were intended only as a starting point for debate about re-balancing the budget, and such drastic cuts were neither responsible nor politically possible.
Kitzhaber has been gathering support among state lawmakers for a plan that combines program cuts with increased revenues. A special legislative session is expected to begin in early February, where lawmakers will work to balance a budget thrown into chaos by a projected $700 million decrease in state revenue and a $130 million increase in costs due to medical cost inflation in the Department
of Corrections.
Under Kitzhaber’s first plan, the Oregon University System would face $84 million in cuts.

— Leon Tovey
 

OSPIRG prepares

winter term campaigns
OSPIRG will hold its kickoff meeting for winter term at 6:30 p.m. today in the EMU Ben Linder Room. Toxics advocate Rhett Lawrence, from OSPIRG’s Portland office, will talk about the importance of student activism and involvement with environmental issues, Campus Organizer Jo
Voss said.
OSPIRG has introduced two new campaigns this year along with ASUO — Youth Vote 2002 and New Energy Future. Youth Vote 2002 is designed to re-engage 18- to 24-year-olds in the political process by increasing the number of registered voters before the May 7
primary election.
New Energy Future is a nationwide campaign designed to save students money on their
utility bills.
Students can also get involved with the Hunger and Home-
lessness campaign and the statewide Students for a Clean Willamette campaign.
Junior Erek Fristensky, an environmental studies major, is primarily involved in the Students for a Clean Willamette campaign. He said this term students are pressuring governor candidates in the fall election to adopt a plan to clean up the “disgusting” river.
But he added that there are a
variety of ways students can
get involved in all of
OSPIRG’s campaigns.
Senior Jerod Hodge just decided to join OSPIRG this term.
“It’s a good place to meet people who care about the same issues and social problems in our community,” he said.

— Diane Huber