The
The grand finale for seniors Living, page 8
Go see ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Living, page 9
Vol. 113, Issue 23
BEACON THE UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
BUDGET CRUNCH
Thursday April 12, 2012 www.upbeacon.net
Photos by Jackie Jeffers | THE BEACON
From left to right: Junior Vince Clasgens, a student worker at the Help Desk, answers a student’s question about his or her laptop. Sophomore Matthew Webster is a student coordinator at the Office of Residence Life. Junior Lissy Richards is a student office manager in the Shepard Freshman Resource Center. Freshman Chelsea Halstead is a telecommunicator at the Public Safety building. Sophomore Mitch Baines works in the mail room and delivers packages to dorms on campus.
Student jobs budget slashed by 20 percent Budget =
$3,000,000
Cutting:
$600,000
Rosemary Peters Editor-in-Chief peters12@up.edu Students hoping to earn a little extra cash on campus next fall will have a tougher time as the University of Portland slashes its student employment expense budget by 20 percent for the 2012-2013 academic year. The cut, which will shake out to a decrease of about $600,000 from the over $3,000,000 budget, will mean fewer students working on campus, fewer hours of work for student workers or a combination of the two. It will also mean a cutback in services provided by departments across campus. “I thought someone was joking with me at first because it is such a big cut,”
Director of Residence Life Mike Walsh said. “I went from ‘Oh very funny’ to ‘Oh, this is serious, I better figure it out.’” A steep increase in the student employment expense budget over the last few years is the main factor contributing to Vice President of Financial Affairs Alan Timmins’ decision to cut the budget. “Over the past three years, the student employment expense has gone up by 35 percent,” Timmins said. “What hasn’t gone up by 35 percent is the endowment or tuition.” According to Timmins, this year the University was also negatively affected by a cutback in federal work-study funds, a form of financial aid awarded based on need. According to Timmins, federal
work-study decreased by 30 percent and Timmins expects work-study dollars to decrease again next school year. A decrease in work-study dollars means an increase in the checks written out of the University’s pocketbook to student workers. Students who are not eligible for work-study or who earn their entire work-study budget before the end of the year earn their wages through the student employment expense budget, known as “Campus Cash.” Campus Cash is paid for through tuition, gifts and contributions from donors, endowment earnings and the federal government. “The percent of dollars from the See Budget, page 5
Campus Ministry forces Student Media out Department relocation displaces The Beacon and The Log staff
Sarah Hansell Staff Writer hansell14@up.edu Next year Campus Ministry will relocate four staff members to The Beacon’s 1,100-squarefoot office in St. Mary’s Student Center, forcing The Beacon’s 30 staff members into a 400-squarefoot office currently occupied by The Log staff, who in turn will take over a 250-squarefoot conference room from the Moreau Center for Service and Leadership. Since all of The Beacon’s staff will not be able to fit into the room, the staff will conduct its twice-weekly all-staff meetings in the main part of St. Mary’s, which Director of Student Activities Jeromy Koffler has agreed they can reserve. For years, Campus Ministry was located in offices in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher, but Director of Campus Ministry Fr. Gary Chamberland didn’t think it
is an appropriate place for offices. “There’s been a goal to get the primary office for Campus Ministry out of the chapel because the chapel’s supposed to be a prayer space,” Chamberland said. Campus Ministry chose to move out of the chapel offices, leaving its old office space to be used for storing and ironing vestments. Their current offices are in the basement of Mehling, where they occupy three of Mehling’s five study rooms. Campus Ministry also has an office in the Pilot House and will retain that office space next year as well. The proximity to the Moreau Center and the chapel was a main factor in choosing St. Mary’s as the new location, according to Chamberland. “I think we did look at other potential spaces,” Vice President of University Operations Jim Ravelli said. “(But) if you look
Kayla Wong | THE BEACON
Campus Ministry will relocate to The Beacon newsroom, pictured above, in St. Mary’s Student Center, forcing The Beacon to move to The Log office. The Log will be relocated to a Moreau Center for Service and Leadership conference room in the back of St. Mary’s. at what the mission of Campus Ministry is … St. Mary’s became the most obvious choice to make that happen.” “We need to be available for all the programs we do offer,”
Chamberland said. These programs include Fish, CatholicUP and the Sunday afterMass social in St. Mary’s. Staff members of The Log and The Beacon are unhappy about
the decision. According to Editor-in-Chief of The Log Lauren Seynhaeve, See Relocation, page 5