Right now, America’s students we between $902 billion and $1 trillion in student loan debt. The average debt of graduates from the University of Oregon in 2012 was $24,528. That year, 48 percent of students graduated with debt.

Some graduates entering the work force are tasked with deciding between a dream job and a job that will help pay loans quicker.

Currently, the UO has the highest tuition rate of Oregon’s public institutions of higher learning. According to the Oregon University System, the initial proposed tuition and fee rates for the next academic year put the state average at $8,305. The UO’s proposed total is $9,918.

The school with the lowest proposed tuition and fees is Oregon Institute of Technology – Wilsonville at $7,347.

UO law student KC McFerson will graduate this May with a joint JD and masters in community and regional planning. She is facing her own student loan debt of over $200,000 and career decisions.

“The debt load is an enormous reality to communicate, especially to the older generations who went through school in a very different reality where you could work your way through and you wouldn’t end up having to choose between paying back your loans and a house and a family,” McFerson said. 

To address these problems, McFerson had an idea and launched a campaign to get the word out.

“I was thinking of all this passion that can be wasted by going for salary instead, and all the capital that is put into different missions… If we could make the right connections, that potential could be unlocked,” McFerson said.

The idea is called “Sponsor a Young Professional.” Potential donors can visit the website and look through profiles of post-graduated students entering the work force on a professional basis in areas the donors have interest in.

The idea is something McFerson cannot do alone. On May 20, McFerson will move to Denver, Colorado, to begin studying for the Bar Exam and she will have even less time for the campaign.

“It needs the experienced hands of a business person,” McFerson said.

McFerson emphasized that her idea is very different from a scholarship program since the donor and reciever would have a very different relationship.

“I think it’s lovely to support institutions and scholarships, that absolutely should stay. This is a separate approach,” McFerson said.

In March, U.S. Congressman Peter DeFazio sat down for a Q&A with the Emerald and addressed what was happening in the state of Oregon in regard to college costs and student loans.

“The average debt for a graduating undergraduate is over $20,000 in our public universities. The state has pretty much walked away from its responsibilities to higher education,” DeFazio said.

Though it may appear to some as though McFerson is looking for a way to pay her own personal loans off, she was more driven by raising awareness to the bigger issue.

“Some people took it as I just want money for myself … but that is not the purpose,” McFerson said. “When it comes down to it, I just wanted to say something about an unfortunate situation.”

Earlier in May, Seattle announced its plan to raise the minimum wage in the city to $15 an hour. Currently, the federal minimum wage $7.25.

Oregon’s minimum wage is $9.10. The state of Washington’s is $9.32, currently the highest pay floor of the nation.

In Seattle, the climb to $15 as a minimum wage will take some time, depending on the size of the business, but by 2020, all businesses are expected to meet the wage change. Large businesses with over 500 employees have 3 years to enact the change. Smaller businesses have five years.

“Raising the minimum wage seems great in theory, but it’s going to affect more than just the dollar amount on my paycheck,” said Jordan Allen, a University of Washington junior and resident of Seattle.

Allen currently pays $700 a month for a room in a house located in a “sketchy part of the University district.”

Allen works a minimum wage job and receives help from her parents to cover the costs of her expenses.

“If I had to pay all of my expenses by myself while in college, it would be close to impossible,” Allen said.

University of Oregon freshman Carly Gough, who works part-time at Dairy Queen echoes Allen’s statement.

To cover all her expenses on her own Gough says she would have to work full time and “even then I’m not sure.”

Allen showed skepticism for the minimum wage bump in Seattle.

“Why would property management places keep rent the same if the minimum wage has almost doubled,” Allen said. “I think some businesses will find ways to cut employee involvement to save on payroll, so the job market might suffer too.”

After one year the wage will reach $9.15. After two years the wage will rest at $10.10. Three years and the Secretary of Labor will decide the minimum wage based on the Consumer Price Index and continue to do so annually.

The gradual climb to meet the $15 mimics the plan for HR 1010, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013. The act would raise federal minimum wage to $10.10.

HR 1010 amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and has a gradual increase for wages. If the bill is enacted a wage increase of $8.20 will go into place three months after it is signed into law.

Oregon representatives Peter DeFazio, Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer are all co-sponsors of HR 1010.

DeFazio first sponsored the bill when it was presented on March 6, 2013.

“Right now, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 is leaving 25 million American workers behind, all while lining the pockets of the people at the very top, DeFazio said. “It’s time for the rest of the country to adopt what’s already happening in Oregon: tying the minimum wage to inflation. Giving workers a long-overdue raise would lift millions of Americans out of poverty. That’s not only good for the workers, but also for the U.S. economy and its long-term growth.”

No one likes to be stuck in the slow lane, especially if there’s something you can do about it.

The internet is essential in the life of a college student. From Blackboard to DuckWeb, and of course Netflix – nearly everything seems to require the internet.

On May 15, U.S. telecommunications regulators put forth their proposed regulations on net neutrality.

Net neutrality means that every internet site is treated equally, and all online content receives the same service from the larger companies.

The new rules proposed could allow for Internet service providers, like Comcast, to collect money from companies and sites that deliver content in exchange for a faster and more reliable connection between the company and its consumer.

To combat this, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, in connection with Daily Kos, has created an online petition.

“We expect you to preserve net neutrality in any future regulation or rulemaking. We will accept nothing less than an open and fair internet,” the petition reads.

“If net neutrality goes away, customers will see slower service from websites and online services that can’t afford to pay the toll,” said Wyden. “And for those companies that do pay, they’ll pass the costs right on to users like you and me.”

The current FCC proposal allows for some pay-for-priority. Meaning that companies could charge more from websites like Facebook or Netflix to get superior service and speed.

“I believe the internet should be equal and that people should have equal level of internet service,”  freshman Julia Villec said.

According to the Huffington Post, both Google and Facebook have spoken against this “pay-for-priority” the FCC is creating with the new regulations. 

AT&T has announced that they will follow net neutrality for three years, abstaining from blocking websites and discriminating service, according to the Washington Post.

These new regulations would create “slow lanes” and “fast lanes” websites could pay to be a part of.

Similar to Villec, several students seem to have opposing views of the current proposal.

“I’m generally against it,” UO senior Nick Price said.

Wyden agrees.

“End-users like you and me will pay the price,” Wyden said.

The proposal was authored by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

White House spokesman Jay Carney released a statement the day after the proposal was announced, saying that President Obama supports “net neutrality and an open internet.”

Wyden has fought for net neutrality for 20 years and calls this proposal “a critical point in this fight.”

“Slower internet and greater cost. No one but the big companies win in that equation,” Wyden said. “I’m not giving an inch.”

Wyden’s petition can be signed here.

Hundreds of students, faculty, alumni, staff and community members are taking part in University Day.

Organized by Student Affairs, University Day is a campus improvement tradition that has been in place at the University of Oregon since 1905.

“The idea really is to create a sense of community on campus with students, faculty and staff,” said Amy Quiring, director of centralize scheduling for Student Affairs, and advisor for University Day.

Despite the hundreds of people currently taking part, they continue to hope that more will show up.

“Having community and alumni working side by side, kind of working on projects that are tangible, that people can see and you can walk by everyday and say I did that,” said Quiring.

Twenty-eight dancers from the University of Oregon drove to Montana in April to take part in the Northwest region American College Dance Festival. The dancers performed, took classes and some were even selected to perform in Washington, D.C. in June.

None of this would have been possible without Dance Oregon.

Dance Oregon is an ASUO funded program that seeks to provide opportunities for dancers on the UO campus regardless of their major or involvement in the dance department.

“We financially support and give opportunities to our members,” Liz Jones, Dance Oregon president and senior dance major said.

In addition to taking students to the ACDF, Dance Oregon also funds workshops and organizes National Dance Week.

This year, National Dance Week was held from April 25 – May 4. Dance Oregon hosted Joe Blake, a dancer from Utah for three days and Eileen King from Eugene’s King’s Crew to teach classes.

“We had a really good showing this year,” Jones said. “The people who came got a really great experience.”

Dance Oregon’s trip to the ACDF this year was particularly historic. For the first time in UO history, a piece the university performed was selected to go onto perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in June.

Rachel Winchester, UO graduate student and the choreographer of the piece selected, GIRL POOL (an adaptation), said she could not have been selected without the help from Dance Oregon.

“We are known for bringing the most people to ACDF,” said Cecilia Berghäll, Dance Oregon treasurer and senior dance major.

Dance Oregon received one of the largest budget increases from last year to this year according to Berghäll, who also works as the program’s chief liaison with the ASUO.

Berghäll said the program was able to achieve this because, “We’re proactive and we don’t exclude anyone.”

In addition to the funds received from the ASUO, Dance Oregon holds many fundraisers. They create merchandise yearly and have bar fundraisers, like performing at Cowfish and receiving the door charge.

“Our bake sales tend to make a lot of money,” Jones said.

Dance Oregon’s total number of members vary, but currently there are about 30 active members and seven people on the board.

“What we provide is opportunity for students who don’t get the chance to go outside the department and kind of explore their different realms in classes the department doesn’t necessarily offer,” Jones said.

The program is open to any one who wants to join, regardless of major or involvement in the UO Dance Department.

“We give people who aren’t able to dedicate their time to be a dace major… to be involved in dance,” Berghäll said.

Growler dispensaries have popped up everywhere in Eugene. Growler University, Tap and Growler, The Filling Station and The Growler Guys are a few of local growler businesses. What’s new is that Oregon now allows customers to fill their growlers with something other than beer, and that’s wine.

On April 25, Senator Ron Wyden announced that the federal agency who regulates alcohol rescinded an order which prevented the sale of wine in growlers in Oregon.

Also during last spring, the Oregon Legislature unanimously voted to allow the sale of wine growlers.

“This is news that deserves a toast,” Wyden said.

Not everyone feels wine growlers are necessary.

“I don’t think I would buy a wine growler,” said UO art history major Jasmin Zech. “I’m good with regular old wine bottles.”

Previously, wine growlers were prohibited in Oregon because of a requirement under the Federal Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. The regulation required that the retailers interested in selling wine growlers treat the refillable jugs in the same way they would with large wine bottling operations.

This includes going through the same recordkeeping, labeling and registration that is required of larger wine bottling operations.

Because growlers are refillable containers, the regulations in place allow the larger jugs to go through the same steps as wine bottlers, which contradicts the refillable nature of growlers.

After legislature passed House Bill 2443 to admit the sale of wine growlers, Wyden and other members of the delegation began trying to get the labeling and bottling requirements rescinded due to it’s contradictory nature.

“I saw this issue as an example of a federal agency that is out of touch with the times,” Wyden said. “In a letter to me and other members of the Oregon delegation today, the bureau acknowledged as much by saying that it needed to modernize its regulations regarding the sale of wine growlers.”  

In the letter Wyden refers to in the quote above,  the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau wrote “It is not the TTB’s intention to unduly burden the lawful sale of wine growlers in States such as Oregon, where such sales are permitted.”

The letter goes on to say that the TTB recognizes its regulations that were previously in place were “intended to cover traditional taxpaid wine bottling activities.”

The TTB left room to foster the development of future regulation of the retail sale of wine growlers. Currently, it’s soliciting public comment from consumers and the industry as a whole.

As of now, the Oregon wine industry makes $3 billion every year and provides 13,000 jobs.

Hundreds of University of Oregon students, faculty, staff and alumni filled Johnson Hall May 8 asking a question.

“Why did the UO bring a basketball player who had been suspended from another school to the university?”

Students demanded answers from the UO administration in a rally organized by the UO Coalition to End Sexual Violence, Safe Ride, the Women’s Center and other campus groups in response to the rape allegations implicating UO basketball players Damyean Dotson, Dominic Artis and Brandon Austin.

Austin came to the UO from Providence College after receiving a suspension from its basketball team due to a violation of its student conduct code.

Members of the administration came out and released their statement.

“We want to say that we heard your questions,” Robin Holmes, vice president of student affairs told the crowd on behalf of the administration. “You want to know information about how we could let a student come to this campus. We’re going to definitely look into that and get back to you as soon as we can. Right now that’s all we can say. We understand your question. It’s a good question. We know why you’re asking it and we need to come up with those answers.”

Participants in the rally voiced outrage for the university’s response and prior knowledge of the allegations.

“I feel like if we don’t sit here and scream what’s going on it’ll just get hidden behind everything else. If we’re not here nothing will happen,” Brennan Duffy, UO junior said.

Protestors also stood together to support survivors of sexual assault.

“A lot of my friends and myself have experienced sexual violence before, while being at the UO and it needs to end,” Liisa Anderson, UO sophomore said.

The rally began at noon in the lawn behind Hendricks Hall. After listening to speakers like Jennifer Freyd, UO psychology professor, the UO Coalition to End Sexual Violence and Ashley Needham, UO senior and member of Safe Ride, the crowd participated in a silent march to Johnson Hall.

Protesters filled Johnson Hall and spilled onto the front steps voicing chants like “Survivors over sports,” and “We want answers.”

Rally leader Carol Stabile, PR coordinator for the ASUO’s Women’s Center Claire Aubin and Freyd met with three administrators to try and get answers.

Aubin was dissatisfied with the response.

“It is a great way to explain what institutional betrayal feels like,” Aubin said. “I was literally sitting with the administrators of our school and I still felt like I was getting lip service when being talked to face-to-face.”

Protestors were not pleased with the statement given by Holmes and the administration.

“I find it profoundly disappointing,” David Craig, philosophy GTF said. “Everyone on campus seems to be taking this very seriously except the administration.”

Stabile shared the sentiment.

“The administrative response today has been typical of the administrative response to sexual violence for a long long time. We don’t get questions answered,” Stabile said.

“It’s great that student activism is striking up again even though it is such a said issue,” Tran Dinh, newly elected ASUO vice president, said.”I think the community that has come out of this is very powerful.”

Another rally is planned for May 9 at Johnson Hall at noon.

The Cover Oregon website has had more than a few issues. From problems with the Oracle, the company originally tasked with the website creation and function, to the necessity of the Federal Government granting Oregon a 30 day extension from the original deadline of March 31.

The problems have kept the online application from being completely digital. Applicants are currently required to fill out and mail in a paper portion if they desire private coverage.

Due to these problems, on May 6,  the Cover Oregon Board of Directors decided to move the website into the hands of the Federal Government and connect it with federal technology.

The technology used from the government “will work as the engine for private health insurance plan enrollment through Cover Oregon,” said Ariane Holm senior public relations specialist for Cover Oregon.

Oregon will continue to provide front-end customer outreach, education and initial management and oversight of private plans.

“This option presents the lowest risk to complete a functional online exchange in time for the next open enrollment period and comes in at the lowest cost,” said Holm.

Oregon also plans to leverage their investment in Cover Oregon technology to determine Medicaid eligibility.

To address the website’s problems before this decision Cover Oregon took steps to fix the problems on their own.

‘The board convened an IT work group to figure out our next steps with the website,” said Holm. “We know many Oregonians have had trouble applying for health insurance due to website issues.”

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley has previously called the website, “a broken website.”

At the beginning of March 2014, Cover Oregon had came to an agreement with Oracle which ended with Cover Oregon withholding $25.6 million from the cost Oracle claimed of $69.5 million. Oracle’s cost claim originates from work they performed regarding technology development from November 2013 to Feb. 28, 2013.

The problems with Cover Oregon have made national headlines, and were even lampooned by comedian John Oliver on the first episode of his news-comedy show, Last Week Tonight.

Those who have previously enrolled in Cover Oregon will not be effected. There is no need to reenroll.

The lights come on. Six women, all clad in purple dresses, with identical brown hair sit around a table. The sound of typing takes over as the dancers begin to move in an almost frantic pantomime.

“GIRL POOL (an adaptation)” is a dance choreographed by University of Oregon graduate student Rachel Winchester.

This June, six students from the University of Oregon will travel to Washington, D.C. to perform the choreography.

The piece has been selected to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of the American College Dance Festival.

Winchester’s piece, was selected as one of two to represent the Northwest Conference at the ACDF this year. California State University and Fullerton will also perform.

Winchester’s choreography is based on the Kurt Vonnegut short story “GIRL POOL.” It’s about women working as typists in the late fifties and early sixties.

UO students Jessica Hage, Cecilia Potter, Faith Morrison, Dakota Bouher, Sasha Rawlinson and Nadya Matiya will perform the piece at the festival on June 7.

“I’ve seen this dance performed by three different casts, but this cast, they just burst off the stage,” Winchester said. “They were at their max potential … They’re a big reason we were selected.”

The cast performing in D.C. is the third cast to perform Winchester’s piece. “GIRL POOL” was originally choreographed by Winchester as a practice piece for her thesis project.

“GIRL POOL” premiered at Spring Loft, a dance event put on by the UO Dance Program last June. Winchester then auditioned it for the UO Department of Dance to go to the Northwest Regional Conference of the ACDF this April 2-5 in Missoula, Montana, where it was then selected to go on to D.C.

The festival is a large program that gives dancers and choreographers recognition.

“It has been wonderful,” Winchester said. 

The choreography used a “unique process of creating.” Winchester gave the dancers in the piece specific choreography and then gave them room to play with their characters and movement, letting them choose their own choreography the would show off the dancer’s personal characterization. 

Winchester provided the dancers with about eight “improvisation cues” which is where the dancers inserted their own character decisions.

According to Winchester, they could not have gone to the conference without the help of Dance Oregon, a program which fundraises in order to send dancers to the conference. They also provide the dancers in UO’s program with opportunities like National College Dance Week, bringing in outside dance professionals to teach students.

At the height of the recession, already impoverished families were struggling. Legislation made the decision to increase the budget for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Now that the economy is stabilizing, the State Audit recommended that the budget be reconsidered.

“We need to do everything we can to help the most vulnerable Oregonians participate in Oregon’s economic recovery,” said Secretary of State Kate Brown.

TANF, run by the Department of Human Services, provides monthly assistance to needy families. Monthly cash payments are sent by the TANF to 35,000 families in Oregon who have children under the age of 18 and case workers aid adults to find ways to increase independence and stability.

Ninety-six percent of these families have zero income.

When Legislature increased the TANF budget, they also cut expenditures for client services which resulted in a reduction for job training for parents. As part of the program’s reevaluation DHS wants to add an additional 160 case workers to improve case management. Currently, due to a caseload increase, there are approximately 200 families per case manager.

The current budget for TANF’s  biennium is $500 million.

Now, due to the growth in caseloads and service cuts, TANF has been hindered in their ability to move clients to a more stable and independent place.

“Our audit is a first step to improving vital services for Oregon’s neediest parents,” Brown said. 

The auditors have found that few hours are spent by the clients in activities that would make them self-sufficient, and case records revealed gaps in which clients were not asked to do anything. The auditors tested June 2013. In this month, two thirds of the clients had no activity recorded.

“We highlighted some of the successful efforts we found in Oregon and other states to help these families,” Gary Blackmer, director of the Oregon Audits Division, said. “With the economy recovering, it’s also a good time for the Legislature to revisit budget and program decisions made during the recession.”

While the improvement in the economy has reduced some cases, it has not been enough to achieve pre-recession levels.

“I’m looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and helping parents get the services they need so that they can get back to work,” Brown said.