WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.000 Music. 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Good evening everybody. Thank you so much for being here. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:12.000 On behalf of the department of communication studies and the department of political science 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:16.000 I'm very happy to welcome you to our event this evening. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:22.000 A town hall discussion about higher education with state representative Paul Evans. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:26.000 I'm Dr. Molly Mayhead and it's my distinct honor and pleasure 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.000 to introduce one of our own graduates. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:34.000 Slightly more than, I really hate to say this 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:38.000 twenty years ago, a tall redheaded kid 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:42.000 sat in the front row of my argumentation class. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:46.000 And it didn't take me long to figure out a few things. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:50.000 First, he had a mischievous streak and I had to watch out for him. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:56.000 Second, he was very very smart and I had to watch out for that too. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:62.000 And third, I knew he was extraordinarily smart and would make a difference 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:08.000 a positive difference in anything he set his mind to. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 Once he graduated from Western Oregon, and I'm going to back track just a second 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:15.000 when he was at Western Oregon he was student body president. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:20.000 And during his time he extended the power and reach of the office of president. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:25.000 So if you're interested in student government he's the student to talk to. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:28.000 When he left Western he joined the US Air Force. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:33.000 And his experience there and in the Oregon Air National Guard 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:45.000 took him on a number of tours of duty in several global hot spots including Iraq, Afghanistan, Honduras, and Astoria, Oregon. 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:57.000 Somewhere along the way he found time to serve as city counsel member, mayor of monmouth, a school board member, and he got his master's degree at Oregon State University. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:68.000 And has taught at a variety of colleges including Western, Portland State, and as full time faculty member at Chemeketa Community College. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.000 This is someone whose done a lot in a very short amount of time. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.000 He is a poet, and a scholar, and a writer. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:23.000 He's written a number of books including "Veteran's Speak: A Manuel on how to talk to Veteran's." 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:32.000 It's his expertise in Veteran's affairs that led to his appointment in Ted Kulongoski's administration 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:38.000 as chief policy advisor of Veteran's affairs and emergency management. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:46.000 On November 4th of 2014, House District 20 elected as our state representative. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:51.000 This is truly a good friend of Polk County, of Western Oregon. 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:55.000 And I'm very happy to introduce state representative Paul Evans. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:58.000 Applause. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:02:62.000 So by raise of hands before we begin with this whole shindig 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:11.000 how many of you are here because faculty members have suggested that there is extra credit or some potential test involved if you came? 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:18.000 Raise your paws. Because we're wolves we raise our paws. Alright. Honesty is important in politics so we'll start off with that. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:26.000 Tonight really I want to talk about two or three things that are going on and then really open it up to you. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:36.000 Where I will try to answer the questions if I know the answers or dance as artfully as I can if I don't know the answers and say we'll get back to you which we'll try to do. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.000 First, I do want to say 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:44.000 coming back to Western is one of the best parts of the job. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:50.000 For a number of years when I was traveling a lot, sometimes the places that I didn't really want to be traveling to 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:56.000 Western was always the family I came back to and you're going to hear that a lot as students here, Western's family Western's family, but it really actually is. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:03:65.000 There's very few places in the world quite like this place and you really don't know how special it is until after you leave. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:07.000 Second thing I want to say is, 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:12.000 if there's anything in higher ed that you want to know more about that I can try to answer 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:20.000 you have a very special guest here Mr. Tim Nisbit who was not only my boss when I worked for governor Kulongoski 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:25.000 but very involved in the higher education coordinator committee that accesses policy. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:29.000 And he happens to be one of ours as well, he lives not far from here. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:36.000 And is a great friend of Western's so hopefully we have those things going for us. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:42.000 So today you came here to talk about higher education policy. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:53.000 And many of you could be out enjoying the sun, you could be out enjoying any number of activities. There was a frisbee golf game I think going out there when I drove by. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:55.000 But you actually came here. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:62.000 And whether you came here for points or not you're doing the most important thing any citizen can actually do in our democracy. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:04.000 Believe it or not. 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:10.000 Coming together, sharing ideas, and participating. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:15.000 The thing that is the most important to remember 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:21.000 about your experience at Western Oregon University, your experience in the Willamette Valley, 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:28.000 is the importance of showing up and the importance of participating. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:32.000 I just spent much of the day dealing with pieces of legislation 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:35.000 that may make small incremental changes. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.000 Some of the bills a little more important than the others. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:47.000 But all of them is the result of people coming together, coming up with ideas, and trying to make the world at least that much better. 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:53.000 Now, the challenge of course is we live in a time where there's a lot of work to do. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:59.000 We have an environment that's not as stable as maybe it once was. 00:05:59.000 --> 00:05:63.000 We have an education and work force challenge facing the state. In fact the 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:06.000 state auditor, secretary of state's office today 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:11.000 released a report saying we have to do even better in work force development. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:18.000 Which is true, this should not be news we live in an evolving 21st century economy where we have to compete. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:23.000 But the thing about Oregon that is fundamentally different than almost any other place you'll ever find 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:30.000 is that we still believe that we can effective a change in our neighborhood and in our community. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.000 This isn't related to higher ed but it is related to you. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:43.000 Last week, this past week, I was actually able to carry a bill that was the successor bill to the Oregon Bottle Bill. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:50.000 Representative Burger who held a seat before I did, her father had actually in very Oregon fashion 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:55.000 had been traveling on trails, got frustrated with all the liter that he found, 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:62.000 went to then governor McCail and legislature and said something ought to be done about this, all this glass all this stuff hanging out there. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:06.000 Eventually, after a couple of sessions they got the idea how to make it work. They passed a bill. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:11.000 And since 1971, Oregon has lead the way in a lot of different environmental approaches. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:17.000 I had the opportunity to carry the successor bill that actually is focusing on recycling centers 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:22.000 and hopefully will improve the amount of materials we reuse. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:27.000 I say that because you as students have a unique opportunity 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:34.000 you are both tax payers as well as consumers of state services. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:39.000 Your capital is only about twenty minutes away and it's April. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:48.000 We can tell it's April because everyone's dressed in a little bit of cooler clothes, we can see the sun peering out every now and then, and all of us have this sudden urge to go to the beach. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:52.000 Right, that's what spring is that's what April is. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.000 It's also the time in the legislature that things start to change. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:61.000 We have already put the k12 budget to bed. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:07.000 Which means we have set aside 7.255 billion dollars for k12. 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:10.000 According to the co-chairs budget 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:25.000 And as we get toward the end of the session, there will always be a bit of jostling here or there so the numbers are not terribly great. 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:29.000 But the dollars are really not the most important aspect. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:34.000 The most important aspect is this. We are now in an experiment. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:39.000 The big three universities and now all the trues, is that the right term? True? 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:46.000 I'm trying to get use to this. Technical and regional universities of which Western is the best of course. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:52.000 We get to try to figure out how we can negotiate and navigate the changes of a market 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:57.000 in transition and how we can try to meet the needs of the work force of the future. 00:08:57.000 --> 00:08:65.000 Now how many by chance, how many of you are going into education or anything like education? Raise your paw. A few. Alright. 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:12.000 How about liberal arts? How many of you are liberal arts folks? You're going to be engineers, you're going to be all types of thinkers? 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:17.000 Oh no one wants to raise their hand on that. Alright. General studies then, we'll go with that. 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:24.000 The point is as we get closer to the end of session and many of you get closer to the completion of your school here, your time here 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.000 there's a lot of decisions to be made. 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:32.000 We're going to be trying to make the best decisions we can as far as here dollars can go and what programs work and don't work. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.000 How we can best support those changes. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:40.000 And you're going to be making decisions about where to live and where to work and what to do. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:43.000 Point is at this particular time in American history, 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:46.000 we know a couple of things. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:51.000 We know that we can't really sustain a middle class like we used to. 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:56.000 We wish we could. Boy there's a lot of people in the building saying they know how. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:61.000 But we can't just throw people back into factories because factories have changed. 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:05.000 We have a growing need in terms of 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:08.000 being able to meet health care needs of people that live longer, that's good. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.000 But sometimes services are more expensive as they live longer. 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:17.000 And you're sitting here thinking, wait a minute this is about higher ed how does this relate to me? It relates to you this way. 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.000 You're going to be one of those people sometime. 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:27.000 You are inheriting as living in Oregon the most complex and flexible system of government in human history. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:34.000 Few places on earth allow you the opportunities to participate in the ways in which you can here. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.000 The problem is 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.000 sometimes not everybody shows up. 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:49.000 Sometimes the legislature makes some not so great decisions because the voice of the few shouts out the voice of the many. 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:58.000 Somewhere along the line, we thought it was smart to be a penny wise and a pound foolish. 00:10:58.000 --> 00:10:63.000 Meaning, somewhere along the line we thought it would be smart to 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:07.000 to make education programs and work force programs a little smaller than they used to be. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:17.000 To save a little dime or a little nickel here on property taxes to suggest that the future generations can pay for things instead of trying to pay our way through. 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:26.000 What that means is it means that you are probably going to graduate college with more debt than you wished you had. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.000 You're probably going to graduate at a time when 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:34.000 jobs, there are more jobs than there were three or four years ago but they're not growing as fast as they used to. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.000 At least the times that we like to remember. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:45.000 And, you're coming of age at a time that you know nothing other than this but we've been at war for 14 years. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:52.000 We've been all over the world using our precious scarce government resources 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:57.000 prosecuting a war when we could have perhaps been doing other things. 00:11:57.000 --> 00:11:60.000 And I say all of those factors because ultimately 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:06.000 we did those things, we're doing those things because somebody somewhere said that was the priority. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:12.000 I need you to engage. Between April and June we're going to be making budget decisions. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:17.000 I appreciate you coming here tonight and I'm looking forward to your individual questions. 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:21.000 But if you want real change, the building is not that far away. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:28.000 If you want real change, share with us what you want. Not simply at a drop of a hat 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:35.000 momentary opportunity to answer a question here but think about what you want and demand it of your public leaders. 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:41.000 We don't know what you want unless you tell us and more importantly you don't get what you want unless you tell us. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:47.000 We really do work for you and the collective you. 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:51.000 And I think Oregon has great potential even with our challenges. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:56.000 As long as people continue to show up and participate. Like you have tonight. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:12:61.000 So, I'm going to stop that with the preaching, I'll get off my little soap box. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:06.000 I'll open it up for some questions and try to answer the ones I know and dance around the ones I don't. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:13.000 Any brave souls want to start with a question or a comment or a story. 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:18.000 I got a microphone so anyone want to say anything? 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:27.000 Okay he's going to walk the microphone over to you and if you can say your name and maybe what you're studying we can go from there. 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:32.000 My name is and my major is political science and my minor is communication studies. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:42.000 As a believer in the quote that says, "Education is the light and ignorance is the darkness" I want to thank you for coming and listening to us and make our voice be heard. 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:54.000 And my question is is there any programs in the government that allows like help the student after graduation to pay their loans? 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:59.000 Like it has like certain requirements like this program. I just want to know if there are any. 00:13:59.000 --> 00:13:60.000 Thank you so much. 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.000 Thank you and just so I understand the question 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:11.000 The question is are there any programs that the state or perhaps the federal government has that can repay college debt 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:13.000 perhaps for service in that area. 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:20.000 There are. I would probably refer you to your counselors here in this particular building that are more immediate. 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:25.000 I do know that on the federal side there are certain teaching programs 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:31.000 that either provide home loan options as well as tuition repayment back. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:36.000 I know that certain programs like the National Guard and the military 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:38.000 also do loan forgiveness. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:46.000 There's a lot of discussions these days about something called Pay it Forward which has different components to it but it hasn't really gotten through into fruition yet. 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:48.000 What I can say is this. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:50.000 That if you have an interest in public service, 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:53.000 there's probably a program to help you. 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:59.000 If you have an interest in the private sector, make sure I get your name and we will try to find ways that can help. 00:14:59.000 --> 00:14:66.000 Because certain companies, certain corporations actually will do a piece of that. But it kind of depends on what you want to do. 00:15:06.000 --> 00:15:11.000 Overall, I do think, kind of the larger thread of that question, 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:14.000 people are starting to recognize the need and value of public service 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:23.000 and I believe that people are starting to look at ways in which they can buy down the cost of education and work force development with programs like that. 00:15:23.000 --> 00:15:32.000 That it's a good model. So I suspect there will be more in the future. But we'll try to get your specific answer. Other questions? 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:37.000 Renee String, I'm not a student anymore, well actually I still am but I'm 75. 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:42.000 When I went to college 57 years ago, 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:45.000 every state had free colleges. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:52.000 Western was free, UC Berkley was free. Every single state had free colleges. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:58.000 Obama's now talking about possibly free community colleges, free education. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:15:67.000 I'm wondering how we can get to the place where education is a priority, where it's not a profit making thing. 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:12.000 Where it's a priority for our entire government, especially here in Oregon. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:18.000 I mean we lead in so many ways it just seems like how can we get there from here? 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:25.000 Well thank you for the question just to make sure I understand the question 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:28.000 once upon a time not that long ago 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:36.000 not that long ago education up through at least a state level of college or university was free or close to free. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:46.000 Not that long ago when I started college, you could work your way through summer or you could work through going to school and graduate debt free. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:52.000 And what happened quite frankly is 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:59.000 in Oregon anyway we had this decision that we made in 1990 having to do with measure five. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:16:64.000 That's kind of a code word but what happened was we change the way we allocate property taxes. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:10.000 We shifted a lot of the burden off of certain folks that had been paying a fairer share than they are now. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:15.000 We went into a refined measure five with measure 4750 which 00:17:16.000 --> 00:17:26.000 basically stuck the growth rate at a percentage that wouldn't keep up with inflation and we slowly starved programs that had long been the domain of state funding. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:33.000 For example, when I went to Western Oregon 35-40% ish of 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:42.000 Western's budget was from the state. Nowadays I'm not sure if it's 15 or 20 I assume somewhere around there. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.000 We basically priced ourself in many ways out of doing that. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:55.000 Now I think the real answer is we can look at the history and we can say boy we wished we would have done this or that or we shouldn't have done this or that. 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:61.000 I think there's a fundamental choice. Are we going to settle for 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:07.000 a second rate Oregon or are we going to have a vision of a better Oregon? 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:15.000 My better Oregon does four things. It guarantees opportunity, not success, but opportunity, everybody should get a shot. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:20.000 Access through education and work force I think is that shot. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:27.000 I think Oregon should provide for a safe environment, safe air, safe land, safe water. I think that's actually good business sense as well. 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:36.000 Because at some point businesses probably don't want to be in areas where the air chokes their workers and the water is polluted. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:46.000 The third thing is I think Oregon should always make sure to protect our basic rights, to think, to act, to live without fear. And sometimes in this society we kind of focus on the fear. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:50.000 And the fourth is we need to figure out a way to promote the future while providing for the present. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.000 To me education is not just a program area. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:59.000 My belief which was and has been said by people much more eloquent than me over the years 00:18:59.000 --> 00:18:66.000 is that basically from the time you're six from the time you're dead you should be either preparing for work or working. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.000 And even in retirement still working in a way that gives back to your community. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:16.000 Education is the thread through all of that and to it is a great frustration 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:24.000 that we spend so much money on corrections and again I'm not saying we shouldn't at this point. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:33.000 But we don't have a vision yet I think for Oregon that's down at the grassroots level of what our education system is supposed to be producing. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:38.000 There's some great innovations going on in education, there's some great innovations going on with community colleges work force development. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:43.000 I think some great things happening at universities, Western chief among them. 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:46.000 But I don't think yet that we have figured out a voice 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:51.000 that can explain what all of that structure and system is supposed to produce. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:62.000 And I don't think we're going to get to a point where we have education that's more free or more affordable until we have a vision that people will be willing to open up their wallets to support. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:10.000 And just from a policy perspective, I get frustrated sometimes when we incrementally go to the voters and say well we need this for this and we need this for this. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:18.000 I've been involved in that process myself. We have to go to the voters to get bonds to get help make sure Independence Elementary School would survive a seismic event. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.000 We didn't want dead children. 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:27.000 But that did nothing for the long term vision of how are we going to make sure we can provide the best education possible? How are we going to compete? 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:31.000 So, my answer to your question is this. I think first we have to have the vision. 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:37.000 The vision in my mind should be Oregon should be the oasis of innovation. 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:44.000 We'll never and we shouldn't try to get into the competition with the rest of the world as far as the cheapest manufacturing rates. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:47.000 Because I don't really want to get into that spiral to the bottom. 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:53.000 I'd like to be the place where we have the sense of community, the work force development 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:56.000 the academic and technical supports 00:20:56.000 --> 00:20:59.000 so that the next best idea is produced up for the first cycle. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:20:66.000 And then maybe it is somewhere else produced mass. But that money is then reinvested into the next best idea and then the next. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:09.000 And then I think you actually can show that education is 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:12.000 an investment not just for what's right 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:14.000 but an investment for good business sense. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:21.000 The good news is, I think in Oregon there is a growing consensus that we need to have better. 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:25.000 The bad news is I'm not sure that that vision has reached 00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:27.000 Joe and Jane Six Pack tax payer yet. 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:31.000 And I think that's my job. My job is to help be a conduit for that. 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:33.000 Because at the end of the day 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:40.000 If you want to look at when the United States was best or at least by most of the metrics 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:43.000 it was in an era where people could get that education for relatively free. 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:50.000 They could figure out what their talents were and they could actually maximize and optimize them. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:59.000 And that is the frustrating thing right now. In many ways, this is my first session, and though I've watched the legislation from outside before 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:05.000 trying to put the budget together and seeing how much we could be doing but we can't 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:12.000 because of the requirements of the moment in terms of the cost. It's very frustrating because I see in every single 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:16.000 at risk or opportunity ethnic is a new term, opportunity youth 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.000 the next Einstein. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:22.000 And I don't know that we can help everyone of those kids right now. My goal is someday we can. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:29.000 Because we just don't know yet how powerful that community could be. 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:32.000 That's my answer, I don't know if that helps or not. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:34.000 Yes? In the back. 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:40.000 The percentage that the state is helping to reduce the cost of tuition 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.000 the percentage has been going down and because of those measures 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:48.000 what is the future projection if there's not a change? 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:57.000 And at what point are we not any different, we're not getting really any meaningful state support? 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:60.000 And we're just a private school with a public name? 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:07.000 I think that's a great question and again look if I can try and make sure I understand the question 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:16.000 unless things change, the relative decline or at least stable amount of money going into 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:21.000 higher education is not increasing significantly anymore 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:33.000 and at what point is Western Oregon and other public institutions less a public institution than a private with a lot or even a little bit of subsidy. 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:36.000 Right? Okay. 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:45.000 I think two things. I think number one I think as our economy 00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:51.000 tries to grow, which you're going to be hearing in the news probably in the next several weeks. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:59.000 That the economy is a little better than we thought it would be when we put the budget, when legislator put the budget together before, which means the kickers going to come in 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:03.000 which that's another discussion altogether someday about the logic of 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:08.000 when over-realize profits too much you give it all back. I will never understand nonetheless. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:12.000 The kicker will kick because the economy is getting better. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:16.000 There is some belief, again we don't know yet 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:20.000 until May when it's released but there's some belief that over the next two years 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.000 projections and revenue coming back into the state are going to be marginally better 00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:26.000 than what we thought the last time we looked. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:33.000 So the matter of the fact is, probably the budgets will be 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:38.000 as good as the co-chairs as good as we've been talking about or perhaps better. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:41.000 That doesn't mean significantly increased. 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:46.000 But at least that hopefully we've stopped the decline I think that would be one way to say it. 00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:52.000 I know a number of groups are tying to come together around a revenue option 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:60.000 I think as long as there's a vision associated with what we're trying to do, Oregonians will support that vision. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.000 I'm always nervous when people talk about ballot initiatives 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:11.000 as simply this or that tactical or technical way to do it without the strategical overarching concept 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:16.000 that Oregonians need to buy into to see what they're going to do with that. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:20.000 And that's going to be up to people like me that actually 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:26.000 and many of you that had that opportunity that unfortunately your generation hasn't had. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:32.000 We can talk to what it was like to graduate without 60,000 dollars in debt. 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:37.000 We can talk to what options we had that current students don't have. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:44.000 We can talk about the importance of education of why we should be building, in my opinion, twice as many universities for every prison we build. 00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:49.000 We can talk about those things and we need to start talking about those things. 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:52.000 But that's where 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:57.000 you all have to be involved as well because for too long, just laying it out there 00:25:57.000 --> 00:25:67.000 for too long students are generally thought to care a lot when you're in college but then you go into real life and then you kind of check out for a while. 00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:13.000 And as a voting block, folks between that 22-30 or 35 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:16.000 block really aren't that involved. 00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:20.000 And again, not that you're not cared about 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:24.000 but in a building where there's finite resources, the loudest voices get heard 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:29.000 the most and the loudest voices sometimes get the most investment. 00:26:29.000 --> 00:26:32.000 So that's why I'm here asking you to be more involved. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:35.000 I think we have to start putting more money into our universities. 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:46.000 I think we have to put more money into those types of work experiences that prepare people not just for academic success but for real world success outside of academics. 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:51.000 I think we have to come up with programs that create a sense of community. 00:26:51.000 --> 00:26:57.000 Because right now my fear is, we have a giant game of survivor. 00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:64.000 You go through the maze, you do what you can to graduate with as little debt as possible to get you closer to where you want to go. 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:14.000 When I graduated, I felt a very big sense of obligation and responsibility because I knew the tax payers subsidized part of my education. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:23.000 Right? So that's always been to me the fundamental difference between public institutions and private institutions. 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:30.000 We have to figure out a way, we have to figure out a vision, we have to figure out a way of reigniting that relationship 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:36.000 so that we recognize we're all connected and that the educational success of one is really 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.000 an important movement for all of us. 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:47.000 And we're not there yet and again I wished we had more money in the process, I'm fighting for that, that's one of the reasons I ran. 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:51.000 But I'd be lying to you if I told you I was fighting for big amounts because right now there's 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:55.000 with the current system not a lot of flexibility for big amounts. 00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:62.000 You and your individual participation and involvement can change the equation. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:06.000 If you get in and you start demanding change 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:10.000 you actually in our system in Oregon at least 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:15.000 you can actually have a fundamental change. And I want to emphasize that. 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:24.000 This last campaign, 2014, across the country with two exceptions, only two states 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:31.000 only two states had a net gain for people of my political party. 00:28:31.000 --> 00:28:39.000 Everywhere else, it was significantly different than that. 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:43.000 I'm not saying that one party over the other is an indicator of success . 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:51.000 What I am saying is that despite national trends in Oregon something was different because the results were different. 00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:58.000 Folks got involved, this university by the way in my race got involved in ways it hadn't before. 00:28:58.000 --> 00:28:64.000 And my ask is as we flow into the 2016 campaigns 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:08.000 as we flow into the 2018 campaigns and the years beyond 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:13.000 you remember what you wished you had at this university in terms of subsidy and in terms of support. 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:18.000 And in terms of opportunities and classes that you maybe not have been able to have here. 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:21.000 And you demand something better for the folks who follow. 00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:27.000 That's the only way it's going to happen is if we demand something more and have a vision to support it. 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:28.000 Yes ma'am? 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:37.000 You know I grew up in a time when students practiced civil defense drills and we hid under our desks or in my case in the hallway. 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:40.000 In case of a nuclear attack. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:45.000 You know and the reality was hiding in the hallway was not going to protect anybody from a nuclear attack. 00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.000 What you needed to do was prevent a nuclear attack. 00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:58.000 So when I was a young mother, I worked for a group called Physicians for Social Responsibility which worked on that, the prevention of nuclear war. 00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:63.000 And then I ended up actually coming to Oregon because of the bottle bill. 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:11.000 Because I was looking for a place that was environmentally progressive because I was concerned about the environment. So I came up here for a little while. 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:18.000 Ended up going back to New Mexico, becoming a Biologist. And then after I had children becoming a teacher. 00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:27.000 And what happens now in the schools is we teach our kids to hide under their desks or in the corner of the room or whatever 00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:31.000 in case of an armed person on campus. 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:39.000 And I've been in the position many many times of trying to explain to third graders or fourth graders 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:43.000 you know how to handle that fear. 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:50.000 Because nobody ever tells you, they tell you how to proceed with the drill, but they didn't give you any instructions as to how to proceed 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:53.000 with talking to a third grader whose more fearful than others. 00:30:53.000 --> 00:30:57.000 Some kids don't worry more than others. 00:30:57.000 --> 00:30:61.000 But the reality is that comes back to prevention to. 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:10.000 The only way that you're going to protect someone against somebody armed is to prevent that person from getting a gun to begin with. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:16.000 And one of the bills that is now before the House and Senate 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:20.000 is the bill to require background checks. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:22.000 for every gun that's sold. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:35.000 The guns that are sold on the internet, the guns that are sold well you know private sales, that no one should be able to get a hold of a gun 00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.000 if they can't pass a background check is my feeling. 00:31:39.000 --> 00:31:44.000 Because we need to protect the kids in this school in the elementary schools 00:31:44.000 --> 00:31:47.000 all the way up. 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:52.000 And the way to do that is to prevent the wrong person getting a hold of a gun. 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:56.000 And I'm just asking what your thoughts are on that bill. 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:61.000 I'm on record supporting background checks for all sales. 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:10.000 The problem right now with that particular bill isn't just about sales it also includes something called non sale transfers. 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:19.000 And in the attempt for the bill and the bill's authors to try and be 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:25.000 inclusive and comprehensive, the language itself actually 00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:35.000 created some small problems that myself and about two or three other legislators are trying to work through right now. 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:42.000 We had a meeting today actually with the sheriff of Polk county, with the sheriff of Marion county. 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:51.000 And some police chiefs that asked that their cities not be revealed to talk about the specifics of the bill. 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:60.000 And the fundamental choice that right now the bill offers as written is it 00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:05.000 it may save lives, but there's no money for enforcement. 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:13.000 And the chiefs and the sheriffs are greatly concerned, in fact the two sheriffs are publicly opposed to the bill. 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:21.000 Because it's one more thing that they don't know how they're going to enforce because of the way it was written. 00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:27.000 This is a very personal issue for me. 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:32.000 As a Veteran who spent most of my adult life anyway trying to defend 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:37.000 all of the amendments in the constitution 00:33:37.000 --> 00:33:45.000 much has been made about some writings that I provided having to do with the second amendment. 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:50.000 And there's a particular group in the state right now that is 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:56.000 in some weird way trying to influence my vote by threatening and reminding me of 00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:60.000 my responsibilities to defend 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:05.000 the second amendment to which I remind them there's more than the second amendment. 00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:08.000 I actually understand my duty to defend the constitution. 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:15.000 They get a little bit weird when I've asked them if they've actually served but that's a whole different story all together. 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:21.000 Here's what I know. I know at the end of the day, the negotiations of this particular bill 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:26.000 are not yet complete, so I'm not going to tell you where we are on that. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:30.000 What I will tell you is there is widespread 00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.000 if there is a universal understanding on this bill 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:44.000 it's that not only do legal background checks for legal sales need to be accomplished, which again I have committed to. 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:51.000 But that no matter how good a law is, until we have a mental health system that actually provides the kind of care we need 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:54.000 the law alone will not do a great deal. 00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:61.000 Now, I'm willing in certain cases to support a bill if it will save even one life. 00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:05.000 So I'm not saying that it's a cop out that one's more important than the other. 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:13.000 What I am saying is sometimes in our current political system, conflict drives the train. 00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:17.000 And we get so focused on this side and that side 00:35:17.000 --> 00:35:26.000 that a symbolic victory that may not do a whole lot eats up all and consumes all the political energy 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:34.000 when in fact there is a solution that would actually save a lot of lives that isn't brought up. 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:39.000 My commitment to you and again you can look at my record you can look at my writings 00:35:39.000 --> 00:35:44.000 is that I believe a comprehensive solution is necessary. 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:47.000 I believe that we need to have a mental health care system 00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:51.000 that was abandoned by the way under the Reagan era 00:35:51.000 --> 00:35:58.000 we need to rebuild the mental health system that makes sense and actually treats people where they're at. 00:35:58.000 --> 00:35:61.000 We also need to recognize that our societal 00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:05.000 cushions, our relationships have changed. 00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:12.000 And that in a bad economy, what might have once made a person mad enough to go kick his dog 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:16.000 now may make a person mad enough that they may go shoot up some place. 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:21.000 And that we can find smarter solutions to what we have. 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:25.000 So, here's my reply to the answer. 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:30.000 I'm not only interested in 941 and trying to find a solution for that. 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:36.000 But I'm far more interested in finding the ways that we can resolve 00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:42.000 preventing crisis and preventing long term catastrophic 00:36:42.000 --> 00:36:48.000 expensive care for folks that we have ways to prevent. 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:53.000 Example, I introduced a bill called House Joint Resolution 23. 00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:61.000 House Joint Resolution 23 if your on the internet you can look it up. It actually has a friend of mine's name as the author. 00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:04.000 But it would be a 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:09.000 local option levy if it could get to the ballot, it would be a local option levy that would provide 00:37:09.000 --> 00:37:14.000 funding for school resource officers, for school counselors, and for school nurses. 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:22.000 Because a lot of when we look at school shootings specifically a lot of the kids who are involved in those things 00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:32.000 had their been adequate support beforehand, would never have A gotten a hold of a weapon or B terrorized their peers and C quite frankly might actually been saved. 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:38.000 So my concern about the 941 fight that's going on right now 00:37:38.000 --> 00:37:42.000 and for my political science professors that 00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:47.000 remember the American or the political spectacle by Murray 00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:50.000 I think that we are practicing that spectacle. 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:55.000 And that a lot of energy is being focused on this particular fight and that's fine. 00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:61.000 But I have a commitment to you that underneath that fight the real work 00:38:01.000 --> 00:38:04.000 needs to continue and I'm committed to doing that real work. 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:12.000 The sheriffs and the chiefs and I have all agreed that we will continue working during the interim on mental health investment strategies as well as 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:20.000 on finding the models that actually make sense and can do exactly what you said: Prevent those catastrophes. 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:29.000 My name is Nicholas Haugen and I'm a psychology major, communication studies and organizational leadership minor. 00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:32.000 Something all of us students are very familiar with is 00:38:32.000 --> 00:38:34.000 the rising costs of tuition every year. 00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:39.000 Luckily here at Western we do have some very good programs that have helped to reduce that. 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:44.000 Recently, I was actually able to go down to the Ways and Means Roadshow in Springfield. 00:38:44.000 --> 00:38:50.000 And unfortunately I did not get the chance to testify because they did run out of time. That's alright I'll tell them. 00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:59.000 But, one of the things that was talked by investment Oregon was the number of different ways we could fund 00:38:59.000 --> 00:38:63.000 education or the different types of funding options we could use. 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:11.000 And my question for you is what do you see as the best not necessarily short term but really long term way of 00:39:12.000 --> 00:39:23.000 or direction that should be gone in for those programs that doesn't really leave the students choosing to pay for their books, rent, or groceries for the next week. 00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:27.000 The question about how to get tuition stabilized, how to get costs lowered 00:39:28.000 --> 00:39:32.000 I could tell you I have a magic plan to make that happen. 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:34.000 I'm not that good a liar and you're not going to believe me anyway. 00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:40.000 What I can say is that, one which we talked about earlier is we have to have a vision in Oregon 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.000 for what we want to do before we can effectively do anything. 00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:52.000 Second, some people wish it were different 00:39:52.000 --> 00:39:55.000 government doesn't actually make jobs 00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:63.000 or at least make jobs effectively well. We're pretty good at prison guards but that's not really the job we want to be making more of. 00:40:03.000 --> 00:40:08.000 We have to create an environment where we can compete and we have to have a way I think 00:40:08.000 --> 00:40:12.000 of enough economic development, enough growth in 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:18.000 the meaningful kind of growth, that we can actually have revenues coming in that can help 00:40:18.000 --> 00:40:23.000 state schools especially keep tuition low. 00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:37.000 My plan, my vision is we have a couple of options that I don't think we have maximized yet and I ran quite frankly to work on those so I'll explain what those are. 00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:40.000 We are on the Pacific Ocean. 00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.000 Or at least close to it. That way. 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:50.000 On the other side is this big place called the People's Republic of China. 00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:57.000 It likes our hazelnuts that at this point not always can tell between 00:40:57.000 --> 00:40:63.000 or at least some consumers in China cannot always tell good wine from Kool-Aid but we're working on that. 00:41:03.000 --> 00:41:07.000 And a place that has potential for a number of crops 00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:12.000 that we can produce in ways that most other places really can't. 00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:19.000 We have some small little problems we got to get passed. We got to fix some problems at the port of Portland for example at terminal six to make sure goods can get out. 00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:25.000 We also have some issues with water and other things that we need to work on. 00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:27.000 But at the end of the day 00:41:27.000 --> 00:41:32.000 I think that one of Oregon's greatest strengths is in 00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:39.000 thinking about our agricultural sector in a way we haven't really before. And here's what I mean by that. 00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:46.000 For a long time we've thought about agricultural as the production of particular crops and commodities 00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:56.000 And then in many ways very little manufacturing on top of that other than putting in bags or putting it in transport materials and sending it off to other places. 00:41:56.000 --> 00:41:65.000 What if Oregon was able to brand itself in ways that are consistent with our ethos. 00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:15.000 And consistent with the wilderness and the Pacific Northwest and the healthy type of approach 00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:18.000 and focus our sales and marketing efforts 00:42:18.000 --> 00:42:24.000 on places that are receptive to that particular type of branding because of their own environment not being so much like that. 00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:30.000 For example, in many places in China pollution is kind of a big deal. 00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.000 There are a number of ways I think we can maximize that. 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:39.000 So you say to yourself he's talking about trade, he's talking about agriculture, how? Here's how. 00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:43.000 How many of you watched the movie Wild? 00:42:43.000 --> 00:42:47.000 Not long ago kind of important. Alright. 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:50.000 Here's the really cool thing about Wild. 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:58.000 It was filmed in Oregon most of it. And it was done in a way that actually had a particular relationship with Danner Boots. 00:42:58.000 --> 00:42:62.000 Remember the boots that she was wearing in the movie? 00:43:02.000 --> 00:43:09.000 Well Danner actually made that type of boot, a special kind of boot, and did the whole packaging thing about what it would look like in the 1970's or whatever. 00:43:09.000 --> 00:43:15.000 And according to some of the folks that we're working with on some of our bills in the film and video office 00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:22.000 China, even though perhaps there's a guess there's a lot of mountains to climb but I don't know if everyone goes climbing 00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:24.000 they're buying boots to beat the band. 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:30.000 Because they think that boot connects them to this wild place and that natural wonder. 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:35.000 And what I'm trying to say is we have, if we're smart about it 00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:37.000 I think we can come up with 00:43:37.000 --> 00:43:41.000 a strategic vision for our economic development that at least in part 00:43:41.000 --> 00:43:47.000 leverages tourism and film and video of our great Pacific Northwest 00:43:47.000 --> 00:43:52.000 with particular targeted products and marketing that are made in the great Pacific Northwest 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:56.000 for maximizing the value of some of those crops. 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:61.000 Instead of thinking how we can compete for the lowest dollar or the lowest competitive price for production 00:44:01.000 --> 00:44:06.000 I think we move aside and recognize that in the emerging markets of Asia there is a niche. 00:44:06.000 --> 00:44:11.000 There is a place that wants high quality natural 00:44:12.000 --> 00:44:14.000 wonder orientated type products. 00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:20.000 And I think that actually that will help us, if we're smart about our investments because we can't do everything 00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:22.000 But I think that type of trade 00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:32.000 is a way to help raise revenues in a way that actually would have an impact upon tuition, would have an impact on what we put in schools, would have an impact on infrastructure. 00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:40.000 It's going to take a few years to get there and it is a little bit different than what kind of approach that some have had but 00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:46.000 in economic development sometimes we get forced into thinking we need to chase down the next best thing 00:44:46.000 --> 00:44:48.000 and find them and bring them here. 00:44:48.000 --> 00:44:57.000 Or, we can try to grow and become an incubator for ideas that are already here, from producers that are already here. 00:44:57.000 --> 00:44:67.000 I think both of those have value but what we have not really tied into it is this world of social media and this world that now ties us together through film, video, youtube, ect. 00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:10.000 So I'm very excited about the possibility of that. 00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:22.000 And we actually have a bill that works to extend the sunset, allow a little more money for people who want films to come here 00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:28.000 and we're working with the governor's office on how we can figure out a way 00:45:28.000 --> 00:45:34.000 to A get film and video locations beyond just the Portland area 00:45:34.000 --> 00:45:38.000 and B how we can optimize and maximize specific manufacturing 00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:42.000 and or agricultural products and or maybe even timber products 00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:48.000 that we can at the high cost or at the high end in terms of value in terms of low end 00:45:48.000 --> 00:45:52.000 where it's just really hard to complete globally because of labor cots, environmental costs, and everything else. 00:45:52.000 --> 00:45:55.000 So it's a different approach. 00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:61.000 I think that the Danner boot story, you don't base your entire economy on one thing. 00:46:01.000 --> 00:46:10.000 The trends in terms of an increasingly connected world and social perspective in our world I think is proof 00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:17.000 that there are some opportunities there we just haven't maximized. So that's where I'm putting my lot and that's what we're trying to do. 00:46:17.000 --> 00:46:20.000 Other questions? 00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:26.000 So my name's Elizabeth Aldrich, I'm a political policy major with emphasis in human resources and communication. 00:46:26.000 --> 00:46:28.000 God bless you. Thanks. 00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:36.000 So my question is I just recently moved from Colorado and correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the legalization of marijuana 00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:39.000 those taxes directly going towards education funding? 00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:42.000 So is that something we're going to be implementing here? 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:46.000 I mean not to bring up a controversial issue. 00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:50.000 No first of all thank you for moving from Colorado. 00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:56.000 Second, when it comes to marijuana and 00:46:56.000 --> 00:46:62.000 the revenues from marijuana there's two or three things we have to sort out. 00:47:02.000 --> 00:47:08.000 Which by the way my long term strategy once the federal government decides 00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:19.000 that marijuana should be legal is to export every piece of marijuana we can to China, to Singapore, to Vietnam. 00:47:19.000 --> 00:47:25.000 To every place that has money to spend so they can become less productive and happy 00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:27.000 so we don't have to fight a war and we can gain. 00:47:27.000 --> 00:47:29.000 But that's a different story. 00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:36.000 But we have two pieces to it. Number one when the measure was passed there were specific 00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:40.000 it was written in a certain way that money would go to 00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:46.000 I believe the common school fund is that correct? I'm always confused on that. I'm looking at Tim for clarity. Common or the other one? 00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:50.000 Anyway, it's the one that has less flexibility let's just say that. 00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:56.000 In talking with the writers, they thought it was one but it wasn't. 00:47:56.000 --> 00:47:61.000 There's some mechanical aspects of where the money goes to. But even if it when to the right fund 00:48:01.000 --> 00:48:04.000 some of the money goes to local law enforcement, 00:48:04.000 --> 00:48:09.000 and then some of the money goes straight to the state general fund for distribution. 00:48:09.000 --> 00:48:12.000 Now truth and advertising, a lot of that would still go to education. 00:48:12.000 --> 00:48:19.000 However, here's the problem with the marijuana piece right now. 00:48:19.000 --> 00:48:29.000 In Oregon, and I'm sure Colorado and Washington had similar challenges but in Oregon we've had medicinal marijuana for a while. 00:48:29.000 --> 00:48:41.000 And what I can only say is a staggering amount of glaucoma among Oregon. Remarkable actually. 00:48:41.000 --> 00:48:48.000 So trying to figure out a way to literally bring a commodity that has been a black market commodity 00:48:48.000 --> 00:48:55.000 which from what I'm told one of the best growers I guess Oregon marijuana's pretty good but nonetheless a black market economy 00:48:56.000 --> 00:48:58.000 into the mainstream has really two or three problems. 00:48:58.000 --> 00:48:65.000 First one is we have the medicinal marijuana piece which is insurance paid and not taxed. 00:49:05.000 --> 00:49:12.000 The legal recreational marijuana will be taxed. 00:49:12.000 --> 00:49:15.000 Will be taxed. 00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:20.000 Making the taxed one the preferred option 00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:25.000 I think will be a little more of a challenge than we first thought. 00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:33.000 Because it's not subsidized and we are working through in a number of bills right now 00:49:33.000 --> 00:49:40.000 how we can improve the medicinal marijuana piece so that folks that really do have a need for that because of medicine 00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.000 are not adversely affected 00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:47.000 by the stand up of the recreation. But at the same time 00:49:47.000 --> 00:49:54.000 recognizing that perhaps there was an 8,000% increase in glaucoma that maybe some people were perhaps getting the card for other purposes. 00:49:54.000 --> 00:49:59.000 And trying to get them to want to actually get the legal kind. 00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.000 How that plays out will affect really the revenue stream over the long term. 00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:08.000 Now, the other piece is 00:50:08.000 --> 00:50:15.000 there's some concerns that actually we've looked at Colorado for what you've had to deal with. 00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:20.000 Because the federal government doesn't recognize the legality of this market yet 00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:28.000 there is a great concern about folks walking around with very large bags of cash. 00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:37.000 They can't go into a bank or credit union because that would be laundering because it's still technically illegal according to the federal government. 00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:45.000 So I don't know yet when there will be enough revenue for us to be fighting over is the long term question or long term answer. 00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:51.000 I think four, five years out it might be a 70 to 80 million dollar a year revenue maker 00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:57.000 but I think before we start counting those chickens we really got to make sure we figure out the policy first. 00:50:57.000 --> 00:50:66.000 Because just in discussions even this past week about the mechanics about this, local governments have a great deal of concern. 00:51:06.000 --> 00:51:13.000 And the other piece is well OLCC Oregon Liquor Control Commission will be overseeing this effort 00:51:13.000 --> 00:51:21.000 there's a number of medicinal marijuana places in certain parts of the state that have popped up over night, some are and some aren't. 00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:27.000 And they're anticipating transitioning into the recreational side once it's legal. 00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:30.000 I'm not sure that's actually going to work the way they think it is. 00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:35.000 So, short term answer is I don't know how much money there will be for education. 00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:40.000 Long term answer, I suspect a good portion of it will be fed into education. 00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.000 But in the first several years I suspect a little more than they planned 00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:51.000 the authors that got it passed planned will go toward local law enforcement or at least local implementation of 00:51:51.000 --> 00:51:59.000 how we have the medicinal next to the recreation in a reasonable way. Does that make sense? It's going to be a little bit of a complicated ride. 00:51:59.000 --> 00:51:65.000 But again, ten years from now China watch out, we'll be sending it your way. 00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:07.000 Any last questions? 00:52:07.000 --> 00:52:14.000 I'll let you finish up the evening on one of those third rail questions but you brought it up originally and that's the kicker. 00:52:14.000 --> 00:52:19.000 Yes. And just for the edification of the students in the room, it sounds great 00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:28.000 if the economy is good and the personal kicker kicks that's going to actually harm them here at Western because there will be less money 00:52:28.000 --> 00:52:30.000 allocated for higher ed. 00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:36.000 And I'm curious, you know the forecast in the future 00:52:36.000 --> 00:52:40.000 of can the personal kicker ever really be unkicked 00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:46.000 or is that always going to be a third rail for politicians to 00:52:46.000 --> 00:52:47.000 to work through. 00:52:47.000 --> 00:52:52.000 Number one, you've heard the term kicker. 00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:56.000 Kicker was developed at a time 00:52:56.000 --> 00:52:59.000 you're not going to believe me but you can look it up 00:52:59.000 --> 00:52:64.000 at a time when the Oregon legislator because of timber harvest and other revenues 00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:12.000 was parking 400, 500 million a year in unusual surplus in the budget. 00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:15.000 I know. Cant believe it but it happened. 00:53:15.000 --> 00:53:22.000 The legislators thinking to themselves, "Ah, hah we see what's going on in California" with what was at the time called the Sage Bush Rebellion 00:53:22.000 --> 00:53:29.000 said we can't have every other year this amount of money here. People are going to wonder why we aren't doing other things. 00:53:29.000 --> 00:53:31.000 And they're going to want it back. 00:53:31.000 --> 00:53:36.000 So here's an idea, I suspect alcohol may have been involved 00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:43.000 and a lot of legislators were thinking, "Let's come up with something so confusing it'll never happen, ha ha wink wink" 00:53:43.000 --> 00:53:50.000 So they passed at first into statue, not into the constitution, but into statue 00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:54.000 this idea that if revenue projections 00:53:54.000 --> 00:53:56.000 unfortunately it's not about spending it's about revenue 00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:62.000 if revenue projections exceed 2% of what you plan on coming in 00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:06.000 then everything more than what you planned goes back to the tax payers. 00:54:06.000 --> 00:54:12.000 Now once upon a time that was a statutory rule or it was a law. 00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:16.000 Which means statutes are not 00:54:16.000 --> 00:54:22.000 tied into the constitution, legislators can modify that from time to time. 00:54:22.000 --> 00:54:26.000 It was also at the time I believe a deduction, not a credit. 00:54:26.000 --> 00:54:33.000 So when you're doing your taxes the kicker from the previous year would be helpful. 00:54:33.000 --> 00:54:41.000 It wasn't until a very enterprising soon to be one time US Senator came up with the idea of sending checks back 00:54:41.000 --> 00:54:47.000 and locking it into the constitution did it take on quite the political consequence that we have today. 00:54:47.000 --> 00:54:52.000 Especially in an era where sometimes we have pennies but we don't have dollars. 00:54:52.000 --> 00:54:56.000 So the kicker as it exists today is one of 00:54:56.000 --> 00:54:65.000 those weird things that in an economy, let's just hypothetically say like ours today, that is getting better but not great. 00:55:05.000 --> 00:55:10.000 But gets better just enough to go over the 2%. 00:55:10.000 --> 00:55:17.000 Money that's exceeding what was originally planned goes back to the tax payers even though 00:55:17.000 --> 00:55:26.000 the economy isn't growing fast enough or at least isn't projected to grow fast enough that that money wouldn't be felt. 00:55:26.000 --> 00:55:32.000 These aren't such good times that we can kick back 340 million and say oh it's all fine it's not a big problem. 00:55:32.000 --> 00:55:39.000 We're kind of in that a little bit too good a little bit too bad kind of environment which is not unknown for Oregon. 00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:47.000 Now the other thing is that the kicker it relates to this biennium. 00:55:47.000 --> 00:55:53.000 Because as we're doing the end of the year where we're ats 00:55:53.000 --> 00:55:55.000 it basically has to be harvested then. 00:55:55.000 --> 00:55:60.000 So it doesn't actually impact next biennium but it does impact this biennium. 00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:04.000 Which means that cuts can come in very particular quick fashion. 00:56:04.000 --> 00:56:07.000 As opposed to something you can project out over two years. 00:56:07.000 --> 00:56:15.000 Like for example if you know you're going to have a decline in revenues over two years you can generally feed it out a different way. 00:56:16.000 --> 00:56:20.000 The way that we have to deal with the kicker, we close one year and then we go into another. 00:56:20.000 --> 00:56:26.000 What that means for you quite frankly is that if the kicker does kick, which we suspect it will 00:56:26.000 --> 00:56:32.000 you may get a check for 60 or 70 bucks, maybe, I don't know, 40 bucks whatever. 00:56:32.000 --> 00:56:38.000 but that 340 million plus or minus may require that 00:56:38.000 --> 00:56:47.000 some public institutions, I don't know like Western may have a larger hit than that in the aggregate so you actually end up either paying more for a particular item or 00:56:47.000 --> 00:56:53.000 a program may go away. It's just a weird thing we have with the kicker. 00:56:53.000 --> 00:56:59.000 Now, the question is is it the forever the third rail? 00:56:59.000 --> 00:56:64.000 I'm told by some hearty souls in the legislator 00:57:04.000 --> 00:57:08.000 that by a vote of forty in the House and I think twenty in the Senate 00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:13.000 you can actually divert the kicker on a one time vote. 00:57:13.000 --> 00:57:19.000 Getting forty people in the House to vote for that however I think is maybe 00:57:19.000 --> 00:57:25.000 maybe roughly the same odds of winning the lottery tonight. 00:57:25.000 --> 00:57:29.000 But there are 35 democrats and 25 republicans and 00:57:29.000 --> 00:57:35.000 I think maybe one or two republicans can get there but I don't see forty in the mix. 00:57:35.000 --> 00:57:44.000 What that means to me is that for this year I don't actually see the kicker being kept I see the kicker, if it kicks going back in small checks to you. 00:57:44.000 --> 00:57:54.000 Unfortunately, you getting that small check in the aggregate takes away from the purchase power of what it might have been in a program. Does that make sense? 00:57:54.000 --> 00:57:61.000 So, bottom line, someday perhaps you will have an opportunity to amend the kicker. 00:58:01.000 --> 00:58:04.000 Many of us, myself included 00:58:04.000 --> 00:58:10.000 believe we should do something with the kicker, the personal kicker, kind of like what we did with the business kicker. 00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:18.000 As far as rainy day funds or savings or something. Really if people should say we should run the government like a business I don't know let's actually perhaps 00:58:18.000 --> 00:58:27.000 do that as opposed to "Hey we over realize things, all the money goes back then we have to cut programs". Never made sense to me. 00:58:27.000 --> 00:58:28.000 But at the time 00:58:28.000 --> 00:58:31.000 I'm told by folks that were involved in that process that 00:58:31.000 --> 00:58:40.000 they thought by having that on the books that it would prevent a ballot initiative that might take more stringed approaches. 00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:44.000 I don't know, I still think it was probably a drinking game. 00:58:44.000 --> 00:58:55.000 But it's what we have and I think long term we have to figure a way out of it but I don't see the political will right now to change it over the long term. 00:58:55.000 --> 00:58:59.000 Kind of like self serve gas and the sales tax, kind of in that same category. 00:58:59.000 --> 00:58:67.000 So here's the deal, I believe this country though we have not always made the best decisions in recent years 00:59:07.000 --> 00:59:12.000 I still believe that our country has the most capability for good out of any country on the planet. 00:59:12.000 --> 00:59:16.000 And I don't mean that because of traditions or songs or flags 00:59:16.000 --> 00:59:21.000 I mean that because at the end of the day I think that generally most Americans are decent human beings that want something better. 00:59:21.000 --> 00:59:29.000 Here's the thing, some of you are graduating soon some of you will a bit later. All I ask of you is this. 00:59:29.000 --> 00:59:37.000 Try to figure out a way to make sure you're worthy of the sacrifice of the folks that came before you, that's all. 00:59:37.000 --> 00:59:44.000 So that the folks that follow you have the same responsibility. We really can do a lot of great things. 00:59:44.000 --> 00:59:51.000 And I know you don't necessarily have a lot of the tools and opportunities that the generations before you had 00:59:51.000 --> 00:59:55.000 but you do have a lot of opportunities that other people around the planet don't have. 00:59:55.000 --> 00:59:60.000 If I can help you on anything don't be shy but in the mean time 01:00:00.000 --> 01:00:06.000 try to be worthy of what you have. Participate, demand more of your leaders, demand more of your teachers. 01:00:06.000 --> 01:00:09.000 At the end of the day we're only as good or as bad as you allow us to be. 01:00:09.000 --> 01:00:13.000 So thank you for coming and thanks for participating. Have a good night. 01:00:13.000 --> 01:00:16.000 Applause. 01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:20.000 Music.