The Public Employees' Benefit Board (PEBB), created by the merger of the State Employees' Benefit Board (SEBB) and the Bargaining Units Benefits Board (BUBB), is holding an open enrollment for higher education employees from now through Nov. 6. All employees will receive open enrollment packets, which include a PEBB survey, in mid-October.

The PEBB surveys will be used to gauge employees' responses to their current benefits package. During 1999, faculty members and unclassified staff will remain under the SEBB program, and classified employees will continue under the BUBB program. In the year 2000, however, PEBB will provide a single benefits package for all state employees.

One worry is that the cash-back or opt-out possibilities currently affecting three-quarters of faculty and unclassified staff will be sacrificed to create one benefits package in 2000. There also could be a further reduction in the number of plans available to faculty.

Although the survey asks for information about the current benefits programs, faculty also can use the survey if they want to go on record opposing a reduction or elimination of their current benefits.

Faculty members should use survey question 5 to let PEBB know what they like about their current SEBB benefits package, says Helen Stoop, Human Resources benefits administrator. Faculty happy with the current program can take this opportunity to let PEBB know they are opposed to a decrease in the number of plan choices and a reduction or elimination of cash-back or opt-out in 2000.

Return surveys as soon as possible to PEBB Benefits Manager, 775 Court St. N.E., Salem, OR 97301.

Return open enrollment forms to Human Resources by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. If you have not received your open enrollment packet by Oct. 23, call Cindi Peterson at Human Resources, 6-2956.

The recent downturn in the world economy is having a ripple effect on students at Oregon's largest university.

"We're seeing a downturn in returning international students," says Associate Vice President Jim Buch, Student Academic Affairs. "It is apparent that economic problems at home are causing these students to take a break in their higher education plans abroad."

At the same time, Oregon students are entering the University of Oregon in higher numbers.

Last year, the UO was one of the nation's top 10 universities for proportion of international students, according to U.S. News & World Report. International students, drawn to the UO because of its strong international academic reputation, have accounted for more than 10 percent of the student body in past years.

This year, the UO's total enrollment is down about 400 compared to last year. Approximately 275 non-returning international students account for more than two-thirds of that decrease. The remainder is accounted for by a decrease in the number of out-of-state U.S. citizens.

"The good news for Oregonians is that the number of in-state students is up significantly," Buch says. According to preliminary enrollment figures, the number of Oregonians coming to the University of Oregon is up by more than 200 this year compared with last year.

"At the UO and other schools, we are seeing a surge in Oregonians choosing their state's public universities," Buch says. "Our local students appear to be recognizing what students around the world have known for years: That the University of Oregon offers a truly world class education. I hope these numbers serve as a wake-up call for increased public support for our schools."

The University of Oregon will receive a $236,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to implement an extensive program aimed at reducing alcohol and drug abuse among students.

The UO is one of only seven universities in the nation selected for the highly competitive grant. Awarded by the DOE's Drug Free Schools Program, the grant is the largest of its kind at the UO, which competed against 58 other schools for the funding.

"This grant is very significant in that it affirms the efforts already underway at the University of Oregon to help address and combat a serious problem of alcohol and drug abuse among students," says President Dave Frohnmayer. "Perhaps more important, this federal funding recognizes that substance abuse on college campuses is a serious societal problem‹one that deserves immediate attention with comprehensive and creative approaches."

Under the direction of Student Life, the grant will fund a two-year, multifaceted effort entitled "New View 2000," the goals of which are to reduce the rates of binge-drinking and marijuana use on campus. The target population will be first-year students who historically have exhibited high use of alcohol and marijuana at the UO.

"Our research tells us that alcohol use and binge drinking are not declining. As is the national trend, UO students also are under the misperception that their peers drink and use other substances more frequently and in greater quantities than they actually do," says Assistant Dean Linda Devine, Student Life. "Consequently, a major component of our effort will be to reach out to first-year students to correct these misperceptions, adjust their perceptions of campus norms, and reinforce and enhance a safe and healthy social and learning environment at the UO."

Co-directing the grant with Devine is Associate Dean Laura Blake Jones. Both credit the UO's selection for grant funding to the support of the administration and such offices as Housing, Greek Life and Student Academic Affairs, as well as the City of Eugene and the Eugene Police Department.

"A community partnership is essential to the success of any efforts to address drug and alcohol problems," says Blake Jones. "We have such a partnership in the Campus Community Relations Task Force (CCRTF), a campus-community coalition that regularly meets to look at issues including alcohol and drug use."

The UO has a long-standing commitment to proactively addressing the issue of alcohol and substance abuse on campus. It was named by DOE in 1996 as having one of the best alcohol prevention programs in the nation.

Provost John Moseley launched the 1998 State of Oregon Charitable Fund Drive at the University of Oregon by challenging departmental coordinators.

"We are in such a beautiful environment. And we are beneficiaries of very good benefit plans," he observed. "As one of the more fortunate groups in this community, it's up to us to help out those less fortunate, to help build a better quality of life for everyone."

Noting that UO giving has been generous in the past--faculty and staff donors increased their level of giving last year by 15 percent--he added, "We need to do an even better job this year."

Campus coordinator Nancie Fadeley hopes that it will also be a fast job‹that pledge cards will not linger on busy desks where they risk burial in things-to-do piles. She reminds all faculty and staff of the wisdom of Publilius Syrus, who observed in the first century BC: "He doubly benefits the needy who gives quickly."

Call departmental coordinators or Fadeley, 6-3013.