What Do You Think...
... of Student Government?
On Jan. 22 this box appeared for the
first time on the front page of the Ore
gon Daily Emerald. And from that day
to this it has been a regular feature
on page one.
Today, we're analyzing the results
so far—attempting to discover what
Student Government means to you.
Twenty answers, we'll admit, don't
indicate the opinion of about 4,000
students. To get a good representative
sample of the student body, as we dis
covered fall term, several hundred stu
dent opinions are needed.
But we do think the answers were
indicative, at least in part, of some of
the problems which student govern
ment here faces.
We hope this daily question has
made you do some thinking. Perhaps
you've come to some conclusion about
Student Government on the basis of the
answers.
Why not compare yours with ours?
What do you think of student
government ?
That question has appeared on
the front £age of the Emerald
for the last 20 issues. And below
the question were the answers
of 20 Oregon students.
The answers stacked up some
thing like this:
Five students said Oregon's
student government is good; two
of the five said student govern
ment provided worthwhile train
ing in democracy.
Ten students were critical of
student government. These stu
dents said student government is
impersonal and leaves out capa
ble people, too far removed from
students, takes too much time
from studies, lacks a concrete
purpose and has a poor attend
ance record.
Three students said that the
University administration inter
feres too much with student gov
ernment.
Seven students stated that par
ticipation in student government
is poor.
Four students criticized Ore
gon’s system of preferential vot
ing.
One Wanted More
One student said student gov
ernment should be enlarged; one
suggested it was covering too
much area now.
(The number of student opin
ions listed here will exceed the
20 answers as some students
commented on several phases of
student government.)
We’d like to break down these
opinions and see what's behind
them. We shall base our discus
sion on the ASUO senate which
is the largest and most repre
sentative of student governing
groups.
Two Arguments
There are two principal argu
ments for student government
of this type: (1) It teaches demo
cratic processes and (2) it per
mits students to solve problems
which might otherwise not re
ceive attention.
In the United States there has
developed the idea of “good citi
zenship training” as a goal of
education. Schools are instructed
by parents, politicians and busi
nessmen to turn out citizens, not
scholars. Student government i3
presumably an aid in this process.
This theory appears generally
to be sound. A democratic society
needs to produce intelligent men
and women who are aware of
their social responsibilities. But
we believe that the help supplied
by student government is very
limited.
Once Each Year
The student-body, as a whole,
has an opportunity to directly
participate in this process but
oncg a year—at the time of
ASUO elections in the spring.
Last year about 51 per cent of
the student-body eligible to vote
actually cast ballots. This is a
percentage which is lower than
that of the recent national elec
tion.
Several factors limit the “teach
ing” capacity of the "body poli
tic,” the ASUO senate. Some
members tend to be “repeaters,”
once they get on the senate they
seem to stay. This narrows the
number of “pupils." The issues
which the ASUO senate grapples
with are few. The pay telephone
controversy was one. It is pos
sible that mass student discon
tent might have produced a tem
porary organization to solve this
problem. However, this lies in the
field of speculation and the ef
forts of the senate cannot be dis
regarded, no matter how unco
ordinated and feeble they seemed
at times.
Real Issues Rare
It is rare that an issue such
as pay telephones arises. The
normal work of the senate is
composed of selection of com
mittee heads, handling elections,
making investigations and
recommendations. Much of the
business which passes through
the senate’s hands is concerned
with self-perpetuation. The sen
ate selects a Homecoming chair
man in the fall who tells the stu
dents in the spring what a grand
joh he did, who is elected to the
senate, who picks a- Homecom
ing chairman who . . .
The senate in actuality has
little power when it comes to
making decisions. The president
of the University holds the ulti
The Oregon L>aily Emerald published Monday through Friday during the college year
except Jan. 5; Mar. 9, 10 and 11; Mar. 13 through 30; June 1, 2 and 3 by the Student Publi
cations Board of the University of Oregon. Entered as second class matter at the post office,
Eugene. Oregon. Subscription rates: $5 per school year; $2 per term.
Opinions expressed on the editorial page are those of the writer and do not pretend to
represent the opinions of the ASUO or of the University. Editorials are written by the
editor and the members oi the editorial staff.
Jim Haycox, E'litor
Sally Thurston, Business Manager
Helen Jones, Harry Hobart, Al Karr, Associate Editors
Bill Gurney, Managing Editor
Jackie Wardell, News Editor
Sam Vahey, Sports Editor
Asst. Managing Editors: Paul Keefe,
Dick Carter
Asst. News Editors: Laura* Sturges, Len
Calvert. Joe Gardner
Personnel Director- Kitty Fraser
Chief Night Editor Anne Hill
Wire Editors: Lorna Davis, Andy Salmins,
Virginia Dailey
Nat’l Advertising Manager: Carolyn Silva
Layout Manager: Jim Solidum
Classified Advertising Manager: Beverly
i ! llli.'' s:
mate responsibility for the total
University program.
Hence, it may be. seen that the
ability to participate in the
“democratic training program"
is limited by (1) little direct
student body participation; (21
"repeaters"; (3) lack of real
issues; and (4) restricted pow
er.
A Sounding Board
The second argument advanced
for student government, that it
permits students to solve prob
lems. disappears when one real
izes that students have no power
to solve problems but can only
recommend and suggest. The
senate, at times, becomes an ef
fective pressure group and a stu
dent sounding board for the ad
ministration, but when the deci
sion is made it is usually one
suggested or approved by the ad
ministiation. We do not regard
this as particularly offensive.
The administration carries the
responsibility, not the students.
Students come and go but the
administration is permanent.
And there are pressures which
students can apply mass action,
word-of-mouth criticism— which
will sway the administration to
ward a desperately needed re
form.
Several students quizzed in
“What Do You Think of Stu
dent Government?" said stu
dent government is too imper
sonal and too far removed from
the students. This does not ap
pear to be a valid criticism. Sen
ate meetings are publicized in
the Emerald. Meetings are open
to the public. Senate minutes are
available upon request. Senate
leaders are spread among a
number and variety of living or
ganizations.
Lacking Purpose?
One student said that student
government lacks a purpose. The
ASUO constitution states the
purpose of the Associated Stu
dents of the University of Ore
gon. It says:
“We the students of the Uni
versity of Oregon in order to es
tablish a representative govern
ment; to encourage the develop
ment of leaders and participants
for the community and the sov
ereign state of Oregon; to stimu
late an awareness of the rights
and responsibilities of students in
relation to the community; to
improve student cultural, social,
and physical welfare, and to pro
mote the general welfare of this
institution, do hereby ordain
and establish this Constitution.”
Attendance Good
Another student states that
members of student government
have a poor attendance record.
During fall term of this year 12
senators had perfect attendance
records and none of the senators
were absent more than twice.'
Student government leaves out
capable people, a student asserts.
In some aspects this is true. The
undeveloped leader, the individual
who lacks initiative or drive,
.tends to become lost in the mass
of the student body. He is culti
vated to some degiee in the
lower echelons of student gov
ernment the committees. But
a great deal of his success in
student government depends up
on his ability to push himself.
However, this qualification is not
limited to the University; a sim
ilar situation exists in "the out
side world."
It's Their Job
Three students said that the
University administration med
dles too much in student govern
ment. We cite again the fact
that the final responsibility
rests upon the administration.
The ASUO constitution recog
nizes this when it says, "... the
President of the University of
Oregon has the ultimate respon
sibility for the total University
program."
Seven students declared that
there was poor participation in
student government.
No Great Interest *
Students are not profoundly
interested in student government.
Spring term elections create
some attention but it is only
transitory. The reason may lie
in the fact that student govern
ment has no real power, that it
is only playing at politics. Apa
thy to government is not uncom
mon in other circles. Government
is often regarded as dull and un
interesting.
Proponets of a strong, active
student government spend a
great deal of time trying to think
of methods of interesting stu
dents. The results are usually
the raising of synthetic issues or
the magnification of small prob
lems. Students will become in
terested in student government
when a problem of real signifi
cance arises. Again, the pay
phone battle serves as an ex
ample. Between issues they wil
not be tricked into participation
Student Doesn't Know
Four students reacted unfa
vorably to Oregon's preferential,
voting system. Few persons ac
tually understand the metho
used to elect ASUO officials. I
norance has resulted in blac
comments about the unfairnes.^
of the system. It is granted tha
drawbacks to the system may
found (and the senate recently
discussed some of these hand
caps). However, the general stu7
dent knows little about how pref
erential voting works and car
less. The generalization tha
preferential voting is "bad" ha
become a popular one.
What conclusions can be
drawn from the 20 answers to
“What Do You Think of Student
Government ?"
Three Conclusions
We would say these: j
1. Students are generally un
interested in student government
because it raises no real issues*
which vitally affect them.
2. There is a great deal of ig
norance concerning the operation
of student government. This maj
be interpreted to mean, again,
a lack of interest, because in-1
formative sources are available
to students.
3. Students are aware rtf staj
dent failure to participate ac
tively in student government but
they have no immediate solution
nor are they inclined to seek one.
We submit that these conclu
sions are supported only by per
sonal observation and the com-i
ments of 20 Oregon students
picked at random from the
campus. We believe that in gen
eral they are true conclusions'
and have a strong basis in fact.
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