Photo by Trish Weisman A new face on campus belongs to William Axford, appointed in July as the new head librarian at the University Library. OSPIRG Students researching public interest issues In October, 1970, Ralph Nader came west with an idea. He asked the students of the State of Oregon: Why not start your own consumer watchdog agency, funded through student funds, responsive to the needs of the consumer? By June, 1973, Nader’s original idea had blossomed into a busy and well-known organization that in the last two years issued voluminous reDorts on topics ranging from toy safety to used-car dealers, to bait-and-switch advertising. The organization is the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG). Its purpose is simple—to serve as a watchdog over business and government and to protect the interests of the consumer. To do this, OSPIRG has grown in the last two and a half years into a powerful consumer agency with a full-time staff. OSPIRG is funded through contributions by most of the colleges and universities in the state. At the major universities, including this University, OSPIRG is funded through the incidental fee process. The ASUO is funding OSPIRG this year to the tune of $41,000. Contributions from other colleges will bring that total close to the $124,000 that was OSPIRG’s operating budget for 1972-73. The money goes to finance the full-time staff, which includes three lawyers, a psychologist, a scientist, an economist and a secretarial force. It also finances the basic research that is OSPIRG’s main tool in protecting the consumer—the facts that, when backed up by publicity, and, in some cases lawsuits, attempt to keep business honest and government functioning in response to the people. In addition, OSPIRG has hired 11 student interns for the summer, including three from the University, for the projects it is conducting this summer. Those projects include a study of the public service performance of television stations in the Portland, Salem and Eugene areas, a study of the State Highway Division and its highway building functions, several studies on land-use, including an in-depth look at the manner in which the Oregon Coastal Development Commission implements its permit-granting standards, a study on mental health, and a study on tourism and the State Highway Department’s policy of advertising to increase tourism in Oregon. Among previous OSPIRG studies, major efforts have been made in exposing advertising fraud, the selling of illegal, dangerous toys, the proposal of Portland General Electric to build a nuclear generating plant on Cape Kiwanda, and in promoting en vironmentalist concerns around the state. But that isn’t all. The list goes on and on. OSPIRG is styled to be a “full-service” public service venture— not just exposing fraud in business, but serving as a watchdog on government agencies that frequently are unresponsive to the needs of the public. Scott Spittal Legal services At prices students can afford For about ten cents a month, you’ve got an attorney. The ASUO uses part of students incidental fees to contract with a Springfield law firm for group legal services for students. Attorneys Bob Ackerman and Tom Hanlon, of Babcock & Ackerman, see as many as 15 students a day by appointment in the Legal Aid office, 318 EMU. The firm was originally retained to represent the student body in a lobbying capacity, but in 1971 their function was redesigned and they began to represent individual students. Services include: advice and consultation, dissolution of marriage (used to be called divorce), legal research, notarial acts, preparation, drafting and reviewing of contracts and other legal documents, conferences, correspondence or negotiation with adverse parties or attorneys, in corporation of groups for non-profit purposes and most recently, preventive law presentations to students regarding their rights and duties. This service is available to individuals or groups on request. Students need only be currently enrolled at the time the request is made to qualify, but there are a few types of cases the office is unable to handle, including matters involving litigation, criminal cases, tax matters and estate planning, cases against the ASUO, incorporation for private profit and student conduct cases. ASUO provides the attorneys with office space and equipment, but the firm pays all other ex penses. The service costs ASUO $19,000. There are two part-time work-study secretaries. Ackerman would like to transfer more of the legal research to law students to further increase the office’s ef ficiency and ability to handle clients. The attorneys can refer cases of consumer fraud to Oregon Student Public Interest Group (OSPIRG) and represent students when conflicts arise with the University administration or faculty. Since the students, in essence,-retain the attorneys, anything students tell the attorneys is privileged, but consultations with advisers and administrators are not. At the time the University established the Legal Aid office, only two other universities had similar programs, usually called group legal service, like group health plans. Ackerman has answered inquiries from 30 to 40 other universities about the program and believes programs like this will soon be the rule, rather than the exception, on campuses all over the country. Terri Scarborough For ALL Your Student Needs University of Oregon BOOKSTORE (Formerly University of Oregon CO-OP) Main Floor, rear: art supplies postage stamps check cashing qift wrapping typewriter rentals wrap for mailing Street Level: book drops newspapers magazines I shirts, sweatshirts qreetinq cards sbny hitachi tennis rackets, supplies Second Floor: new text books u.s