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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1978)
r*-editorial Oops... Due to poor information given us, we mistakenly criti cized SUAB candidate Kevin Pope in Tuesday’s editorial endorsements for Position #12, as having a “lack of gen eral knowledge concerning the SUAB, as evidenced by his impressions that two people will be elected to this position instead of just one.” As it turns out, both positions #12 and #13 will be filled by the top two vote-getters of the three candidates listed for position #12. We sincerely apologize to Pope for the misin terpretation and, since the main reservation we had con cerning Pope was his “mistaken impression" about how many people would be selected to represent the psychol ogy, sociology and anthropology students, we endorse him along with Mike Haddock as the two candidates best qual ified for the job. v. Letters For Ramon Herrera Three stories high in the EMU, the Emerald has chosen to en dorse one ASUO Presidential candidate on the basis of what he hopes and promises to do for the University of Oregon student con stituency. However, my view from the ASUO office on the ground level gives one quite a different perspective when it comes to as sessing the qualifications of these five hopefuls. Without going into detail, let it suffice to say that during the past 20 months in the ASUO, I have had an extensive opportunity to work with three of the five candi dates. I know little about Mike Lockwood or Jim Dowhower, but of the other three I feel capable of giving a first-hand insight. In political competition, it is often fashionable and quite safe to make promises which people would like to hear. The issue seems not to be the promises, but rather the ability to deliver. In light of the recent Emerald observations, both by Editor Wally Benson and assorted ASUO Program personnel, regarding the “circus atmosphere” and disre spectful attitude of a few members of the Incidental Fee Committee, doubts cross by mind concerning the ability of either Doug Benson or Jeff Warren to effectively or ganize, supervise and coordinate an effecient Executive staff. Ben son and Warren were Chairer and vice-chairer of the IFC respec tively. The amount of past involve ments can never begin to out weigh the quality of involvement. While it is true that Ramon Herrera has been actively involved with ASUO-related activities for only one year, the quality of his interac tivities has proven impeccable. As the designated liaison be tween the ASUO Executive and Student Programs for the past two years, I have had the opportunity to work closely with Program per sonnel. Ramon is without a doubt one of the most impressive indi viduals I have had the privilege of working with. He is mature, confi dent without being arrogant, re sponsible, and a respected leader. Despite ill-advised criticism to the contrary, Ramon IS a realistic thinker; his ideas are practical, well-thought-out and especially geared toward the improvement of student advocacy. His energy seems limitless and well-directed; his concerns are conscientious and his solutions within reason. If you are truly concerned within the efficiency of ASUO student government, I strongly urge you to vote for Ramon Hererra for ASUO President this Wednesday and Thursday, and encourage your friends to do the same. You will be glad you did. ASUO Adm. Michael Connelly Ass’t., Programs and Community For Salena Baker Salena Baker has worked closely with me during my term of office as SUAB #11. She has de monstrated to me that she is the most competent individual to take-over not only the normal duties of an SUAB member, but the responsibilities of the newly formed AAA union as well. This new union’s success relies on several factors. An active, ef fective input from the Art Depart ments is one of the keynotes. Salena will not be a quiet voice hovering around the studios. She will present the needs of the art students effectively and to the right people. Salena is not un nerved at being vocal. The very nature of the problems within the realm of the depart ments require careful execution. Salena's familiarity with these problems and her knowledge of the channels of communication insure me that she will design ef fective solutions. FAA, Art History, and Art Ed. majors, if you make it to the polls it is my hope that you will elect her as my replacement. Even if you don’t get around to voting and she is elected, I believe I can be as sured that you will extend to her the good input you gave to me Robin Patrice Geer Senior, Graphic Design Former SUAB #11 For Lockwood From reading the Emerald (though I realize it can at times be different from the candidates’ ideas), it seems that most goals do not differ substantially among the ASUO presidential candi dates. In fact, their goals are nearly the same as current Presi dent Gary Feldman's goals when he started his year in office. These goals include: keeping tuition as low as possible, releasing course evaluations, and expanding stu _opinion Dowhower responds Submitted by Jim Dowhower ASUO pres, candidate, Junior, Architecture Both Mark Cogan and the Oregon Daily Emerald are dead wrong. For either of them to endorse a candidate is all well and within reason, but to falsely misrepresent my platform is in poor taste and reeks with political undertones. And because of their news articles I have suffered personal embarassment and feel compelled to defend my integrity. First, Mr. Cogan, who obviously counts in a mathematical base other than ten. mentioned that my previous experience with ASUO Presidents had been limited to two. not three. You count for yourself. Jim Bemau, Jan Oliver (under Mark Cogan) and Gary Feldman. Secondly, I rejuvinated and "published an ASUO State Affairs newsletter that, before my input, read like ticker-tape. I substantially rewrote many of the legislative lobbying (ASUO/Oregon Student Lobby) position statements because of their am biguous, professional nature and readdressed them to the general public. Thus Webster defines pub lish.” And I freely and without error use that newslet ter material whenever I talk about student legislative issues, i.e. in my Revenue Generation Voter's Guide. So how does plagiarism enter into Cogan's assess ment of statements found in the guide? Thirdly, none of my statements are misleading and are quite to the contrary. All of my campaigning has been straight-forward and to the point. I suggest you read the guide and judge for yourself. Then afterwards, ask to see any of the other four candi dates’ literature. You will find that I have made every effort to publicize my platform and present it to the entire campus community, especially the 90 percent that do not usually vote. Lastly, I agree with Mr. Cogan in his remark that many people from this campus and other campuses put more time into lobbying efforts than did I. But none were more effective. Of the nine student bills backed by the UO and OSL, only the two I helped lobby for (tuition freeze and financial aid eligibility realignment for middle-income students) were put into law. Last year in Salem, I refused to go along with the majority of Cogan’s lobbying ploys — using vol unteers and bills as decoys. My philosophy was that the whole team should be informed, not just the leaders. That is why Cogan and I never worked side by side in our lobbying efforts. Cogan was obviously loo political, and in retrospect, ineffective as a Vice President for State Affairs. Due credit must must be given to those hun dreds of people who have contributed to my cam paign efforts, the culmination to be seen in my Re venue Generation Voter's Guide. So, in response to the ODE’S May 1 editorial, which belittles me as a one-issue candidate, one only need browse through my guide to disqualify that comment. While revenue generating co-ops haven’t a paved road to acceler ate on, they do have merit and address the full spec trum of university difficulties. For the ODE to stress one issue from these co-op potentials is the same as saying white light is one color; completely unaware of light's principal components. I do, however, agree with the ODE and Cogan that I am a poor choice for the ASUO President they are looking for. I absolutely refuse to go along with the system that my opponents are already too much a part of. Let’s face it, if I am elected President I will shake-up the ASUO "buddy system.” My campaign jeopardizes their security. My platform emphasizes and details a major transfusion, which will put the power of student government back into the hands of the student majority and away from the ASUO Ex ecutive, IFC and Program personnel. Typical campus politicians have disregarded the needs of the student majority by their adherence to a ‘buddy system," that aligns itself to the exclusive interests of a minority. They control all $1.4 million of our Incidental Fees which greatly support their par ticular program interests, and their salaries. The "typ icals” will continue to do so without interruption until a disgruntled handful in the crowd stand up and chal lenge them. Apathy has been fueled by those typicals,’ and has so far served them like clockwork. Apathy is not innate, something must bring it about. The best way to shatter that mystique is to get behind someone who has gained your respect and confidence, shares your views, and who is willing to kick-ass. My needs coincide with many of yours, so if you cannot afford the time to get the job done yourself, then take the time elect the next best alternative.. an ASUO President who is not a part of the established system. I am the best avenue you have to effect a shake-up in the ASUO “buddy system." Vote for revenue generating initiatives that you can affect I ask for your confidence. dent programs while simultane ously stabilizing the rate of inci dental fees. However, most candidates this year don’t have very strong methods of achieving these goals. One candidate stands apart from the others here. Mike Lockwood knows how to get things done. I have read his campaign flyers and talked with him at his table outside the EMU. I have not merely read the distorted evaluations of his ideas in the Emerald. First, he will work hard to get things done through the normal channels of the University. His other methods, which the Emerald has blown out of proportion, are to be used only in cases of extreme stubborness exhibited by the University Ad ministration and Faculty. These methods include the ASUO or ganizing their own course evalua tions (not a “blacklist”), if evalua tions are not released Students make the University what it is. Even though the state pays a great part of tuition, stu dents also pay a large percen tage. We should have at least that percentage of voice in University affairs. Since Lockwood is the only candidate who will stick his neck out in support of a strong ASUO, I am supporting him in the hope that we will become a more student-oriented University. Frank Partridge Junior, Mathematics Not for Dowhower Just as Mark Cogan felt compel led to write of the inaccuracies of Jim Dowhower’s campaign mater ial, I too feel obligated to set the record straight with respect to Dowhower’s rhetoric. Quoting from Dowhower's campaign material: “ASUO Pres ident Gary Feldman offered me a position in his administration, but because of our conflicting philosphies [sic] of a reactive vs. innovative outlook, I opted to work independently.” Dowhower was interviewed by Molly Devlin and I for the position of Vice-President for State and University Affairs where he placed third among the three candidates for that position. He was then of fered a chance to apply for an Administrative Assistant position which he refused. He was never offered a position with my administration nor was there any discussion about reac tive vs. innovative policies bet ween he and I. Given all the bullshit around here anyway, I just don't think we, as voters, should add to it by sup porting Dowhower. Gary Feldman ASUO Pres. For Jeff Warren After four years of attending this institution, including a year as a student program director (SEARCH), I think I’ve developed a fairly comprehensive under standing of the student bureau cracy. Like most students, I’ve never really been much interested m who was ASUO President. After being a part of the student bureaucracy for a year I realize that the direction (or lack of) that the ASUO Executive provides in addressing the needs and con cerns of students can have a sig nificant impact on the quality of this University’s educational ex perience. Although I’m graduating this spring and don’t really give a rat's ass what happens next year, I do plan to vote for Jeff Warren and urge others to do likewise. I realize that the majority of students could give a flying leap about student politics. I know I didn’t for the ma jority of my academic career. But how hard is it to read the candidate’s positions in the ODE than go and vote. But does it really matter? Heck yes! Student government here is much more autonomous than at most colleges and univer sities. The ASUO has the author ity to affect a wide variety of stu dents. It is obviously important that we elect an executive who is experienced in all aspects of stu dent government, who under stands how the system works and the best way to get results through that system, and who has the abil ity to identify the issues which most affect the students. I’ve known Jeff Warren for two years and I am convinced that he is the most qualified of the five candidates to run the ASUO. If you’ve been following the cam paign, you probably know of Jeff’s work with the State Legislature, SUAB, and IFC, all necessary pre requisites for the job of ASUO President. If you didn't know that: take note, this guy is qualified. You’ve read this far and you’re still apathetic, non-plussed perhaps. After four long years all I can say is yes, Virginia, it does make a dif ference. Give half a damn, vote in the ASUO primary. Andrew Freeman Senior, Geography
