On the campaign trail IFC candidates • • • Most Incidental Fee Committee candidates agree that programs funded with incidental fees should be maintained at the same level or upgraded without an increase in the fees Candidates outnumbered spectators at a Friday forum, where 20 of the 35 IFC candidates were represented Most of the spectators were current ASUO officers or candidates for other positions The forum, moderated by Alan Contreras, ASUO vice president for program administration and former IFC member, gave candidates five minutes each to answer prepared questions Several candidates are supporting the the Students for a Progressive Agenda platform The SPA is a coalition including student program directors and the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation which has endorsed positions on a variety of issues Ted Marks, a sophomore in political science and biology running on the Students for a Progressive Agenda platform, said the SPA "demonstrates a great vision” on how to make this school a "model University " See page 8 for related story Marks said he would promote fundraising, cut ASUO subsidies of the athletic department and community outreach programs and moderate problems between student groups Stephen Pacheco, a junior in political science and biology, said the IFC needs to develop a more cohesive relationship with student programs Also running on the SPA platform, Pacheco charged that the current IFC has misallocated funds by being ignorant of the programs and that they could have been more efficient in budgeting processes and meetings. A third candidate supporting the SPA platform, political science junior Jeff Nudelman, said the IFC should Keep incidental fees down, establish a budget management office, work more closely with programs and especially encourage growing, vital organizations “I would try to represent the interests of the whole student body,” he said Dianne Ritterband-Mason, a sociology junior also running on the SPA platform, said she is totally against increasing incidental fees or cutting student programs and would examine the contingency reserve fund, because "no one seems to know what's in there " She said she will sit in the office of Ray Hawk, vice president for administration and finance, for 20 to 30 hours a week until he talks to her about the fund, which she calls the “horror story of student government." The IFC should establish a budgeting office to help programs develop their budgets, with ethnic and minority unions given top priority, she said Dale Penegor, a sophomore in political science and economics, says incidental fees could even be cut by reducing the ASUO subsidy of the athletic department and not increasing the incidental fee otherwise The IFC needs total control over incidental fees and should not be told by the athletic department how the ASUO subsidy is being spent, he said, adding that the current IFC bickered over $50 for student groups while writing a "blank check" to the athletic department. Biology sophomore James McMurray, wrote “I believe that the present administration has failed to meet the needs of all the students on campus " McMurray submitted a statement read by Contreras "Budgets for student organizations are often decided on the basis of a set of figures presented to the IFC without proper explanations of how these figures were arrived at and with little actual factfinding by IFC members,” he added "I do not feel it is necessary to raise incidental fees, but rather to take a closer look at how allocated money is being spent," McMurray wrote Barton Hill, a biology sophomore, said a mixture of incidental fee hikes and programs cuts will best allow programs to survive Hill proposed that the ASUO subsidy for the athletic department be cut but not eliminated Women's organizations budgets are at a skeletal level and must be saved, Hill said. He added that the IFC must work more closely with groups and use the same four-point criteria in every funding decision. Tom Granandar, an international studies junior who emphasized his disagreement with the SPA platform, said the IFC should adopt zero-based budgeting The athletic department and Child Care and Development Center both deserve support, as do minority groups so long as they don't duplicate each other, he said Granander also said University students should form a chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws David Lesser, a political science junior running on the SPA platform, said the IFC should be scrutinized for its role in the total student government picture and should be involved in legislative processes It should be legal for incidental fees to accrue interest, he said, adding that he believes the IFC should ask for more justification from student programs Lesser proposed that the IFC establish a budget office to facilitate budget work and set and obey principles for funding Tim Jones, a fourth-year architecture student, said there definitely should not be an increase in incidental fees and that it should be recognized that priorities are “academics first, programs second Incidental fee funding should be based on the percentage of students involved, whether students involved are helping to pay for the group and a matching fund philosophy, he said Jett Cole, a senior in CSPA and political science, said the IFC should get involved in finding new sources of income, especially entertainment Cole said the IFC should have committees for revenue and for soliciting donations through the University Foundation and that criteria for funding should be agreed upon by the IFC and programs at the beginning of each year Rod Nevaroll, a political science senior, said the IFC should initiate “preventative maintenance in the budget" and that he would defend an increase in the incidental fee if other channels were fruitless The IFC needs stricter allocation guidelines and an "ear tuned to minority and ethnic groups" during periods of enrollment decline, he said Spencer Moore, an undeclared sophomore, said "I would have no part in decreasing the ability of Oregonians to attend the U of O " Moore stressed his opposition to raising the incidental fee Organizations facing budget cuts should be able to plan their own budget reductions, he said, adding that he believes he has the ability to listen to others and deliver what students need Business sophomore Devin Wale said the incidental fee will have to be increased, but there should be a ceiling placed on the hike This year's IFC successfully laid a foundation for future years, he said, adding that a radical change in the incidental fee process would cause "fiscal havoc." The IFC should have a link with the University administration, involve more students. allocate funds by cost-benefit ratios and gradually wean the athletic department from ASUO subsidies, Wate said Mark Spanca, a junior in political science and international studies, said the ASUO must learn to reduce its dependency on incidental fees, but that he supports the referendum to raise incidental fees for the benefit of Recreation and Intramurals Department The ASUO should get out of the ticket-selling business, he said Bob Maad, a computer and information science sophomore, said the current IFC successfully balanced the books but established some "arbitrary across-the-board fiscal policies.” Mead cited as examples IFC resolutions curtailing travel, food, and lodging line items He said these caused several organizations to become “crippled” or "a program only the wealthy can afford ” This IFC should have been "up front" about cutting academically-oriented programs and paid more attention to goals, Mead said English sophomore Doug Rappoport said he isn't afraid to make necessary radical decisions to cut through the "red tape and squabblmgs" and follow up with ideas and programs Mary Allca Holmes, a psychology sophomore, said the current funding process is an "assembly line” that dehumanizes programs and program directors Holmes, another SPA supporter, added that the IFC must evaluate student needs and wants Incidental fees should not be raised, and should be allocated through policies that "truly reflect student needs," she said Women's groups are currently underfunded, she added Political science junior Mary Catharine Shrauger spoke about the differences in funding levels, saying said some student programs are "fat” while others are "skeletons ” She added that all students should benefit from incidental fees Shrauger said she would emphasize working with and investigating programs and more effective uses of incidental fees An investigation of better uses of incidental fees should be held before any decision is made raise the fee, she said. A representative for journalism junior BetzyFry, said the she would reevaluate current expenditures and advocate cutting programs that are not benefiting the student body at a certain level. Fry also says she believes that alt worthy groups, including the athletic department, have a right to incidental fee revenues, the representative said By Dane Claussen 1 hey don t run for money or fame The large field of candidates for student offices reflects the high level of competition for diminishing incidental fee dollars, says Alan Contreras, ASUO vice president of program administration. The competition is especially tough for Incidental Fee Committee positions, where 35 candidates are competing for seven spots, he says "In times of plenty, there’s no incentive to run because programs can get what they want no matter who’s on the committee — generally," Contreras says One example is the forensics team, whose budget request was pared nearly 50 percent by the IFC. Out of the three program members running for an ASUO office, two are running for the IFC, and all say the forensic budget hearings initiated their quests for office Although she says she isn’t seeking revenge, SUAB candidate Lori Lieberman adds that she was "really unhappy" about the forensics budget decision. The three speech team members' candidacies are coincidental and not a result of a coordinated plan, she adds The Students for a Progressive Agenda coalition is an organized reaction to IFC decicions, presidential candidate Kevin Kouns says “I was somewhat up in arms about the goal hearing," he says The coalition also helped one EMU Board candidate decide to run "Being part of an already existing system was not motivating," Mary Hotchkiss says. "Perhaps getting in with people who wanted to make the same changes did motivate me.” Hotchkiss says her experience with the IFC, through a daycare program, caused her concern “It seems the people on IFC and in ASUO possess no experience outside of academia," she says. Because of complaints from many groups, including the Crisis Center, IFC candidate Clarke Ireland says he decided to run to investigate the charges and determine the allot ments. "I myself wasn’t so much dissatisfied with the way the money was distributed," he adds. One presidential candidate says he was motivated to run because of the presence of special interest groups. “I don’t buy this special interest crap,” Jeffrey Houston says. "I’m upset about the fact that you have to buy this office.” Most student government office holders are paid a stipend of $75 to $250 per month, but many candidates say they were unaware of the monetary reimbursement. Among the candidates who knew the positions are paid, the monetary incentive was belittled. "If there was a monetary incentive involved I’d be working somewhere eise for ten times more," Balfe says. "If I were looking for a job to pay me, looking on campus is the wrong place to look,” IFC candidate Tim Jones says. The motivation to run because the title would enhance their resume was an insignificant factor as well, several candidates say. Because of his experience working in the Oregon legislature and working for state senator Richard Bullock, "I don’t need this," IFC candidate David Lesser says. Houston says he plans to emigrate after graduation to join the Israeli military and doesn’t need resume filler. “Anybody who says that it’s not part of the reason is a liar," Balfe says. 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