emerald
platform
Balfe and Kouns waged a meaningful race
Congratulations are in order to C. J. Balfe and his
successful bid for the ASUO presidency Barte had
ffie endorsement of this newspaper and the nterfra
temrty counci — as wel as the endorsement of a
wining margin of voters. But — congratulations are
atso in order to Kevin Kouns and his efforts seeking
ASUO pressoency.
kt these dsonented times for Oregon higher
education. Bake represents a smootft transition of
student power from one ASUO president to his
successor. There is a strength in ffiis that w* serve
the students of this University The State Board of
rtgher Education must become more responsive to
the student bloc And when the student bloc is
consistent in its aims and Ms lobbying efforts, the
state board and the Legislature will be unable to
ignore the students needs tor higher education
Kouns has nothing to be ashamed of in his
campaign. Kouns. and the Students for a Progressive
Agenda, for the most part ran a campaign that
brought to tight important issues to students They
didn't shy away from the larger concerns of national
and intemabonai potties There were those, this
newspaper included, that considered the arena of
nabonaf and international politics to be secondary
elements in the ASUO elections But to Kouns credit.
' M Vu ft HARDt) GH&mrt r
he stuck to Ns principles and continued to address
the question of U S involvement in Centra) America,
the draft and other issues that affect students
Kotins is reponsibte for keeping students aware
of the work) beyond the boundaries of this campus
and the local pubs The formation of SPA harkens
back to days of student activism — activism m a
poiticai form that had more than a minor place in
persuading the policies of this country s administra
tion
This election is said to have been "dirtier" than
last year Some 23 election violations have been
lodged with the Elections Court That's 19 more than
last year This aspect of the election is nothing for
Baffe nor Kouns to be proud of In fact, accusations
of violations (notably a tetter in the Emerald con
demning SPA) may indeed have adversely influenced
the outcome of the election
The Elections Court will hear the litany of viola
tions Wednesday and make rulings The court has
the power to impose fines — the average being a $50
penalty payment to an extreme case, they could
invalidate the entire election
Some of the alleged violations amount to over
zeatousness on the part of SPA supporters, or just a
misunderstanding of how (and where) they could
campaign. The seriousness of these violations is
questionable Some responsiblity in these alleged
violations must rest with the Elections Board They
apparently didn't do that good of a job overseeing the
whole election
Balfe will provide strong and single-minded
leadership for this Univesity But, Balfe must not
ignore the fact that his margin of victory was roughly
4 percent over Kouns who ran on a platform that
wasn't simply University student educational con
siderations That says students are concerned, wrth
the quality of higher eduction and the world they
inherit upon graduation Balfe should bear this to
iTund throughout his tenure as ASUO president
solly hodgkmsor
editor's note
They've dubbed it
"WPPSSgate.' andthepeople
of Springfield are mad as hor
nets about increases in their
eiectricai bills due to cost
overruns from two defunct nu
clear plants in Washington.
Hey Mr. Big Man? When
you gonna listen to us little
folks down here?” Glenn
Sofge s defiance rang
throughout the meeting room
in me MMamatane Senior Cit
izens Center, startling most of
the 100 people attending the
hearing on the ratepayer's
burden for the WPPSS
protects.
‘Wiat is he, crazy? Who
is he?” asked an old man sa
ting on the edge of his front
row seat. His eyes bulged
magnified by thick glasses
“What is he doing?” he asked
someone next to hkn
The surprise was not at
the fighting words of Sofge.
but at the volume "Sit down
and speak into the micro
phone," someone advised
him. "Don’t need no micro
phone,” Sofge answered,
‘anyone can hear what I got to
say Listen Mr Big Man in your
ivory tower — it s going to tal* ‘
Sofge then sat and quiet
ed down, having gotten toe
attention of aD to the room
"We know we've been tricked,
tied to and cheated
As Sofge talked on, the
old man relaxed. Then he
chuckled. "Well, he sure is
mad, isn the7’
Yep Sofge — a Spring
field ratepayer who looks Ske
Cheswick to the movie One
Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest
— sure is mad He s mad about
his eiectnc bd. he's mad at toe
Springfield Utility Board for
signing the WPPSS contract
and he s mad at WPPSS and
BPA officials who refused to
show tor the hearing
And he has tots of com
pany The red-whrte-and-btoe
citizens of Springfield many
who shook their head and
sighed over the anfi-estabfesh
ment protests of the 1960s,
are now marching In Feb
ruary, 400 irate ratepayers
rallied to protest WPPSS,
some of them burning elec
trical bits
They've become sus
picious of public officiate and
those in the power industry.
When it was mentioned n the
hearing that John Lobdell,
Oregon s public utility com
missioner, was invited to tes
tify, the old man snorted He
won't come He's a coward
They're all cowards you
know ”
"No sane person would
sign a contract that had no hd
on what they d be paying and
no guarantee of services,'1
said Pay Raymond, leader of
Springfield Far Share, a rate
payers group Something is
going on. and we need to get
to the bottom of it"
The hearing audience,
mostly older ratepayers
clothed in work clothes and
polyester, cheered those who
lashed at WPPSS. BPA and
SL® officials When SUB Gen
eral Manager Steve Loveland
testified, they were polite,
although a few guffaws and
hisses were heard
“We are ratepayers,”
someone testified ' We have
rights n the state of Oregon
We don t owe them a dime We
don't own them a cotton-pick
ing thing 11
An Albany ratepayer, who
traveled to the hearing to otter
moral support, urged the
Spnngtieldrtes to keep push
ing "We need to stick
together like a couple ot
clams ”
The old man read a letter
to the committee that he had
just received from U S Sen.
Mark Hatfield It was vague. "I
am concerned about your
concern” type of letter, but the
old man read it as it it was the
Declaration ot Independence
As he shuffled back to his seat,
his friends and neighbors
clapped He turned to the
small crowd and waved
In Springfield, the little
guys — ratepayers — are
banding together to fight the
big guys — the power industry.
Hey. Mr Big Man. don't un
derestimate the anger of these
Spnngfield taxpayers
staff
Page 2
Sa»r HoOgktretor
Saarjw Scw-’W
Eflv
H*r»> £*»<«
<notM««nEMor
yodp Hti'f
Boc a*x«
Car? formate
Sports EtMot
S*<« Sc*v
y
Uanar fjraar A/v Poru.'
P§patm» *1 and Scnoott Potatcs/£nnronmant
CeCD t Hem art OorH^nt
Ganaraf Staff
OfHni Gor»
CMM
S*0, Of!
Ann Pafrson
Con+oSmr
Jtf! OwnCMf