Primary analysis
It's the time of year to start speculating on student
elections. From an analysis of who is running for what, some
interesting conclusions can be drawn.
The most obvious change from last year is the number of
students vying for the top office, ASUO president. Last year,
six candidates of various backgrounds campaigned for the
post. This year only two hats are in the ring — David Gibson,
who is the ASUO vice president for administration and
finance, and Mary Hotchkiss, who chairs the EMU budget
committee.
Gibson is a senior in accounting, while Hotchkiss is a
senior majoring in English and French.
The reasons for not running are good. Stipends have
decreased, there are questions about the ability of student
government to make changes and there is an impression that
only those with direct experience in the current student
government have a chance at being elected.
Likewise, not many are vying for positions on IFC, with
more than a $2 million fee budget to dispense, the most
powerful student committee on campus. This year 18 people
are running for seven positions, compared to 35 who ran last
year
There are two positions open on the Student University
Affairs Board and most of the other 14 members are running
unchallenged.
Perhaps students realize the large amount of work these
groups must do — for little finanical or meritorial compensa
tion The IFC decreased their own stipend from $100 to $80
per month for members and $175 to $125 for the chairer. The
SUAB members will take a $5 per month cut in stipends —
down to $35.
Yet there is a bigger and more lamentable reason for not
running for important student offices. Student government at
the University increasingly has been polarized into two
groups: The Greeks and Students for a Progressive Agenda
Many potential candidates fear that if they lack the
endorsement of either of these two groups, they don’t stand
a chance of being elected, no matter how good their ideas
are or how hard they campaign.
This has been the case in the past three presidential
elections.
Contributing to that problem is what may be called the
“baton syndrome" — the presidency is handed to the chosen
successor of the current head officer. Witness C.J. Balfe
succeeding Rich Wilkins who in turn succeeded Dave Eaton
Instead of running for the traditional, prominent ASUO
offices, students appear to be seeking spots on specialized
boards.
Eleven students are up for nine seats on the board of the
Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group, compared
to five last year. Five students are running for one seat on the
Emerald s board of directors, compared to none last year
There is room for more diverse people on all the com
mittees and programs of the ASUO. It is regretful that no
minority student has chosen to run for the ASUO Executive
presidency or many of the other offices.
Neither the fraternity system nor SPA should mandate
who fills those positions.
With a budget of more than $60,000 under the control of
the ASUO president, with the entire student fee budget and
the responsibility of representing student opinion on ihe
University Senate and Assembly under control of elected
students, these positions are extremely important
It’s unfortunate that students are discouraged from
running for these offices — as this year's ballot reflects.
I letters
Dog lover
This letter is in response to
one by T Lewis, who asserts
that true dog lovers should
leave their pets at home when
they come to campus I love my
dog. and it is for this reason that
I do bring her to school
It is true, as Lewis states, that
there are some lonely, hungry or
otherwise mistreated dogs on
campus Certainly dogs should
not be left to roam free if they
are a nuisance to others
But these facts do not
condemn those conscientious
dog owners who love and care
for their animals
My dog is happiest when she
is with me, roaming and playing
in the sun She even comes to
class with me But when cir
cumstances do not permit, I
have no hesitation in tying her to
a post tor a while She Knows I
will return, and is content to
stretch out on her side for a nap
until then
Lewis. I share your concern
for dogs poorly trained or cared
for But as a dedicated dog
owner, I resent your pretentious
plea for me to leave my dog at
home She liKes to go to school
Jason Rudorman
junior, biology
NOW, WHO 6E1S THE COQ AU VIN, AND WHO GETS THE CHICKEN CAOCIATORE ?'
I letters
No Hungarians
I was delighted to hear that a
‘‘Festival of East European
Peoples" would take place on
campus. But I was surprised
and disappointed to find that
though the festival is billed as
“A series of public events
concerning the cultures of
Eastern Europe," evidently the
cultures of Poland and of
Hungary would be omitted
There was no mention of them
in the advertisement
Surely then, the festival can
be termed only a festival of
some of the East European cul
tures, since to omit Poland and
Hungary is to omit two cultures
that have close ties to the West
and that have been a profound
influence on "Western Cul
ture.”
In light of this omission.it is
definitely misleading for the
festival's promotional material
to imply that all East Eoropean
cultures will be represented I
hope that, during the festival,
some mention will be made of
these cultures that do not
appear on the program or in the
festival
D. Garboczi
Interested
At the beginning of Winter
term I moved into a house with
some friends only to find it
infested with tiny black ants
The landlord ‘gnorad our pleas
for an exterminator Unsure of
our legal rights, we called the
Oregon Student Public Interest
Group s Consumer Information
Hotline They advised us to pick
up an OSPIRG Renter's
Handbook
The information from this
publication enabled us to follow
proper legal channels to the
elimination of our problems
The many services OSPIRG
provides are geared specifically
to the needs of students
OSPIRG presently operates a
Consumer Information Hotline
and provides copies of qualita
tive consumer surveys on local
banking services, bicycle
repair, and auto servicing
OSPIRG has publications on
specific consumer rights and
supports the Citizens Utilities
Board, a public representative
against questionable utility rate
hikes
OSPIRG has done much to
support University students but
now asks a little in return. On
April 13th and 14th on campus a
poll will take place OSPIRG has
a referendum on the ballot
asking for an incidental fees
increase of three dollars a year
per student That's one dollar a
term, per student of support for
OSPIRG
What will one dollar buy
today? 1.818 Monster Cookies,
1 538 Henry's from Taylors, or
an OSPIRG and all of its
services for a term
Accompanying the refer
endum is a constitutional
amendment that calls for a
referendum in two years This
means that if OSPIRG fails to
satisfy students they can revoke
OSPIRG's funding and place
the burden of providing its
worth on OSPIRG Vote yes for
OSPIRG on April 13th and 14th;
then see what student advocacy
can do tor you
Douglas Emmerich
senior, recreation
and park management
Actually
With so much student money
used to maintain the Emerald
shouldn't we be entitled to
accuracy? I’d just like to read
about events as they actually
occured
Your story “Women Pan por
nography" is a case in point. I
attended the workshop and I
couldn't beiieve the errors in
your story allegedly describing
the event
First: You reported "Skeptical
audience members questioned
Taylor on the limits of censor
ship. ‘First it’s Playboy, and next
it will be "War and Peace” said
a workshop participant.’ ”
You failed to mention the
speaker had asked the
audience to give examples of
often used statements
defending pornography. That
quote was mine, but I and other
people at the start of the work
shop were merely playing the
role of devil’s advocates. I was
not "skeptical" since I was in
agreement with the speaker.
Second: Since you reported
on it, would you please inform
me as to what the "caustic
theory" is? Is it related to in
gestion of acid products? The
speaker did talk about the myth
of the “catharsis theory" which
speculates that the more you
see something the less you want
to do it. For example, the more
you see people eating food the
less you want to eat or the more
you view pornography the less
you will desire deviant acts.
By the way, if what the
Emerald was referring to was
the "catharsis theory"
(everyone's entitled to a
mistake) it wasn’t, as was
alleged, a doctrine supported by
the Supreme Court (the court
actually wanted to crackdown
on pornography in 1973 by
allowing local communities
more control over banning it).
The discredited, yet widely
believed, "catharsis the. ry"
was supported by the also
discredited 1970 Presidential
Report on Pornography.
Michael Cross
senior, political science
Oregon daily m m
emerald
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Harry Esieve
John Healy
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Cort Fernatd
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Bob Baker
Mike Ripimger
Paul Danger
Jonathan Siegle
Frank Shaw
Sandy Johnstone
Frank Shaw
Richard Burr
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Darlene Gore
Salty OI|ar
Victoria Koch
Jean Ownbey