Oregon daily
emera
Tuesday, October 2, 1984
Eugene, Oregon
Volume 86, Number 23
Students gather to back Reagan-Bush
By Julie Shippen
Of (he Emerald
About 20 people gathered in the EMU
Monday night in response to the familiar
call of educating and mobilizing student
voters — especially those supporting the
Reagan-Bush ticket.
Students for Reagan-Bush ’B4, a tem
porary campus group organized during
the summer session, used its first
meeting to collect volunteer help and in
struct the recruits on the techniques in
volved in successfully registering voters.
Paul Matthews, chair of the organiza
tion, emphasized that the group should
attempt to register students from all
political persuasions, not just those from
the Republican Party.
Ron Munion
r
“The main purpose is to get the presi
dent re-elected,” Matthews said. “But if
the students are registering as
Democrats, do not argue with them.
We’re not here for that, we’re here to
register voters.”
The committee’s campaign will occur
in three phases, the first focused on mak
ing ineligible voters eligible. Matthews
said. The group will concentrate on
registration through Oct. 18 and will
spend the remainder of the pre-election
period informing voters and “getting out
the vote,” he added.
Various people at the meeting were
selected to represent Students for
Reagan-Bush ’84 at the “grass roots
level” in each of the dormitories and
throughout the Greek system.
Ron Munion, campus coordinator for
the registration drive, added that
although the organization’s information
tables were extremely successful in
gathering student interest, the actual
drive will take place "behind the
scenes” from now on.
All of the members present agreed that
Pres. Ronald Reagan was more popular
among the student faction than his
challenger, Walter Mondale.
“With the second election of Reagan,
we see that many people are starting to
change their party and stick with us,”
Munion said. He also claimed that peo
ple are currently registering with the
Republican party at a 2-1 ratio on college
campuses nationwide, according to the
latest Republican party figures.
Michael Cross, special projects direc
tor for the group, cited polls from
Newsweek magazine and USA Today
newspaper, which he said showed those
in the college generation as the strongest
believers in the Reagan administration.
“The people who express support for
Reagan are our age, in the 18 to 24 age
group,” Cross said.
“Unfortunately, they vote the least.
This is the first election that I can think
of in modem history where the conser
vatives are trying to get the young vote
out and the liberals are trying to get the
old vote out,” he added.
Cross said he believes the Democratic
party is fully aware of this, having
cancelled registration drives on the East
Coast when “they found out they were
getting more Republicans registered,”
he said. “Their general policy is not to
register voters on college campuses.”
Sophomore Connie Tyler, who signed
up to register students at one of the
dorms, said that the student population
also is becoming more involved in
politics.
“A lot of it is that the students are get
ting a chance to get involved in their
future and say, ‘Hey, I don’t want this to
happen, 1 want that to happen,’ ” Tyler
said. "It used to be that people didn’t
register to vote until they were in their
late 20s. Now they’re taken more
seriously.”
Tyler said that although she is
registered as a Democrat, she supports
Reagan because “he’s not giving
everything to everyone. I like the way
he’s cutting. I wish we could have more
money for education, that’s the only
thing.
Matthews and Munion both cited
Reagan’s leadership as being his primary
ingredient to success.
“He’s brought a kind of leadership
that’s been absent since John F. Ken
nedy,” Matthews said. “Crime has drop
ped and allied relations are stronger than
ever. It’s because of his leadership.”
Matthews said he believes Reagan’s
image is being misrepresented by other
student groups on campus that “take a
very unrealistic view of the president
and see him as somehow wanting to con
quer the world. They don’t realize he’s
I
Paul Matthews
an American just like the rest of us. He
likes apple pie, baseball and he loves his
mother.”
More than 100 students joined the
Students for Reagan-Bush ’84 organiza
tion at information tables held during
registration and in the EMU Monday,
Matthews said. He added that, while
committee members support Reagan, the
group is not Republican and is open to
persons of all political backgrounds.
Students for Reagan-Bush ’84 will
hold its next weekly meeting Oct. 10 at 7
p.m. The location will be announced
soon. Persons interested in the organiza
tion should contact Ron Munion at
345-4842 for more information.
Campus-wide drive registers 1,000 voters
Jef Bianco counts voter registration forms
collected by the Oregon Student Public Interest
Research Group Monday. About 1,000 voter
registration forms were completed by students
and collected by the campus chapter of OSPIRG.
The registration drive was part of National
Student Voter Registration Day, and volunteers
garnered registration forms at tables and booths
throughout the campus. Similar drives were
held at Oregon State University, Portland State
University and other Oregon campuses.
Photo by Michael Clapp
friends to plant tree
as Fortier memorial
By Lori Steinhauer
Of the Emerald
Jim Fortier, who graduated from the University in
May with a geology degree, died Sept. 20 when the
tractor he was driving overturned. The logging acci
dent took place in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
In honor of Fortier, a tree will be planted during a 5
p.m. memorial service Sunday on top of Spencer’s
Butte.
“Spencer’s Butte was one of Jim’s favorite places to
go,” said Tod Jones, a University student and former
roommate of Fortier’s. “He liked to go up and watch
the sunset and run down the side as fast as he could.”
Jones read the eulogy, written by Fortier’s mother,
at the Sept. 29 memorial service in San Marino, Calif.,
where Fortier grew up.
“His wonderful smile and his great sense of humor
will not easily be forgotten,” the eulogy stated. “He
was also a ‘daredevil.’ He could not say ‘no’ to the
challenges of life.”
Friends and family agree that Fortier’s enthusiasm
inspired them to try things they may otherwise have let
pass by.
“Every time he tackled something he’d say, ‘See, it
was easy. I told you guys,’ ” Jones recalled. “One of his
claims to fame was doing flips off the footbridge by
Autzen (Stadium). He got a few people to go for it,
too.”
Fortier also was a well-known face at Friday after
noon beer gardens, where he served beer.
Another friend of Fortier’s, Katie Young, said For
tier was “the organizer” who could “get people off
their butts to do things.”
Continued on Page 6