EDITORIAL
Endorsements inelevant
given flawed government
Oihi* again spring has rolled
around and lli<’ I • v student
imdv is faced w «>ti another election
111 choose i aildldales till I tie A SI I)
lv\ecutive. Ini nlenl.il I ei < ommillee
and Student Sen.lle
And om •• again the Inwr.ild is
faced ysith endorsing a handful of
( .imliilales In fill various positions
Hut this year, the paper will take a
different apprnat h
this year the lutwrmd will en
dorse no one
It's not lieialise the candidates the
I nwr.ild editorial board interviewed
over the past four days lacked merit
Many wen* well-qualified and pre
sented favorahle ideas and polit ins
Hut given the present structure of
the ASUO Kxei titive and IIT. and
these Imdles inability to put petty
internal polite s aside these candi
dates would not flourish
llus year lie liiirnihl yyill en
tloise letorin not |tis! for |i(diliial
ideals, hut lot the |H>litn al slim lure
itself
Pile III utldei the guise of an
apolitical hods has year in and veal
out played lie- polite al game le
gardless ol who is in nltice Hoard
memlints use lie- forum lo aflat k out
another or lo forward personal agen
das against spet if it groups The re
still is a disruptive process dial
moots often, accomplishes tittle and
ends in |><>1 ■ t it al infighting
Kt*t ends lie- (lap over who tam
pered with the minutes from the
Ill' s fan II meeting did not pro
dm e a guilty parly Instead, the tarn
Irosersy served to show the political
divisions among those sen mg on an
apolitical hotly
The old ananihist
bumper sticker says it
best: “Nobody for Presi
dent.” We'll add our
own slogan: “Nobodv
for IFC. ”
Ironically. the i anses fm mm h of
this infighting are the constraints
placed upon tlic body ilst'lf IIC
uirmln’ts are not permitted lo lake
the tvpi* of political stances lli.il an*
HM|uired when dealing with lough
issues suc:h .is budget i ills or deter
mining whether .1 group is actoalK
serving the campus
l or a glimpse ot these constraints
one need only look, at what the can
didates thinnselves say During en
dorsement interviews, tire ()/)/•.' edi
torial tMianl fai ed a broken record ot
responses as to the ll-'C's stated neu
trality. hath candidate said political
views should not he a part of the IIX
process Two problems exist with
that argument l ust, it is impossible
for members of a governing body to
put biases aside Second, students
are unable to distinguish between
candidates w ho spout identical mes
sages thus stilling the democratic
process
Ml the candidates did spout the
same basic, politically correct mes
sage All. that is. ext ept one
One candidate proposed zero
funding ga\ and lesbian and pro
abortion groups because they did
not promote ''family and communi
ty values " He was too outlandish to
even consider, but he was dead-on
when he said the li t' is a political
body and should la* treated as sui h
That's how bad the interviews
were
I hr 1)1)1 hoard agreed that the
Ilf is and should l><‘ .1 |M*t it itill
boilv and lli.il (.til slioidd not Ih*
hidden Iteliind <i veil ol nrutr.ililv
I In- II f should l>o allow ed to debate
-i group s merits ,«nd numbers
should he allowed to tut hide politi
cal ideology in the deh.lte lough
(let Isious sut ii .is budget < lilting
i nil tilth lie m.ide though ioleitse
deh.lte
Mould memliers t.imiol do so uii
tier the i niton! stilling svslem
I hetefore the si stem must he
i hanged to i leute u tree muikeljil.u e
of itleas where critical mul t ontro
vclsiel issues < .to lie deflated and tie
t.idetl
As it IIC endoisemenls weren't
difficult enough, inlet viewing
ASt’O presidential candidates
wasn't much better I he editorial
board heard mam buzzwords (stil
dent empowerment, diversity at i es
sihililv). hut levs solutions to cam
pus problems
.Students should ash themselves
just as the editorial hoard dot w hat
student government has done tor
them I’rohablv not a whole lot \l
though executive oftli ers walk into
I \tt Suite I even June with won
derful and innovative ideas a veai
later thev turn the job over to then
sin l essors having accomplished lit
tie in terms ol benefiting students
Perhaps the problem is that \sl ()
oflicers part it ularly the president
and v it e president put much ol
their tune into things they i an t con
trol The state legislature higliei
i-dui ation tumliug and diversity di
versitv. diversity llovv mui Ii imp.u t
does a six or seven or 10 month
old student administration have on
legislative dei isions' Does anyone
really believe the ASt'O president
tan swav votes on budget cuts one
way or another’' And what the his k
is diversity anyway? fvrrvone
works lor creating it. everyone
wants to celebrate it hilt beyond a
few symposiums and workshops
has anyone tried to find out what it
is? Nope
Student government could Irenetit
its constituents t>\ t oiu.enliatmg its
commendable energy and effort into
projects more tangible and i losri to
home We do not suggest student
leaders tgnoie funding problems oi
the budget Inn k test through wliiih
we .ire now suffering Send up < ar
loads of student lobbyists Write let
ters Sign petitions But student gm -
eminent should pull more weight on
i uuipns
Members of the e\e< utive and the
II f should use their time working to
tin.I out exactly where the $-i t mil
lion 111 student mi identul tees goes
evorv year instead ot finding the (rest
strategies to lohh\ state legislators
from Bend Maylie the Student Sen
ate could he brought in to the stu
dent government process to do more
than just rubber-stamp administra
live decisions. Maybe the senate
could work with the I Ft to decide
wtin h groups get funded
The old anari In si bumper stu kei
sa\s it best \obodv tor Presi
dent We ll add our own slogan
Nohod\ tor lit! That's not il
wavs the best solution, hut talented
presidents, committee members and
candidates are becoming useless and
irrelevant under the current svstem
B\ voting, the tew students who
do care to vote would again he par
ticipating in an exert ise ot tutilitv
Radical reform is needed I he slriu
lure of student government must In
fixed soon
Iv — i ’ooK
1 V By Somone. eo>E.
What to do? Change system,
focus on University problems
( tiIii ism is worthless unless solutions
•ire offered With th.it in mind, the F.mrr
.ilil will not end I In* issue of reform on .1
nihilistic note
The lot ideiltal Fee ( ommittee should
her nine ,01 adv isor\ board to the Student
Senate whirl) would allow the 111 to
openly bee ome the political bod\ it has
t overt I \ been lor sears The III would
debate funding student groups but be
limited to making funding ret ommenda
lions to the lull senate File senate would
he responsible tor voting to approve
funds whir h would be the lust prar tii .< 1
dots the senate has had in years
II I i andidates would be tree to make
their political ideas known to students
instead of concealing them until alter
elet lions The 1 andidates would far e the
marketplare ot ideas being accepted or
reps ted based on who the students want
to represent them
Although the III s political whims
would be healthv and useful when de
bating .1 student group's merits the\
would be tempered b\ putting the der 1
sion making power in the hands of a
larger group of student senators I he
II I A opinion would be |ust tli.it an
opinion with students from .1 variety
ot 1 ampus communities making actual,
more balanc eel. dec tsions
Think of it: IFC' candi
dates could campaign and
be elected on their honest
political viewpoints, not
beliefs hidden behind the
shroud of political correct
ness. real or imagined.
1 tllllk ol it lit i andtdates ( ould ( «ii]i
paign .uitl lx- c!ci ti'ii on their honest po
litical viewpoints not lari lets hidden be
hind the shroud ot political correctness,
real or imagined lire power ol allot at
mg S-l t million would no from a sewn
member group ol olten hii kering stu
dents to the Student Senate, protei ting
those funds from volatile political teni
pests in the li t
Also it would give the student sena
tors something to do As it is the\ make
S t i a month to pass einpt\ resolutions
and approve ai ademu polit ies that are
passed In llie t Diversity Senate anywav
The dist ussions and tlehates that
would follow su< h a structure change
would promote effet live student govern
menl and energi/e students to partit i
pate in the elections process. Issues, and
not just pleas, would prompt students In
vote
However, some safeguards should re
main in the ASl'() ( ^institution to guard
against groups being zero-funded at the
drop ot <i fiat Also, the ASHO l.xecutive
would exert ise its i het ks and balances
powers hv continuing to hold approval
and veto power over Student Senate de
i isinns In turn, the senate i ould over
ride an ASHO presidential veto, and it
i ontroversv remained, the issue i ould go
before the student hodv for a vote
I bis is an intrii ate system of i liei ks
and balant es between exei nine and leg
islalive branches that Inis managed to
work lor two centuries in the I'nited
States and for more than 1(1(1 vears in the
state of Oregon, and it will work for the
t 'niversity's student government
Am reformed government would be
useless without strong central leadei
slop, something that has been missing at
the Ihiiversity for years The exec utive
should be devoted to forming one, unit
ed student voice Currently, the eves of
the president and \ ii e president look to
the capital in Salem They look to John
son Hall In fa< t they seem to look to e\
ervwhere but the students and then
needs
lcs. funding is the most import.mt is
sue facing the I'niversiK ami its stu
dents Hut u hat good lias the e\et utive
been able to do m the lobbying role it
lias i reated tor it sell? Not mm h Budget
(ills were made years ago Measure >
passed More budget i uts are pending
It's painful to say. hut perhaps \\e
should resign ourselves to the fat t that
this problem IS too big tin us to i untrol
Hie problem is the K\e< utive basil t
done enough to energize an apathetii
student body here at home By uniting
the student bod\ by holding student
groups accountable for their own spend
mg. perhaps we i ould show the slate its
legislators, our administration and the
voters we are worthy of their attention
their consideration and their money
Students will make up their own
minds as to whether they want to part 11 t
pate in the system by voting in this
yveek s elections (although judging from
recent voter turnout figures many may
dei ide to do other things y\ilh their
time |
It you do go to the polls Wednesday
and Thursday , at least tell your leaders
you yyanl a government that spends your
money responsibly that has its attention
focused here, and that works Write on
your ballot. I want a government that
works for me," and press our future
leaders for i hange
It's not |ust worth thinking about
It's worth doing