EDITORIAL ASUO fought battle for student money The case of the mysterious S337.000 seems to be rising out of the fog it had been mired in since the money was first discovered this summer. For several months, the ASUO and the administration have been squabbling about possession of the money. ASUO and Incidental Fee Committee members claimed the money was interest oarned on student fees and should be returned to student control. Administration officials claimed that little, if any. of the money was from student fees, but rather belonged to the University. The administration was set at the end of fall term to band the money over to the £MU and athletic depart ment. Fortunately for students, the ASUO jumped in and launched its own Independent investigation of the funds. The administration now has announced that as much as S2S9.759 of the windfall is indeed interest from incidental fees. Students can thank the ASUO for picking up the ball on this who-dunnit. how-dunnit, why-dunnit budget mystery. ASUO President Hobby Lee made sure the case received plenty of publicity, bringing the issue into the open and ensuring accountability. Launching an inde pendent investigation also pressured the administration to be forthcoming about its own findings. Had tho issue not been diligently pursued by the ASUO, there likely may have been a much different out come. Although the responsibility for fighting for student-fee money should fall into the hands of tho IFC, the com mittee has done little if anything to determine and prove this monev belongs to students. IFC Chairman Steve Masat told Emerald reporters and editors that he has sent numerous memorandums to Uni versity Vice Provost Gerard Mosely concerning tho mon ey. Masat said ho sent written correspondence because he prefers a written record. Masat, however, was unable to produce copies of even one document sent to Mosley on this issue. Mosely denies ever receiving correspondence from the IFC chairman. Fortunately, the ASUO wasn't complacent to let the administration make another of its pro- or during-break announcements that the money was !>oing shelled out as it saw fit. Now that it has been established that the money is and has been students’, the IFC is showing a greater interest in the windfall s future. It's a little late to jump in the game, but it is encouraging that tho committee is willing to play a part. The question "what has the ASUO ever done for stu dents" is often unanswerable, until now. Someono in student government now has students’ interests at heart, and anyone considering running for ASUO office next year should bear in mind the prece dent of action the current administration established in this case. Oregon Daily Emerald Editor Editorial Editor Graphic* Editor Enter tarn menl Editor The Oregon D*i> 1 "»aid .» published JiUy Monday througn Friday cAn-ng the echooi year end Tue»day end Thunday during the *ummar by the Oregon Oatly Emetetd Publishing Co Inc at me Umvernty ol Oregon, E ugene Oregon The Emerald operate* independently ol the Unrversay erth office* at Suae 300 ot the Erb Memory Unton and * a member ot the Associated P'ess the Emerald » private property The unlawful removal or U*e ol paper* * prosecutable by late Editor I’al Matach Jake Berg Freelance Editor Hope Neaison Martin Fisher Editorial Editor Wrver* Jan**en Jett Put) Sport* Editor Dave Charbonneau f 'eya Horn Supplement* Editor Ca»ey Anderson Might Editor. Pat Matach Assocrsie Editor*: Tammy Baley Sfudenf Government Act yUtt Dara yn Trappe Comminty. Coaeen Pon*g ttgher £ ducahonAdmuijhahon New* Stall Scott Andre Cheater a.-er- Matt Bender. Juflm Brcnen. Sarah Oar* Dy an Couffe Meg Dedorph. Amy Oevenpon, Amanda Fern* Teresa Muntsmger u*a Kneetei Ei*a Ma ■ Demean McLean Rebecca Merrill. Sieve Mim* Tiff-m M-.je-e- Tn*ta Noel Mathew Sc hotter E»en Shaw Mchaei Shm<*er. Enc* Sludenc**. Marion Senior Mchwo Thompeoh-Aguiar Amy van Tuyt. Todd Wa-am* Oerter at Manager: Judy Red Production Manager Mchere Item Advertising Tom Eeech Sharort Va; Sae* Atynager* Shawn Beeuiuse the t its serves them The tax. even if collected under the best c onditions, will not generate the estimated $4 25 million. If even half of that is generated it would In? a surprise What's more, once the machin ery is instituted, the bureaucra cy will swallow most of it No government has been efficient enough to do otherwise in the meantime, the restau rant owners will he footing the added hook Lee ping and labor costs that add to the general food pric es. The restaurant owners in this area have another dilemma. The University is in direct competi tion for food dollars — but it is exempt from the tax because it is a non-profit organization. Once the 3 percent tax is instituted, the City Council is looking to increase it to 5 per cent — and who knows where they will stop. To forestall all of these cuts and generate new revenues, the city should institute a 5 percent additional income tax — 3 per cent earmarked to education and 1 percent to the city It would he an equitable tax. The collecting machinery is there, and it is deductible from federal income tax. A sales tax is not. It seems cutting programs and attempting to pass stupid taxes is easier than listening to solu tions. If the academia and the city gets together and proposes a tax like this, the passage might tie guaranteed Vahan Assadourian Owner The mEating Place Danger Otis Wherefore art thou objectivi ty. Otis Scarborough? On March 11. 1 was given a ticket for riding my bicycle on the sidewalk and another for not having my bike registered No, 1 wasn't weaving in and out of the sidewalk on 13th Avenue between Kincaid Street and Uni versity Street. In fact. I was rid inj4 from lfith Avenue and Kin caid Street to the hike racks by the education building. This is a wide open area. 1 did find space a little cramped, but it wasn't because it was crowd ed with mass students fleeing their stuffy, underfunded class rooms No, quite the opposite. I was crowded by Scarborough's vehicle driving in the same space. This makes me ask, why is it all right for a car to drive in n space where a bicycle cannot? This appears a bit absurd to me. Why couldn't he park on Kin caid and walk to his destina tion' It wasn't as though he was unloading supplies, us do his University Physical Plant coun terparts. It's a bit hard for our public safety to walk anywhere — they're dressed with enough worthless gear to harass a stu dent to the full extent of the law Two females rode by. The first was ignored criminally, but she got a stare from Scarborough The second was given the stare and a polite excuse me, but it was left at that. 1 turned to Scar borough and said. “You turn a blind eve to the females?” Peter Leineweber English ^ Water policies Of tho two articles on water • policies in the Middle Hast in the Emerald. M Reza Behnam’s (March 5) was a scholarly one. and Alon Tal's (March 9) was a propaganda tract. I have read I)r. Behnam’s award-winning book and his articles in publications such as the Christian Science Monitor. Me is always thorough and illuminating. Some questions: Why didn't the Environmental Law Confer ence publish the panel about the Middle East in its schedule of events? Why didn't the confer ence organizer invite a Palestin ian under Israeli occupation to provide a different perspective? Why do we always hear the Israeli point of view and not other Middle Eastern views on this campus? Does the Israeli lobby influence events on this campus? Does anyone know? Esther Harrison Eugene