COMMENTARY
Common goals must override personal agendas
By Leslie Warren
and Mark Rhmard
Student government nt this
University hiis reached a
critical juncture. Personal
agendas have created dissension
and disniption in the ASUO. and
the student body is qui< kly los
ing faith in its government. This
is occurring ns we venture along
untraveled roads with a new con
stitution and financial structure
What the ASUO needs right now
are two lenders who will bring
n fresh, new strategy and per
sonality to our organisation and
make sure student government
works as a whole — toward < om
rnon i noses Leslie Warren and
Mark Khinard ore those leaders
Leslie Warren has served for
the last three months as ASUO
vice president She knows the
"nuts and holts" of working
toward student goals In working
directly w ith the ASUO, she has
discovered specific areas of mod
ifications and improvements
Mark Khinard has worked exten
sively in the Dean of Students'
Office for student activities. He
knows what the wide array of stu
dents on our campus need, and
he won’t bring any "pel" projects
or pro-com eived notions that
impede the ASUO from working
for the students
I.oslio and Mark have listened
to what students on our campus
arc saving
• The University must stay
accessible to students. Differen
tial tuition among Oregon's c ol
leges and universities is not the
answer Leslie and Mark, in col
laboration with the Oregon Stu
dent Lobby, the state affairs and
assistant state affairs i oordtnn
tors. and a coalition of students,
will actively lobby the slate
against this proposed plan
They won't stop there, though
Together they will work fur a
state supported work study pro
gram for the students who can
not rei eive federal work study
This money would also he avail
able to international students
who otherwise do not receive fed
eral aid. and many times find it
hard to find un off-campus |ob.
• Multicultural issues need to
receive proper study and full
implementation. We need to
incorporate the multicultural cur
rii ulum throughout the Univer
sity's educational structure with
out adding to student and faculty
workloads. Mark and Leslie will
work lo revise the Minority
Si holarship Program lo benefit
more students, as well as imple
ment a campus-wide mentor pro
gram with interested students
and alumni
• ASt'O has to work together
and stay accountable to students.
The ASUO vice president will
serve next year as Student Sen
ate president and must facilitate
a new organization with fresh
ideas not old notions To cut
increases in incidental fees.
Leslie and Mark will work with
the registrar to implement "Oik k
Vote " I llili/.inga telephone vot
ing system will eliminate the
expenses of the physical plant
setting up poll booths, paying stu
dent groups for working in the
poll booths, paid positions with
in the elet turns board, and allow
more hours and access to student
voters
A new position titled Recruit
ment and Retention Coordinator"
would work toward re< noting
perspective returning students,
transfer students, and first-year
students to the University This
position would also inform dif
ferent organizations as to how
their incidental fees arc being put
to work in order to let you know
What the ASUO needs right now are two
leaders who will bring a fresh, new
strategy and personality to our
organization and make sure student
government works as a whole — toward
common causes.
what your student government is
doing (or you
* Our ( ainpu* needs to be sale
for all who use it. Leslie and
Mark, w ill invite and help house
"ProjfK t Safe Hon" on campus in
order to ini reuse the at i essibil
ily of this program This program
provides dog escorts on an
appointment Imsis to joggers, run
ners and walkers These dogs are
trained to work as a protector to
whomever is on the other end of
the leash The University lacks a
well-publii iz.ed campus-wide
emergent v plan for student with
disabilities in fire hazard situa
tions Leslie and Mark will re
evaluate this safety plan anil edu
cate students on this vital plan
Leslie Warren and Mark Rhi
nard provide a unique blend of
evperieni e and fresh leadership
in working fur the students' inter
ests With tfn> rvsourt i-s to gel the
jol) done. I.eslte and Mark will
moke it a priority to tiring the
cam pus together to support com
mon agendas and ( mnnion i mis
es The practice of using person
al agendas to override common
goals needs to In' i urtailed In a
revised anti i omprehensive
I e.idership Institute." Warren
and Khinnrd will ensure that the
AMU) is working together in
bringing student groups togeth
er AMU) will work .is a whole
in reat hing five common goals
agreed upon at the leadership
Institute
if.hr IV'orre/i and Mark /Ihi
nard ore nmdidatrs for ASUO
president and vice president.
rrsfn-rliwly.
LETTERS
Choice?
What is this about telling
grown-up people what they have
to focus on in their studies' This
whole issue of diversity gets so
over-emphasized that 1 some
times get the impression that
higher education in the United
States tends to focus more on
teaching the principles of social
life and morality than actually
focusing on teaching sc mm es!
What is the point of forcing stu
dents to take classes on diversi
ty when entering the University?
I can see the thought behind it
— to establish a society of equal
ity and diversity and to teach
people to respect each other But
honestly, these are principles you
should have learned a long time
f»K°
Everybody swims to lx> so con
( timed about lolling others what's
right and wrong (In their opin
ion!) and rarely anybody seems
to believe that people should tie
actually capable of making up
their own minds and (its iding on
their own philosophies of life
Do you believe something as
strange and abstrac t as "respon
sihility" and "independent think
mg" might actually exist'
If you actually want to address
the task of i mating a responsible
.mil reliable so< lety (a himcssary
aim'), why are you creating this
microenvironment insidti the uni
varsity. pretending that we are so
great discussing all those impor
tant issues (in theory, of course!)
while outside i rime rates keep
rising. |»r«• |»n!i< >• i ontintms .uni
discrimination is carried out
♦'very singlo minute?
Why don't you address the
problem where it is actually ms
nssarv to the majority of the
American people7 And to toy
knowledge. it’s not college sin
dents
Evelyn Krull
Geology
You may even get paid for
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