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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1994)
EDITORIAL ASUO stipend hike a burden to students Tuition has escalated more than 50 percent since the last increase was given to the stipend budget of the ASUO. over five years ago. In other words, the cost of attend ing the University has risen dramatically, while the pay checks brought down by such student government offi cials as the ASUO president have not risen at all to keep pace. Good. The attempt by the ASUO to “correct" this oversight went by almost unnoticed, as the Incidental Fee Com mittee on Monday granted an 18.1 percent Increase to the ASUO. most of which will go toward raising the stipends of ASUO officers. The president and vice pres ident's stipends will go up to $400 a month each. It could've been worse. The ASUO came to the meet ing with a request for a 100 percent increase in such stipends as the president's. So while the financial burden being shouldered by individual students is going up all the time, the ASUO. the humble servants of the student body, have succeed ed in making that burden a little heavier. There is a double standard (wing applied to the ASUO and the various other programs being funded by inci dental fees. In the past, the IFC has stated that stipends should not be considered compensation for labor, in the same manner that an employee at Burger King gets paid for doling out french fries. It is assumed that those peo ple who are in stipend positions want to be there, and that they enjoy what they are doing. If that weren’t the case, they wouldn't have run for office in the first place. Then? is more to be gained from holding an ASUO posi tion than a paycheck; it is a way to gain valuable expe rience and build a resume. ASUO President Eric Bowen has said that.his position is paid less than minimum wage. But stipend positions are not intended to pay well; they are more like an internship than a job. This is precisely the same justification that the 1KC has offered when lowering the stipends of positions outside the ASUO this year. But when the stipends of the stu dent government itself came up, the ASUO asked for a different standard to be applied, and the IFC agreed (although somewhat reluctantly). In the course of that agreement, IFC member Joey Lyons, a candidate for ASUO vice president, declared that he would abstain from the decision, because of a conflict of interest. The position for which he is running is one of the ones which will be receiving a stipend raise When it appeared that a lesser increase than requested would ho approved by the IFC without his opposing vote, he changed his mind and decided to vote to block the low er increase. But that is not the issue here. The issue is whether the ASUO was really looking out for the students when it asked to bo paid twice wnat it has been getting for the past five years. With tuition rising, and the IFC making its last year in existence a costly one for students, it’s hard to justify a pay raise for the ASUO. Now more than ever, students need to keep their money ... not put it in the ASUO’s pockets. Oregon Doily Emerald PO OOI irn CuC4’«t Oftt GO* «.'*&) The Oapon fWy f meratf ts publiahed Monday through f nctty <k*mg the achoor yea' and Tuesday and Tuesday duf»ng the mmmo? by the Oregon Da»ty EmerakJ PubfcaNno Co . Inc . at the Un*vee»ity of Oregon. {vrgene. Oregon TN» operatm mdeperxjerttty o* th* l)n*ver*<ty w*th offccea at St#*e 300 erf the Eft) Memory Ur>»on and tft a member of the AucOftted Pf«l The f m*r*td i» private property The unlawful remove* of uM of pj*xj*s * prosecutable by Uw» Editor-In Chief Ja*e Bern Managing Editor Editorial Editor Graphic* Editor FrMlancf Editor David Thom W*n|«r» Sport* E dftof Editorial Editor Photo Editor Soppi»m*nt* Editor Si«v» J0tl Katy Soto mgm tone* '''tfvti Afttocwt to*torv t doard Kloplmlen StUtmn CiOvarrimar!* Act****, RaOacca Marr«. Commurvfy. Maatonria tkmov t*gh*r tducabOf\Adm^vstrstKtn N*w* Staff l<y* Baftmaafto, Wtacm Oar D#va Dvatonoatu. Amy Cok*nbo. 0*w* Wag Doctor Amy Davao port. T *»h» 1 >cfvan»anaf Mia Ftatta. Ma/tm Ft that, Sat at’ Martoaraon Ytn Lang i oonu. Manu* Ma*and. Trial* Ftoa*. f u^abafr tW\ii^oa RotOa Raavaa Kata Sabounn. L a Safcjco* Sco« S«monaon. Stapharua Snaon. Suaanna Sta«ar\a Mcf>*ia Thompaoo, Amy Van Tuyt. Par*# Waal Oaoaral Managar Judy R»a<f AOvarilaing Do act or Ma/V Waflew Production Managar M*t>aie Roaa Advancing Bnan Dav>* Sutw Dutta. N«eoi* Marxmarfc. Ter*** laabatt*. Ja« Mjuon Ja»©my Uucm NAchaa* *A>M*ta. Ka**ay Waka8 Ctaaaiftad: BacAy Marcnant Mr*v*gar Victor M»**a £m T/a Tac* Oatributton John Long. Tar one RaAocj>. Graham $*mp*on Bualnasa: Kamv Garbon*. SwparvTity .AxJy Connolly Production: Daa McCfltb Production Ccxvdtoaftv Shaama Afcam. Grog Daamorto, Tara GauAnay. Brad Jou Jann.far Rotand. Ntatt ThangrvtfM. Clayton Yaa Nmroan —. »4e-5Sil BtnlnM* 0*t*c«.. Display Advertising . 146-3712 QMlIfM AdvtrllftJng_146-4143 Warning; Cigarette executive, testimony can result in acute diking v-vi-taM. oa«u (1 -p 1 ** J*fc**w> m^n HO IT CAN'T <'/•/• i i > LETTERS Lifelong lessons I am writing this loiter to thank the University of Oregon State Public: Interest Research Group c hapter for their work. Both before and since 1 was appoint ed os an Oregon slate senator. 1 have been well aware of the important work ofOSPIKG As a University student, 1 was involved in the origins of the group, an organization dedic at ed to the public interest through informed advoc acy In the last several years OSP1RG has taken a statewide important role in sue h matters as toxic use reduction and cam paign financ e reform University OSP1KG students have gone on to bec ome judges, scientists and to assume other positions of responsibility in society The lessons learned through OSPKIG are lifelong lessons, and the ongo ing work to be done today con tinues that tradition. I urge every - one in the University community to become involved with OSP1RG Peter Sorenson Oregon State Senator Original sin I enjoyed the artic le on reli gious intolerance on campus [ODE. April 14). 1 must agree that there is much more of such intoleranc e on c ampus than is reported; or anywhere else in the world for that matter We are all believers and non believers alike, prejudicial against any religion that says them is a God in c ontrol and we are not living as we were meant to. It is the one thing that no individual can. by natural incli nation. tie objective about it. The reason is that we are all guilty, and further, we want to remain guilty. We would rather rule our own lives, however shabbily, than be healthy ser vants of God We live like crim inals. always in hiding, runniijg from the law to keep breaking the law "Freedom or Death!" It's mankind's eternal cry. We misunderstand freedom and so incur death This idea, by the way. is not new It is called original sin. We hate the idea and thereby prove its truth. Nobody who pride* themselves on their beauty enjoys looking in the mirror in the morning — truth hurts Matt Fox Classics Pests Of the 700 million pounds of pesticides sprayed annually in the United States, about t per cent actually reaches its target. What happens to the other 99 percent, you ask' It gets into our drinking water, our ground water and the air we breathe. It is known that at least 66 of the :i(M) different pesticides used on crops are potentially cancer-causing, according to the hnvironmental Protection Agency, and the Nat ural Resources Defense Council estimate that 5500 to 6200 preschoolers will get cancer just because of their exposure to pes ticides m produce. These pesti cides are used to improve the output of crops in the US. hut since the 33-fold increase in their use since 1945. there has been no reduction in pest damages. Obvi ously pesticides pose direct threats to everyone, yet |>eoplu in Oregon don't have legal grounds to demand access to information about the effects of pesticides. However. OSPIRG printed three reports in 1992 to warn resident of Oregon about pesti cides and what alternatives there are so that we can natural ly, safely defend our crops against posts. In the general elections on campus April 26 27. students will he given the choice as to whether or not they want to continue to fund OSPIRG and their work. OSP1RG provides solutions by educating people about impor tant environmental and con sumer issues such as pesticides, and by giving students a place whore they cnn take action by interning or volunteering with the Pesticide Action Group. Vote "Yes” for OSPIRG. Anne Marie Dutcher Eugene Earth Week Earth Week is here and it's u good ( banco for all of us to think about what is happening to our planet, and what we each can do to save it Recycling is an easy but vital way to make every day an Earth Day. Student Kecyi ling is working hard to make recy cling easy for everyone on cam pus, but we need your support. On April 28-27, you can show your support for recycling by vot ing to approve a ballot measure that would increase student fees that Student Recycling needs in order to expand its services. Please vote! Remember every ton of paper that gets recycled saves 17 trees, 8.000 gallons of water, and 4,100 kilowatts of electricity. Support the planet, support student recy cling. Britt* Wells Student Recycling Stop noise Eardrums are not recyclable The Earth Week noise pollution coming from the EMU area must stop I attended lectures seven times during Earth Week and at least twice the professor said something interesting. But. both times, 1 was prevented from hear ing it by Earth Week noise pol lution. If it doesn't stop, I'll throw Snapple bottles in the trash and make extra photo copies of every thing. Then I'll hop into iny 1970 Fora and go get a steak dinner. Take that. Jay Remy Journalism The Oregon Doily Emerald will attempt to print ail letters containing comments on topics of interest to the University community. The Emerald reserves the right to edit anv letter for length or style
