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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 2, 1994)
EDITORIAL Make college system a public corporation The Oregon State System of Higher Education, the governing entity for the state's eight colleges and uni versities, wants to become a public corporation. Unfor tunately, some state legislators see such a move as a con cealed power grab and a potential step toward the pri vatization ofonce-public institutions. Such assumptions are misguided if not uninformed. Under the proposal, the state system would gain the independence to manage its business affairs without the burdensome and costly day-to-day oversight of state leg islators and bureaucrats. It would also relieve the system of having to pay a portion of state projects that have nothing to do with higher education. In all, the state sys tem could save over $10 million per year and offer access to more students. As the Oregon Revised Statutes aro written now, OSSHE pays for a portion of state projects that contribute nothing to educating students. The state system, along with other state agencies, currently pay for the land scaping at the Capitol Mall in Salem". And OSSHE regu larly pays assessments on state construction projects — like the new parking carage in Salem. The public cor poration proposal would exempt OSSHE from paying for the lush green backdrops when legislators hold outdoor news conferences. Cutting out costly and non-educa tional assessments could save approximately S2.5 mil lion per year. The proposal would also allow the state system to negotiate its own contracts with various entrepreneurial entities. For example, current procedures dictate that colleges and universities buy computers only from Firm A because the state has an exclusive contract with that company to purchase a certain amount of units at a bar gain price. Tho problem with this scenario is that it removes the elements of responsiveness and competi tion. Under this process, universities cannot take advan tage of many of the educational discounts offered by oth er computer companies, not to mention that the state-approved computers are often obsolete by time they reach their destination. Additionally. CJSSHE must get permission from the Department of Administrative Services for nearly every purchase related to education. Instead of lotting experts — whether professors, deans or institution presidents — decide what materials would bo educationally valid pur chases, the Legislature wants those decisions left to bureaucrats within the DAS. Certainly, this is for over sight purposes, as all state agencies follow the same redundant process. The proposal includes a strong post-audit function that would uncover any misappropriation to soothe those legislators distrustful of the state system. Many legislators who will vote on this proposal are worried about losing control of higher education. As it stands now, the Legislature only funds about 20 per cent of OSSHE’s S2.4 billion budget, but wants full con trol of higher education. OSS1IE itself generates the oth er 80 percent through tuition, feos and federal grants. Being the majority stockholder in this ’•company" should allow the siate system more autonomous deci sion-making power. OSSHE should become a public corporation. The sav ings alone justifies the experiment. Since the passage of 1990's Ballot Measure 5. the state system has cut sever al academic programs and shaved administrative costs to the bone. Eliminating redundant administrative rules within state government is the logical next step. Oregon Daily Emerald Th* Oragon Darfy E m»«M it put*»h«d da#y Monday through tnday during if<« arhoo yaar and Tueaday and Thuraday during the tummer by the Oregon Da.ly Emerald PiX*thmg Co Inc . a! tha Orwararty of Oragoo. Eugana. Otegon Tha EmarakJ oparataa mdapandentty of tha Orwaraity with ofhcaa « Su«a MO of tha Erb Mamonal l>n»on and m a mamba* of tha AaaocuMed Praat Tha Emaratd it pnvata property. Tha unfaatTuf removal or uta of p^iare it proaacuta&e by IfM Editor Hafy Soto Aeeoctate idltora: Mag Oadofph Lia Saloecia. Dawd Thorn Photo Editor: Mchaaf SfvndMv Night Editor. Davd Thorn Generai Man agar Judy IWt Advertising Ofractor Mail Waiter Production Man agar Mrrheie Rent Advarttalng (V an Oavi Tony Fot. Jan Marion tAchaaf Miiette Classified Becky Mar chart AArapar Buslnase: Kathy Carbona. Suparv<*or Otatrtbutlon John Long. Faranc Rakocn Production: Daa McCoOb. ProdOchon Caontnstc* Tara Gauftnay Navraroom....346-5611 Display Advarttalng. Buafnaaa Office--346-6512 Classified Advarttalng_ 346-1712 PRO* MOW On W€ WWLM1UI ethk** PATH/ / NO MOW FW€B*$' / T»M' / WrM'N RCMoM O COuRS<~ COMMENTARY American Party not for sale By Kathy Snie/ko, Jeanne Wojack Dellinger and Mike Bonner The lame County American Party is a grass-roots or ganization with a moder ate political program that em phasizes th« key issue of cam paign finance reform We em phasize reform because it seem to us that Oregonians i-annot ef f*« lively address the problems of our state government until we address the core problem, which is the corruption of our elected offi< nils by s[h* ial interest mon ey Bat k in the early 1970s Ore gon politicians obeyed strict limits on campaign contribu tions and expenditures In the wake of Watergate, the Oregon legislature got fancy and passed an expenditure limitation of $.25 per voter Hie result didn't sit well with the court In May of 1975. Ore gon's Supreme Court handed down its disastrous Doras vs Myers decision The court ruled that political money was the same as free speech, and not subject to legislated limits. This gave candidates the green light to raise and spend unlimited campaign money. In the years that followed, cor porate lobby and professional interest groups soon took con trol of legislative campaign fi nance. Croups wanting to buy legislators now give staggering amounts of money to them. There are no conditions on how this money may be spent. Critics of the system call it legalized bribery. We believe that Oregon's sys tem of special interest campaign finance is improper and the root of the erosion of faith in our state government. How can citi zens respect the work of legisla tors whose pockets and purses bulge with questionable cash? Nearly two decades after Deras vs. Myers, the lobby is footing the bill for most Oregon political campaigns. The evi dence is freely available from Oregon's Secretary of State Re ports of contributions and ex penditures, or C & E's, may be examined by any person re questing a look, at them. As American Party candi dates. we recently paid a visit to Room 141 in the State Capitol Building in Salem to study the C & K reports for many Lane Coun ty candidates. The Lane County C & E's made pretty juicy reading. Most incumbent legislators and many aspirants have no compunction about adopting checks from wealthy interests. Retiring Oregon House Speak er tjirry Campbell went into the 1992 general election with a cash balance of $12.1,152. He raised another $75,000 from air lines, banks, utilities, life insur ers. oil companies and many other lobbies The incredible array of folks who gave money to Campbell infused the concept of diversity with a whole new meaning. B\ November. Campbell had spent over $100,000, ending with $95,000 in the bank Presumably it's still there State Senator Bill Dwyer raked in $56,000 for May 's 1994 primary race. Included among the Dwyer donors are banks. Philip Morris tobacco, develop ers. utilities and insurance com panies. Even the newest Lane County legislative candidates go along with the practice of taking spe cial interest money. Though he is said to support campaign finance reform. State Senator Peter Sorenson never theless managed to grab some $32,556. He spent $29,420 of it running unopposed in May’s primary. Big checks from oil companies like Atlantic Rich field found their way into Sor ensen's kitty. Known bottle bill opponents like Oregon Soft Drink PAC gave Sorensen sums in excess of $2,000. In House District 40. Demo crat Floyd Prozanski won a wide open primary battle while spending $22,500. Self-service gas proponent Commercial Cardlock pumped Prozanski a hefty $2,000. Decisions about self-serve gas ought to be made openly by vot ers, not by a quiet flow of lobby money to candidates. Some politicians will argue lobbyists aren't really buying votes. They say lobbyists are merely ensuring "access.” That's like saying you don't go to the store to buy tomatoes; you just go there to access them. Lane County American Party candidates an* rejecting the spe cial interest system of campaign finance We will refuse all PAC money and any individual con tribution in excess of $100. We're saying no to all lobby, cor porate. union, business and bun dled contributions as well. Constituencies like unions defeat themselves by playing the spec lal interest money game. In the long run, they can't compete with massive corporate money. Newspapers also encourage the special interest game by rarely mentioning the connec - tion between candidates and their financial backers in news stones and editorial endorse ments. Our campaigns will be fi nanced solely by individuals, using the state tax credit in a more aggressive manner. Pres ently, only about 4 percent of Oregon taxpayers use the cred it. Our goal is to end the special interest financing of Oregon po litical campaigns by defeating its Lane County practitioners. The American Party program overall is politically moderate, Besides campaign finance re form. it advocates social toler ance. fiscal responsibility and environmental awareness. We want our schools to have the resources to educate our chil dren. We believe many human service programs perform a valuable safety net function and must be preserved. Most of all. we wish to bring freshness, honesty and vitality to Oregon's political debate. Our slogan is simple: Not For Sale. We invite all who share our views to join our cause. Kathy Sniezko. Jeanne Wojack Dellinger and Mike Bonner are members of the Lane County American Party.
