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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 14, 1998)
CONTACTING US NEWSROOM: ADDRESS: (541)346-5511 Oregon Daily Emerald E-MAIL: P.O.BOX 3159 odeOoregon. uoregon.edu Eugene, Oregon 97403 ONLINE EDITION: www.uoregon.edu/~ode Perspectives EDITOR IN CHIEF Sarah Kickler EDITORIAL EDITOR Mike Schmierbach NIGHT EDITOR Carl Yeh m iH vote Krieael, Labavitch for ASUO Executive This year’s elections have given us seven qualified candidates, hut one pair’s ideas seem the strongest TT- f nothing else, after inter viewing all seven candidates for ASUO president and vice ■A. president, those of us on the editorial board are probably the most informed voters on campus. We spent between 45 minutes and an hour interviewing each of the slates, and we learned something surprising. Contrary to last year, all of this year’s can didates are serious about these positions. We’ve come a long way from promises of building beer fountains and reuniting Van Halen. All of the candidates expressed concern over rising tuition and out-of-control incidental fees, and most of them talked about ad dressing these concerns at a local and statewide level. Other popu lar issues included bringing con certs to Mac Court, increasing stu dent involvement in the ASUO and “utilizing existing campus re sources.” Out of all of the catch phrases and pie-in-the-sky goals that in evitably accompany a campaign such as this one, there emerged one pair who was prepared with concrete plans to make a differ ence as soon as they step into the ASUO office. These candidates are Tamir Kriegel and Greg Labav itch. That’s not to say the other can didates didn’t have some feasible ideas. We liked Kelli McCartan’s idea of a monthly forum at which students, faculty and administra tion could discuss current issues together. Geneva Wortman and Morgan Cowling’s resolution to oppose expansion of the River front Research Park and support AR EMERALD EDITORIAL "I ■----.———■——-y- ~ ^ • -» .a?-. mmm MATT GARTON/Emerald ASUO Presidential candidate Pamir Kriegel (right) and his running mate, Greg Labaintch (left). the green spaces in the area really appealed to us. And we agreed with Mark Hemingway and Far rah Bostic's fiscally responsible idea to offer credits instead of stipends for many ASUO posi tions. But only Kriegel and Labavitch offer a platform that we support in whole, and only these two back up their ideas with suffi cient specific plans for imple mentation. If elected, Kriegel and Labav itch plan to refocus the ASUO Ex ecutive on student programs, rather than on the personal cru sades of the president and vice president. They want the ASUO to remain in the background, putting programs and student ac tivities in the spotlight. One way they plan to do this is by using the ASUO fund-raising coordinator to help raise money for programs that need it rather than for the already well-funded Executive, an idea we support wholeheartedly. They also plan to physically rearrange the ASUO office to give programs access to the computers and other re sources the Executive has former ly kept to itself. They had some plans for im proving the campus parking situ ation as well, but unlike past can didates who advocated unachievable solutions (read: parking structure), Kriegel and Labavitch aren't looking to create new parking spaces. They want to inform students of already existing but not well known spaces, and they hope to make some faculty parking avail able to students after hours. They also plan to negotiate with OPS to relabel some metered spaces, al lowing students with permits to park there without having to plug the meter. In addition, Kriegel and Labav itch hope to improve the ASUO’s relationship with University ad ministration by maintaining open lines of communication, rather than operating in secrecy and suddenly bursting out with a sur prise campaign. We agree that their communicative tactic is more likely to secure the adminis tration’s support of student is sues. Finally, Kriegel and Labavitch are the most qualified set of can didates for this position. While both have experience in different facets of student government, we believe their involvement, partic ularly Labavitch’s, in diverse ac tivities apart from the ASUO will allow them to not only bring a wide range of outside contacts to the Executive, but also to see the University and student govern ment from a variety of perspec tives. In our opinion, this, not a re sume full of past government in volvement, is the most important qualification for the people who will facilitate student programs next year. Vote Tamir Kriegel and Greg Labavitch for the 1998-99 ASUO Executive. We’re going to. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial hoard. Responses may he sent to ode<Boregon. uoregon edu. LITTERS TO THE EDITOR McCartan makes statement Due to an elections publications error, presidential candidate Kelli McCartan’s statement was not able to be run in the 1998 ASUO Voter's Guide. Her statement is printed below: You could be the next ASUO vice presi dent. Every day, thousands of students file through our campus. There are people of varying ages, ethnic backgrounds, cul tural environments and beliefs. But are these students aware of their ability to share in the leadership of our Universi ty? In classes at the UO, I have been in volved with students that are concerned, passionate, innovative, articulate and strong leaders. However, even though we have a large number of leaders on cam pus, the general student population is not currently represented in the ASUO. We must take ownership of our school by utilizing the talents of the general stu dent population to enhance our Univer sity pride. Join me in a campaign to in crease diversity in University leadership by drawing from different facets of our community to expand this needed repre sentation. The UO is built upon a foundation of leaders: leaders in the classroom, leaders on the athletic field, leaders in artistic en deavors and leaders in community activi ties. Let us draw on this existing leader ship and plug students in to the ASUO. I am running without a vice president with the goal of promoting such outside student leadership. If elected, I will personally in vite the student body to engage in a post election interview process which will de termine the next ASUO vice president. With my qualifications of a year on Stu dent Senate and a year on ASUO Execu tive staff, I would like to see a new, quali fied individual fill this vice president position. You choose. Kelli McCartan for ASUO president. Christy Lorenzini ASUO Elections Coordinator and the ASUO Elections Board Vote Wortman/Cowling I just want to say that Max Lee Kwai is right. I agree with his letter that there is only one candidate to vote for in the up coming elections for ASUO president. That candidate is Geneva Wortman. She is one candidate for ASUO Execu tive who runs only because she cares about students; she is the candidate who is running because she knows that in or der to have a healthy campus, we need to have low tuition, a diverse campus and a social campus. The student body needs a university with low tuition so people from all back grounds and all economic classes have the chance at a higher education. The access issue also comes into play in the Univer sity’s responsibility toward diversity be cause in order for all cultures to contribute to campus, all cultures must have healthy representation. And because universities can't be all work and no play, we need to have a heavy dose of fun — which means concerts on campus at discounted student prices. Geneva Wortman has the experience to know what students need, and she has the dedication to make things happen for stu dents. So in every way, Max is right: Geneva is the best candidate for ASUO presi dent. The only thing that Max forgot was that Geneva is a team player, and one of the things that makes her great is the wonder ful relationship that she has with her run ning mate, Morgan Cowling. Max made it sound like a one-woman show, but really, it’s a group effort. Morgan Cowling has the same dedica tion, the same experience and the same student focus that Geneva has. Together, they make the best ASUO president/vice president candidate team in years. So vote for effective leadership. Vote Geneva and Morgan for ASUO Executive. Brian Fitzgerald Eugene Thanks, Max I would like to take this opportunity to thank Max Lee Kwai for his ringing en dorsement of my candidacy for ASUO Ex ecutive. At first I was a bit bewildered by his letter to the editor because no particular candidate was named. I was tempted to think that perhaps the letter was meant to endorse Kelli McCartan because Max hap pens to be her campaign manager. But then I thought to myself, “Mark, surely no person would be so lacking in dignity that they would reduce themselves to such a level of sycophancy” — especially given the fact that the letter was not up front about the au thor’s relation to McCartan. So, naturally, I concluded through the simple process of elimination, that the only person who could have caused another person to put pen to paper so magnanimously was myself. I do, however, want to clear up one thing. Max refers to me by saying, “She is truly the most caring person I have ever met.” For the record, I would prefer that people keep referring to me by my male persona. Although my therapist has en couraged me to experiment with being a woman (recreationally and on weekends), as of yet I am undecided as to whether to begin the hormone treatments, let alone book a passage to Sweden where they will perform the lopitoffofme. Mark Hemingway Editor, Oregon Commentator
