Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1998)
CONTACTING US NEWSROOM: ADDRESS: (541)346-5511 Oregon Daily Emerald E-MAIL: P.O.80X3159 ode@oregon uoregon.edu Eugene, Oregon 97403 ONLINE EDITION: www.uoregon.edu/-ode EDITOR IN CHIEF Sarah Kickler EDITORIAL EDITOR Mike Schmierbach NIGHT EDITOR Mike Schmierbach AN EMERALD EDITORIAL Voting may seem tedious or irrelevant, but the ASUO has power over your wallet and your interests OTE HERE CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald They’ve assailed you from street barriers, shouted at you through megaphones and grabbed you on the street cor ner. You might know some of them. You might wish you’d never met any of them. They are the ASUO candidates, and now is their time. Despite the bright yellow shirts and lime green balloons, you probably haven’t voted. Last year, less than 10 percent of students voted — a pattern that has held true in previous years. In fact, the street-comer shouting and vigorous sticker application may have driven you away from the ballot table. Well, it’s time to go back. The ASUO workers may occasionally be irritating, but they aren’t irrelevant. During the year, the assorted offices that fall under the title Associated Students of the University of Oregon allocate massive sums of money. That money comes from incidental fees paid by stu dents — fees totaling hundreds of dol lars per person. Simply casting a ballot won’t save you from paying the fees nor will it drastically alter the way in which money is allocated or collected. But it can create a shift in government, and even minor shifts have a significant impact on most students. Despite the noisy spotlight currently being cast upon the ASUO Executive candidates, the president and vice presi dent are not the most important people on campus for most students. The key figures in most of our lives are the peo ple who run the programs and partici pate in the groups we're interested in. The ASUO as a whole and the Execu tive in particular may not seem very connected to these groups. But the complexity of University poli tics means the Senate, the Programs Fi nance Committee and the Executive all have an effect upon the on-campus ac tivities of students. Those programs that are at the core of so many students’ lives are funded through the incidental fee and the ASUO officials who allocate it. Equally significant for students are the ballot measures that will be decided next week. Allocations for Lane Transit District service, the Designated Driver Shuttle and OSPIRG are among the is sues on the ballot. Even students whose primary concern is getting to and from the bar and knowing what pesticides might be in their food once they arrive ought to have some interest in voting. Even so, unfortunately, students will probably avoid the ballot tables once again this year. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. Students who don’t vote aren’t neces sarily apathetic. But they are foolish. You don’t have to think the ASUO is the most important group on campus to think vot ing is important. In fact, the more you care about the things you do and the ac tivities you participate in, the more you should worry about the elections. The future of your group’s funding — or the funding of a group you rely upon — may rest with that ballot. If the only way the ASUO affects you is by taking your money, you’re probably a pretty boring person. And if you’re a boring person, you probably have plenty of time to worry about where your money goes — the most fundamental reason of all to vote. Being frightened away from the EMU by the fliers and festivities is un derstandable. Fortunately, there are nice quiet tables all over campus where you can tell the people you might not care about the things you do care about. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Fliers patronizing I don’t understand the purpose of all the campaign fliers I see around campus. Do candidates think if 1 see “Vote for X” a million times I will vote for them? I find that attitude rather patronizing. Instead, I propose candidates engage my intellect. The fliers could present a cogent summary of their platform and in formation where 1 could find a complete description of their plans. This summary hopefully would avoid catch phrases such as “progressive” or “diversity” and contain meaningful and specific state ments. Maybe they could even put the date of the election, which would be much more informative than most of what I have seen on the fliers. 1 would like to think that student poli tics have a higher intellectual standard than public politics, but I have yet to see this. Derek Schutt Graduate student OSPIRG enthusiasm For winter term, we were barraged with students seeking to register for an in ternship with OSPIRG. The enthusiasm was quite remarkable considering that OSPIRG is nothing new on campus. Stu dents essentially relayed to us that they saw OSPIRG as an opportunity to get in volved with the promotion of environ mental awareness and public account ability. Students have updated us on their reactions to their experiences with OSPIRG and the great majority have spo ken of learning very valuable skills and insights to complement their studies or career ambitions. A few offered construc tive suggestions, as do most interns with other sponsors, but almost all supported OSPERG’s mission on campus. Based on the response of the environmental stud ies interns, we hope that students will support the continuation of OSPIRG’s presence on campus at the University of Oregon. Alan Dickman Coordinator of Internships Environmental Studies Andy Peara GTF, Co-coordinator of Internships Environmental Studies OSPIRG not democratic Let me start this letter by emphasizing that I have been and always will be a strong supporter of students controlling student fees. It is a ridiculous notion for me to consider anybody but students controlling a fund that they pay into ex clusively. OSPIRG is not the “democratic, stu dent-oriented organization" that our ASUO president would have us believe. OSPIRG is not run by students but is run by a “campus organizer” instead. This is a professional staff person paid to come here and run this “student” program. Every other year OSPIRG be comes extremely visible, through posters and phone calls, so they can re new their funding through the ballot. They are only “vital” if you consider posters and phone calls a sign of vitali ty. The reason they go to the ballot every other year is because they know that with an 8 percent turnout, it shouldn’t be that hard to get enough votes to win. In relative terms to the amount of mon ey they receive, vital is not a word that immediately comes to mind. Please con sider that there are several student-run groups on campus that receive a tenth of what OSPIRG gets, and yet they do twice as much and often more. Those are groups run by students, not professional staff. I support what OSPIRG does but I don’t want them, or anyone else, to represent OSPIRG as a group that is continually fighting the good fight for students’ au tonomy. OSPIRG primarily works on streamwalks, homelessness awareness and pesticide campaigns. While these are important issues, they have nothing to do with lobbying Salem and/or Washington about students’ rights, and I can’t see any one mistaking these things. Finally, if OSPIRG is so pro students’ rights, then why did they vehemently op pose an initiative which would have al lowed students to vote on whether groups receiving students’ money should have itemized budgets? Instead of argu ing the issue, they personally attacked senators in favor of referring the measure and used scare tactics to convince the other senators to vote that measure down. Where was students’ power in OSPIRG’s agenda then? Without an itemized bud get that is controlled by students on this campus, I can’t see giving them our mon ey, and I would urge all of you to vote NO on OSPIRG’s measure. Robert L. Wasson ASUO Multicultural Advocate OSPIRG key voice Driven by the ideals of students, OS PIRG has become one of Oregon’s lead ing voices on consumer and environ mental issues. The unique joining of student energy and leadership with pro fessional continuity and expertise has enabled OSPIRG to have a profound im pact on issues that affect our quality of life today and for future generations to come. OSPIRG protects the environment: For more than a decade, OSPIRG has released landmark reports about recycling and the potential risks to human and ecological health from toxic chemicals released into Oregon’s environment. OSPIRG fights for consumers: For 23 years, publications and outreach efforts such as the OSPIRG Renter’s Handbook, ATM fees reports, annual bank surveys and the dangerous toys surveys have been important resources for University students and other consumers. OSPIRG serves the community: For the past 13 years, students and staff have or ganized the Hunger Cleanup Work-a thon and other service events, raising re sources for local, national and international relief agencies. Every two years, students are asked to continue funding your OSPIRG chapter at the University through the student in cidental fee on the ASUO ballot. On elec tion day, keep your chapter strong—vote yes for OSPIRG. David Koch Programs Finance Committee Chair
