Art: Lopez says he hopes his works provoke thought
■ Continued from Page 1
pieces to the exhibit, including sketches,
graffiti and computer art. Two album cov
ers he created for the Tunnel Ratz and a
Hip Hop compilation also will be on dis
play.
"It’s a sidewalk high school — you’re on
your own,” Lopez said. “There’s no insti
tution for it. You’re always a giant eye
checking everything out.”
Lopez used watercolor markers to draw
on the white walls behind two of his
pieces. One wall is covered corner to cor
ner with the red writing of a freestyle rap
Lopez wrote.
“I wanted a freestyle because I wanted it
to be a continuous thought," he said. “It’s
not the main focus — the artwork is on
top, covering up the words, so you can’t
make out what it says. These are the
thoughts that go through my mind when I
do the artwork. The issues flow through
my mind to the hand.”
The other wall depicts green designs and
figures surrounding his pieces. The green
illustrates the success of money and how it
can take away your identity, Lopez said.
When Lopez moved to a middle-class
suburb outside of L.A., it affected the way
he viewed the world — and it is reflected in
his art.
“I saw the ghetto and the middle class
and experienced both sides of it,” Lopez
said.
Political overtones are intertwined with
religious and gender issues in several of
i>M*&
LAURA GOSS/Emerald
Steve Lopez painted the center picture unth Adobe Photoshop to emulate spray paint.
His freestyle prose ap[>ears in the background.
Lopez’s pieces.
“I want to instigate thought and drop
seeds in a person’s head,” Lopez said. One
of his most impressive graffiti pieces spans
a whole wall with six custom-made frames,
each six feet by eight feet. It uses 36 colors
and took a week of 40-hour days of paint
ing with spray cans.
All of his works are untitled because that
leaves the artwork’s purpose ambiguous, he
explained.
“I want them to manifest the work them
selves — by giving them the shapes and let
ting them come up with the ideas,” Lopez
said. “I want to plant the seed but don’t
want to tell them how to grow it.”
Graf artists use anything they can get
their hands on — often sandstone, glass or
razors — to create their work, he explained.
Lopez has focused some of his artistic
creativity on computer art. Computers offer
the capability and tools to use any color,
line or medium in his work.
He began to truly focus on his work
three years ago in Eugene. To be recog
nized as an artist, Lopez knew he would
have to be dedicated. Style, guts, smooth
ness, flair and spray-can control are im
portant emphases for graf artists, he said.
"Once the style is defined, what are you
going to do now? Are you in it for fame,
political reasons or the spiritualness of the
art?” Lopez said graf art originated with
the caveman. It is uncontrolled art made
for the community, he explained.
“It is art by the people, for the people.
Graffiti art is not speaking to an elite group
— not technically, not eloquently — but
speaking for real.”
His background and life experiences
show through in his work. It is a natural
phenomenon for Lopez to express himself
through art, he explained.
"Before my ancestors were kicked out,
they were respecting the earth by adorning
it with natural art — sand paintings — us
ing the stuff around them.”
Graffiti art like his can come under attack
as vandalism if created illegally on public
property without permission.
“The media use graffiti as a scapegoat,”
he said. "Graffiti is a symptom.”
Lopez hopes his artwork can provoke
thought in those that view it.
“Hopefully, they can view it and see that
there is a world outside of what you see on
television, or when the president talks, or
even what you read in the newspaper.”
OSPIRG: Honesty Campaign questions group’s use of student fees
■ Continued from Page 1
issues.
This year’s activities included the
Hunger and Homelessness Cleanup
that raised funds for local shelters;
streamwalks that clean up Oregon
waterways; pesticide research; and
a national education campaign
about endangered species. Other
campaigns sought to educate stu
dents about recycling, toxins, bank
ing and ATM fees, renters’ rights
and voter registration.
“We focus on grassroots ac
tivism, trying to empower people
to help make change,” said Glenda
Marshall, chair of OSPIRG’s state
board of directors, which sets
statewide policy forthegroup.
While OSPIRG claims wide
support from students and facul
ty, Jonathan Collegio, the director
of the Honesty Campaign commit
tee, said he believes OSPIRG re
ceives excessive funding from stu
dent incidental fees.
He formed the campaign with
other students to review “waste
ful spending in student govern
ment,” according to the Honesty
Campaign’s Web page. The site
is linked from gladstone.uore
gon.edu/~america.
“It doesn’t cost that much to
bring awareness to issues like
hunger and homelessness, pesti
cides and streamwalks. All the
awareness activities are volun
teer,” Collegio said. “I think what
they do is all good stuff, but it’s not
how student fees are supposed to
be spent."
OSPIRG’s funding is pooled
with the three other schools at the
statewide PIRG office in Portland.
The funding is then allocated to
each chapter by the statewide stu
dent PIRG board.
The University funds 67 per
cent of the state budget, according
to the group’s draft budget submit
ted to the Programs Finance Com
mittee last year.
Collegio estimates only 10 per
cent of the University’s OSPIRG
funding is spent on campus. Ac
cording to OSPIRG’s statewide
budget, $115,000 out of a total of
$218,000 goes to salaried staff po
sitions.
OSPIRG leaders defend using
money for staff positions, arguing
that it is necessary to have experts
trained in research, writing and or
ganization.
“You need to have paid staff [in
Portland] that can offer expertise
and continuity in order to make
changes on a state and national
level,” Marshall said.
OSPIRG student leaders said
pooling the groups’ money is the
most effective way to fight the
deep pockets of powerful corpo
rate interests.
“Students have no money, and
people like the pesticide industry
do,” Marshall said.
OSPIRG has thus far not released
a line-item budget detailing how
much money in the state pool is
spent on campus. Olson said it
would be difficult to break down
the budget by individual campuses
because chapters share costs and
work on similar, often statewide
projects. This makes an exact ac
counting unnec
essary, he said.
“It’s ridiculous
to try to micro
manage a
statewide organi
zation at the cam
pus level,” ASUO
President Bill
Miner said. “It’s
just more natural
to do it this way.”
But critics dis
agree, arguing that
almost all other
groups are required to submit a
line-item budget.
“They get so much for so little
and it’s not cost effective,” Stu
dent Senator Jenna Wasson said.
"How can they be in the public in
terest ifthey won’t everallow peo
ple to know how they foot the bill
and where their money goes?”
Currently, ASUO programs
funded by ballot measure do not
have to provide a line-item bud
get.Wasson proposed an earlier
ballot measure in the Student Sen
ate that would have required every
(( How can they be in
the public interest if they
won t ever allow people
to know how they foot the
bill and where their
money goes? H
Jenna Wasson
Student Senator
student group funded by inciden
tal fees including OSPIRG to sub
mit a line-item budget. But her
proposal was voted down by a ma
jority last month.
The Honesty Campaign’s
source of funding has also come
under fire by OSPIRG supporters.
Miner said in a Dress release dat
ed April 17
that the Hon
esty Campaign
was being
funded by “an
influx of spe
cial-interest,
right-wing
money” that
amounted to
thousands of
dollars.
Collegio de
nied he had re
ceived nnvnnt
side funding. A campaign
expenditures document filed with
the ASUO Elections Board
showed that Honesty Campaign
expenditures totaled $177.30 and
came from five students. Accord
ing to the filing, the only unac
counted cost was printing, which
Collegio said was done by Michael
McCoy, who is the father of one of
Collegio’s friends and has no affili
ation with the College Republi
cans or any knowledge of the OS
PIRG issue before the donation.
Robert Wasson, multicultural
advocate for the ASUO Executive,
has also mounted a poster cam
paign questioning OSPIRG’s fi
nancial practices. He argued that
too much money goes off campus.
“I thought about all the other stu
dent groups and how many pro
grams they do.” Wasson said.
“They are run by students here on
campus, and their programming di
rectly goes to what it’s supposed to
—enriching the cultural and physi
cal development of students as stat
ed in the Clark Document. You can
see where every penny is spent.”
The Clark Document is an A SUO
publication that outlines ASUO
funding rules and procedures.
OSPIRG spends student money
effectively despite the fact that
some campaigns are more effec
tive than others, Olson said. Miner
agreed and said the group is effec
tive because of its statewide orga
nization and funding policies.
“The way [OSPIRG] is orga
nized makes it very powerful and
effective in its ability to advocate
for student rights,” Miner said.
Students will reach some conclu
sion on the issue this week at the
polls. But Baldwin said his 18 years
of observing OSPIRG controversy
have taught him it will probably re
main a campus issue for some time.
“It’s one of those things that will
never be settled because there will
always be people vehemently for
it and against it,” he said.
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