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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1998)
Election News More candidates than usual are running unopposed experts are searching for reasons to explain the lack of interest in running for office By Tricia Duryee Community Reporter With five uncontested races in the Oregon Legislature, candi dates and political experts are trying to figure out why so many people are uninterested in run ning for a multitude of seats for the 1998 primary election. Lee Beyer, Susan Castillo, Bill Morrisette, Floyd Prozanski and Kitty Piercy are all running for different state Legislative seats with no opposition for the May 18 primary election. Lane County is not the only place seeing a lack of interest. Statewide, 15 candidates for the House of Representatives and four Senate candidates may be well on their way to Salem with out any opposition. “It could be a statistical anom aly,” said Priscilla Southwell, an associate professor of political science at the University who studies Oregon politics. But there are a number of fac tors that could have an influence on whether a person is willing to enter the race. Some of the possible reasons why people are discouraged to run include legislative term lim its, campaign financing issues and the prospect of facing a pop ■COORD Wanted INATORS! Applications and Job Descriptions are now available. Please call 346-4095 for more infomation. Experience Empowerment Leadership / * The ASCO Women's Center is ;ni equal npprotunity. nllirma tis e aetiun nrpani/ntion committed In cultural diversity and compliance uilli the Americans with Disabilities Act. 1998-1999 Available Coordinator Positions: Events (12-month) Networking Workshop Multiethnic LGBT Issues Publicity Volunteer Women In Transition Deadline is Monday, May 4. |_* EMU Shite J J Rhythm & Muse. Join m this evening at six for folk music by Mare Wakefield. And while you’re here, why not have a look at our “New Acquisitions” spring exhibit? MusEvenmjjs The Spring Scene in Eugene! Every Wednesday from 5-8 p.m. at the UO Museum of Art. Free to all! Call 346-3027for more information. ular incumbent. As a result of an initiative bal lot measure passed by Oregon voters in November 1992, the state Constitution was amended to limit terms for legislative of fices. Oregon term limits are six years in the House and eight years in the Senate. Legislators can serve a total of 12 years be tween the two offices. Before the amendment, representatives and senators could run an unlimited number of times. Rick Hanson, executive assis tant to the secretary of state, said term limits could have an influ ence on whether people run. “There is one race in Portland for House District 11, where a De mocrat is challenged in the pri mary,” Hanson said. “People are saying to him, ‘Just wait another term because then that represen tative will be termed out.'” Southwell said she thought term limits just caused a shuf fling of seats but didn’t necessari ly discourage people from run ning for the state Legislature. Southwell said that because legislators haven’t been able to run again, they have actually been “stepping down” to a lesser political office. This process has caused more uncontested posi tions in the city and county lev els of government. “Here they have a decided ad vantage,” she said. “What we have here in effect is really a scaring off [of candidates]." The increased cost of running a competitive campaign also seems to be playing a role in dis couraging people from running for office. “There’s no silver bullet fix,” Hanson said. “A number of steps might change things, including a comprehensible campaign fi nance reform. Candidates don’t want to spend more of their time on the phone fund raising than talking to the voters.” According to Southwell, a few measures have tried to limit spending; however, the last one was thrown out in 1994 as un constitutional. “Campaigns, in general, are more expensive,” Southwell said. “It precludes lots of people, and it is just getting worse.” Southwell also said she be lieves if a candidate is running against a well-known candidate or incumbent, it is even harder for other candidates to raise funds. A marked advantage for a can didate is to be either the incum bent or have name familiarity. Rep. Floyd Prozanski, a Democ rat from Eugene, is running un contested for his current seat in the upcoming election. He said he thought finance and name fa miliarity contributed to the num ber of uncontested elections. “The concern is that the two major parties be as efficient with their resources as they can,” Prozanski said. “There are five individuals in Lane County who are running unopposed. The short answer is that in this day in time, both parties have to be effi cient and effective with their re sources when looking at the elec tions.” Prozanski said in a city like Eu gene, which he considers to have a liberal voting population, it probably wouldn’t be in the con servatives’ best interests to pump money into an election that was n’t a sure thing. But Southwell didn’t consider this the case. “Republicans typically have had more money, but a lot of groups have money, and they are not reluctant to spend it,” she said. “The business community here has a big presence and there may be liberal representation, but there is a strong conservative ele ment.” As for the single most perti nent reason why so many candi dates are facing no opposition, Hanson said he didn’t have just one. “It could be a whole host of reasons,” Hanson said. He added that the prospect of running a large and expensive campaign for a job that comes with a lot of public scrutiny sometimes does not pay off in monetary compen sation. “It is an era of less tolerance in the media,” Hanson said. “It is not an attractive proposition.” Pennies: Collection jars on campus % uontinueo trom Page 1 According to national statistics, one out of every three girls will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18; about one out of six boys will experi ence a form of sexual abuse before the age of 18. “The earlier we can get to them, the better," McCravy said. Linda Hoover, survivor advo cate for the Office of Student Life, supports the prevention of sexual abuse at an earlier age. It is impor tant to inform children early about sexual violence and help them develop healthy communi cation styles, Hoover said. At the college level, Hoover helps survivors of sexual as sault or abuse find counseling, academic assistance, hospital appointments and legal op tions. The Office of Public Safety had one official report of unwanted sexual behavior for the 1996-97 academic year. But Hoover has 17 unofficial incident reports for the same year. Unwanted sexual assaults can be reported on forms found out side the Women’s Center, in resi dence hall laundry rooms, the Of fice of Greek Life, and restrooms in Willamette and Lawrence hails. Forms will also be available soon in Gerlinger and Esslinger halls. Reports can be submitted anonymously or students can lat er be contacted by the Office of Public Safety or the Office of Stu dent Life. “We are here for the victim to talk to them,” Hoover said. “We want to let victims know that there is someone on campus con cerned about them.” NASA criticized by animal rights group More than half the baby rats aboard space shuttle Columbia have died By Pauline Aarrillaga The Associated Press SPACE CENTER, Houston — More baby rats have died aboard space shuttle Columbia, prompt ing protests Tuesday from an ani mal rights group that accused NASA of having an “appalling record” in animal research. NASA’s chief veterinarian, Joseph Bielitzki, said 50 rats had died aboard Columbia because of maternal neglect, an increase from the 45 deaths reported Monday. Their surrogate mother rats weren’t drinking enough water, and either shunned the young animals or sim ply did not produce enough milk for nursing, Bielitzki said. The deaths account for more than half of the 96 baby rats that were launched aboard Columbia one and a half weeks ago. Bielitz ki said scientists had expected only a 10 percent to 12 percent mortality rate. The deaths drew harsh criti cism from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. “NASA has an appalling record. It can't keep animals alive on the ground or in space,” said Mary Beth Sweetland, director of PETA’s research, investigations and rescue department. Bielitzki, however, said crew members were doing everything possible to prevent more deaths. “The crew has really done yeo man’s work in this case," he said. "Anybody that has tried to rear an orphaned animal ... understands the number of hours and the effort that has to go into saving a single animal, let alone 45 or 50 of them.” Richard Linnehan, the veteri narian aboard Columbia, said Tuesday that several sick rats had improved after being fed a Gatorade and water mixture by hand. “They all seemed to perk up quite a bit,” Linnehan said. “We feel we’re over the hump.” The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene. Oregon A member of the Associated Press, the Emerald op erates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private prop erty. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. NEWSROOM — M6-W11 Editor in chief: Sarah Kickler Managing Editor Nicole Krueger Community: Michael Burnham, editor. Tricia Duryee, Jesse Sowa Entertainment Evan Denbaum, editor Shannon Sneed Higher Education: Teri Meeuwsen, editor Ben Romano, Amalie Young Perspective: Michael Schmierbach, editor Chris Hutchinson, illustrator Jonas Allen, Kameron Cole, Hannah Dillon, Jeff Shaw, columnists Student Activities: Doug Irving, editor. Michael Hines, Chris Kenning, Kristina Rudinskas Sports: Alex Pond, editor Joel Hood, Rob Moseley, Tim Pyle Copy Desk: Holly Sanders, copy chief. Brian Deka, Kelly Schulze, Shannon Sneed News Ait Matt Garton, editor. Pamela Sirianni, CaraStrazzo Photography: Amanda Cowan, Rose Fung, Laura Goss, Nick Medley, Kristen Sullivan On-line: Jake Ortman, editor Nicholas Stiffler, webmaster Freelance: Carl Yeh, editor ADVERTISING — A46-A712 Becky Merchant, director. Yujin Chi. Leigh-Ann Cyboron, Brian Diamond, Chris Erickson, Lindsay Knaak, Andy Lakefish, Justice Rhodes, Erick Schiess, Rose Soli, Chris Suydam, Emily Wallace CLASSIFIEDS — A4A4W_ Anne Nielsen, manager. Heather Moye Angela McGrath, Gillian Bentley BUSINESS — M6-V;i2 General Manager: Judy Riedl Business: Kathy Cartone, business supervisor. Judy Connolly, recepbonist. Distribution: John Long, Joy Sears, Dave Ovall PRODUCTION — 346-4381 Michele Ross, manager Tara Sloan, coordinator. Shawna Abele, Joselyn Bickford, Laura Daniel, Susan Head, Leah Lekas, Laura Lucas, Leanne Nelms, Brandt Nelson, Broc Nelson, Katie Nesse, Sylvia Tewes
