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Students must participate in important politics
The University provides
ways for students to get
involved in University
and state decisions
AN EMERALD EDITORIAL
Welcome to Oregon. Remem
ber to vote.
Oregon is closing in fast
on another election year, and
an important one at that. Sen. Ron Wyden,
the popular local Democrat, is up for re
election. So is local Democratic House
Rep. Peter DeFazio. Bill Sizemore is run
ning aSlhe underdog candidate for gover
nor against John Kitzhaber.
And then there’s the Oregon Legisla
ture. The coming session’s biennial dis
play of bickering and bureaucracy will be
the first that will be missing representa
tives due to term-limit restrictions. The
legislature must also make a decision that
is crucial for Oregon’s public higher edu
cation institutions — whether to OK the
Oregon University System’s new funding
model that allows all of the universities to
keep their own tuition and fees instead of
pooling them for later redistribution.
And then there’s the ASUO. Last year,
under President Bill Miner and Vice Presi
dent Ben Unger, the ASUO took on at least
a dozen important issues, but they may
have taken on too much. Some important
campaigns — such as the fight for tenant
rights — seemed fleeting, while others just
took up too much time. Unger has since
graduated, and Miner took an internship
in Washington, D.C.
This year’s ASUO Executive of Presi
dent Geneva Wortman and Vice President
Morgan Cowling has an even more diffi
cult task facing them. While Miner and
Unger took on local battles, Wortman and
Cowling will have to add legislative issues
to their local fights. Tuition costs are an
annual fight for University students, and
the institution may now be feel
ing the effects of incredible
out-of-state tuition increases.
While these statewide battles
for student rights and privi
leges are crucial, Wortman
ana cowling nave to
avoid getting caught up
in state politics and find
a balance between local,
state and national cam
paigns.
Graduate teaching
fellows will appreciate
it, freshmen will appre
ciate it and off-campus
apartment chumps will
appreciate it. The only
major actions made by
the new executive has
been to freeze a couple
student organizations’
budgets. Although these
may not have been the
most popular decisions,
it does show that Wort
man and Cowling aren’t
just breezing through the
job.
Then there will be the
ASUO elections. The last
two years’ elections have
been utter fiascos. It
AMY GOLDHAMMER/Emerald
seems everyone gets eagy
during election season, and the ASUO
Constitution Court is left to resolve the in
finite number of grievances fired back and
forth. Last year’s ASUO election was
worse than most state elections. It was
dirty, petty and ugly. Don’t expect that to
change.
Over this 1998-99 school year, there
will be dozens of important political de
cisions made by the ASUO, the Oregon
legislature and state voters. Students
need to register to vote in order to jump
into the University fray and shake things
up. Head a campaign, because students
have made a difference in the past, and
they can do it again.
With close to 20,000 students on cam
pus, students make up a large constituen
cy in Eugene. City Mayor Jim Torrey regu
larly meets with citizens of the city (which
includes students), politicians will make
campaign visits to campus and the legisla
ture will be making some major decisions
affecting higher education.
So, welcome to Oregon. Remember to
vote.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses may be
sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
UTTERS POLICY
The Oregon Daily Emerald will attempt
to print all letters containing comments on
topics of interest to the University com
munity.
Letters must be limited to 250 words or
less. The Oregon Daily Emerald reserves
the right to edit any letter for length, clari
ty, grammer and style.
Letters may also be dropped off in Suite
300 of the EMU.
1
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Blame misplaced
I was appalled by Brandon Smith’s at
tempt to place blame for the Designated
Driver Shuttle’s woes on the shoulders of
the Student Senate Summer Committee.
In his lengthy letter to the editor (ODE,
Aug. 19), he creates for the reader a fanta
sy world in which student senators con
spire to ruin DDS, and his prodigious
arithmetic talents cover up the inaccura
cies and outright lies told to the summer
committee months ago.
While this makes for entertaining read
ing, Mr. Smith should keep in mind that
a few senators are around to help clear up
the fact.
First of all, Mr. Smith’s statement that
DDS is "under severe restrictions im
posed by the ASUO Executive and the
student senate” is patently false. Before
the Aug. 10 meeting where DDS was
granted full access to $50,000 awarded
through a ballot measure last fall, DDS
had access to over $26,000 granted to it
by the 1997-98 student senate. I hardly
think that $26,000 was an obstacle to sue
cessful operation.
Second, Mr. Smith furnished inaccu
rate and false information to the summer
committee in the July 19 meeting with re
gard to the pay he and his staff members
received. In that same meeting, he admit
ted to violating ASUO rules regarding
payroll by giving himself and his em
ployees raises without consulting the stu
dent senate — an action that is explicitly
forbidden. He completely disregarded
safeguards ASUO has against improper
expenditures, and piled insult upon in
jury by refusing to furnish documents re
quested by senators that could back up
his statements about DDS’s hiring prac
tices.
Finally, Mr. Smith’s statement that
“had the student senate not postponed
the DDS budget for the past three weeks,
DDS would have been operating sooner”
rings false. Again, DDS was able to access
$26,000 since at the latest July 19, and
DDS loaned one of its vans to help a
group of students move. This same van
was described to me as “unsafe” and "not
road worthy” only days after it was used
to move furniture.
Mr. Smith has exercised poor judgment
in more than a few instances this past
month. Hopefully, he will direct his ener
gies toward making DDS a successful
program, rather than trying to blame oth
er people and organizations for his acts of
incompetence.
Selena Brewington
Student Senator
Constituents ignored
Last month, I wrote Sen. Gordon Smith
urging him to oppose the Forage Im
provement Act when it came before him
in the Senate Energy and Natural Re
sources Committee on July 29. My letter
was dated July 17, 1998, and his re
sponse, which I received August 10, is
dated July 9.1 suppose I expected a form
letter, but I was surprised to receive one
that pre-dates my letter! What is more
discouraging is that his response thanked
me for my “thoughts regarding reforms to
the Endangered Species Act” and ex
plained his support for Sen.
Kempthornes’ Endangered Species Act
reauthorization legislation. I did not
write to Senator Gordon about the En
dangered Species Act, and his response
did not once mention his position on the
Forage Improvement Act.
Sen. Smith voted in favor of the Forage
Improvement Act despite my letter and
polls indicating that a majority of Orego
nians oppose the legislation. He also sup
ports the Kempthome reauthorization bill.
Not one conservation organization sup
ports the Kempthome bill while thou
sands of environmental, trade, and reli
gious organizations, and hunter and fisher
groups, oppose the bill. The Kempthome
bill, with its “no surprises” clause and
protections for huge landowners, is a
death warrant for dozens of imperiled
species whose ranges overlay private
lands. As my senator, I expect Gordon
Smith to support habitat protection,
species conservation, and sustainable de
velopment. I also expect his office to be
tactful and considerate when replying to
his constituents.
Mark N. Salvo
Washington, D.C.
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