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OSPIRG
Continued from Page 1
the Rounds case: “OSPIRG is
wholly unique in its legal situa
tion. OSPIRG focuses on ideologi
cal/political advocacy; this advo
cacy occurs primarily off-campus
in the community at large and
does not benefit the collective in
terests of students.”
The brief stated that funding
OSPIRG through student inciden
tal fees conflicted with the stu
dents’ First Amendment rights.
“Ideologically, I would like to
see incidental fees completely
voluntary,” Rounds said. “People
who have a passion for groups
will not only give their time, but
money.”
On Oct. 7,1996, U.S. Magistrate
Thomas M. Coffin ruled in favor
of the University and the ASUO
and retained the right for student
fees to fund OSPIRG.
But Tuesday’s ruling stated that
OSPIRG offered students educa
tional opportunities on campus
through research and internships
and advanced the student body
through educational cam
paigns.“This is the second strong
ly worded victory in a row,” said
Shaun Sieren, Oregon Student
Association Organizing director.
According to an Oregon Re
vised Statute, incidental fees must
be used to enrich the educational,
cultural and physical lives of stu
dents. The Oregon University
System has final control over the
use of the fee, but a system has
been in place since 1984 to ensure
students have a democratic voice
in die allocation of student funds.
Student fees are considered
state money because the Univer
sity is a state institution and the
money cannot go toward political
activity such as lobbying or to
support or oppose ballot mea
sures.
In 1985, Attorney General Dave
Frohnmayer issued a response to
questions presented by the vice
chancellor of the State Board of
Higher Education and a state rep
resentative concerning the stu
dent fee process.
His response said funding was
legal: “If the program is under the
supervision or control of the
board, if the board determines the
activity to be advantageous to the
cultural and physical develop
ment of students and if the activi
ty is one that directly will benefit
the collective interests of the stu
dents who must pay the fee.”
The response stated public
funds and incidental fee money
are restricted from supporting or
opposing measures before the vot
ers.
The OSA report said the loca
tion of the organization does not
matter because OUS has the final
authority over incidental fees and
can determine if the group is cul
turally and physically advanta
geous to students whether or not
it’s located on campus.
The debate continues
Critics of the incidental fee
process on campus believe the fee
is unconstitutional because all
students must pay it and the fee
goes toward political and ideolog
ical issues they disagree with.
“Student incidental fees —
money coerced from students’ tu
ition bills — should not fund po
litical causes,” said Jonathan Col
legio.
Collegio spearheaded the Hon
esty Campaign during last
spring’s ASUO election. The cam
paign sought to hold OSPIRG ac
countable for a line-item budget
and wanted student money to
stay on campus.
The OSPIRG budget, which
pools funding from campus chap
ters, is available to students.
Last spring, students voted
down a ballot measure to fund the
campus OSPIRG chapter for
$147,390. The campus chapter of
OSPIRG was the original environ
mental, consumer and social ad
vocacy group started 27 years ago
by Ralph Nader.
“PIRGs, no matter what any of
their spokespeople say, are arche
typal political interest groups,”
Collegio said. “Students should
not be required to fund organiza
tions as such.”
Rounds adamantly agrees with
Collegio.
“You can’t take student money
and lobby Salem on behalf of rent
control, clean water and Super
fund,” Rounds said.
For Merriah Fairchild, state
board chair of OSPIRG, the court
ruling was good news even if the
campus chapter is no longer fund
ed.
“They have continually upheld
the University's ability to fund
student organizations,” Fairchild
said, referring to the courts. “It
doesn’t really change anything.”
The controversy over the stu
dent PIRGs and student funding
has been a national issue for quite
sometime.
The Wisconsin case
At the University of Wisconsin
at Madison, a decision in October
by the 7th Circuit Court of Ap
peals absolved the university’s
student fee process for funding
student organizations.
In the case of Southworth vs.
Grebe, several Madison students
objected to funding the UW
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Greens and the International So
cialist Organization.
The court ruling is forcing the
board of regents to change its stu
dent fee process. The process will
allow one of two things. Students
could opt out of funding groups
with which they disagree. Or stu
dents would be required to fill out
which organizations they are will
ing to fund on a tuition bill.
“It is absurd, not to mention
legally suspect, to decide a
group’s funding on some vague
definition of‘political and ideo
logical,’” said Eric Brakken, chair
of the Associated Students of
Madison, in a response to the
1998 court decision.
“Students should not be penal
ized for being politically active or
having ideologies.”
The Wisconsin case was argued
differently from the Oregon case,
Sieren explained.
The judges in the Oregon case
were better informed about the
student fee process, Sieren said.
The attorney general’s office al
lowed OSPIRG and ASUO to file
“friend of the court” briefs to ex
plain their positions and purpose.
“The fundamental difference
was a misunderstanding by the
[Wisconsin] judges of the student
fee process,” Sieren said.
The Wisconsin Board of Re
gents has decided to appeal the
decision and it might take the
case to the Supreme Court.
“With all of the conflicting
precedents nationwide, I am con
fident that the issue will eventu
ally be resolved by the U.S.
Supreme Court,” Collegio said.
Hollingsworth vs. Lane Com
munity College, another OSPIRG
suit, is still pending in the 9th Cir
cuit Court.
The Future
Sieren and Wortman both be
lieve the state Legislature may at
tack the incidental fee process in
the next session.
A House bill to ban the use of
student fees was defeated last ses
sion with a narrow margin of 26
31, but the OSA believes another
attack on the fee is imminent.
“I think they can and probably
will,” Sieren said. “But for the
student fee process in the political
realm, this gives us a stronger
moral background because we
have withstood the test of fire.
“The courts looked at every sin
gle thing the fees go to and they
found it appropriate and germane
to the process of the university.”
Felicity Ayles contributed to this re
port
Is this
a good
day for
romance?
find out in the
ODE Classifieds,
every day!
Oregon.^Sft£meraU}
The Oreoon Daily Emerald is published daily Mon
day 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 operates in
dependently of the University with offices in Suite
300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is
private property. The unlawful removal or use of
papers is prosecutable by law.
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