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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2000)
Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz Editorial Editors: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas Newsroom: (541)346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu Wednesday January 26,2000 Volume 101, Issue 83 EiMrakl tely? 1 It’s almost the halfway point — week four, term two. We should get a halftime break. But we don’t. And neither does student govern ment. It’s a halfway point for the ASUO Executive as well, and it’s time for a report card. While we realize that not all promises from ASUO President Wylie Chen and Vice President Mitra Anoushiravani could have been met already, let’s see how close they’ve come. 1. Quicker Internet dial-in access: The ASUO exec is working on this promise from last spring. They’ve met with the University Computing Center and have figured out a way to buy more modems and offer more phone lines for students to connect to the University server. Look for future better access. 2. Better, brighter lighting on cam pus: It’s a slow process to deal with the Office of Public Safety, and it probably won’t happen this year. But the ASUO has done a walk through the campus to determine areas that need better lighting. 3. Tuition freeze: This can’t be done because the Oregon Students Association Board of Directors voted not to have a freeze. 4. Create more accessible, more af fordable child care for student fami lies: This goal and No. 6 are both a part of a lobbying effort called Access 2000 — a program that lobbies Con gress on students’ behalf — that seems to have had some success and is still in progress. 5. Increase student representation on the University Senate: This does n’t mean adding student seats to the University Senate, it just means more students attending meetings to watchdog the senate. The ASUO has done this repeatedly. 6. More financial aid grants: Again, a lobbying effort called Access 2000 that’s giving it it’s all. 7. Retain student seats at McArthur Court and Autzen Stadium: Fortu nately, all the student seats weren’t always filled at Autzen this year, so this problem hasn’t appeared. But if the Ducks continue their success in the Pacific-10 Conference this year in basketball, look for this issue to come up. 8. Sponsor more campus events: This one was a bit ambiguous to begin vyith, but the bright side is that the ASIJO has hired another programs person, and events such as the ASUO Street Faire seemed to run more smoothly. 9. Increase ASUO out reach through the Emerald, newsletters and general pub licity: Sorry guys. While oth er groups—Justice for All, Human Rights Alliance and others — have made their presence known on campus through op/eds in this paper, you haven’t even attempted one (until today). While the Emerald tries to report on happen ings, students need advance notice of what’s going on and where you need help. Ads could be used to fill empty Student Senate, Programs Finance Committee and ASUO Constitution Court seats. Besides just the.Emerald, there are several other University publications; just putting up fliers or posters could be publicity, too. What about a students’ forum? Outreach-is crucial to students and to the life blood of the ASUO. 10. Strengthen all programs with personnel and resources and the reestablishment of programs that stu dent support: Here again the addition of another programs student in the ASUO has helped. More importantly, the exec office itself seems better run and more accountable than last year’s. Cleaning up the ASUO office is a great behind-the-scenes way to increase productivity and, soon, out reach. 11. Improve housing contract flexi bility: Due to low demand for Univer sity Housing and the fact that hous ing is completely financially independent from the University, it’s not possible to lower the breaking contract fee. Despite low density in housing, the same number of em ployees are working, and their pay cannot be cut because there are fewer Giovanni Salimena Emerald residents. 12. Better relations with Eugene Police Department and OPS: Here is another positive note. The ASUO does have a good relationship with the EPD. No Halloween riots this year are in part due to cooperation and re spect between the two. OPS is also communicating pretty well with the exec, and a major issue between them was the lighting situation, which has been addressed in part (see No. 2). 13. Better relations with the Uni versity administration: A big, hard brick wall. Chen and Anoushirivani claim that the administration has been very unreceptive to its prods to get more cooperation. They see the ASUO exec as being the voice of stu dent involvement and student advo cacy to the powers that be. It seems that they “trouble deaf heaven with [their] bootless cries” (Shakespeare). This is a two-way street, however. If you’re up there people, LISTEN! 14. Advocating for a film school and American Sign Language as a for eign language: On the latter, we’ve seen great success. The former may best be characterized as something they had no business promising or turning attention to. (Money? Teach ers? Students? Equipment? Oops.) 15. Increasing birth control acces sibility on campus: There isn’t a ma jor birth-control crisis on campus, but the exec is looking to increase availability in dorms through resi dent assistants. 16. More computer and printer availability: Talks are in the works with University computing. 17. Covered bike racks: Not going to happen because it would be too costly. While we enumerated the cam paign goals that Chen and Anoushi ravani put forth last year, the point is less nit-picky criticism and more of an overview. The two biggest issues that we see are the lack of student outreach via campus media or even posters and fliers and the lack of sig nificant communication between the University administration and the ASUO. Because the biggest promise was that “Wylie and Mitra” wanted YOU, the reader, the student, the vot er, to participate. If you don’t know your options in participation, then does the goal even matter? The exec needs to get the word out — any word — to see if students are interest ed and what they are interested in. And the more the exec knows about students, the more leverage they have with the administration to say that they are the voice of the students. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu. Quoted “Tonight is the be ginning of the end of the Clinton era." — Presidential can didate Gov. George W. Bush, on his vic tory Monday in the Iowa Republican Caucus.TheRegis ter-6uard,jan.25. “New Hampshire has a history of be ing independent thinking, nobody tel Is them what to do. They make their own judg ments about a can didateand I’m lookingforwardto the next week be cause I thinkthis is the opportunity to turn many of the people who are now undecided over to our side.” —Presidential can didate Sen. BHt Bradley on his hope forabetterfinishin theNewHampshire primaryafter losing 2:1 to Vice Presi dent Al Gore in Monday’s Democ ratic Iowa Caucus. Reuters, Jan. 25. "We’veall seen the numbers.” —Anonymousaide to former Republi can presidential candidate Sen. Or rin Hatch, on Hatch’s decision Tuesday to quit the race after less than 1 percent of the vote in Iowa. AP wire, Jan. 25. CORRECTION The story “DOS may a Iter focus, shift service" (ODE, Jan. 25} should have read that Saferide is a pro gram separate fromthe ASUO Women's Center. Also, Jennie Bres iow’s name was misspdied. The Emerald regrets these errors. World Wide What The Emerald conducted an unscientific poll of 103 University students and faculty members to see whether n n ^ h « - « * h ^ they could recognize ASUO President Wylie Chen, Percentages do not add up to 100 because of rounding. www.dailyemerald.com JZLali Bono lead singer of U2 6.7% Mitra Anoushiravani ASUOvice president 11.6% w Bobby Lee city councilor 22.3% Jessica Timpany ASUO Student Senate president 4.9% Wylie Chen ASUO president 30% Glen Banfield former ASUO Consti tution Court Justice 242%
