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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 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 Monday February 14,2000 Volume 101, Issue 96 Rule #1: 1 n the wake of the International Student Association Coffee Hour sponsorship, C.J. Gabbe and Peter Larson must have a ■JL. bitter taste in their mouths. Now their judgment has to be questioned whrle their ASUO Executive candidacy rightly has been thrown out of the race because of vague ASUO Elections Board rules, pend ing appeal at the ASUO Constitution Court. Gabbe and Larson paid $40 to sponsor the event at which they spoke promoting their campaign, and many may believe such a small sum isn’t even worth the attention it has been getting. That notion, however, ig nores the role of the college experience, which is to provide a precursor to the real world on a smaller and safer scale. A smaller scale in this case may be a seemingly minor campaign violation that should have real consequences and be examined just as thor oughly as we’d all like to believe infractions on the national level are scrutinized. Even if one was to assume in good faith that Gabbe and Larson acted with good in tentions, the abilities and judgment of the two must be examined before they should be elected. Both have a wealth of experience in student government politics. Gabbe is a student senator, regional director of the USSA, was president of summer senate, among many other positions. Lar son has been co-director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and TYansgender Al liance and ASUO outreach director. Both know the ins and outs Giovanni Salirnena Emerald of local politics, and for them not to have foreseen these problems is cause for serious concern about their fitness to govern. The fact that the incident happened at all suggests a few conclusions about their deci sion making, none of them very good. Gabbe has said the campaign constantly checked the legality of campaign tactics and was sur prised by the grievance. One possibility is that they at some point came across the rule but didn’t understand how it affected them in the coffee hour speech. The other likely possibility is that they understood the coffee sponsorship was a violation but thought the indiscretion was small enough that it wouldn’t ruffle any feathers. The ramifica tions of any of these scenarios bode poorly on the Gabbe/Larson ticket right now. If they didn’t study the rules enough they may be prone to only partially researching the projects they wish to undertake. If they came across the rule and didn’t understand it, that would suggest an incapability to grasp tough, important subjects that certain ly pop up for the ASUO executive. If they believed the violation was small enough not to grab attention they might be willing to cut other comers, a very distasteful idea for a student government that will file a griev ance over the difference between gray and grey. To decide the punishment for elections vi olations, this situation included, is a very tricky conundrum. On the one hand, of course the mles must be obeyed and en forced; while on the other hand punishment has to be proportional, measured and lawful. Because the mles of the elections board are ambiguous at best in their listed sanc tions, there really is not much wiggle room for deciding the fate of Gabbe and Larson. The two could have been fined, limited in how much they could campaign or they could have been removed from the election all together, including a write-in campaign. A fine would have been too little punish ment for the action and limiting how much campaigning is allowed is a grotesquely in appropriate slippery slope. That only leaves removal as the best current sanction. While it seems rather harsh to kick the two out for this particular indiscretion, that punishment is the best decision until a more Appropriate and clarified version of elec tions mles are fleshed out for future elec tions. Gabbe and Larson have been removed from the ballot but can still be written in at election time and can campaign just as they normally would have with posters and but tons. The two still have a chance to be on the ballot pending a constitution court decision on the elections board ruling, which is a very important function in the machinery of student government. This entire situation is unfortunate for everyone involved. The functioning of stu dent government has hit an ugly public rela tions bump, and students may not get their full choice of possible executive candidates. The elections board needs clearer mles and accompanied sanctions for the future, but for now the removal of Gabbe and Larson from the ballot is the best possible action out of the limited options. This editorial represents the view of the Emerald edi torial board. Responses may be sent to ode@ore gon.uoregon.edu Letters to the editor Executive coordinator needed I would like to express my concern with the out come of the recent ASUO budget appeal hearing. The result will indirectly affect every member of the campus community. The Programs Finance Committee chose to deny a request allocating fund ing for the position of executive coordinator in the ASUO office. The position, which has existed in the past, im proves the effectiveness of student representatives by minimizing technical paperwork that would otherwise become the responsibility of our elected officials. The position would cost each student only 42 cents per term. This is a small price to en sure the efficiency of the ASUO and consequently all other campus programing. What is the purpose of electing officials if they are only going to be con sumed by endless amounts of paperwork? Would n’t the students of this University prefer that their representatives occupy their time addressing the is sues that we are most concerned about? I would. I find it hard to understand why the committee chose to grant the appeal in the first place. The jus tification of the decision on the basis of a bench mark and/or threat of too much administrative in fluence was illogical and contradictory. The only genuine protection students have against over whelming administrative control are our student representatives, but who will represent us while our they are busy doing paperwork? Heather Mitchell environmental science Candidate misquoted In your recent article on the decision of several ASUO Executive candidates to limit campaign spending (ODE, Feb. 7), statements I made to my fel low candidates were misrepresented. I met Autumn DePoe’s challenge by saying “I re fuse to spend a penny of Righty’s money! ” This is in dicative of my refusal to cater to right-handed inter ests in my campaign for left-handed rights. Yet in your story, it was indicated that I “pledged to not spend a dime” on my campaign. To the con trary, I fully intend to spend money—just not mon ey raised by whoring my principles out to well heeled right people. My campaign is funded solely by and for my sinistelateral brothers and sisters. Daniel Atkinson “"*■ ‘" * * “ * ~ *1 ‘ASUO Executive candidate Thumbs The NBAxom Slam Dunk Contest re turned this year af ter a two-year hia tus to dazzle amazed onlook ers, Toronto’s Vince Carter won the contest with gravity-defying dunks. To the best cure, prevention Thanks toa grant from the Oregon Health Division, Lane County Pub lic Health Services is recruiting clients to pilot an HIV Pre vention Case Man agement program that will last 18 months. The pro gram will involve one-on-one coun seling for those clients with risk-re duction needs. To the suspension id cooperation Only 72 days after its inception, the power-sharing of Northern Ireland has been suspend ed. London sus pended the province’s govern ment because of concerns of whether or notan Irish Republican Army disarma ment offer is real. To modi ado about little while students can’t seem to get together on a plan to cover bike racks around campus, the University De sign Review Sub committeeap praveda recommendation to increase cov ered bike parking for staff members. The addition would only add 13 spots. And® iill dents can’tseem to get any, *
