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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 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 February 16,2000 Volume 101, Issue 98 Enierald ASUO SUPERvision not so SUPERfluous V How well do you think a business could be run if most of the staff — including the leadership — changed from year to year? Stability would be lost. Efficiency, too. The time taken to retrain people every year for such limited roles would eat up most of the yearly tenure anyway. But what if there was someone who al ways stayed behind? Someone who knew the ins and outs of the entire organization. Someone who could be a reference, a histo ry book and a mentor? Yeah, you’re thinking, that would be great. And that s what student government thought about the ASUO Executive coor dinator position until a year ago. The po sition was held by a non-student, Cheryl Hunter, a professional coordinator who was the one constant in the ASUO of fice from year to year. Under the ASUO Executive leader ship of Geneva Wortman and Morgan Cowling, that coordinator position was cut from the ASUO budget. Whether it was to cut costs or to make the ASUO more stu dent-rum the longtime ASUO constant Hunter was let go. She had advised and trained ASUO staff, linked the ASUO and University administration and researched and helped organize the office since 1989. She was let go after 10 years with the ASUO. And things haven’t been easy ever since. ASUO President Wylie Chen and Vice President Mitra Anoushiravani have tried to get the coordi nator position back. They appealed to the Pro grams Finance Committee twice, but the efforts failed. There will be no coordinator next year. One asks why is this posi1 tion so important? Well, imag ine going into the ASUO Executive position and having no guide or frame of reference. Chen said the position would have Giovanni Salimena Emerald added some consistency to the ASUO Execu tive by having a person who knew the histo ry of the office as well as being familiar with legal issues, Oregon Administrative Rules and the Green Tape Notebook. “It’s for the betterment for the entire ASUO. There are a lot of things that come across our desk, and we’ve been bombarded with administrative work,” he said. “We’ve been stuck at our desks, just taking care of red tape, bureaucracy.” He said he feels bad for the upcoming exec because they too will have to be buried in paperwork, and the ASUO will have no institutional memory. It’s true that when one door closes, anoth er always opens. The elimination of the co ordinator from the ASUO has left the execu tive with much more work. Money may have been the motivating fac tor behind the cut, but at $18,500 a year, the coordinator costs students about 42<! per term. That’s 42c we’ll gladly pay to make the ASUO run more smoothly. And it’s money that is being spent now and in the future for similar positions. The big uproar this year in the Programs Finance Committee budget hearings was that the Multicultural Center received a $38,743 budget increase to finance a new MCC coor dinator position, the very thing the ASUO has begged for with perhaps more of a need. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Al liance also has a non-student, paid coordi nator. She is the one people go to when they need information; she is stability. And the MCC obviously wants that same thing. What student has the time to run the MCC and still take care of his or her life? While the ASUO Executive still runs the ASUO, there’s no doubt that having a coor dinator around — who is not a student and, therefore, doesn’t have the same pressures, biases and time commitments — is invalu able. And yet the PFC chose not to fund it. Impassioned speeches from both Chen and Anoushiravani coupled with the sad ness last year as Hunter was ousted from a picture in our minds of someone who is very much needed. And that need was recognized a year ago when the position was cut. “The position that Cheryl holds is more than just a position; it’s a person,” former ASUO Multicultural Advocate Joseph Roley said in the March 31,1999 Emerald. “It’s one of those things where you don’t know the value of it until it is gone.” Upon the decision by the PFC to fund the MCC’s new coordinator position, Coordinat ing Diversity Intern Jay Breslow said the po sition was “a historic thing. It’s going to change the entire way [the MCC] is run.” Until they get rid of it. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu. Quoted “It’s a thrill because the movie was made for love. We did-it because we thought it could be very special ... It’s absolutely a thrill to be a part of something that has meant so much to so many people. We're all just thrilled that people like it” —Annette Ben* rang, star of the film “American Beauty,” on the film’s eight Acade my Awards nomi nations, an nounced Tuesday. CNN.com, Feb. 15. “There is an inves tigative lead in the district of Oregon. I do have informa tion, but I can’t impart it." —Michael Brown, chief of the criminal divi sion of the U.S. attorney office in Portland, confirm ing that some com puters in Portland may be linked to the major hacking crimes of last week, which downed such Web sites as eBay, Ya hoo and Amazon, The Oregonian, Feb. 15. “I had some noisy neighbors, but there’s nothing like a 6-foot-thick chunk of ice bash ing against the wall of your room to wake you up at 4 in the morning." —Oregon 4th Dis trict Rep. Peter Pe Farioon his recent trip to Antarctica (official business for the U.S. Con gress). The Regis ter-Guard, Feb. 15. Letters to the editor Book swap participation encouraged In most situations, a consumer must “hunt” for the bargains — not so with the non-profit ASUO Book Swap. The book swap gives students the opportunity to set their own prices for their books and the ability to sell older editions that the Uni versity Bookstore will not accept. This bar gain is not one you have to scrounge for; the ASUO Book Swap will be convenient ly located in the EMU during finals week of winter term and the first week of spring term. Book swaps have the potential to be highly successful, but only if students par ticipate. The more students we have stop by, the more books we have, the more mon ey you can save. I encourage students to participate in the ASUO Book Swap — it will be worth your time and money. Christa Shively undergraduate, Spanish Grievances take away our choices The atmosphere surrounding this year’s ASUO elections is a textbook example of misplaced priorities. As with every year, the candidates appear at various events de scribing the issues that they have chosen as a platform. As with every year, many color ful posters, fliers and handouts in many forms appear around campus promoting their respective candidates. And, as with every year, every little misstep that a candi date may make is followed by endless shouts of “Bloody Murder!” The uproar regarding the “C.J.-Peter” ticket is a prime indicator of where the pri orities rest for certain groups on this cam pus. For example: Nearly all sets of candi dates for various offices (ASUO Executive, Student Senate, etc.) have experience in serving the student body, so why invest so much energy into removing candidates and taking the choice away from the students themselves? It detracts greatly from the in tegrity of the student government on this campus when qualified candidates are burned at the stake on technicalities. Where are the priorities? Do we want an effective ASUO? Or do we want headlines and scandals? Do we want the freedom td choose our own candidates? Or do we want to attack the other side simply because they’re “the other side.” Drop the grievances; don’t insult the stu dents’ ability to make their own choices. Devon Streed political science Austin ignorant with diversity comment I can see what Scott Austin was trying to say about the University not being diverse (ODE, Feb. 14), but his reference to the Uni versity being “about as diverse as the state of Mississippi” shows his regional igno rance clearly. According to 1990 census data, Mississippi is about 64 percent Cau casian and 35 percent African and African American — a far cry from the University’s dismal 1.5 percent of African-Americans it boasted fall term. I applaud his call for more diversity, but perhaps he will check his facts next time before he blurts out tired Hollywood stereo types. Jason George sophomore, journalism
