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 23,2000 Volume 101, Issue 103 Emerald After interviewing all the ASUO Executive candidates and after hours or deliberation, the Emer ald’s endorsement is in: Autumn DePoe and Caitlin Upshaw for executive. It was actually a very tough choice, but not for lofty reasons. The Emerald felt this crop of executive candidates actually had less to offer than last year’s. We were a bit unenthusiastic overall because the same words came out of everyone’s mouth. And no one said it best; no one was overly dy namic. We could have told you not to vote be cause the pickings were slim. We could have told you to vote for an “alternative” candidate. We could have not run an edito rial at all. But none of these are really ac ceptable. Because one facet of student gov ernment is learning how to compromise. And after hours of unsatisfying discussi on, laughter and debate, we finally decided to compromise. And the best candidates came out on top. Of all the candidates and tickets running for ASUO Executive, we believe that De Poe and Upshaw should be next year’s president and vice president. In many ways, they are the middle ground among extremists — Scott Austin, Ed Madrid, Dan Atkinson — and the “serious” candidates who all say the same old talk: Jay Breslow and Holly Magner, and C.J. Gabbe and Pe ter Larson. What the extremists want, each in his own way, is to dismantle or severely change the ASUO. They are inflammatory and a bit irrational sometimes, but they have ideas and perspectives that the other serious candidates don’t even consider. What tlie serious candidates are is bor ing. Look at the differences in their cam paigns. Can you even find any? Diversity, accountability for police, good salaries for teachers, outreach, etc. These are the only issues they discuss, and while they are im portant, they are obvious. Student govern ment of the 21st century needs innovation and creativity. You certainly don’t have that with two tickets — Breslow and Magn er, Gabbe and Larson — that you can’t even tell apart until one of them almost gets kicked off the ballot. So we come to the middle ground. De Poe and Upshaw are a little bit of both the radicals and the stalwarts. DePoe has been known for a few years as someone who files grievances, keeps people on their toes and yet is willing to work within the sys tem instead of just fighting it. DePoe has served as a senator and as the ASUO com munications director, while Upshaw, with no ASUO experience whatsoever, has the keen excitement to jump right in. The ticket has unique ideas, such as eliminating or severely reducing the Ath letic Department Finance Committee and sending a student to every Eugene City Council meeting. They also want to expand and make available a program guide for the ASUO so that students will know what is available for them, what they pay for with their stu dent fees. They have limited their cam paign spending to $20, and they want daily entertainment in the EMU Amphitheater. While we don’t necessarily agree to eliminating the ADFC and the idea of daily entertainment is farfetched at best, we ap preciate and welcome innovation and uniqueness. DePoe and Upshaw seem to have the character to get things done and to keep up communication with the adminis tration and with the others in student gov ernment. The two also want to hold fre quent town-hall meetings to see what Azle Malinao-Alvarez Emerald students want. And they might even tap dance for us every so often when entertain ment is hard to find for the amphitheater. The bottom line is that when you look at what’s really being said, there isn’t much diversity of ideas among the candidates. But the ticket with most of them is DePoe and Upshaw. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@ oregon.uoregon.edu. But don’t forget the underdogs Five-year plans, more diversity on campus, students’ rights, tuition freezes, blah, blah, blah. The Emer ald’s editorial board — given the task of selecting a worthy candidate to en dorse for this year’s ASUO election — heard all of those platitudes and more from the majority of hopefuls who sat in on half hour long interviews with the board. Yet, two veiy unlikely candidates grabbed the seven-person panel’s attention the most: Scott Austin and Ed “All these people are idiots” Madrid. Austin is notorious around both the ASUO and Emerald offices because of the number of grievances he has filed in past years. That seemingly annoying habit stems from the fact, however, that Austin knows his stuff when it comes to student government. In several responses to the editorial board, Austin gave clear, direct answers on what should and,what shouldn’t be done in regard to the ASUO. OK, so his i