Letters to the editor
Vote yes for USSA
Is it worth $1 a term to you to
fight for increased student finan
cial aid? Can you justify member
ship in an organization that
fights for hate crimes legislation,
affirmative action and equal op
portunity?
The answer to these question
is YES. In the ASUO General
Election, students will have the
opportunity to vote yes on a bal
lot measure that will continue
their membership in an organiza
tion that fights for increases in
federal financial aid, child care
funding, graduate student aid, af
firmative action policies, hate
crimes legislation and a wide va
riety of social programs.
The USSA referendum ballot
measure asks students to support
membership in the United States
Student Association. Voting yes
on the USSA referendum means
voting to continue membership
in an organization that speaks for
students on the federal level.
USSA is the only recognized
voice of students in the U.S. Con
gress, the White House and the
Department of Education. As a
direct result of USSA’s advocacy,
funding for the Pell Grant has
been increased every year since
1995. USSA is a strong advocate
for increased child care legisla
tion, as well as for increased
graduate student aid, a historical
ly under-funded portion of the
total federal financial aid alloca
tions.
By fighting to increased all
kinds of federal financial aid for
students, USSA is fighting for
you future. Vote yes on the USSA
referendum because $1 per term
now will equal hundreds or
thousands of dollars less debt af
ter graduation. Fight for your fu
ture! Vote yes on the USSA refer
endum ballot measure!
Robin Miller
ASUO Federal Affairs Coordinator
Hey Emerald, thanks a lot
Kudos to the Emerald for their
investigative exposition of the
self-defeating hypocrisy not only
of everyone involved in the Col
lective performance of “Koy
aanisqatsi” (ODE, Feb. 18), but
also in the motivations of the
original film-makers themselves.
Godfrey Reggio’s classic film is a
stunningly poignant portrayal of
human culture’s constant risk of
neglecting its environment and,
after having flourished through
thousands of years of evolution
and progress, eventually elimi
nating itself along with many
other wonders of earth’s system.
The film also contains strong
messages concerning the plight
of singular personalities within
general human society and the
ludicrous nature of that society’s
blatant consumerism and con
stant desire for increased power
through wealth or recognition.
Unfortunately, as the tone of
the Emerald’s article (with the
aid of insightful associate law
professor, Keith Aoki) pointed
out, all parties involved in the
making of this masterpiece may
soon prove themselves to be utter
hypocrites by pursuing an immi
nent money-grubbing lawsuit
against an equally deceitful
group of young artists who have
chosen to use selections from the
film to voice opinions which are
in complete agreement with
those of the original version of
the film. If it weren’t for brilliant
reporting and shiningly intuitive
leaps of faith such as those dis
played in this article, the entire
world would quite likely fall
prey to the vicious schemes of
these groups of “artists.” Thank
you, Emerald, for your preserva
tion and protection of paranoid
and greedy human culture as we
know it.
Brian Mumford
student
Rice a good leader
I am shocked by the allega
tions against Shantell Rice, Pro
grams Finance Committee chair
woman, regarding the apparent
misallocation of student fees
(ODE, Feb. 24). I have known
Rice for three years, and in that
time I have known her to be a
dedicated member of our student
government and a true asset to
the student body. I have often
spoken to Rice after the exhaust
ing, frustrating ASUO Student
Senate meetings, and I have nev
er heard her speak negatively or
accusingly of her colleagues. I
have also never known Rice to
have a personal agenda involving
the proceedings of the PFC — an
amazing feat for someone in
volved in any type of govern
ment. I do not know ASUO Presi
dent Wylie Chen or the
intricacies of the situation, but I
do know Rice — and I know that
she possesses the honesty and in
tegrity needed to fairly perform
her duties as PFC chairwoman.
Berkeley Williamson
chemistry
Vote Breslow and Magner
During the ASUO primaries
this week, students must vote on
2000-2001 ASUO Executive lead
ership. While there are a variety
of candidates to choose from -
those who are running to ridicule
student government, those who
simply wish to harass other can
didates — one ASUO Executive
ticket stands out as best. Jay Bres
low and Holly Magner are cam
paigning for ASUO president
and vice president because they
are committed to student em
powerment. Breslow and Magner
intend to work with student
groups and administration to
make our campus the most di
verse place possible; they will
fight in state legislature and in
congress to protect and improve
financial aid programs; they will
work to protect the incidental fee
system so that students will still
have access to the programs that
make our campus a great place;
they have a positive relationship
between the University and the
Eugene community; finally, they
are committed to serving stu
dents and being the best resource
imaginable for students at the
University. Breslow and Magner
are extremely intelligent, dynam
ic, capable leaders; they combine
experience with the fresh per
spective necessary to meet the
needs of all students at the Uni
versity. Electing the ASUO Exec
utive is about electing people
who will get things done, and
Breslow and Magner are the peo
ple for the job. Students have the
power to make big changes in the
year’s ASUO elections, and vot
ing for Jay Breslow and Holly
Magner is the only way to use
that power to make positive
changes.
Lauren Manes
sophomore, linguistics
Ed Madrid on Ed Madrid
Three cheers to the Emerald
for that gloriously cathartic edito
rial regarding Ed Madrid’s legiti
macy as an ASUO candidate
(ODE, Feb. 23). I have followed
Mr. Madrid’s political career
rather closely, cheering on his
outlandish pranks and wonder
ing whether his rare genius
would ever be publicly recog
nized. Finally, the Emerald has
acknowledged the joke Mr.
Madrid is playing on all of us.
Wake up, gentle reader: Some
thing has changed inside of you.
You have Mr. Madrid to blame.
Indeed, Madrid has “a mind of
his or her own” — sometimes,
his piercing words reach so deep
inside of me I feel he has some
how entered my own, far inferior
mind. This year, all conventions
were shattered by Madrid’s plan
to use a simple name change (i.e.,
“All These People Are Idiots”) as
a vehicle for unifying a campus
community.
Unfortunately, the ASUO Elec
tion Board’s Kenneth Best — an
otherwise well-meaning man
with wonderfully opaque eyes —
failed to acknowledge the deep
moral vision that accompanies
Madrid’s stomach-clutchingly
funny political satire.
But alas, the campus institu
tions that seek to oppress
Madrid’s oppressive idealism
have no jurisdiction when it
comes to our own lavish, self-ed
ited memories.
And so, 20 years from now, we
will close our eyes and remem
ber how Ed Madrid really *was*
elected ASUO president. We will
remember how he dismantled
student government and coura
geously gave incidental fee mon
ey back to the students, but not
before requiring each fee-paying
student to promise to love one
another, honestly and uncondi
tionally.
Ed Madrid
English
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