Summer senators have to relinquish stipends
■ The Constitution Court
rules that the summer
senate and nonfulfillment
clause are unconstitutional
By Jeremy Lang
Oregon Daily Emerald
The ASUO summer senators ac
cused of nonfulfillment of duty
chaises escaped with only a minor
punishment Monday, but the senate
body itself did not stand up as well.
Instead of removing the sena
tors from office, the court removed
the entire summer office instead.
The ASUO Constitution Court
ruled Monday that Sens. Jessica
Timpany, Spencer Hamlin, C.J.
Gabbe, Jereme Gryzbowski and
Andrew Schneider were guilty of
nonfulfillment of duties for not
holding posted office hours as
members of the summer senate.
They now have 30 days to pay
back their $75 stipend pay for
their summer work.
All of the convicted summer
senators are current ASUO stu
dent senators except for Schnei
der, who resigned from senate at
the end of fall term.
Senior political science major
Scott Austin, who filed a griev
ance on the issue more than three
months ago, attempted to have the
senators removed from office at a
public hearing on the issue Friday.
In the court’s majority statement,
Chief Justice Jeremy Gibons said
usually the court wouldn’t look at
the structure of the summer senate
itself but that the case brought up
important questions regarding its
constitutionality — especially re
garding the fact that the ASUO Stu
dent Senate, not the students, elects
the summer committee.
“This creates a situation in
which senators, in effect, elect
senators. That the ASUO Student
Senate should be a self-appointive
body is not countenanced by the
ASUO Constitution. In fact, this
procedure violates [rule] 6.17 of
the ASUO Constitution,” Gibons
said in the majority opinion.
The court decided the rule
Austin used to try to remove the
senators was unconstitutional as
well. According to senate rules,
senators are forced to leave office
if they have been convicted of
nonfulfillment.
“If the senate fails to obtain quo
rum during any three-week peri
od when the University is in full
session, senators may be removed
by the Constitution Court,” Gi
bons wrote in the court’s opinion.
“There is no room in this constitu
tional scheme for the senate to im
pose additional qualifications
upon its members or to remove, by
action or by rule any qualified and
duly elected senator.”
Austin said he still considered
the decision a victory. “Making
them pay back the money was the
whole point to begin with. Getting
them kicked out would have just
been the ice cream topping on the
cake,” Austin said of the decision.
He added he is pleased that the
idea of office hours is clearer. Al
though he didn’t originally intend
to have the summer senate itself
brought into question, he said dur
ing the hearing he hoped the justices
would see its structure problems.
Although she couldn’t speak for
the rest of the summer senators,
Timpany said she didn’t think the
resolution was fair.
“1 think repayment is extraneous
especially when the court admitted
we did our duty as senators — we
just didn’t post hours,” she said.
Timpany also blamed the
ASUO rules for causing the confu
sion with summer senate.
“The Green Tape Notebook is
very disjointed. I don’t think any
of us questioned the validity of
summer senate until tonight.”
The court offered suggestions for
how to conduct senate business
over the summer. It will be the sen
ate’s job to redefine the summer ses
sion in the weeks to come.
MECCA
continued from page 1
cling.
“Artists love it,” Grimm said.
'But supporting artists is not
BRING Recycling’s main goal — it
also aims to educate.
The “objective is to get these
materials into the hands of people
who want to make a living for
themselves,” she said.
Some materials donated to
BRING Recycling, however, have
gone to landfills in the past and
might now be reused thanks to
BRING Recycling’s new project.
Grimm said MECCA will gamer and
distribute materials such as fabric
and wallpaper, scrap books, foam,
misprints and paper, to name only a
few. These materials will then be
made available to individuals,
groups and especially children for
educational purposes, such as art
projects. Part of the lesson will be
that garbage does not always have to
go into the trash can but that some
of it can be reused.
“I just found that reuse is some
thing we want to develop,” Grimm
said.
Currently, MECCA, which is
just getting off the ground, is run
strictly on a volunteer basis.
Grimm said MECCA hopes to find
more members who would like to
get involved in donating or man
aging reusable materials.
MECCA is holding a public in
formation session tonight in the
EWEB Community Room from 7
p.m. to 9 p.m. Grimm said besides
engaging in dialogue with interest
ed community members, she
hopes MECCA will be able to form
its board of directors.
Another concern is finding a
permanent home for MECCA. Un
til such becomes available, materi
als are available to the community
by appointment only. Individuals
interested in materials can trade or
purchase them for an inexpensive
price. Teachers and groups may
receive MECCA materials for free
if the intent is educational.
Currently, MECCA meets
Thursday nights from 7 p.m. to 10
p.m. at Looking Glass Station 7 at
2485 Roosevelt Blvd.
Alex Cuyler, recycling specialist
for the city of Eugene, said the exten
sion of BRING Recycling would not
only help educate community
members about recycling, but it
would also help the city’s recovery
rate — the rate of material a city is
required to recycle.
“The MECCA project would
help the city of Eugene to meet
some statewide needs for reuse,”
Cuyler said.
Currently the recovery rate in
Lane County is 44 percent. Pro
jects such as MECCA help the city
get a 2 percent credit.
“Reuse is just a very good idea,”
he said. “Using things over and
over again is just a very necessary
message.”
Julie Daniel, general manager at
BRING Recycling, said MECCA
serves two purposes. On one hand
it reuses materials that would oth
erwise have gone to the landfill.
On the other hand, “It raises peo
ple’s awareness of what is
garbage,” she said.
Catharine Kendall Emerald
The Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts will use materials from BRING
Recycling for educational projects and artistic endeavors in local classrooms.
City council
continued from page 1
the construction of a new Emer
gency Communication Center
(911) at Second Avenue and
Chambers Street last year.
I’ve decided not to
run again partly for fi
nancial reasons, like pay
ing off my college loans.
Bobby Lee
council president
But it’s the tenuous condition
of the physical building, judged
unsafe in the event of earthquake
by an architectural firm in 1995,
that provides the strongest argu
ment for proponents of die reloca
tion.
“The police department de
serves a safe and adequate place
to work. We basically trust these
services with our lives, and they
deserve a decent place to work,”
Councilor David Kelly said.
During an open forum, many
local residents raised concerns
about both the cost and feasibility
of the project, but they were
quelled when Councilor Gary
Rayor’s amendment ensuring that
any leftover revenue be returned
to voters was added to the mea
sure’s language.
As proposed, the council com
pensation measure would pay the
mayor $1500 and councilors
$1000 per month. The primary ra
tionale for such is that it might en
courage a broader range of citi
zens to run for the office, which
on average requires at least 30
hours of time worked per week.
Council President Bobby Lee,
echoing the comments of other
members, said the time and finan
cial sacrifices councilors must
make to serve often preclude
many from seeking ward seats.
“It’s a four-year commitment,”
he said. “I’ve decided not to run
again partly for financial reasons,
like paying off my college loans,
and it shouldn’t be that way.”
Elections
continued from page 1
that Gabbe and Larson had in fact violated elections
rules when they offered a “thing of value” in the form
of refreshments at a Feb. 4 International Coffee Hour.
“I like the decision because, in a way, it upheld our
ruling,” Elections Coordinator Ken Best said. “In a
sense it means, ‘Yes, they should’ve been removed
from the ballot.’”
The court ruled that Gabbe and Larson’s action in
providing refreshments at the International Student
Association coffee hour on Feb. 4 was done so in viola
tion of election rule 2.4 and with the intent of promot
ing their campaign. The court also decided, however,
that the Elections Board violated the candidates’ rights
to “ due process ’ ’ by not holding a hearing for the griev
ance filed against them within 72 hours.
Due process says that a person cannot be denied
his or her rights unless the matter is dealt with ac
cording to established rules. The established rule in
this case demands that a hearing be held within
three days of a grievance being filed. The rights be
ing denied would be Gabbe and Larson’s right to re
main on the ballot.
At the hearing held last Friday, Student Senator
Jennifer Greenough, who filed the grievance, agreed
with Gabbe and Larson that three days meant 72
hours. It was then determined that the hearing for
the grievance was held roughly 73 hours after it
reached the hands of Best.
The court concluded the Elections Board should
be held to the same standards as the candidates. By
breaking the rule of due process, the board gave up
its right to decide on the fates of Gabbe and Larson.
“They should be very thankful that we live under
a fair system of government that requires that rules be
followed not only by citizens but also itself,” Justice
Robert Raschio stated in the court’s decision. “Mr.
Gabbe and Mr. Larson have dodged a bullet. They
should not expect to be so lucky next time. ”
Gabbe and Larson continue to hold that they did
not violate anything in providing food and drink at
the ISA coffee hour.
“I still firmly believe that we did not break a
rule,” Gabbe and Larson’s campaign manager
Melissa Unger said.
The Elections Board is disappointed because not
only could the technicality held against have been
easily avoided, but the board itself never agreed
that three days equals 72 hours.
“If we had met earlier, we could’ve stalled our
decision until later,” Elections Board Manager Nate
Jolly said. “But we had our decision that night,
which helped their due process rather than hurt it.”
Best said he feels that the ruling was made based
on “misinformation of fact,” specifically in state
ments he had made and interpretations of the rules
by the board.
Greenough said, overall, she agreed with Best.
“Justice has not been served,” she said.
1
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