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
April 12,2000
Volume 101, Issue 129
Emerald
Giovanni Salimena Emerald
While many
students desire
more voice in
the University
Senate,
granting them
decision
making power
would create
difficulty in
taking long
term action
Fact: Students continue to
occupy the lawn in front of
Johnson Hall.
Fact: They want the Uni
versity to sign onto the Worker
Rights Consortium.
Fact: Today the University
Senate will probably recom
mend to University President
Dave Frohnmayer to join the
WRC.
Fact: Frohnmayer said Mon
day he would sign onto the
WRC by the end of the week if
the senate does make that rec
ommendation.
Fact: Even after the president
does this, some students will
still be very angry.
Fact: This has to do with the
concept of shared governance.
Shared governance is the
term used to describe the way
the University is run, although
many of the student protesters
do not agree that there is shared
power. Much like our U.S. gov
ernment, there is a senate, a
president and a University As
sembly (which convenes at
least three times a year and has
the power to introduce legisla
tion according to the Universi
ty Senate Charter). The Univer
sity Senate is comprised of
committees that make recom
mendations to the University
president.
Students do have a voice on
this University Senate. Five stu
dents are elected each year to sit
on the senate, and they have
voting rights. Also sitting on the
University Senate are faculty
and staff, for a total of 48 seats.
Students have more say on the
University Assembly — this in
cludes 25 members of the
ASUO Executive, 18 from the
ASUO Student Senate and five
from the ASUO Constitution
Court.
What some of the protesters
in front of Johnson Hall want is
a change to this system. They
want Frohnmayer to recom
mend that the University As
sembly add more students to
the University Senate and to
each committee. They think
that the committees from the
University Senate should have
decision-making power rather
than always needing the final
say of the president.
Student democracy and
power is a must in certain situ
ations. But there is such a thing
as going too far. We need peo
pie who are going to be around
for more than four years to
make crucial long-term deci
sions. Students just can’t do it.
They aren’t available.
These kinds of long-term
plans and ideas about how the
University should be run
should not be made fleetingly.
And, unfortunately, being here
as a student for three to five
years is pretty fleeting in terms
of the bigger picture. We may
want legislation that won’t
even take effect until 2003.
And by then, students may
have different ideas. The bu
reaucratic system just isn’t con
ducive to people being around
for a short amount of time.
That’s why, perhaps, senators
and congressmen on the na
tional level are re-elected so of
ten: It takes time to get things
done, and if the mix of people
making decisions changes
every couple of years, nothing
would get done.
Attitudes change from gener
ation to generation and even
within generations. People who
are 16 years old now have vast
ly different experiences and
histories than we students now
do. They may embrace corpo
rate greed with a vengeance —
and that’s their prerogative —
but if they undo what we’ve just
done, then there’s no consisten
cy for the University. And we
need consistency for education
al standards and business deal
ings. That’s just the way the
world works.
At this University, we have
seen shared governance at
work. Students voted to adopt
the WRC. Students on the Uni
versity Senate made clear argu
ments to adopt it. Students on
the Licensing Code of Conduct
Committee did the same. Some
students on that committee
have complained that their
voices were marginalized, un
heard. But those faculty or staff
who didn’t listen have appar
ently still recommended the
WRC, so what wasn’t heard?
By all indications, the Uni
versity will exercise the will of
the students by the end of this
week.
Our voices have been heard
— and through the proper
channels.
This editorial represents the view of
the Emerald editorial board. Respons
es may be sent to ode@oregon.uore
gon.edu.
Letters to the editor
Tracy Olsen for City Council
I am a 22-year resident of the Eu
gene area and a working mother of
three. I was both pleased and sur
prised to hear that a longtime friend,
Tracy Olsen, announced that he
would be running for City Council in
Ward 3.1 consider myself very lucky
to have known Tracy since my family
moved here in 1978. Growing up, I
was always impressed with Tracy’s
maturity, integrity and outgoing per
sonality. Tracy has always been a per
son whom you could trust. I look for
ward to seeing someone on the City
Council who is interested in hearing
all points of view and is willing to
work for the good of the community.
People who have spent their entire
lives in Eugene appreciate the quality
of life in this community. I believe
that Tracy will work hard to enhance
our city government while comple
menting Eugene’s best characteristics
and making this a truly great place to
live and work. I encourage everyone
to get to know him and support his
run for City Council.
Veronica Robbins
legal secretary
Involvement is commendable
Compliments are in order for those
students who have struggled to learn
about and bring attention to the issues
of corporate sweatshops, the current
inadequate shared governance at the
University, and the fact that we are all
implicated as students, workers and
consumers in this system. I commend
them for having the courage, strength
and hope to make a better world by
their own efforts.
A dark contrast to those students’
efforts was clearly evident on your
Perspectives page Tuesday (ODE,
April 11). What sad and sobering
commentaries we got from other
members of the University there; a
full blast of columnist Mason West’s
adolescent cynicism; Moses Messen
ger’s miseducation of real economics;
Suzanne Clark’s lack of analysis about
how this University’s bureaucracy
discounts student, faculty and work
er voices; and John Condie’s inability
to know real character and the lack of
it.
And as far as the Emerald is con
cerned, I propose we rename it the
Johnson Hall Rag. As a writer and for
mer newspaper columnist, I conclud
ed months ago that Laura Cadiz and
crew are positioning themselves for
corporate journalism. Good luck to
them and the Moseses and Johns of
the world — they are in for some hard
surprises.
Peter Ferris
Eugene resident
Quoted
“The biggest thing
is, I tell my dad it’s
a cheap way of not
buying him a gift
on his birthday.”
—Cincinnati Reds
star Ken GriffeyJr.
on homeringon
his dad’s birthday,
April 10. Griffey is
the youngest play
er to hit 400 home
runs. ESPN.com,
April 11.
“You could have
bounced a quarter
off his bed.”
— Dan Jones, of
Portland, on his
son, Seth G. Jones,
18, who died in
the Marine a ire raft
crash Saturday
that killed 19
Marines. The Ore
gonian, April 10.
“We’re young.
We're cute. We’re
available. So what
are we doing here
alone?”
— Debbie Giaco
mo, a third grade
teacher in Silicon
Valley, complain
ing about the fact
that men outnum
ber women greatly
in the area but that
dates are hard to
come by. The Reg
ister-Guard, April
10,
“I’ve got both their
albums, and I
would love to cov
er one of their
songs.”
— 1960s and
1970s singerTom
Jones on his love
for the Backstreet
Boys. CNN.com,
Apriln
CORRECTION
In the article “Fo
rum targets com
munity racism is
sues” (ODE, April
5), Richard Ro
drigues’ name was
misspelled.
The Emerald re
grets this error.