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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 26, 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 Friday May 26,2000 Volume 101, Issuel 61 EiWerakl As Chen and Anoushiravani move on, they leave behind a well-paved path of good decisions and, for the most part, kept promises Giovanni Salimena Emerald Ty he end of spring term sig nals the passing of the torch from one ASUO Executive to another. On Wednesday, the term of office ended for Wylie Chen and Mitra Anoushiravani, and it be gan for Jay Breslow and Holly Magn Before turning our attention to the new executive, we should critique the old. Based on campaign promis es, character of the office, ability to deal with surprises and general repu: tation, Chen and Anoushiravani ful filled their duties well. With the Worker Rights Consortium, the Southworth incidental fee case, Uni versity President Dave Frqhnmayer’s absence due to his heart arrhythmia and Nike CEO Phil Knight pulling his money, this executive had much more than daily office duties to han dle. Yet despite the distractions, they worked hard for students, increased efficiency in the ASUO office and carried themselves with dignity the entire year. The 1999-2000 executive came into office with a lengthy list of cam paign goals, and while they did not complete them all, they put a dent into the promises and dealt with un expected issues. Chen and Anoushi ravani — and their staff, which they greatly credit — have been one of the best executives in years. The original list of campaign prom ises included such goals as better In ternet access, better lighting on cam pus, a tuition freeze, more students at the University Senate, financial-aid grants, better childcare, more campus events, outreach, a more flexible housing contract and better relations with the Office of Public Safety and the Eugene Police Department. Some of these — flexible housing contracts, tuition freeze, a film school — proved just not possible to change or were out of Chen and Anoushiravani’s hands. Others — more child-care assis tance, better lighting on campus, bet ter relations with law enforcement — have been successful in varying de grees. Anoushiravani especially feels proud of the improved relations with EPD surrounding the concern about possible Halloween riots. And more money for childcare is possible if Gov. John Kitzhaber comes through on a promise this fall. Better lighting should start being installed this sum mer. Where Chen and Anoushiravani really excelled, though, was in the be hind-the-scenes management of the ASUO office. Good working relation ships with their staff, adding new po sitions to increase productivity, or ganizing a Programs Council to “empower” student groups, saving money and overall just making the executive office accountable were all key parts to their administration. We felt they were fair, ethical and with out political motives — as we could see with their appointing of a conser vative senator with whom they dis agreed and by their funding of the un popular Justice For All. For the most part, they had good re lations with University administra tion. The one administrator with whom they say they didn’t get along with is, unfortunately, Frohnmayer. Communication breakdowns, missed appointments and other problems contributed to a feeling of disassocia tion. Frohnmayer says they all tried to communicate. Chen and Anoushi ravani say Frohnmayer didn’t try hard enough. Regardless of who is to blame, this is one area that could use improvement for next year. Another place for improvement is outreach, All of the office improve ments are beneficial, but students can’t see that kind of behind-the scenes success. More communication with students about what the execu tive was doing — either through cam pus media or through more forums — would have been helpful. The execu tive’s public relations director quit during winter term, and the position was not filled. It probably should have been. Overall, Chen and Anoushiravani have left the executive in good shape for Breslow and Magner. No doubt if Breslow and Magner follow in this year’s executives’ footsteps, they will be well set. So here’s a thank you to Wylie and Mitra and a good luck to Jay and Hol ly. Passing the torch may never have been so easy. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu. Letters to the editor Folk festival destroys quiet atmosphere This last weekend, the University apparently vio lated its housing contract with several of its stu dents. I live in Morton Hall, in the Earl Complex. It is a study hall. Quiet hours inside the hall are to be in effect 24/7. Not only do the residents agree to this, but so does University Housing. But this weekend, the EMU allowed the annual folk festival to be held on its lawn. This lawn is di rectly adjacent to Morton Hall. Three days of loud music is hardly conducive to study. While I have no objections to the festival itself, I do object to the University allowing it to be held in front of a dorm when it agreed to keep the noise down. There are other places on campus that the festival could have been held that would not violate the housing agreement. Corey Jonas economic, business Help fund student-parents If my mother had not had the opportunity to at tend college, statistics say that I probably would not be a student today. It was difficult for my mom to spend time with me, provide for me and go to school so that I could have a better future. I am not a student parent, but I reap the benefits of coming from a home where my parent had the opportunity to attend col lege. I stand firm behind the concept of educating our parents so that they can better provide for their children and themselves. One way that we can show our support is by urg ing our legislators to fund the Child Care Block Grant, which is aid for low-income parents who want to get an education beyond high school. Stu dents across Oregon plan to work hard this upcom ing legislative session to assure funding for the grant. If you care about the future of our society, I en courage you to support student parents. One way to get involved is to write to our elected representatives and let them know that you support the Child Care Block Grant. I know the ASUO is working on the is sue, so I’m sure that you can get more information there. Support student parents! Joy Nair ASUO intern CORRECTION The story “Mixed matters met in senate meeting" (ODE May 25) was unclear in the fact that the money for ASUO Student Senate T-shirts came out of uncollected senator stipends, not the fee surplus. The Emerald regrets the error. Thumbs To stunning the golf world University women’s golf is currently fi5t place at the NCAA National Champi onships, much to the delight and surprise of head coach Renee Baumgartner. The Ducks went into the tournament ranked 24th. Toknowingyour renters'rights OSPIRGhasa renters’ rights handbook avail able to students with tips on how to deal with land lords and renter law. The book can be a resource to many students who want to em power themselves. To going down in the line of duty A cameraman for Associated Press Television News and a Reuters cor respondent were killed Wednesday in Sierra Leone when gunmen am bushed their vehi cle. Both were sea soned foreign reporters. To poor oral health being higher in low income, minority groups The Surgeon Gen eral announced Thursday that oral health among low income and mi nority Americans is an “epidemic. ” Lack of dental in surance, poor di ets, tobacco use, few minority den tists and lack of awareness were' cited as instiga tors.
