Monday
Editor in chief: Jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Brooklyn, Nair for ASUO exec
Wow, what an election sea
son. While on a shortened
timetable, the race for
ASUO president and vice
president has been hard fought. The
Emerald editorial board predicts a
close primary and general election, at
least if our own discussion of the can
didates is any indication.
All of the serious contenders are
reaching out to student groups and
fighting, as last year’s U.S. presidential
candidates did, for the moderate cen
ter. The fact that so much attention is
being paid to the issues is a credit to
the candidates and has already pro
duced one clear winner: students, who
will have an engaged ASUO Executive
no matter the outcome.
So far, three tickets have been jock
eying for the lead position. Bret Jacob
son and Matt Cook are running as the
outsiders who will represent everyone
and bring creative thinking and profes
sionalism to the office. Eric Bailey and
Jeff Oliver are self-professed insiders
who say they know how student gov
ernment works, so they know how to
improve it. Somewhere in the middle
are Nilda Brooklyn and Joy Nair, who
currently work in the ASUO office but
are not insiders in the traditional sense
of student-government wonks.
After much debate, we support Nil
da and Joy, in both the primary and the
potential general election. They will
do the best job on the issues we consid
ered the most important: representing
every voice on campus; renters’ rights,
which involve more than passing the
buck to private interests; reaching out
to the administration, while not kow
towing to it; working hard to improve
relations with the Eugene police and
campus security, as well as challenging
city councils who don’t appreciate the
students; and fighting for improved ac
cess to education for everyone.
Overall, we think the top candidates’
various plans for most of the issues pan
out to about a tie. All three tickets are
working to address students’ main con
cerns, and they all have good ideas. We
applaud everyone’s effort and hope it
carries through into action for the next
ASUO president.
But the issue that dominated our dis
cussion, in the end, was diversity and
student representation in the ASUO.
The candidates have been spending a
lot of words explaining how they
would open the doors of student gov
ernment to everyone.
There seems to be some sentiment
on campus and on the Emerald editori
al board that the current Executive was
run by and for a few liberals and mi
norities to promote their very liberal
causes. This description is arguably ex
aggerated, as the current office has
done work on a variety of wide-interest
issues, but it was expressed by the can
didates and a few students at the de
bate. Bailey and Oliver, for one, men
tioned that some people, and Greeks in
particular, don’t feel welcomed in the
ASUO office. If true, this certainly
needs to change.
Now we get into difficult territory.
People will be mad at us no matter how
this is written, so here goes.
The notion that the straight white
person’s viewpoint is not heard or rep
resented at the University is peculiar.
It’s difficult to go anywhere on campus
(or in Oregon, for that matter) without
running into the dominant majority
perspective. At the University, suppos
edly a bastion of exploring alternate
viewpoints, the dominant majority
may find itself confronted with opposi
tion, but it’s still here and represented.
The point of diversity and multicul
turalism is not that you get your views
heard in proportion to your popula
tion. Under that theory, the minority
viewpoints in Oregon would be all but
silenced. Instead, every voice must be
listened to on an equal footing, regard
less of its minority status.
With that said, we feel that Nilda
and Joy are in the best position to en
sure every voice IS represented. They
have worked with a wide range of stu
dent groups and understand how to
represent the often-silenced interests.
They can use that knowledge to engage
everyone.
It is imperative that not a few, not
some, but every interest has a place in
student government. We strongly sug
gest that Nilda and Joy make sure the
Greek system and the politically con
servative are welcomed in the ASUO
office, and we will be disappointed if
they embrace the divisive forms of di
versity into which University politics
sometimes slips. It’s not enough to
reach out to only those people one is
comfortable with or used to. The effort
must be made to bring opposing opin
ions together to talk.
As a final note, we hope Bret and
Matt make it to the general election, if
one is required. Of all the candidates
we didn’t endorse, Bret and Matt have
Poll Results
Every week, the Emerald prints the resultsof our online poll and the poll question for next
week. The poll can be accessed from the main page of our Web site,
www.dailyemerald.com. We encourage you to send us feedback about the poll questions
and results.
Last week’s poll question
What is the most important issue in the ASUO election?
Results: 77 tota I votes
Diversity—15 votes, or 19.5 percent
Campus safety—8 votes, or 10.4 percent
Renters’ rights—12 votes, or 15.6 percent
Incidental fee—18 votes, or 23.4 percent
Relations with authorities and decision makers— 24 votes, or 31.2 percent
This one was all over the board, with no critical mass. We hope the nu mber of votes in our
poll doesn’t foreshadow the election turnout. Vote on Duck Web!
This week’s poll question
I think University professors get paid:
The choices:
Too much
Not enough
Just right
Don’t care
Tom Patterson Emerald
the best ideas and the most challeng
ing views on issues. The discussion
they create is indicative of the entire
idea of diversity on campus, and we
hope they continue to argue the issues
throughout the election process.
We encourage you to vote for Nilda
and Joy, but don’t just take our recom
mendation — meet the candidates
yourself, ask questions, make sugges
tions and be an active voter. And no
matter your choice, please vote. Vot
ing is available around the clock on
Duck Web, from today through Thurs
day. Student government makes deci
sions that affect us all and handles a
lot of student money. It pays to be in
formed and involved.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board. Responses can be sent
to ode@oregon.uoregon.edu.
Editor’s note: In the interest of fairness and full
disclosure, readers should know that Bret Jacob
son is a former Emerald editorial editor and
columnist.
Letters to the editor
Shame on sexism
I walked out of the candidate debate
on Thursday night with a sick feeling in
my stomach. It was not due to the lack
of quality candidates, but rather the
words of one candidate and the reac
tions he elicited from the audience. It
doesn’t take any intelligence to offend
people.
Tasteless humor is possibly the low
est form of comedy. However, it is not
the misogynist and demeaning nature
of the message of the specific candidate
that outraged me, it was the audience
reaction.
We sat in that room, and every one of
us let it happen. As men, when we see
such blatant sexism, it is our responsi
bility to stand up and say something. It
is an embarrassment to the ASUO and
this University that nothing was done
and nothing was said as the role of
women on this campus was completely
dismissed.
We would all be outraged had the
content been racist in nature, but for
some reason the objectification of
women is considered lighthearted and
funny. I hope that in the future, all peo
ple in this situation, including myself,
will have the strength to stand up and
speak out against such degrading mes
sages. None of us did on Thursday, and
it is a shame on all of us.
Jay B reslow
ASUO president
senior
psychology/Spanish
Make a difference and vote
forOSPIRG
I am writing to say that I absolutely
agree with Eric Pfeiffer’s editorial (“OS
PIRG: A model for citizens,” ODE, Feb.
20). Having groups like OSPIRG here at
the University of Oregon and all across
the state makes a difference both on
campus and off.
Having worked closely with student
groups and governments around the
state and around the country, I have
learned that it’s important to not only
work for the issues students are con
cerned about on campus, but also to
build statewide student movements off
campus as well. OSPIRG is an amazing
example of this. When you combine
all the student activism from OSPIRG
chapters statewide with the expertise
of their professional staff, it makes a
serious difference for the public inter
est.
Just one example of the good work
they do is the campaign to “Clean the
Willamette River.” Students on cam
pus are researching polluters, monitor
ing streams and organizing grassroots
campaigns while at the same time OS
PIRG’s toxics staffer, Rhett Lawrence,
works with the Department of Envi
ronmental Quality and the governor to
enforce the current clean water protec
tions we already have.
Students and staff working for Ore
gon is a one-two punch that just does
n’t miss. So I encourage you to vote
yes for OSPIRG in the upcoming elec
tions, because our education and our
environment need our help.
Tim Young
junior
political science
member of Oregon State Board of
Higher Education
Having fun
with
candidates
During their
interviews, we
asked the candi
dates three real
ly, uh, important
questions. Hey,
it’s more infor
mation. More in
formation is
good, right?
Here’s how
everyone an
swered:
Macand cheese
or ramen?
Eric Bailey: Mac
and cheese—if
it’s rea lly cheesy.
Nilda Brooklyn:
Ramen.
Sho ikeda:Both
at the same
time.
Bret Jacobson;
Ramen.
EricQualheim:
Ramen; I can’t
afford macand
cheese.
Brad Schatzel:
Mac and cheese
— if it’s Kraft.
“WhoWantsto
be a Millionaire”
or “Jeopardy”?
Bailey: “Million
aire”; it makes
you feel smarter
when they mess
up.
Brooklyn: “Jeop
ardy.”
Ikeda: "Jeop
ardy.”
Jacobson: “jeop
ardy”; it’sa clas
sic and based on
real knowledge
occasionally.
Qualheim:
"Jeopardy” has a
much better
theme song.
Schatzel: “Jeop
ardy.”
Amihotornot.
com or mullets
gaiore.com?
Bailey: 1 use ami
hotomot.com.
Brooklyn: Mul
letsgalore.com.
Ikeda: Amiho
tornot.com.
Jacobson: Ami
hotornot. com.
Qualheim: Am i
hotomot.com.
Schatzel: I’m not
familiarwith
them; I’ll go with
the mullet.
The correct an
swers are
actually: Mac
and cheese,
“Jeopardy" and
amihotomot.
com, but no can
didate got all
three, so you
can’t base your
vote on this little
poll.