Politics
continued from page 1
But Jarret White, recently-elect
ed chairman of the University Col
lege Republicans, said while hand
outs might decrease, students
aren’t likely to suffer.
“I don’t think Republicans are
going to force any issue that’s going
to be detrimental to students,” he
said. “Students can look forward to
see ... secure borders and winning
the war on terrorism.”
College Democrat Co-Chair
man Mike Linman said he was
concerned with what he feels is a
lack of checks and balances in
power with Republicans control
ling both the executive branch
and the legislature.
“I don’t think it accurately repre
sents the voting population,” he
said. “I wouldn’t want total Demo
crat control either.”
Medler added that Congress is
n’t likely to do much in the next
two years, even with the leader
ship of Republican President
George W. Bush. That’s because
national government is often a
hobbled-together coalition of
Southerners, Northerners, rural,
urban and just about every other
group who happen to see eye-to
eye on certain party issues.
“So while you have a Republican
House and Republican Senate, you
don’t necessarily get better of more
unified legislation,” he said.
Student and University groups
are now trying to enlist the uni
fied support of Democrats and Re
publicans. The Higher Education
Act, a blanket group of issues that
affect higher education funding
and policies, is up for reauthoriza
tion for the next congressional
session, and billions of student
aid dollars are at stake.
Higher Education Act
Mary Cunningham, legislative
director for lobbying group the
United States Student Associa
tion, said the USSA will be push
ing four key components of the
act in the 108th Congress, and
added that the group is putting
pressure on both political parties.
“You have to work with all the
members of a (congressional ) com
mittee, and they aren’t all Republi
cans,” she said. “Now the balance
of power is different, but we have
relationships with people on both
sides of the aisle.”
The lobbying group aims to in
crease student grant money, re
duce the maximum student loan
amount so students don’t go as far
into debt, keep voter registration
language intact and eliminate a
controversial drug question from
federal student aid forms.
University federal affairs Direc
tor Betsy Boyd said when Congress
convenes in January, the fate of the
Higher Education Act will be a cen
tral focus for university lobbyists.
“It’s an opportunity to beef up or
change programs that directly af
fect student access to higher edu
cation,” she said.
Local efforts
The ASUO is beginning its own
efforts to push for higher educa
tion. ASUO legislative associate
Stefan Myers said it’s difficult to
figure out what issues might
change at a national level, as con
gressional elections were held so
recently and some seats are still
up in the air.
“As we’re looking at it, we can’t
even guess actually how partisan
ship will affect higher education,”
Myers said.
Looking to Congress for help is
difficult for students, because most
funding issues are decided at the
state level. But through ties with
organizations such as the USSA,
Myers and other interested stu
dents will have a chance to travel
to Washington, D.C., for a lobbying
trip in the spring.
College Republicans and Col
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Balance of power in the 108th U.S. Congress
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lege Democrats are also planning
their own approaches to higher
education issues at the state and
national levels.
Linman said being a Democrat
is difficult when the national par
ty doesn’t have one consistent,
clear message.
“Right now we don’t have any
forerunners in our party,” he said.
“While you may disagree with
what the Republicans stand for,
most of them have a clear, unified
voice. There is no unifying voice
right now.”
White said the College Republi
cans also struggle at times with
how to put a priority on higher ed
ucation when most politicians pay
more attention to K-12 students
than people in college.
“Yes, we need higher education
reform,” he said. “But I don’t
think that either party looks at
university education as much as
they should.”
Contact the news editor
atbrookreinhard@dailyemerald.com.
KUGN
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options the University has, Ryan
said.
The coalition’s desire to separate
the University and KUGN was
echoed by the ASUO Executive on
Wednesday with the resolution.
Maddy Melton, co-multicultural ad
vocate for student government,
said the resolution recommends
when KUGN uses any University lo
gos, trade names, service marks or
trademarks, that it immediately be
followed by a disclaimer saying the
radio station’s programming only
represents Ducks athletics and not
the University or its policies.
ASUO spokeswoman Lacy Ogan
said while student government ap
preciates Frohnmayer’s opinions
and understands the University
cannot legally break its contract,
she said the ASUO is firmly stand
ing by the resolution. She added it
will be up to the coalition to decide
what action to take in response to
Frohnmayer’s letter, and the stu
dent government will uphold what
ever decisions the group makes.
However, not all students believe
that the University needs to break its
connection with KUGN. College Re
publicans Chairman Jarrett White
said while the two talk show hosts
sometimes make offensive com
ments, they provide a healthy politi
cal discourse and help stir up debate.
“Savage is entertaining and I
don’t think he’s meant to be politi
cally correct,” White said. “Yes,
some of the things he says might be
wrong, but I think he’s a good con
servative voice to balance out pub
lic debate.”
Gabe Sitowski, a University senior
and regular listener of KUGN, said
the recent characterization of the
station as “hate radio” is completely
off the mark. He added that while
Savage sometimes engages in long
emotional rants, he usually voices a
retraction if he goes overboard.
Contact the reporter
atjenniferbear@dailyemerald.com.
Thank you, voters!
I want to thank the residents of
Oregon's 4th Congressional District for a
strong vote of support in the election.
It is a tremendous opportunity and
honor to once again be chosen to
represent southwest Oregon in Congress.
I will continue to do my best to actively
represent our concerns and unique
Oregon perspective in Congress.
As always, please write, e-mail, call or
visit one of my three district offices to
express your opinions and concerns on
federal issues or to ask for help with
problems you are having with a federal
agency or program.
Sincerely,
Peter DeFazio
Member of Congress
Authorized and paid for by DeFazio for Congress
P 0 Box 1316, Springfield, OR 97477