Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2004)
Student politician juggles three majors and civic duty University student Randy Derrick leads a busy life of school and politics as he tries to make a difference By Nika Carlson _ News Reporter Imagine that this is your schedule: Monday morning, you wake up early and drive 20 minutes from your house in the Southwest Hills to spend 8:30 a.m. to 10 a m. in the College Democrats office. You go to class, but leave early to make it to a meeting of the Lane County Economic Development Standing Committee. You barely have time to grab lunch before heading to work as the Management Informa tion System manager at the Lane County Drug Court. After work, you have a night meet ing with various Democrats, then head home to do homework for your three majors: business adminis tration, political science and eco nomics. If you are lucky, you've got a little time with your cat before you crash out at midnight. Repeat Tuesday through Friday, add f work and more meetings Saturday and church Sunday. Your name is Randy Derrick, you ■* just turned 22 and, by the way, you nearly got appointed to the Oregon House of Representatives. You are a student politician. Derrick doesn't call himself that. He said he is a civil servant. He also, however, has six different commitments for the Democratic Par ty and was the founding member of the Young Democrats of Lane Coun ty Caucus. He sits on several local ad visory committees and was just ap pointed to another that reports to the chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. He also is an economic devel opment assistant for the Lane Coun ty Community and Economic Devel opment office. Derrick has interned for two local legislators, including spending four months as head intern in Washing ton, D.C., for Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. Not only was the nation's capital awe inspiring, it afforded him the oppor tunity to meet a host of famous politi cians, he said. -- "Jesse Helms is so funny," Derrick said. He sits on his church's board of trustees, and he is Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson's campaign manager. "I have free time, but not a lot of it," Derrick said. "It's jealously guarded." — poppi*/— _/4n&4oli& Lunch Monday through Saturday Dinner 7 Nights a Week 992 Willamette Eugene, Or 97401 343-9661 Tim Bobosky Photographer University student Randy Derrick tells Lane County Commissioners on Jan. 16 why should be selected to represent District 8 in the Oregon Legislature. Despite his busy schedule, Derrick said he doesn't feel like he is working. "When you care deeply about what you do, when you're passionate about it, it's not a burden," he said. "1 love everything that 1 do." His dedication has impressed his colleagues, most of whom are at least 20 years his senior. When Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski appointed former Rep. Floyd Prozans ki, D-Eugene, to the state senate, for instance, the Democratic Party of Lane County chose Derrick as their second of three nominees to send be fore Lane County Commissioners, who made the final selection for the vacant seat. "He's done a tremendous amount of good already, and we're really proud of his service," Sorenson said. Derrick wasn't selected, but he said the honor of the nomination was enough for him. The night he found out he was nominated, he gave up cel ebrating his birthday to work on his speech, he said. Derrick's foray into politics began in eighth grade when he started ask ing his homeroom teacher questions about the political process, he said. He did a lot of reading about gover nance that year and volunteered on Springfield Democratic Rep. Peter De Fazio's campaign with his equally in volved twin brother, Riley Derrick. While he continued volunteering in campaigns in high school, he didn't become involved with city politics un til his senior year. He said a community service re quirement at Churchill High School led him to the Lane County Drug Court four-and-a-half years ago, where he began with data entry. Since then, he's written a manual on the court's old computer system, led train ing throughout the state and helped develop a new state-wide manage ment information system. "He's amazing," Lane County Drug Court Administrator Tali McK ay said. "He just goes after informa tion, figures things out and does it. He's pretty awesome." McKay added that his age has rarely been a problem. "He gets along with absolutely everybody," she said. Derrick, often seen in a tucked-in, button-down shirt, speaks with the confidence of someone secure in his opinions, using a quick but measured cadence and the rich vocabulary of a politician. His speech is peppered with acronyms that refer to the pro grams he's involved in. He may seem older than his years, but he is the youngest person on all the committees he sits on, he said. "1 think that my sitting on those committees brings a perspective that wasn't there," he saicl. "There are times when your ideas don't get taken as seriously, but it's not as big of chal lenge anymore because once you get in there and establish yourself, age is not really a factor." Derrick is a self-described "policy wonk," but he said not all of his friendships and conversations revolve around politics. Senior Daniel Bayley, a friend of Derrick's, said they met in their busi ness Freshman Interest Group. "He's always had a different level of knowledge than his classmates and has always been a step ahead of us," he said. "He was reading books in addition to the ones in class just to get that additional information and perspective." Derrick said he isn't bothered that most people his age aren't as intensely involved in politics as he is, though he said he keeps voter registration cards in his car in case he runs across some one who is not a registered voter. "That bothers me," he said. "A lot of students don't take the time to under stand what the impact of not voting is." However, nobody should be forced to do anything they don't want to do, he added. So why does he do it? "It's pretty much the old story about wanting to make change, want ing to make things better than you found them," he said. "I totally know I'm making a difference." Contact the city/state politics reporter at nikacarlson@dailyemerald.com. 01791; ALL DAY CVEAYDAY' 444 E.3RD -484-1917 • MON-SAT ll:30AMT0 CLOSE South end of Ferrv St Bridae 017057, loufts mm Restaurant and Lounge Authentic Chinese Cuisine Fresh, Quality Ingredients 947 Franklin Blvd. (near UO) • 343-4480 Individual, Family Style, Banquets to 100, Take Out Tues.-Thurs. 11-10:30, Fri. 11-11 Sat. 12-11, Sun. 11:30-10 ■01424c Pregnant? Talk with a friend. 1.800.848.LOVE New Location Open next to Baja Fresh in the Coburg Rd. Pavilion | Buy one drink | | Get one free j V-_J We serve freshly roasted organic beans, loose leaf organic tea, excellent pastries and more, all in a relaxed, family oriented environment. Motel 6 3690 Glenwood Dr. Eugene, OR 97403 (541)687-2395 800-4-MOTEL 6 to burns TO GRANTS PASS Accor hotels Only I Mile from U of O lake 1-5 South to exit 191 Informal! Recruitment Jan. 30th - Feb. 3rd Free registration online at: http://greeklife.uoregon.edu/icsorority.htm for more information, contact the Greek Life Office at 346.1146. Meet new friends!
