Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Suite 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online: www.dailyemer21ld.com
Friday, March 5,2004
Oregon Daily Emerald
COMMENTARY
Editor in Chief:
Brad Schmidt
Managing Editor:
Jan Tobias Montry
Editorial Editor:
Travis Willse
UO groups
need funds
from events
I would like to take a moment to address the Editorial
Board's commentary on the issue of student programs charg
ing for events. Indeed, it is a complex dilemma, a prototypical
example of the opposing forces that drive the PFC's dedsions
every year.
ports. On the cpntrary, when it comes to programming and
event organization, the amount of inddental fees allocated to
most programs is grossly inadequate. As author of Senate Rule
13.7,1 feel safe in saying that the rule represents the former
way of looking at our dilemma.
However, it ignores the fact that if a significant number of
students dedded they no longer were able to afford paying for
admission to events, the result would be one of two equally
unattractive options. One, the inddental fee would increase by
the same amount ticket revenues decreased (a not-so-insignif
icant number), or two, the size, quality and accessibility of pro
grams' events would diminish to the point of inelevance. Nei
ther of those had yet occurred, because students were in large
part unaware of the option Rule 13.7 provided, but that is not
so true now that the Emerald has begun covering the topic.
Since your first artide, numerous program representatives
and the ASUO Executive have contacted me with worries
about the impad giving out tickets has on their event budgets.
Thus, the Student Senate Rules Committee has the revision of
this rule as its first item of business. The cunent suggestion is to
allow student programs to charge admission to events, but to
require that any revenue generated through those ticket sales
be used for the next year's programming. The reasoning be
hind this is that it strikes a balance between funding sources
for programs' events and holding increases in your inddental
fee to a minimum, while maintaining the quality and integrity
of student programming.
Before I finish, I would like to address the only one of the
Board's allegations that I find to be entirely unfounded. "At
tention students: You are currently being screwed ... The
ASUO Student Senate doesn't Care." I am more than receptive
to critidsms of my decisions, my demeans, handling of Sen
ate matters, et cetera, but I am honestly offended by the sug
gestion that I or any of my colleagues does not care.
I would venture to say that we all do, but I am obviously only
one, and will speak for only one when I say that I care a great
deal. Still, as much as we care, we don't often hear from others of
you that do, and it is terribly hard to set policy in a vacuum.
For their assistance in getting the word out, I thank the
Emerald, but I would prefer to find myself thanking you for
having come in to ask about something, or to tell me that you
think I'm wrong and you're vehemently pissed off about it. So
in dosing, I join the Emerald in asking you to stop by EMU
Suite 4 and see us about any of your concerns, or better yet, to
run for an office in the upcoming ASUO elections.
Ben Strawn, a junior majoring in economics, is president
of the ASUO Student Senate.
GUEST
COMMENTARY
On the one hand, as the Board so
charmingly put it, you are being
"ripped off." Indisputably, students
pay an extraordinary amount in in
ddental fees, and are rightly entitled
to reap the benefits that fee sup
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Vegetarianism promotes animal rights
I agreed with Lin Ching Shywan ("Choice of eating meat or
not guided by taste, values, diet," ODE, Feb. 25) when she stat
ed that she feels that we should show mercy to those who are
weaker. Eating vegetarian fare is a great way to follow this belief
and oppose animal cruelty.
Chickens raised for meat are forced to grow so quickly that
their heart, lungs and legs can't keep up with their unnaturally
rapid growth. Pigs have their tails cut off and ears sliced, while
cows suffer branding and crude castration, all without
painkillers. Even worse is the intensive confinement that egg
laying hens undergo in modem agriculture, never even able to
flap their wings inside tiny wire cages.
More and more people are choosing the vegetarian option
to protect their health and the animals. It seems timelier than
ever to start today.
Josh Balk
Takoma Park, Md.
Outreach Coordinator
Compassion Over Killing
Turn to LETTERS, page 3
o.fcMILUON
jjcort&e.1
^MILLION
iMe*N,
LOTS of
3&©s Are
com»ns...
LpTS oF..
S°m£
Jobs,
^re,
oh
Steve Sack KRT
Pointless primaries
If American democracy is a picnic, presi
dential election year politics are certainly
the lemonade, and the primaries are the
lemons. Refreshing, they cleanse the
palate, even if they're a bit acidic.
In the winter and spring primaries, vot
ers around the nation take turns voting by
state for which candidates they'd like to
see each party front in the fall. Incum
bents' nominations, including President
Bush's, are faits accomplis as soon as
they're sworn in. It's the challenger nomi
nations, dien, that are supposed to reflect
the vibrant, empowering process that is
democracy at work. But, now that Super
Tuesday bumped Sen. John Kerry, D
Mass., up to 1,541 of the 2,162 delegates
needed to secure the Democratic nomina
tion, and with Sen. John Edwards', D-S.C.,
withdrawal from the race, a Bush-Kerry
face-off is all but inevitable. (The only oth
er candidates in the race, the Rev. A1 Sharp
ton and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio,
are trailing with a meager 24 and 18 dele
gates, respectively.)
This leaves states (including seventh-to
last Oregon) dead in the political water
close to the end of the nearly six-month
process. What should be an important op
portunity for Oregonians to voice their po
litical will is instead an empty and nearly
pointless political rehearsal. My would-be
vote is reduced from an important politi
cal statement to an exercise in futility.
In the roughly zero-sum game that is po
litical power, the winners are the early pri
mary voters. Before the Jan. 19 Iowa open
caucus and the Jan. 27 New Hampshire
modified closed primary, former Vermont
Gov. Howard Dean was the undeniable
come-ffom-behind, outside-the-Beltway
leader. But, despite these two states carry
ing only 83 delegates between them — and
just 67 tied to their primaries, less than 2
percent of the total available — Dean's de
served descent was already evident. (Cer
tainly, his "I Have a Scream" speech didn't
help level the field, either.)
Kerry's dramatic wins in those two states
(38 percent and 20 of 45 delegates in
Iowa; 29 percent and 13 of 22 delegates in
New Hampshire) paved the way for later
successes — voters in states during the next
series of primaries defied pre-Iowa polls
and followed suit handing Kerry solid vic
tories in all but a handful of states (in each
of the exceptions, a regional candidate gar
nered the most votes).
Travis Willse
Rivalless wit
Certainly, the current primary system
falls short of the egalitarian vision for
democracy that this nation's founding fa
thers established. In response, many states,
particularly those with later primaries,
have made efforts to elevate their voters'
primary intentions from irrelevance. In
2001 and 2002, 26 bills in 14 states pro
posed changes to the dates of those state's
respective presidential primaries. Only
Kentucky's HB 31 passed, moving its pri
mary up a week. In 2003, 23 bills (of
which seven had passed, as of the end of
January) in 15 states proposed the same —
all but two aimed to move the primary
date earlier.
But, save when more subtle mitigating
considerations are in play, it's seemingly in
each state's interest to move their primary
earlier, away from the meaninglessness of
the Oregon vote and toward the prestige
and influence of New Hampshire's and
Iowa's primaries. Over the years, such state
legislative efforts have compressed the
bulk of the (relevant) primary process to
ward its beginning — an effect called
'frontloading.' In 2000, 42 percent of Re
publican delegates and 39 percent of De
mocratic delegates were selected by March
7, the date when Bush and former Vice
President A1 Gore had essentially secured
their respective parties' nominations.
Responding presumably in part to the
above futility, and moreover to recent
economic troubles, legislatures in six
states have taken more drastic measures
and cut their presidential primaries alto
gether. Colorado passed SB 188, cancel
ing its primary with expected savings of
$2.2 million. Observing that "It's sense
less to waste taxpayer money on an elec
tion that serves no practical purpose," De
mocratic Washington Gov. Gary Locke
signed HB 2297, canceling the state's
presidential primary and saving the state
an estimated $6 million.
Several more states have tried and failed
— had Missouri's HB 387 or SB 531
passed, the state would have saved some
$3.7 million. Both houses of Arizona's
Legislature approved SB 1012, which
would have saved taxpayers $3.9 million.
But, invoking the philosophical crux of
this dilemma, Democratic Gov. Janet
Napolitano vetoed the bill, writing that
"Arizona can well afford the price of
democracy." (Arizona's Feb. 3 primary was
one of the season's first.)
But why, in this state with a late primary
and state services cannibalizing themselves
to get out of the red (so much so that this
University stands to suffer $880,000 in
budget cuts), is the Legislature continuing
to indulge a costly and evidently purpose
less political exercise?
lire solution to this problem is simple:
Hold a synchonized primary day in
March, wherein every state holds its pri
mary simultaneously. There would be lit
tle argument that any state could not "well
afford the price of democracy." Better yet,
voters would have every incentive to vote
for whichever candidate best immediately
fits their needs, rather than succumbing to
the cascade effect that places so much em
phasis on the first few primaries.
And not only would millions of voting
(or would-be voting) Americans be free
of the yoke of de facto disenfranchise
ment, but the countless taxpayer dollars
dumped into the fiduciary drink that is
end-of-season primaries would finally be
put to good use.
Contact the editorial editor
at traviswillse@dailyemerald.com.
His opinions do not necessarily
represent those of the Emerald.