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Ani DiFranco performs Page 7
Thursday, April 8,2004
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 105, Issue 129
Legal practices
University law students lead the state
in pro bono hours for a third consecutive year
By Lisa Catto
News Reporter
University law students have won the Oregon State Bar's Pro
Bono Challenge for the third time in as many years. The
competition tracks pro bono hours donated by practicing
attorneys and students at Oregon law schools.
Jane Steckbeck, assistant director for Career Services at the Uni
versity School of Law, said law students reported 11,214 pro bono
hours in 2003, which makes up 71.5 percent of the state total of
15,686 hours. She added that at law clerk wages, the students'
work was worth approximately $ 134,568.
All the hours were performed by 112 law students.The law
school faculty determined the definition of pro bono work as
"work direcdy related to the delivery of legal services to indigent
individuals by attorneys or organizations." It can also be work
for an attorney on behalf of an organization, work related to the
administration of the University's pro bono program or law-re
lated work for different levels of the government, except law
enforcement.
A group of "passionate" law students who were already doing
1 pro bono work on their own started the program in 1996, Steck
beck said.
She added that students asked law faculty to make pro bono
» work a part of graduation requirements, but the faculty voted to
make the program voluntary and reevaluate it at a later time.
It will most likely remain a voluntary program because the
budget and funding aren't available to staff such a requirement,
Steckbeck said.
She said there are many reasons why law students participate
in pro bono work. Some believe it is their professional responsi
bility to provide access to justice for those who need it, and they
have a deep desire to use their law experience to help people.
Others turn to pro bono work to develop skills in law, build their
^ resumes and, they hope, obtain references they can use to get fu
ture jobs.
. She added that many students participate in pro bono work be
cause it can lay a foundation for a career in public service.
"I think there's a perception that public interest jobs are easy to
get, perhaps because they're low paying," she said. "That's actual
ly very untrue. Public interest jobs are very competitive and stu
dents who volunteer with an organization have an advantage
when it comes to hiring for a permanent position."
Graduating third-year law student Sarah Drescher has been do
ing pro bono work since her first year as a law student. She esti
mates that she has done more than 200 hours of pro bono work,
and tonight she will be receiving the law school's Outstanding
Service Impact Award.
Most of her pro bono hours have been spent working with the
American Civil Liberties Union. She said the organization needed
Turn to PRO BONO, page 4
Tim Bobosky Photographer
Kristen Parcher, student chairwoman of the Public Interest Public Service program, works with
fellow law student Jason Hartz at the Cascades Raptor Center off Fox Hollow Road Saturday.
Senate
agrees to
reimburse
USSA trip
ASUO Vice President Morales
questioned senators’ voting
motives in regard to creating
a student-issues committee
By Jared Paben
Senior News Reporter
The ASLIO Student Senate compensat
ed a controversial lobbying group $2,250
for its cross-country trip, and ASUO Vice
President Eddy Morales hinted at govern
mental racism as senators contemplated
creating a new committee in a nearly four
hour meeting Wednesday.
Hie Senate voted 15-1 to pass a motion
authorizing a funds transfer for the United
States Student Association to allow the
group to pay for a 15-member University
student delegation trip to Washington, D.C.
ASUO President Maddy Melton, who is
a member of USSA, told senators that the
students on the spring-break trip lobbied
on behalf of University students.
Sen. Colin Andries, who voted against the
motion, said USSA is a lobbying group dial
may not have the support of all students and
shouldn't be funded with incidental fees.
But Senate President Ben Strawn said
USSA's mission and goals have already
been approved, and die meeting was not
the proper forum for such deliberation.
Several senators questioned why USSA
requested funds after the group had al
ready paid for and taken the trip — not be
fore. Plane tickets to Washington, D.C.,
were put on ASUO Accounting Coordina
tor Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert's credit
card, Morales said.
Melton said she didn't request the
funds before the trip because that would
have meant appearing before the Senate
Turn to SENATE, page 4
Candidate voting bloc PSST violates ASUO flyer rule
The ASUO Elections Coordinator
says the group improperly posted
fliers on student group windows
and doors in the EMU Wednesday
By Jared Paben
Senior News Reporter
The Progressive Students Starting Today vot
ing bloc violated ASUO election rules Wednes
day when members posted multiple PSST fliers
on student group doors on the bottom floor of
the EMU, ASUO Elections Coordinator
Stephanie Day said.
According to election rules, campaign materi
al promoting a specific candidate or group of
candidates may be posted on public bulletin
boards, but not on doors or windows.
Day said the ASUO Elections Board will not
punish the group for the violations because the
board does not think it is a serious enough prob
lem to warrant discipline. She added that the
board does have the power to impose sanctions
on candidates, including removal from the bal
lot, if they determine circumstances justify it.
"The election board's goal is to avoid going
through the grievance process when a problem
arises," Day said. "The elections board sees no
reason to invoke anything. We asked them to
take it down. They did. I see no need to take any
further action."
PSST, a group of 13 ASUO candidates, hopes
to "give a voice to the voiceless who right now
are the majority of the student population," ac
cording to the group's platform.
Day said she didn't know how many fliers
were posted, but she said she removed a few. Af
ter contacting PSST, members of that group "re
moved others that 1 wasn't aware of," she said,
adding that PSST members were all informed
they couldn't post on doors.
But PSST member Khanh Le called the rules
"very vague," adding that the group was con
fused by the "broad issues."
"We've been working together to make sure
nobody violates any rules," he said. "Most of the
regulations out here are very vague."
Section 6.2 of the ASllO elections rules
states that "Campaign material may not be
posted (affixed by any method) on, in or to
any University building..." The provision cites
several exceptions to the rule, such as distrib
uting flyers in the EMU and posting them on
bulletin boards.ASUO Student Senate candi
date Spencer Hardy saw the fliers Wednesday
and approached the elections board with his
complaint. 1 lardy estimates he saw four or five
Turn to PSST, page 4
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