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Ducks face a week of traveling Page 7
Friday, April 16, 2004
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 105, Issue 135
Student drops claim against ASUO vice president
Senior Erica Hass withdrew her
charges against Eduardo Morales
By Jared Paben
Senior News Reporter
The University student who lodged assault
and criminal mischief charges against ASUO
Vice President Eduardo Morales has dropped
the charges, Eugene Municipal Court trial clerk
Michelle Dunn said.
Morales released a statement Wednesday
through his attorney, ASUO Legal Services Di
rector Ilona Koleszar, but declined to com
ment further.
"Eddy has asked me to convey that he is very
relieved that the case was dismissed," the
statement read. "Because he is sensitive to the
fact that the situation involved not only him
but another University of Oregon student, he
does not want to say anything further regard
ing this case."
University senior Erica Hass alleged that
Morales pushed her down, dragged her several
feet by her ankle and broke her cell phone out
side Taylor's Bar and Grill on Sept. 12, 2003.
Hass dropped the charges against Morales last
month, Dunn said.
"I just didn't want to deal with it anymore,"
I lass said. "It just was very stressful."
The city prosecutor's office had the option to
continue pressing charges but choose not to,
Dunn added. The prosecutor's office also would
not discuss the case.
Despite dropping the charges, Hass maintains
that the Sept. 12 incident took place as she
described it to the Eugene Police Department.
Turn to MORALES, page 6
KOOKY CAMPAIGNING
Jk
From left to right:
Hugh Harris, a
campaigner for
Adam Petkun
and Mena
Ravassipour,
Travis Edwards,
BJ De Hut and
vice presidential
candidate
Joe Giannetti
compete for voter
attention on the
corner of East
13th Avenue and
University Street.
Erik R. Bishoff
Photographer
Calling all voters
Student voter apathy rises despite campaigning efforts, a trend that
is also evident on the neighboring campus of Oregon State University
By Chelsea Duncan
Senior News Reporter
SUO Executive candidates shell out
hundreds of dollars every year in an
Jl JL effort to get students motivated to
vote. But new and old campaigning tactics
seem to have little effect, since the majority
of students simply refuse to vote.
Despite the personalized T-shirts that have
dotted the campus over the last couple weeks
and hundreds of fliers slipping from hand to
hand each day, fewer students voted in this
year's primary election than in the past year.
The number dropped from last year's 15.22
percent to 14.05 percent, which is about 11
percent short of ASUO's goal.
Junior journalism major Colby Reade said
he liked that this year's candidates have used
more grassroots techniques, such as talking
to students face-to-face, but he still feels the
methods tend to get old.
"It just seems to be a big annoyance," he
said, adding that he found the candidates' T
shirts confusing. "You can't tell them apart."
He added that this year's campaigns seem
to be more about getting the most votes
rather than educating students on the issues.
ASUO Executive candidate Nick Popenuk,
who was unsuccessful in the primary elec
tion, said he avoided approaching random
students on the street and handing out fliers,
adding that harassing people does not make
them want to vote. He said his methods
Turn to ELECTION, page 5
for ASUO general election
A total of 11 student government seats, including
the ASUO Executive, are still up for grabs in the gener
al election beginning today,
Students can vote for candidates to fill the remain
ing contested spots anytime after 9 a.m. Voting ends
on Monday at 5 p.m, To vote, dick on DuckWeb on
the main University Web' page,
http://www.uoregon.edu/. Log onto DuckWeb and
click on Student Menu and a link for the 2004 elec
tions will appear.
ASUO Elections spokesman Nathan Strauss said
voter turnout for the general election tends to be lower
than the turnout for the primary This decrease is be
cause fewer candidates are running, less campaigning
is heid and many students aren't even aware there is a
second election, he said. He added that the general
election is, in many ways, more important than the
primary election.
Last year, 14.3 percent of students voted in the gen
eral election. In this year's primary election, 14.05 per
cent of the student body voted.
Jared Paben
Senators
decrease
incidental
fee by $4
Wednesday’s Student Senate
meeting also saw discussion
of tobacco sales in the EMU
By Moriah Balingit
News Reporter
The ASUO Student Senate decided at
its Wednesday meeting to reduce next
year's proposed incidental fee by $4 and
use overrealized funds to cover the
deficit. The meeting also included a de
bate on a proposition to ban tobacco
sales at Erb Essentials.
Most senators appeared to support the
use of overrealized funds to decrease next
year's $ 184.75 fee, which is a $ 12 increase
from this year, but they quarreled over
whether to use the entire $300,000 in
overrealized funds.
Sen. Colin Andries said he felt the Sen
ate should be prudent in its decision.
"It doesn't seem realistic or very smart to
blow the entire overrealized fund," he said.
Sen. Kevin Day noted that the highly
valued EMU Amphitheater was built with
overrealized funds.
Senate Ombudsman Mike Sherman,
however, responded that this argument
was not viable for maintaining the overre
alized fund.
"1 don't think we should not spend
the money because there could be some
other great project on the horizon," he
said. "Personally, 1 believe that we
should return that money to students ...
and really send the message that the
Senate is committed to lowering the
costs on campus."
Sen. Jesse 1 larding added that using the
overrealized funds to reduce the inciden
tal fee might improve the Senate's spend
ing habits.
"Maybe we'll be a little more ... particu
lar with what to spend that money on," he
said.
Sen. Adrian Gilmore suggested a
Turn to FEE, page 6
WEATHER
LOW
40
HIGH
60
INSIDE
Campus buzz.3
Classifieds.11
Commentary.2
Horoscope.11
News Briefs.12
Sports.7
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