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Friday, April 23, 2004
Since 1900 University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 105, Issue 140
A perfect four
Senior Megan Hughes will graduate having left her markwith work onfour successful ASUO Executive campaigns
By Moriah Balingit
News Reporter
Some people will do just about any
thing to get themselves elected. And
some people, such as campaign man
ager Megan Hughes, will do just about
anything to get someone else elected.
\ Iughes, a senior advertising major who
coordinated this year's campaign for
ASIIO Executive candidates Adam Petkun
and Mena Ravassipour, has been involved
in successful ASIIO campaigns since her
freshman year. I Iughes was also on board
for Nilda Brooklyn and Joy Nair's cam
paign in 2001, Rachel Pilliod and Ben
Buzbee's campaign in 2002, and Maddy
Melton and Eddy Morales' campaign this
past year.
So far, she's 4-0.
And sometimes, the going was tough.
Hughes described the lengths she went to
in order to get Pilliod and Buzbee elected
as ASUO president and vice president.
"I would run around in a gorilla suit for
three hours a day," she said, describing the
unusual campaign tactics.
Hughes got her start in ASUO politics as
a legislative intern her freshman year. She
said she felt "privileged" when she was
asked to work for the Brooklyn-Nair cam
paign and served as a part of the core group.
"You want to make sure someone re
sponsible gets elected," Hughes said. "It's
something (that) fulfilled my goals for the
year to make students aware of issues on
campus."
During her sophomore year, Hughes
worked as co-manager on the Pilliod
Buzbee campaign. Pilliod was her room
mate and one of her best friends at the
time. I Iughes and Pilliod met in the ASUO
as freshmen when both served as interns.
Together with fellow ASUO intern Sandy
Newton, the three were recognized as ris
ing stars and were dubbed "superstar in
terns" within the ASUO, Hughes said. The
three ended up rooming together the year
Pilliod ran for executive.
Last year, 1 Iughes worked as a co-organ
izer for ASUO President Melton and Vice
President Morales' campaign. When
Melton and Morales won the primary with
a slim 19-vote margin, I Iughes heavily in
volved herself to secure the general elec
tion victory.
In spite of her perfect record, Hughes
wasn't initially planning to work on a
campaign this year.
"I was very hesitant when Adam
(Petkun) approached me," she said.
Hughes feared the campaign would
get in the way of her hectic class sched
ule, but in the end, she chose to make
the commitment.
"I'm so far behind in classes it's ridicu
lous," she said. "(But) it was important
for me to see Adam and Mena get elect
ed ... because I know they'll do a phe
nomenal job."
Petkun selected Hughes for the job be
cause of her extensive experience and lim
itless energy.
"When you're feeling tired, she's still
going," he said.
Turn to HUGHES, page 5
Megan Hughes,
the campaign
manager for
Adam and Mena,
discusses
voter apathy and
campaign issues
during an
interview in the
EMU’s Buzz
on Thursday
morning.
Tim Bobosky
Photographer
Panel addresses history, legality of gay marriage
Professors discuss parallels between
the denial of marriage licenses
to gay couples and historical bans
against interracial relationships
By Parker Howell
News Reporter
In light of the recent battle over the legali
ties of same-sex marriages, a panel of political
science and law professors discussed myths,
interpretations, history and legal aspects of the
controversy during a symposium Thursday
evening.
The presentation, entitled "Perfect Unions?
The Politics and Law of Same-Sex Marriage," fea
tured political science Associate Professor Scott
Barclay from the State University of New
York-Albany, New School for Social Research
political science doctoral student Priscilla
Yamin, University political science Associate
Professor Julie Novkov and University law Pro
fessor Dom Vetri.
Each panelist touched on different aspects of
the gay marriage debate.
Barclay identified several "myths" about the is
sue of same-sex marriage, such as that many state
governments have always been hostile toward
same-sex marriage and that legal action sur
rounding the controversy is a recent occurrence.
"This issue is neither new, nor is it likely to
disappear soon," Barclay said.
Yamin spoke about different interpretations
of marriage. She said marriage has been
viewed both as an institution for the good of
society and for the welfare of private citizens.
Yapiin also gave historical examples of
instances when marriage was restricted for
other groups, such as slaves and women who
married foreign nationals.
"Marriage has been both an enabling and a
restraining process," she said.
Novkov analyzed the history of anti-interra
cial relationship sentiment in the United States,
comparing and contrasting it with the denial of
marriage to same-sex couples. She said the two
issues are similar because they relate to society's
"fundamental" idea of the family as central to
producing offspring. Marriage has been used to
Turn to PANEL, page 12
Psychology study earns publication
Professor Edward Vogel's
visual awareness study results
were published in the April 15
issue of Nature magazine
By Steven Neuman
News Reporter
A University professor has garnered na
tional attention for his research into the
number of objects a human can visually
focus on at one time.
Assistant Professor of psychology Ed
ward K. Vogel and graduate student Maro
G. Machizawa observed subjects while
they performed a visual awareness test.
During the test, the researchers discovered
the brain activity that specifically relates
to holding items "in mind."
The research showed that although the
human brain is acutely aware of the many
objects in the world, people are only
aware of three or four at any given time,
demonstrating for the first time a direct
relationship between brain nerve activity
and memory capacity.
"Despite our feeling of having a de
tailed perception of our immediate en
vironment, we are aware of only about
three objects at any given time," Vogel
said. "Some people are capable of being
aware of more objects than others, and
this ability greatly influences how good
we are at performing many complex
Turn to STUDY, page 3
NEWS BRIEF
Special election ends today for Senate Seat 14
Special election voting to decide the winner of ASIIO Student
Senate Seat 14 ends today at 5 p.m.
Rodrigo Moreno-Villamar and Spencer 1 lardy, both political
science majors, are competing for the position, which represents
social science students. Social science majors may vote for the can
didates using DuckWeb.
Because of a DuckWeb error during the primary election, re
sults for Senate Seats 10, 12 and 14 were thrown out. Seats 10 and
12 were decided in the general election, but Seat 14 required a
special election because it had five competing candidates.
The special election was the first of its kind in many years, said
ASUO Elections Board spokesman Nathan Strauss.
— Jared Paben
WEATHER
LOW
38
HIGH
63
INSIDE
Campus buzz.4
Classifieds.11
Commentary.2
Crossword.11
Nation & World.5
Sports.7
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