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A frantic fourth-quarter comeback pushes Oregon past Washington State 41-38 I 7
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Since 1900 | Volume 106, Issue 32 j Monday, October 11, 2004
Student
Senate
violates
state law
Appropriate notice not given for
Wednesday's executive sessions
discussing officer nominations
BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
NEWS REPORTER
The ASUO Student Senate violated Ore
gon Public Meetings Law by holding Execu
tive sessions at its Wednesday meeting with
out notifying the public or the media at least
24 hours prior to the meeting.
The three sessions were held to give
the Senate opportunities to discuss
the nominations for president, vice presi
dent and ombudsman in privacy before
voting. Senior James George was voted
president, law student Colin Andries vice
president and junior Stephanie Erickson
ombudsman.
According to the Attorney General’s
Public Records and Meetings Manual, at
least 24 hours public notice must be given
for all meetings of a governing body, in
cluding executive sessions — meetings
which the public is barred from attending.
Members of the media can stay for an ex
ecutive session but may not take notes or
report on any business conducted during
the session.
“Notices for meetings that will include
both an executive session and a non-execu
tive session should give notice of both and
state the statuary authority for the executive
session,” the manual reads.
The Emerald was notified of the meeting
but no mention was made of the executive
sessions or reasons why executive sessions
would be necessary.
Senator Toby Hill-Meyer was unaware
that the executive sessions were a violation
of the law, the senator said. Because they
were held to discuss hiring practices, Hill
Meyer was under the impression that the
executive sessions were “implicit,” the
sentator said.
Public meetings law permits most of the
hiring process to be conducted in an execu
tive session but only “if specific statutory
prerequisites have been met,” such as the
24-hour notice to the general public and to
interested news media.
Andries, the newly elected Senate Vice
President, would not comment on the situa
tion but said he would review the law as
soon as he returned from the Senate’s week
end retreat to Sunriver and handle the situa
tion from there.
The Emerald was unable to contact any
other Senators before their Friday afternoon
departure to the popular Central Oregon re
sort. ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer
Creighton-Neiwert, who presided over the
meeting, was also at Sunriver and unavail
able for comment.
Once the officials had been elected, the
Senate heard special requests and spending
authorization requests from a number of
campus organizations.
The Senate approved 15-1 a $959 spend
ing authorization for the International Law
Student Association and unanimously ap
proved a request from Campus Recycling to
transfer $5,591 from the incidental fee sur
plus to cover payroll expenses.
Also unanimously approved was a
$16,362 surplus request from the Co-op
SENATE, page 12
★ AMERICA VOTES 2004 ★
Green Party comes to town
The candidate attempts to draw
support for a write-in campaign
and criticizes Kerry and Bush
GABE BRADLEY
NEWS FREELANCE EDITOR
Almost 400 people gave write-in presidential
candidate Ralph Nader a standing ovation as he
began a campaign stop at the McDonald The
atre Sunday.
The address came just a week and a half after
the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Nader’s
appeal of an Oregon Supreme Court decision
that cast him off the ballot in this state.
“When are we going to realize we’ve lost our
government,” Nader said. The candidate spent
the first part of his speech blasting Oregon Sec
retary of State Bill Bradbury for declaring about
3,000 signatures on Nader’s nominating peti
tion invalid.
“It’s with regret that we have to confront the
politically exclusionary bigotry of Bill Bradbury
— your secretary of state,” Nader said.
Nader accused Bradbury of committing a “con
stitutional crime” by invalidating the signatures.
“Instead of confronting with us, competing
with us and debating with us, what do they do?
They kick us off the ballot,” he said.
In addition to his claims that signatures were
invalidated because of “unwritten rules,” Nader
said that at least 30 of his signature gatherers
were intimated by persons “directly traceable to
the Democratic Party here in Oregon.”
Nader also leveled attacks against Democratic
presidential nominee John Kerry for supporting
many Bush administration policies instead of
working harder to reach out to progressive voters.
“If the Republicans are as bad as you say
they are — and they’re worse — why aren’t the
Democrats landsliding them?” Nader asked.
“The only place where democracy comes be
fore work is in the dictionary.”
Nader went on to say that voters are unable
to distinguish between the two candidates.
“John Kerry in the first debate out-hawked
George Bush,” he said.
Erik R. Bishoff | Photographer
Ralph Nader sharply criticized Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury for decertifying 3,000 signatures Nader’s
campaign collected to gain a space on the ballot at the MacDonald Theater Sunday night.
Much oi the rest of Nader s speech was spent
criticizing the role of corporate money in the
political process.
“Kerry/Edwards are being pulled everyday
by the corporate interests,” he said. “What’s
pulling Kerry/Edwards in the liberal, progres
sive direction? Just Nader/Camejo, that’s all.”
The event, organized with four days notice
according to Oregon Campaign Director Tfavis
Driskin, was open to the public with a suggest
ed donation of $10 or $5 for students.
Eugene resident Zachary Vishanoff arrived ear
ly and ended up volunteering with the event.
“I feel that the country really stopped being
free when they started opting him out of the de
bates,” Vishanoff said. “We’re losing honesty
about the debate because they’re so heavily
scripted — they've got this big rule book — and
they exclude people that aren’t mainstream.
Pretty soon it’s no debate at all.”
Vishanoff praised Nader’s communication of
the issues, saying he spoke clearly and with “no
spin. ” He also condemned the role corporate mon
ey has played in the major political campaigns.
“When you have deep pockets and but you
don’t have ethics, it’s a terrible problem,” he said.
The opposition
About a dozen Kerry supporters were protest
ing Nader’s appearance, including the so-called
Billionaires for Bush.
NADER, page 5
Bush and Kerry debate, town-hall style
Fewer students gathered to view debates on campus
Friday than previous debates this year
BY PARKER HOWELL
& MEGHANN M. CUNIFF
SENIOR NEWS REPORTER & NEWS REPORTER
debate for a Friday was not the best way to attract a large number of
viewers, “especially for college students. ”
“They’re trying to get a lot of 18 to 24-year-olds to vote, and Friday
night isn’t really the way to do it,” he said.
Kahn watched about 60 minutes of the 90-minute debate at Pizanos,
opting not to stay until the end because “they’re just starting to be really
repetitive,” he said.
Despite dismal weather and the social allures of a Friday
night, the second presidential debate between candi
dates George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry still drew
interest on campus.
At Pizanos Pizzeria, a campus eatery frequented
by students who live in the residence halls, the de
bate easily won out over a baseball game that
was playing on the restaurant’s big screen televi
sion.
“I want to watch them battle each other,”
freshman Evan Kleiman said as he switched
the channel to the debate.
Kleiman said watching the debates has helped
him understand what the candidates stand for.
“It’s like the fate of the next four years of our
country,” he said. “I don’t want to be an ignorant
voter. ”
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ond debate to get as many viewers because most students
have already chosen a candidate.
Davidson said his perception of the debates is col
ored by his political views, which he said holds true
for many viewers.
“I think the Democratic Party nominating John
Kerry was a reckless nomination,” he said,
adding that he supports Bush regardless of the
debates.
Davidson said Bush’s platform is not flawless
but “he lies less and he’s not swayed by popular
opinion.”
Sophomore Ryne Sell said he supports Kerry re
gardless of the debates.
“There’s so many issues that I’m already familiar
h,” he said.
He said Friday’s debate did not give him any additional
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sues he would like to see the candidates debate. He added
that he also views homeland security, Social Security and
international relations with allies and Israel as important is
sues the candidates sometimes neglect.
However, freshman Cameron Kahn said scheduling the
MORE INSIDE
The voter registration deadline
is Tuesday, page 6
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dain for Bush.
“Bush was really just focusing on the flip-flopping," Sell
said. “He doesn’t have a lot of good points to go on. ”
Charlie Potts, Pizanos Pizzeria supervisor, said the first
DEBATE, page 6