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Fifth-game heartbreaker sinks Oregon volleyball I 9 An independent newspaper www. dai lyemerald. com Since 1900 \ Volume 106, Issue 46 | Friday, October 29, 2004 ASUO violates code; to repay funds Those involved in the student government's Sunriver retreat may relinquish their wages to help repay incidental fees used for the trip BY MEGHANN M. CUNIFF & PARKER HOWELL NEWS REPORTERS ASUO members who took part in a weekend Sunriver retreat earlier this month will pay back all the student money used to fund the trip, a panel of ASUO officials told the Emer ald on Thursday. Top ASUO officials have ad mitted members — including minors — drank alcohol and smoked marijuana on the incidental fee-funded retreat, a violation of both Oregon Administrative Rules and the University Student Conduct Code. A retreat attendee also left an “immature” note in one of the rental houses, prompting ASUO officials to write a letter of apology to the rental agency. Several student government bodies partici pated in the Oct. 8-10 trip to learn the ASUO’s new accounting system and develop team building skills. The ASUO spent about $3,200 of incidental fees on housing for the retreat. Retreat participants may garnish their wages on a voluntary basis and conduct fundraisers, such as cleaning McArthur Court after games, to help raise money to replace the student money spent on the trip. The an nouncement came Thursday after a series of closed-door meetings in which participants admitted violations and discussed discipli nary actions. “We feel we’re definitely on our way to get ting this resolved,” ASUO Public Relations Di rector Nathan Strauss said. The attendees will meet with Student Judi cial Affairs Director Chris Loschiavo to dis cuss and approve individual and group pun ishments. Senate President James George said there is no evidence proving who was in volved in the misconduct and who wasn’t, only rumors and confessions. “He’s going to be reviewing it to ensure that we are taking adequate responsibility for our actions,” George said. George, Strauss and ASUO Vice President Mena Ravassipour have repeatedly declined to name the individuals involved in the violations. “We have not and will not disclose the names of individuals involved, because it’s considered personnel and conduct code is sues,” Strauss said, adding that “no conduct code action has been taken.” Although George and Ravassipour said they first learned of the violations by word of mouth while coming hpme from the retreat, George said the “immature” note left in a rental house guest book brought additional attention to the misconduct. ASUO officials would not disclose the note’s contents; however, the Emerald ob tained a copy of the note from Sunset Realty, the real estate agency that oversees the five houses rented by the ASUO. Strauss said the ASUO was initially con cerned the note’s author was genuinely criti cizing how the ASUO handles incidental fees. “If someone had such a serious concern and wasn’t able to address it to Adam, Mena or James, that would automatically be a con cern,” he said. But officials are no longer sure whether the note is serious after hearing ru mors that it might have been a joke. Debra Campbell, operations manager for Sunset Realty, said the owner of the house found the note and turned it over to the rental company, which faxed a copy to ASUO Ac counting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Nei wert. “I would hope this is really not representa tive of the general student body of the Univer sity of Oregon,” Campbell said. Retreat participants stayed in houses rang ing from modest “value” homes to “luxuri ous” structures billed as “cultivated, execu tive-quality homes and condominiums furnished with exquisite taste,” according to the Sunset Realty Web site. soon after the Friday workshops ended. “These are all adults. There’s not going to be any room checks or anything like that,” Strauss said. The ASUO is discussing the creation of a re treat committee that would focus on ways to L,eorge ana Ravassipour were among those who stayed in a 3,533 square-foot house that sleeps 16 and includes eight TVs, a DVD movie li brary, a Jacuzzi tub, a hot tub and six bikes. All work shops conducted at the retreat were held at the house, George said. Creighton-Neiw ert and several oth er University ad ministrators attended the retreat and used adminis tration funds to stay in the cheapest of the five houses, George said. Housing arrange ments for the retreat were not predeter mined, George said, but each house was assigned a house leader. This note was written in the guest book of one of the houses rented by ASUO members on an Oct. 8-10 finance retreat to Sunriver. It was recovered by Sunset Realty, which oversees the house, and brought to the attention of ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiwart. The document was faxed to the Emerald on Thursday. Dated Oct. 10, the text reads: “Do you pay incidental fees at the Univ. of Oregon? If so, your money just paid for six people to sleep here for two nights. We got drunk, played taboo, and learned about the finance system, all on your dime. "We are some cocky, smooth, motherfuckers." “It was said to each person who was in charge of a house prior to them receiving their keys that this was to be a no-alcohol and no-drug retreat,” George said. The workshops ended at 11:30 p.m. Friday and 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Ravassipour said the Saturday workshops began at 8:30 a.m., so it was assumed participants would go to bed improve retreats, such as finding cheaper places to stay closer to Eu gene or crafting ways to make the retreats more efficient. Creighton-Nei wert said the idea of creating the committee has been discussed since February 2004 in meetings between student senators, a con troller and a pro grams administra tor. No specific incident prompted the idea to create a retreat commit tee, but one is necessary because of “the lack of guidance” over how retreats are conducted, Creighton-Neiwert said. The retreat committee idea will move forward when the ASUO programs administrator position is filled, Creighton-Nei wert said. meghanncimiff@ daily emerald, com parkerhowell@ dailyemerald. com News Editor Jared Paben contributed to this report. p volt BOTH S«>EK Photo illustration by Danielle Hickey | Photo editor ifttitii ' AMERICA VOTES 2004 -k I Security measures emerge t from suspected fraud Voters concerned about the safety of drop boxes can receive ballot receipts at various unofficial sites, such as the campus Kerry booth BY ANTHONY LUCERO NEWS REPORTER T f Amid news of possible voter-registration fraud, Oregon voters are on alert for any actions that might jeopardize their votes. However, Ore gon election officials say they are taking strin gent measures to tighten ballot security. Voters are worried that their ballots may get into the wrong hands or may never get count ed, especially as different groups volunteer to collect voters’ ballots. Unofficial drop-off loca tions, like the Kerry booth on campus, are re quired to give voters a receipt when they hand in their ballot. “As long as I give my Democratic vote to the Kerry booth, I feel pretty secure about it," soph omore Jamie Goldfarb said. Recent allegations of voter-registration fraud confirmed what many voters were afraid of: Partisan politics may have infiltrated the voter registration process and sabotaged many voters’ choices. In the allegations, a canvasser working for Voters Outreach of America was accused of tearing up Democrat registration cards. Posted outside the Chiles Business Center, the College Democrats are giving Kerry voters a peace of mind by trading each completed ballot for a receipt. • “A lot of people like the safety of a paper trail saying they voted,” said Shannon Tarvin, a bal lot collector at the Kerry booth. Annette Newingham, chief deputy clerk in Lane County, said all allegations are being in vestigated by the attorney general’s office. She adds that it’s an emotional year with the elec tions, but that election officials have to sit down and carefully see whether any evidence exists in the allegations. “I hope there’s not a problem with ballots now,” freshman Jon Keller man said. “1 wonder what keeps it from being taken, what prevents it.” Carla Corbin, a compliance specialist with the Oregon Elections Division, said the mail-in ballot system has been in the state long enough that most problems are already ironed out and SECURITY, pageSA IN BRIEF Delta Sigma Phi will hold its annual "Blood Dance" at 11 p.m. Saturday at the fraternity's house on the cor ner of East 18th Avenue arid Onyx Street. Admission is $5, and all proceeds will go to the American Red Cross, Luke An drews, the fraternity's spokesman, said. Andrews said that fraternity members are creating a haunted house inside the building, and there will also be two dance floors. No alcohol is allowed, and all students will be checked at the door, An drews said. Andrews said the fraternity which has been holding the dance since 2000, raised about $ 1,300 last year, and members hope to raise more this year. — Ayisha Yahya Fallback Tton your ctacfcs back m ham to wanted fena at 2 a.m. Sunday
