Fifth-game heartbreaker sinks Oregon volleyball I 9
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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