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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2005)
THE CANDIDATES READ MORE ONLINE^ For full transcripts of candidate interviews, visit www.dailyemerald.com. ass ONE OF THESE STUDENTS WILL BE YOUR PRESIDENT: ASUO EXECUTIVE The president controls programs' budgets and is a voice for students BY PARKER HOWELL & STEVEN NEUMAN SENIOR NEWS REPORTER & MANAGING EDITOR Responsible for managing ASUO programs and act ing as the official voice for students, the ASUO president, head of the Executive branch, is one of the most powerful and visible elected student govern ment officials. The president has the final say on the budgets of the ASUO’s major committees, totaling more than $10 million, and sets the ASUO’s political agenda. PART 5 OF 5 Wednesday: Programs Finance Committee Thursday: Student Senate Friday: EMU Board Monday: Athletic Department Finance Committee and Associated Students' Presidential Advisory Council Today: ASUO Executive tacn year, me president se lects students to fill positions within the executive and ASUO student committees. Within the executive, the president appoints the vice president and selects about 17 administrators to oversee differ ent aspects of student life, in cluding safety, housing and multicultural advocacy. The president also appoints justices to the Constitution Court, one member of the Ath letic Department Finance Committee, one member of the EMU Board of Directors and one member of the Programs Finance Committee. The president is also responsible for filling vacant spots on the ASUO Student Senate. As the administrator of the ASUO and representative of the student population, the president also sets policy goals for student government, both on and off campus. This year, ASUO President Adam Petkun prioritized fin ishing the work of the previous executive by lobbying tine Eugene City Council for a housing code to ensure renters’ rights. He also undertook a campaign to eliminate sched uling fees that forced students to forfeit tuition. Petkun continues to lobby in Salem for a tuition freeze. The President can also affect the funding of student groups by setting budget recommendations for the ADFC, PFC and EMU Board before each undergoes its budget process. The president also wields veto power over final budget decisions by the Senate. This year the executive vetoed funding benchmarks for the ADFC and the PFC to allow the Senate to reconsider what Finance Coordinator Mike Martell called a "dispari ty" in the manner in which their budgets were decided. parkerhowell@ dailyemerald, com steuenneaman@dailyemerald.com ■ ASUO structure ABC D E F ^Appointed BRm^UR'IWANGLERl GRAPHIC ARTIST (A) Student Senators; (B) Executive: President and Vice President; (C) Constitution Court Justices; (D) Programs Finance Committee; (E) Athletic Department Finance Committee; (F) EMU Board of Directors; (G) Associated Students’ Presidential Advisory Council Anthony Caruso President Age: 20 Major Economics Hometown: Portland, Ore. Year: Junior Robbie McEachem Vice-President Age: 20 Major. Finance Hometown: Milwaukee, Ore. Year Junior Platform summary: Caruso said he and McEach ern believe the budget has gotten out of control, and students are unhappy that their $5 million-plus in stu dent fees has been overspent by 10 percent. He said if they step in with their experience, they’ll be able to do it right the first time. He said he hopes that through a bet ter budget, he can improve activities on campus and do better things for the community. He added that he's hoping to fix the PFC by stepping in and helping to lead with experience and mathematical know-how. On statewide issues, Caruso said he hopes to focus on get ting out into the community and doing some lobbying. He said he knows other candidates are promising to do things like lowering tuition, but the only way to do that is to cut the University’s budget. He said the best solu tion is to lobby for something better. He hopes to be persistent and show that good things can come out of the University. Job qualifications: Caruso said he and McEachern have been on the executive council in his fraternity, Theta Chi, for three years each. Caruso was student body president of his high school, risk manager at Theta Chi and just finished his second year as vice president of the fraternity. McEachern was senior presi dent of his high school, risk manager at Theta Chi and recently became the fraternity’s president. Caruso added that McEachern was previously Theta Chi’s so cial chairman and was in charge of allocating of a por tion of the fraternity's budget and, therefore, has experi ence in budget allocation. He said because they had both been risk managers of their fraternity, they have experience with holding people accountable. Why they want the job: Caruso said he’s interest ed in the job because he hopes to improve the Uni versity by providing a better budget and better activi ties. He said he picked up a newspaper, saw that the ASUO was having money-allocation problems and knew that things could be done better. He added that through success in the ASUO, he hopes to build re spect for both himself and the University. McEachern echoed Caruso in saying that their decision to run was based on their belief that they could do a better job with the ASUO. What it takes to be accountable: Caruso said the ASUO's actions on the Sunriver retreat deface what the ASUO stands for, but that otherwise, the ASUO has done a fantastic job. He hopes to improve communica tion with everyone in the ASUO office. He said he feels that if he can establish better communication and re spect within the ASUO, there will be fewer problems with accountability because people will take it upon themselves to be responsible. On whether the ASUO was justified in finding an alternative punishment for re paying funds after the Sunriver retreat, Caruso said the ASUO could have done better to take penance, but he doesn't really know enough about the student govern ment to take a clear stance on the situation. He added that it may have helped if the senate did something to make students feel reassured. Staff organization to reflect priorities: Caruso and McEachern hope that by working with the outgoing executive, they can figure out how to best organize their staff. They said if the new executive can utilize the expe rience of the outgoing one, it will be able to assemble a staff they can work with more effectively. In its election profiles, the Emerald will only feature I Jacob Daniels President Age: 19 Major Political science Hometown: Creswell, Ore. Year Junior Age: 19 Major: Undeclared Hometown: Tualatin, Ore Year Sophomore Platform summary: Daniels said they want to fix the budget, represent every student and have a zero-toler ance policy for corruption and abuse of power. In fixing the budget, he said they are going to give groups incen tives to raise their own funds, perhaps through bench marks or competition with similar groups at Oregon State University. The programs administrator would also work with Eugene businesses to help get them in volved. He also said they want to give more money to legal ad vocacy services because government is supposed to protect students. Also, they will have a campaign sub sidy to reduce the cost of campaigning so students who aren't rich or well-connected will also have the op portunity to run. Lastly, they are not going to have self-imposed penalties when somebody in ASUO violates a rule, Daniels said, adding that the violator should be removed from office. Cargm said they want to bring accountability back to the ASUO, adding that right now it seems corrupt. She wants to see students approve of everything the ASUO Executive is doing. Also, they want to bring an outside perspective into the ASUO, she said. Daniels said the ASUO is an exclusive organization in which ASUO insid ers don't understand the climate on campus outside student government. Cargm said she felt like she had no idea what was happening in student government last year, and she didn’t vote, and she wants to open up the ASUO next year. Job qualifications: Daniels said he has been vice president, eminent preceptor, social chair, recruitment chair and pledge class president for the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He is a charter member of Pi Sigma Alpha, political science honor society member and po litical science peer advisor. He is also a member of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars and of the Freemasons. Last year, he was appointed interfraterni ty vice president of social issues. He is involved with the ASUO’s Community Internship Program and has a 4.07 GPA. Cargm said she got a 4.15 GPA. She said she was junior and senior class president for her high school, which entailed looking at budgets, allocating funds and setting up community service activities. She said she has a lot of passion and experience represent ing her school. In college she joined a sorority and in her freshman year was appointed as a guard, she said. Now, she is an assistant chaplain and is working her way toward chaplain. She said she is also good at jug gling things and accomplishing her task. Why they want the job: Daniels said since high school he's wanted to be ASUO president. He was thinking about running for a senate position but decid ed the system wasn’t working, he said, adding that cur rent ASUO President Adam Petkun did a good job but he couldn’t fix the corruption in the Programs Finance Committee or the events on the Sunriver retreat. He said he wants get students who normally wouldn’t care involved in student government, which is why he hasn’t campaigned too much toward groups. Cargni said she didn’t know much about the ASUO when she first came to the University, but she really wants to jump in and make a difference now. What it takes to be accountable: Daniels said a zero-tolerance policy and expelling rule-breakers from student government is the best way to ensure account ability. Cargni said the best way to ensure accountabili ty is to elect people who are accountable in the first place. Editor’s note: Time expired before the Emerald could ask Daniels and Cargni how staff organization will re flect priorities. candidates in contested races. INTERVIEWS BY Efv Peter Flier President Age: 19 Major Sociology Hometown: Lafayette, Calif. Year Junior Christopher Haak Vice-President Age: 20 Major: History Hometown: Corvallis, Ore. Year Sophomore Platform Summary: Flier said the long and short of his platform is spending more wisely. He said that mon ey is being wasted on programs that nobody shows up for. He would like to provide funding for programs that people actually participate in. Haak said that they would like to have a multiple-day event that students, as well as the outside community, could participate in as an effort to bring the two closer together. Flier said he also believes that programs need more money to advertise with. He found by talking with stu dents that they just weren't aware of a lot of the pro grams. Many didn't even know there’s an election go ing on right now, or that there is even a school president. Flier sees this as a problem. He said that he is entirely for cultural diversity and he knows that the University has been focusing on that as of late. Haak said they want to keep student tickets to games at the same level and increase lighting at night on and around campus. Areas that they said they would like to put more light include in front of the Knight Library, along East 13th Avenue and by the Autzen Foot Bridge. Job qualifications: Both Flier and Haak said that they were heavily involved with Boy Scouts of America, both making it to Eagle Scout. They both said that they learned a lot of leadership skills with these experiences. Haak said he was Service Advice Chief. Flier said that he helped out a lot with the community he was in. Flier said that when he was the president of his fraterni ty's pledge class, he made sure that no money was spent out of pocket with only one day of fundraising. Why they want the job: Flier said why he wants the job has a lot to do with their platform. Haak said that he thinks they’ll be good at it because they don’t have preconceived ideas about how it is supposed to be run, so they can go in and do it how they like. What it takes to be accountable: In light of the Sunrlver retreat, Flier said that he thinks programs such as that should be cut. Haak agrees that the things learned at leadership retreats can easily be learned on campus, in meetings. They propose better communication between board members as a solu tion. Haak said self-regulation is needed. Flier said that he thinks students have a right to know where their money is going without having to go find it themselves. He wonders why an audit of senate spend ing doesn’t go out in one of the many mass mailings that students receive. He said that students don't real ize that there are millions of dollars sitting there that the senate is just messing around with. He also thinks that if they did know more about it they might want to be come more involved. Staff organization to reflect priorities: Flier said he would like to spread out his staff. He would get an idea of what everyone is looking at, not just one demo graphic. He said that he is for trying to split between women and men, and the clubs and organizations that they are involved with. He said he would like to have people he doesn’t know on his board. Flier said that he would like to have applications for positions and try to get a better idea of the diversity, while it might not be ethnic, that the University does have. He said that there are a lot of different people on campus and their ideas matter. Haak said that they would hire people for the new activ ities that they would like to start. JLY SMITH, MORIAH RALINGIT, SHELDON TRAVER, i Evan Geier President Age: 20 Major Business Hometown: Gladstone, Ore. Year Junior David Goward Vice-President Age: 20 Major Accounting Hometown: Salem, Ore. Year Senior Platform summary: Geier and Goward said the overarching theme of their platform is integrity, holding people accountable, like they have done in the Resi dence Hall Association. Geier said they are both honors business students with strong financial backgrounds. They intend to increase communication with student organizations by getting out of the office and into the University community. Goward said they believe com municating ASUO activities with the campus communi ty is very important. Geier and Goward said they intend to post all budgets online for easier student access and detail each budget so students know where each dollar of their incidental fees is going. They are said they are going to post Executive recommendations online so student groups will know before the Programs Finance Committee hearings what their recommendation is. They said they also want to work on education by work ing with state lawmakers to tap into a $200 million sur plus that could possibly lead to a tuition freeze for Uni versity students. They want to increase access to scholarships and grants and institute a tuition freeze. Goward said they want to build relationships within the campus community, citing a hostile atmosphere after the controversy surrounding the Oregon Commentator. Goward also said they seek to improve relationships with other schools in the United States, adding that Geier has worked with other student senators around the country in his work on the RHA. Job qualifications: Geier said he currently repre sents 3,200 students nationally with the Resident Hall Association position and is also a finance chair. He said he helped balance the RHA budget and bring in addi tional funds for the residence halls. Goward said he is involved with three student groups and said this knowl edge of groups at the ground level has prepared him to work with other student groups. He said he has han dled a large budget in the past and that his education supports this position. Why they want the job: Geier said they want to set a precedent for new things that can be long-term to help the student government. He said he believes there is a lot that can be done on-campus and off-campus to rep resent students by working with various student groups and organizations to make a better campus life for stu dents. He said the executive is the best place to be to work for the community and students and get their voices heard. He wants to increasing involvement by getting awareness out within the student population and changing apathy towards the ASUO. What it takes to be accountable: Geier and Goward said consequences need to be set up in ad vance of any event and that those consequences need to be swift and severe. They intend to have all students involved with retreats or events sign a form reminding them of these consequences. They also said they will make the student body aware of any infractions when ASUO officials break state or University laws or policies. Geier also said they would definitely pay back the mon ey if a University or state law were violated on a retreat. Goward said they follow guidelines. For example, they canceled an RHA retreat, paid back the money for it and the people suffered the consequences. Staff organization to reflect priorities: Geier and Goward said they intend to bring their staff togeth er to let them know the issues and platform so they are all working together toward the same goal. They also said they intend to hire from outside the ASUO to cre ate a more diverse student government that reflects the entire University. Staff organization to reflect priorities: Geier said they plan to increase the involvement and out reach within the staff. They want to let the staff know the issues, their platform and work with the culture within ASUO to foster and increase relationships, Geier said. Goward said they also want to hire from outside the ASUO. They want to recruit students "from every area that we can find people who are committed,” he said. He said he wants to create an ASUO built on di versity. iSHA YAHYA, JARED PABEN, ADAM CHERRY & MEGHAN Nick Hudson President Age: 20 Major Political science Hometown: Beloit, Wise. Year Junior Allison Sprouse Vice-President Age: 20 Major: Human physiology Hometown: Aloha, Ore. Year: Junior Platform summary: Hudson said the team's plat form is "Ride the Wave of Change.” He said CHANGE stands for Community Collaboration, Health and Safe ty, Affordability, New Opportunities, Group Support and Educational and Student Rights. In “New Opportuni ties,” Hudson said they will focus on providing leader ship opportunities for students, partnering with Eugene School District 4J, providing a leadership conference on campus and working with the Alumni Association, the student alumni relations board, the Eugene City Council and the administration to create homecoming activities of which students can be proud. Sprouse said they will also focus on health and safety by advocating for more lighting on campus, more emergency call-box es and cohesiveness in the alcohol policy. She said they feel the Department of Public Safety’s current poli cy of ticketing students on campus for minor in posses sion when they call in alcohol poisoning is not neces sarily a good policy because students may hesitate to call in fear of being penalized. Hudson said they will also work on students’ educational rights and plan to have a campaign to inform students about their rights. They also want to work on affordability, accountability with the incidental fee and advocating for a tuition freeze at the state legislature. Job qualifications: Hudson said he has been in volved in many facets of student life, including being an ASUO legislative intern, an IntroDUCKtion leader, an Athletic Department Finance Committee executive ap pointee and an ASUO social science major senator. He is also president of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, has been involved in the International Student Orientation and works for the Office of International Programs. Sprouse said she has been an ASUO multicultural ad vocate intern and a programs coordinator intern. She was also a student fundraiser for the annual giving pro gram and learned a lot about the need for funding at the University. Why they want the job: Hudson said they want to pro vide tangible benefits to students. He said some stu dents have told him they sometimes do not see the tan gible benefits the ASUO provides. Sprouse said a lot of the things they have planned in their platform are feasi ble. What it takes to be accountable: Sprouse said there should be a strict code of conduct and conse quences for those who violate the code. Hudson said student leaders should realize they have a responsibili ty to do what they were elected to do and fulfill promis es made to students. He said the retreats were impor tant for proper training regarding the incidental fee and viewpoint neutrality. Staff organization to reflect priorities: Hudson and Sprouse said they plan to provide a liaison to the Career Center, the Multicultural Center and the Mentor ing Program. Hudson said they will also have a focus on legislative issues. He said they want to hire highly motivated, committed, qualified individuals and have an executive that represents the University's diversity. Sprouse said they also want a well-versed accounting advisor to deal with budgeting issues. Hudson said they will hire a programs administrator, something this year’s ASUO executive did not have. He said part of their platform is to provide support to groups and a pro grams administrator would help do that. N M. CUNIFF Ashley Rees President Age: 19 Major: Political science Hometown: Portland, Ore. Year: Sophomore Jael Anker-Lagos Vice-President Age: 20 Major Accounting, economics and Spanish Hometown: Portland, Ore. Year: Sophomore Platform summary: Rees and Anker-Lagos said they are looking to "shine the light on campus,” strengthen students, improve campus climate and ad vocate for affordable education. Rees and Anker-Lagos want all course syllabi to be available online before the beginning of the term and course evaluations to be more comprehensive and easier to access. They want to improve campus safety by creating a program that would provide students with someone they can call to walk them home if they don't want to call a ride service. They said accountability is a major part of their plat form, and they are looking for greater accountability, not just within the ASUO, but with the administration's efforts with its diversity plan and with itemization of stu dent resource fees for departments. Job qualifications: Rees has worked in the ASUO as a legislative intern, co-legislative associate and is cur rently the federal affairs coordinator. Anker-Lagos has been working with the Oregon Students of Color Associ ation since her freshman year and served on the Pro grams Finance Committee this year. She is also on the diversity advisory committee. Rees said their experi ence in the ASUO and with student groups has allowed them to see "first hand what works, what we can change and how to make those changes.” Why they want the job: Rees said their experience working with the ASUO and with campus student groups will help them because they are able to repre sent the different interests on campus. Rees said their experience will enable them to advocate for students and actually get our platform issues won," something she said they are very excited about. Anker-Lagos said they understand it takes a long time to learn everything in the office and said their years with the ASUO have shown them how the ASUO works and how to make necessary changes. What it takes to be accountable: Anker-Lagos said the first thing to do is avoid having situations in which rules are violated. She said the ASUO needs to make sure all members and programs are aware of the rules by having them sign a contract so that they can be held accountable for their actions. Rees said they want to have a contract because they feel student leaders should want to live up to a higher set of stan dards. She said they want the contract to list the ex pectations of behavior and the consequences if they re not met and have it signed at the beginning of the year and again before going on a retreat or simi lar activity. Rees said accountability is a big part of their platform and they will be pushing for greater ac countability from the administration and from mem bers of the ASUO. Anker-Lagos said they want to make sure the campus is accessible to all students at all times regardless of their race or gender identity. Staff organization to reflect priorities: Rees said they want to have a legislative associate to contin ue working on the tuition freeze and maintain advocacy on that issue. They also want to maintain outreach po sitions to continue to advocate for student rights and make sure students stay informed about the changes that are being done to the student conduct code and have input. Anker-Lagos said they want to continue out reach for past victories such as the housing standards passed by City Council earlier this year. She said they have talked a great deal about having a chief of staff overlook the entire ASUO staff. Rees said they will hire a programs administrator and maintain positions that have been valuable this year. Adam Walsh President Age: 21 Major History and politi cal science Hometown: Eugene, Ore Year Junior Kyla Coy Vice-President Age: 20 Major Political science and religious studies Hometown: Eugene, Ore. Year Junior Platform summary: Walsh and Coy said the first thing they want to do is create a better connection to the Eugene community by creating a liaison position between the city government and the ASUO. Walsh said that would ensure student voices are heard on all issues and would ensure greater accountability from city officials regarding student views and concerns. They also want to create a partnership between the University and the Chamber of Commerce to increase the number of job opportunities and internships in Eu gene available to University students. They want to re strict the growth of the incidental fee and create a sys tem that encourages more fundraising by student groups. Walsh said they want to change the system so that if the Programs Finance Committee encounters spending problems there will be a set way to propor tionally redistribute money. They are also looking to im plement roll-over meal points for students living in the residence halls. "They pay for them, they should get to keep them,” Walsh said, referring to the current policy in the residence halls that eliminates unused meal points at the end of each week. Job qualifications: Walsh ran for City Council last year and currently serves on the board of directors for the West University Neighbors association. He is also a presynch committee person for the Democratic party of Lane County. Coy said she has been involved in city politics since she was 16. She said she has worked on several political campaigns and completed a number of political internships, leaving her with a bank of knowl edge about Eugene’s political scene. Why they want the job: Coy said she wants to make it easier to be a student. With the incidental fee rising, she said, more students are finding it harder to pay all the necessary fees to go to school. Walsh said they have a platform that is open to all students. He said past platforms have failed to garner interest from stu dents either because they didn't deal with enough is sues or because they focused on issues that weren’t tangible. "Everything on our platform is tangible," Walsh said. Coy said their ideas can really affect stu dents by creating better internships and other opportu nities. Walsh said their ideas aren’t just things for the short term, but that "they're things that are going to af fect students for years to come." What it takes to be accountable: Walsh said the best way to ensure accountability is "to have a highly visible executive and highly visible student govern ment." He said there’s no structure that can be put in place to ensure student leaders do the right thing all the time, "but what we can have is high visibility and make the promise that when something does go wrong that we’ll right that wrong." Walsh said ASUO should have repaid the money that was spent on the Sunriver trip despite the fact that the trip was seen as productive by some. The ASUO should "have returned the money as a show of good faith to the entire student body," Walsh said. Walsh and Coy said they are looking to pro mote accountability from city officials through the cre ation of the liaison position. Staff organization to reflect priorities: Walsh said they want their staff to reflect all the diverse opin ions on campus. They want people from all parts of the country and from all over the world to work in the office to bring not only ethnic diversity but diversity of life ex periences as well. Coy said the University's reputation as an overtly liberal campus is seen as threatening to some students who otherwise might want to be in volved. She said they will welcome those people and lis ten to their opinions.
