Commentary
Oregon Daily Emerald
Wednesday, April 6, 2005
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INBOX
Social Security changes can be
made without privatization
Privatizing Social Security would remove the
safety net to keep future generations from possi
bly becoming destitute. Today, millions of seniors,
two thirds of older Americans, depend on their
Social Security payments for basic living expens
es. It has been a successful retirement program
with a minimum administrative cost. How can
we trade this for a “chance system” that demands
high administrative fees 10 to 30 percent higher?
Private accounts are expensive and chancy; just
ask my friends and relatives.
Changes can be made to ensure Americans
that our Social Security system continues for fu
ture generations. It can be strengthened with ad
justments such as removing the cap on the
amount of wages taxed to support Social Security
and including all newly hired state and local gov
ernment workers.
Please support future generations and keep our
Social Security system whole. Contact Senator
Smith and urge him not to privatize Social Securi
ty, but to make helpful and fair adjustments.
Ruth Duemler
Eugene
CORRECTION
The Emerald reported Tuesday that ASUO Executive
candidate David Goward is 20 years old. Goward is 22.
The Emerald regrets the error.
The Emerald endorses its picks for AS UO
■ Editorial r J
ASUO Executive: The ASUu presi
dent sets a political agenda, has the fi
nal decision on $10 million going to
ward ASUO committee budgets and
appoints positions including student
senators and administrators.
r^p One-year term
\Jj \jj; Toss up: Ashley Rees and Jael
Anker-Lagos; Adam Walsh and
Kyla Coy
The Emerald is endorsing two sets of
ASUO executive candidates.
Rees and Anker-Lagos have experience
within the ASUO, which means they are
more likely to be dependable. Having a
higher level of understanding about the
ASUO also means they have a good han
dle on what needs to be achieved and
how to achieve it. Concrete platform
ideas, such as making course syllabi ac
cessible to students before a class starts
and itemizing resource fees to under
stand where student money is going, also
add to the appeal of Rees and Anker
Lagos. An experienced executive with
new ideas could be exactly what this
campus needs to see real benefits.
However, their experience could also
translate into a lack of fresh ideas. And
Anker-Lagos was present on the Sunriver
retreat earlier this year, funded by stu
dent money, wherein ASUO representa
tives violated the University Student Con
duct Code. We question her
accountability in that matter.
Walsh and Coy represent fresh leader
ship at the University, and they are well
versed in community affairs. The Emerald
especially approves of their platform to
build a stronger liaison between the Eu
gene government and the ASUO. As a cur
rent member of the West University Neigh
borhood board of directors, Walsh seems
to have the qualifications needed to build
that city-University bridge. Coy has been
involved in Eugene city politics through in
ternships. The Walsh-Coy platform also
contains tangible benefits, such as increas
ing jobs and internships in the Eugene area
for University students.
This ticket’s lack of knowledge about
the inner-workings of the ASUO could
make it difficult for Walsh and Coy to
swiftly and efficiently work toward their
j platforms, however. Platform ideas such as
systematic changes within the Programs
Finance Committee are interesting, but
they could prove troublesome to imple
ment if the ASUO president and vice presi
dent have only a basic understanding of
how these and other ASUO groups are run.
Programs Finance Committee: Helps
allocate about $5.2 million of student fee
money and participates in vote for an addi
tional $5 million.
Seat 1: One-year term
Miles Rost
Rost recognizes accountability
and spending problems within the ASUO,
and his firm, one-strike stance on breaking
University and state laws sets him above
the competition. We also applaud his
readiness to cut wasteful expenditures.
He’s also got prior budgeting experience.
j j Seat 3: TWo-year term
/jrO Alex Bjorvik
wm We love that Bjorvik is open to
members of the press attending ASUO re
treats. Also, his job qualifications are im
peccable: He has served on a budget com
mittee where he made budgetary cuts, and
he’s got a background in business. We ap
plaud his goal of working closely with stu
dent groups to establish budgets that meet
the PFC benchmark.
Student Senate: Has some control
over more than $10 million in student
incidental fees and is composed of
18 elected students,
j ) Seat 11: TWo-year term
(jZ) Justin Wheeler
Although we’re fairly sure Wheel
er will be a good leader, our endorsement
of his candidacy primarily lies in his lack
of solid competition. We’re not happy that
he has never attended a Senate meeting or
that he has little idea what issues the Sen
ate should be dealing with. However, we
applaud his desire to learn and his partici
pation in leadership training.
&
Seat 13: TWo-year term
Patrick Wurtz
We like that Wurtz is committed
to keeping an open door for student com
ments and concerns. However, Seat 13
could probably go to someone who has
more solid stances on issues and a better
understanding of Senate — Wurtz is lucky
his competition is even more vague than
he is.
K7) Seat 16: TWo-year term
X)j Xjy Toss up: Brian Cappy; Jessica
Nair
Both candidates seem eager to do ...
something... in ASUO, but we’re not sure
if either Cappy or Nair possess the experi
ence or knowledge necessary to edge out
the other.
EMU Board: Allocates a roughly $3.7
million budget and formulates policies and
long-range plans for the EMU; it also plays
a significant role in management of the 55
year-old student union.
At-large: TWo-year term
Slade Leeson
Leeson has the experience to qual
ify him for the job. We applaud his efforts
to keep the student union’s focus on stu
dents, and his past work proves him to be
a hard-working official worthy of this po
sition.
At-large: Midterm
Drew Kincaid
We like the specifics of Kincaid’s
platform, including improvements to bring
the Red Room and The Break to their full
potential. His platform, which includes
better publicity for programs, underscores
hi^ grasp on student issues. His leadership
experience with his fraternity and campus
organizations work to his credit.
Seat 4: One-year term
Bill Hatch
Hatch has more leadership expe
rience than other candidates, and although
he lacks confidence, he makes up for it in
potential and ambition. Giving Hatch a
chance now will help build a better-quali
fied candidate for the future.
Seat 6: TWo-year term
Barett Volkmann
We applaud Volkmann’s platform
of rewarding programs that create their
own funding. With experience serving on
Senate Seat 16, he knows the ins and outs
of the ASUO, and with his call for
transparency in the government, Volk
mann is the right student for this position.
Athletic Department Finance Commit
tee: Bargains with the Athletics Depart
ment to secure student tickets for football
and men’s basketball games and acts on
all matters relating to the allocation and
appropriation of incidental fees for the Ath
letics Department.
v j Seat 7: One-year term
fab Toby Piering
with one year of experience un
der his belt as an appointed member of
the ADFC plus stints as vice chairman
of the Programs Finance Committee
and as an ASUO Executive intern, Pier
ing is the ideal candidate for Seat 7. We
like that he sees the no-show factor for
athletics tickets as a multifaceted prob
lem, values viewpoint neutrality and
seeks to remind leaders they are spend
ing student money.
The Associated Students Presiden
tial Advisory Council: Meets with Uni
versity President Dave Frohnmayer
twice each term to advise him on stu
dent concerns,
j y At-large
( rO Jontae Grace
The Emerald endorses Grace
for the ASPAC at-large position because
he brings up important, concrete points
in his platform summary and also ad
dresses issues of interest for the ASUO
Executive. Grace wants to improve
leader-student communications. His
ideas strike us as feasible.
For candidate interview transcripts
and summaries, visit www.dailyemer
ald.com. Vote in the ASUO primary elec
tions today through Friday on DuckWeb:
https ://duckweb. uoregon. edu/.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Jennifer Sudick Steven R. Neuman
Editor in Chief Managing Editor
Ailee Slater Shadra Beesley
Commentary Editor Copy Chief
Adrienne Nelson
Online Editor