Atkinson: Faith and family cornerstones of senator's personal philosophy
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allow him to drive. He asked Atkin
son to come speak to his class about
how a bill becomes a law. On the
way out of the classroom, Atkinson
remembers saying to Mathews,
“Now you’ve got an A for bringing
the Senator to your class, but if you
really want to change the world,
come see me next year and we’ll
write this bill.”
Mathews, who excelled in high
school sports despite his disability,
said he worked with Atkinson, and a
bill allowing him to drive passed in
the House, but failed in the Senate.
“He got up at 5 a.m. and talked to
everyone that voted against it and
explained it to them,” Mathews
said. The bill passed in a re-vote.
“He made a huge difference in
my life,” Mathews said. “He’s truly
what a public servant should be.”
Atkinson said his philosophy is
based on faith, family and friends.
Both of his parents were involved in
ministry, and he’s been a part of
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
since he was a child. He also serves
on the board of International United
Christian Broadcasters.
“For my own person, it’s a center
core issue,” he said. “It’s who I am.”
According to the American Civil
Liberties Union’s 2005 legislative
report, Atkinson voted in
accordance with the union’s
positions 29
percent of
the time. He
voted against
Senate Bill
756, which
would have
forced health
insurance policies to cover
prescription contraceptives. He also
voted against SB 1000, which would
have created civil unions for
same-sex couples and prohibited
discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation.
In 2005, according to the Ameri
can Federation of Labor-Congress of
Industrial Organization, the labor
“He made a huge difference in
my life. He’s truly what a public
servant should be. ”
Aaron Mathews | University student
union federation supported Atkin
son’s votes on “issues
important to working families in
Oregon” about 47 percent of the
time. While Atkinson voted in favor
of bills that would have created jobs
through natural resource restoration
and railroad, airport and other
non-highway improvement projects,
he also voted in favor of a bill giving
inikc, Colum
bia Sports
wear,
Tektronics
and ESI a 30
year exemp
tion from an
nexation and
taxation oy tne uity ot Beaverton,
according to the AFL-CIO.
Atkinson said he is “crazy-pas
sionate” about higher education.
“In 1999, I was the guy that
worked so hard on the entrepre
neurial model” to ensure students’
tuition dollars stay within the
school they’re attending, he said.
“Before that time, your tuition
would go into a state system and
the University of Oregon wouldn’t
get all of your tuition dollars. It
made colleges compete.”
He said there are four things he
wants to do for the Oregon Universi
ty System as governor: advocate
“tirelessly” to make sure that stu
dents who are trying to put them
selves through college like he did
can afford to do it, “take the politics
out of the higher-ed board,” ensure
that Oregon invests in research, and
be the “only candidate, Republican
or Democrat, that will work day and
night to make sure that if you gradu
ate from a college in Oregon, you’ve
got a job.”
A significant difference exists be
tween his campaign and those of
his competitors, he said. He said he
wants to make public service a no
ble thing to do again.
“Right now it’s more scandal
than anything,” which is why he’s
running a campaign “based on peo
ple,” he said.
Atkinson said people think politi
cians are involved in politics to
stroke their egos or to take part in
mean-spirited politics, not living up
to their promises.
When he represented District 51,
Secretary of State Bill Bradbury re
drew the district line around Atkin
son’s house so that he would have
to move to stay in the Oregon Sen
ate, Atkinson said.
“I was the guy that the secretary
of state threw out of his house to
discourage me from being in poli
tics,” he said.
Bradbury’s spokeswoman Anne
Martens said the allegations are
“nonsense,” and “We’ve never
wanted anyone out of politics.”
Atkinson said he thinks one of
the biggest problems in Oregon to
day is that funding increases for var
ious programs, but the money never
gets to the levels in a place it’s sup
posed to. That happened with the
Oregon Health Plan, he said.
esmith@ daily emerald, com
IN BRIEF
Google donates $350,000
for open source technology
SALEM — Search engine giant
Google is contributing $350,000 to
create a joint program by two Ore
gon universities to develop more
open source — freely shared —
computer technology, Gov. Ted Ku
longoski announced Ibesday.
The grant will create an open
source technology program,
operated by OSU and Portland State
University, in early 2006. Both
schools have open source experts
on their faculties.
The venture “is a critical piece of our
plan for growing the open source in
dustry,” Kulongoski said at a news
conference.
He said the schools already are do
ing major work in the field and that
OSU has developed a “world-class
open source lab.”
The Linux operating system and
Mozilla web browser are examples of
open source technology that are not
privately owned or licensed and are
free for downloading.
The open source process gives users
the right to copy, modify and redistrib
ute software. Backers say that allows
people to modify and improve the
technology, sometimes at a faster pace
than in the conventional commercial
development process.
— The Associated Press
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