The constitutional amendments comprised in this week’s Special Election are historical and positive steps forward for the Associated Students of the University of Oregon. From Wednesday to Thursday, 853 students signed on to DuckWeb to cast their votes in a special election, endorsing a restructuring of budget committees in the ASUO. These long-overdue innovations were possible because of a cooperative coalition of members of the Executive and Senate; it is my hope this spirit of cooperation can continue and I am thankful to all who helped.
The amendments dissolve the Athletic Department Finance Committee and create the Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee as well as a Department Finance Committee. The amendments also result in the creation of two new Student Senate seats and three new elected committee positions. This will allow more students to run for elected office and be involved in the ASUO. In fact, filing is open today as a result of the Special Election passing and I encourage all students to come to the ASUO to file and run in the primaries next Tuesday.
Though the timing of the Special Election has garnered a small amount of criticism, I believe and will continue to assert that the benefits of this restructure outweigh the less-than-ideal timing of the election. Students will be better served by a more intuitive and logical procedure for the allocation of their student fees than the one that has existed for decades.
In the spirit of more efficient servitude of students, I would like to commend all of those who have been willing to endure the ardor of these constitutional changes. Constructive and beneficial change that directly affects students does happen in the ASUO.
Emily McLain
Student Body President