Rudy Soto is the student body president at Portland State University. And he has some explaining to do.
At a meeting of the Oregon Student Association last month, Soto proposed the creation of a committee to oversee the OSA’s student board. This proposed committee, which would be referred to as a general assembly, would determine how much money each school contributes yearly to the OSA. It would also recommend issues to bring to the state legislature, and elect board members. Until such a committee is established, Soto says, PSU will put its $100,000 in yearly funds for the OSA into a reserve account.
Soto’s tactics are deplorable. Holding the organization hostage is a counterproductive way to raise discussion of an issue, and doing so decreases OSA’s ability to fulfill its purpose.
Since 1975, the OSA has lobbied on behalf of Oregon students for more affordable tuition and increased financial aid and recruitment packages. It is made up of Oregon’s seven predominant public schools, as well as Lane and Mount Hood community colleges, and is represented by the school’s student president and an adviser of the president’s choice.
Under Soto’s committee proposal, the general assembly would consist of one voting member per 2,500 full-time students at that school. By those numbers, Oregon State University would have seven members representing the assembly. The University of Oregon would have six, PSU would have five, and the other six schools would have one each.
While such a move would give this University more representation in the OSA, the overall impact of this realignment would negate these advantages by proportionally decreasing representation at other schools, leaving just three schools with an overwhelming majority. The proposal would especially disadvantage community colleges, which have proportionately fewer full time students. The OSA was established to ensure that the interests of college students across Oregon were represented in policy decisions at the state level. In the last year alone, OSA has shown that it works well the way it is, playing a role in passing 14 major bills related to higher education. Soto’s proposal is merely a power hungry attempt to fix something that shows no signs of being broken.
By withholding money from the OSA, Soto is putting his university up against a wave of criticism. In the weeks to come, representatives from each of the association’s other eight schools will be watching for him to rescind what is being perceived as a six-digit ultimatum. If he refuses to do so, we hope the OSA Board will do what will best serve all of Oregon’s post-secondary students and fail to pass Soto’s proposal.