Like drizzle in the Eugene forecast or an almost-great season for the football team, OSPIRG seems ever present at the University of Oregon. But unlike the weather or dreams of the Rose Bowl, students can actually have an impact on OSPIRG’s future.
In his Feb. 20 column (“OSPIRG: A model for citizens”), Eric Pfeiffer regaled Emerald readers with OSPIRG’s quaint history with Ralph Nader. But OSPIRG’s true legacy is in its ability to take student fees and funnel them to a group that lobbies government. For years, it has done a remarkable job of hiding this fundraising model from students and the administration.
Their model is very simple, very effective and reveals that OSPIRG is hardly a student organization. According to the Oregon Department of Justice, there are three OSPIRGs in the state of Oregon. One is the StudentPIRG, whose budget is up for approval in next week’s election. Another is the OSPIRG Foundation, Inc. The third is the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group. They share the same office, phone number, staff and name.
According to paperwork filed with the DOJ, the three OSPIRGs also have similar missions:
StudentPIRG: “To engage in non-partisan analysis, study or research of issues of general public interest and to make results available for the public.”
StatePIRG: “To engage in non-partisan analysis, education and research on such topics of environmental protection and other issues of the general public interest, and to advocate on behalf of consumers and the environment.”
OSPIRG Foundation Inc.: “Promote environmental preservation and consumer rights.”
While their similarities blur the lines of distinction, the three OSPIRGs exploit one salient difference in order to bilk University students out of more than $100,000 each year by organizing themselves under different IRS filing codes. The StudentPIRG may accept public money in the form of student fees, but federal law prohibits it from using public money to lobby. The StudentPIRG simply reports its “non-partisan analysis, study or research.”
But the StatePIRG’s IRS status, while prohibiting it from collecting public money, allows it to lobby government. Both the StatePIRG and the OSPIRG Foundation, Inc. have missions to “advocate” or “promote” environmental and consumer issues.
In a lawsuit brought against the University regarding OSPIRG’s funding, it was discovered that the StudentPIRG pays an inordinate amount of money for a space in the StatePIRG’s office. Both groups also used the same office equipment — even the same stationery — and had the same staff of professional lobbyists and lawyers, all paid for by the StudentPIRG. Student fees subsidized the lobbyists, lawyers and their entire office.
The lines between the various OSPIRGs disappeared during depositions. Kalpana Krishnamurthy, the former chair of the StudentPIRG’s state board, confirmed the group’s lobbying. And while that admission would have seemed to seal StudentPIRG’s fate, the most revealing information came from the deposition of University President Dave Frohnmayer. OSPIRG’s ability to obfuscate its organizational model was so effective that even Frohnmayer did not know there were multiple OSPIRGs in the state of Oregon.
The StudentPIRG has been hiding its fundraising technique for years, to the benefit of the StatePIRG’s lawyers and lobbyists. University students may learn to enjoy Willamette Valley drizzle or the reliability of the fighting Ducks, but they don’t have to tolerate being lied to by OSPIRG.