(full transcript)
Jared Axelrod
President
Age: 19
Major: Political science
Hometown: Seattle
Year: Sophomore
 
Juliana Guzman
Age: 20
Major: Ethnic studies, Spanish
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
Year: Junior
 
Emerald: Briefly summarize your platform.
Axelrod: Well, we have three main parts to our platform: Reclaiming student power, advocating for students and protecting students’ rights.
For some of the issues that we want to focus on within those three main things, first is the sale of Westmoreland.
The University administration basically just went out and sold, or began to sell, Westmoreland without a lot of student input and a lot of faculty input. And people were left out of this important decision. So, first we want to make sure, we want to prevent the sale of Westmoreland. And, if we cannot do that, we will hold the University accountable for making sure that they find additional housing for the displaced families as well as childcare for these families as well. So, we want to make sure that students are involved in these important decision-making processes so future incidents like Westmoreland doesn’t happen.
Guzman: Our next issue would be the Diversity Plan. As you know, the Diversity Plan has been one of the main topics of discussion on campus. The Diversity Plan, as you know, the lack of diversity Jared and I think is a problem. The Diversity Plan, I would say, is a segue to change, right, to make sure that diversity expands in campus – not only in teachers but also as in students.
We want to make sure that not only we hold the administration accountable, but also making sure that we are also advocating for hiring of new teachers and everything. So, making sure that diversity is not only the committee that’s being formed, but that it’s also that students aren’t being represented this because, as with Westmoreland, as with the Conduct Code, students – the lack of student representation – haven’t been there. So making sure that students are represented in the Diversity Plan and the new process’ third phase that is coming up.
Axelrod: And the third is having course evaluations more available to students. At the end of every class, students fill out course evaluations and rate the class and rate the professor, and we want to, you know, after that students don’t see it again. We want to make sure that students can get their course evaluations. By doing that, by creating a student-faculty committee, obviously the students and faculty, with the charge to make course evaluations more accessible and more conducive to preparations for picking classes.
Emerald: What qualifies you for this position?
Axelrod: I think, first, the experience. We definitely have a lot of experience. Myself, I am on the Student Senate and I am also the chair of the Programs Finance Committee. So I definitely have a lot of experience in the financial background of the ASUO and the allocations of the incidental fee, and I know the ins and outs of the ASUO. And I’ve also a lot of legislative and lobbying experience, which will definitely be effective and is needed in the upcoming legislative year.
Guzman: And I, coming from being an internal director for MEChA this year and holding different positions in MEChA, I would bring, I would say, the outside perspective of programs and as a perspective that usually was not heard, I would say.
I think I bring a fresh perspective, a new perspective, to the ASUO. I feel that not only have I been involved in MEChA, but also leg(islative) issues, like, I’ve also been part of USSA, OSAC and many other organizations that I would say I’ve gained tons of experience in which I feel the ASUO needs.
Axelrod: And we feel that by having both these backgrounds, one from within the ASUO and one from outside the ASUO in the programs, we would definitely bring a really balanced and effective leadership to the executive office.
Why do you want this job?
Guzman: I feel that programs, in particular, or the ASUO, has definitely not targeted, in particular, programs.
So, the main reason I want to run is that I want the ASUO programs and all the organizations outside to become one, because whatever happens in the ASUO affects the programs, whatever happens in programs affects the ASUO.
So, I want to make sure that the ASUO is representative of the whole campus, not only certain individuals. I want to make sure that ASUO is not only representing a certain group of people.
Axelrod: Not just the programs, but reaching out to the Greeks, to the law students, to the graduate students and the non-traditional students as well, etc.
And also, we want to make sure that students are involved in the process. There’s nothing worse than being left out or ignored or not being heard in important decisions that affect a lot of students. We want to definitely try to avoid that and make sure that students are on these committees, and make sure that students are taking an active approach in making a positive change on this campus.
Emerald: What should be the role of student government in city, state, federal and international levels of politics?
Axelrod: It should take an active role in these many forms of politics. We live in this society where we’re affected by a lot of different things, and we definitely need to make sure that the students’ voices are being heard on all these different types of levels. So making sure that we’re working with the city to provide housing for students and to provide jobs for students. On the state and federal level, to make sure that students are being registered to vote and that they’re putting in their representatives in office that they want to see. And making sure that - holding those people accountable in their offices.
On the international level, even, kinda the big picture, making sure human rights kinds of things, civil rights, everything like that, it’s really important. And it can start really small. It doesn’t have to start as the United States. It could start as the University of Oregon, it could start as the ASUO, and grow into something that’s really big.
Guzman: And I would say that’s how the movements have started. It starts little and then it gets big, which I think it’s definitely really important for us to get involved, not only as state-wide but also nationally-wide.
Emerald: Critique student government’s handling of the Westmoreland issue. What would you do in their position?
Axelrod: That’s perfect; that’s one of our main issues. Basically, I think this year’s ASUO has focused directly at the Oregon University System. They have been going to the OUS meetings all around the state, trying to lobby there. When they came here and met at the museum, they had a large turnout there, they had a lot of students out there, which was good.
I think it needs more of a grassroots approach, and that’s what you saw us doing in the amphitheater, collecting postcards to send to the OUS. Something small but something effective. We collected about 800 postcards that when they land on Chancellor Pernsteiner, who’s the chancellor of the Oregon University System, when he sees that 800 students care about this issue and want to make sure that student housing is accessible and is available for students, I mean, that’s going to make a definite change. That’s going to make them really think about what’s going on, how students actually feel.
So that’s the kinds of things you can really expect from us, those types of small, but very effective measures to take to win the victories that we want to see.
Guzman: And just to add to that a little bit more, I think that this is not only a demonstration of not only to students, how much power they have as individuals, because I think most of the time, ASUO in itself, students don’t realize how much power we have. And when the sense that we have right now I think is that ‘why should we even vote
?’ I think by doing these things, not only tabling for Westmoreland … this gives students, once again, the ability to feel that the self-empowerment of this postcard is going to go to somebody who’s going to finally listen to what I have to say.
And like Jared said, it might seem simple, it might seem to some people pointless, but these are little things, little segues to get to the main goal.
Emerald: Jared, you said that ‘we’ gathered postcards. You were actively involved in that?
Axelrod: Yes.
Emerald: With Adam and Kyla?
Axelrod: No, that was completely separate from the ASUO. That was something that we did as, basically, students.