Click here to visit the Emerald’s Campus Elections Homepage. Listen to candidate interviews and watch election video.
The ASUO President is the chief executive officer of the ASUO. The president is the official representative for University students and is responsible for the administration of the more than 150 ASUO programs. A staff of approximately 15 people works for the president and vice president. ASUO presidents make appointments to student-faculty committees and ASUO student committees. They also make recommendations for the following year’s incidental fee allocation and hold veto power over all incidental fee budget allocations. The executive office makes recommendations for the budgets of every program funded by the Programs Finance Committee.
The ASUO vice president serves as an “ex-officio” member of the Student Senate and serves as the tie-breaking vote, if necessary.
—-
Emily Mclain
Age: 21
Desired position: President
Major: Political science and
international studies
Hometown: Forest Grove, Ore.
Year in school: Senior
Criminal charges: None
Chii-San Sunowen
Age: 19
Desired position: Vice President
Major: Ethnic studies, political
science and Chinese
Hometown: Albany, Ore.
Year in school: Sophomore
Criminal charges: None
Platform summary: McLain said their platform is working on access to education, improving quality of life on campus and enhancing academic quality. McLain and SunOwen will work on maintaining services provided by the rec center and continuing to fund it. They will push the health center to change the way it bills insurance, SunOwen said. She said they will also work to maintain Lane Transit District bus pass service for students. They will continue to lobby the state for higher education issues. McLain and SunOwen are also concerned with improving disability services, increasing access to course evaluations and course syllabi and departmentalizing under-funded programs. SunOwen said they would like evaluations and syllabi to be available at the time of registration so students know what they are getting into. McLain said they are also interested in environmental sustainability.
Qualifications: McLain is currently the ASUO State Affairs Coordinator and SunOwen serves in a Programs Finance Committee Student Senate seat. McLain said they have both had the time to get to know how the ASUO works and also to see the problems with it. They have both been involved with programs and have held leadership positions.
Reasons for applying: McLain said she wants to increase conversation between the various parts of the ASUO. She wants to continue her work with the Oregon Student Association. SunOwen said she wants to make sure students’ voices are heard and that the ASUO is hearing everyone. They both want to focus on long-term problem solving.
Role of student government in local, state and federal politics: McLain said she and SunOwen both have backgrounds in running campaigns and rallying around student issues. She said they can have a direct effect on local and state issues.
SunOwen said students have just as much power at the federal level, but that the ASUO should not be focusing on international issues.
What are your thoughts on the size of the incidental fee and the 2.5 percent benchmark set for this year’s PFC process?
McLain said the benchmark set this year was “unacceptable and hurt student groups.”
—-
Jonathan Rosenberg
Age: 21
Desired position: President
Major: Music and political science
Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Year in school: Junior
Criminal charges: None
Avital Ostfield
Age: 19
Desired position: Vice President
Major: Psychology
Hometown: St. Louis Park, Minn.
Year in school: Freshman
Criminal charges: None
Platform summary: Rosenberg and Ostfield’s platform focuses on cutting costs, expanding services and building community. They want to lower the price of used textbooks and implement a book exchange program through the ASUO. Rosenberg said he found a ballot measure that would create such a program had overwhelming support from students. Rosenberg is also interested in PFC reform. They want to expand services such as health care and the Career Center and create an “academic bill of rights” for students. Ostfield said they are looking to give money back to students instead of leaving it sitting in “government bank accounts.” They also want to expand access to health center services such as vaccinations. Ostfield said her “baby” is the idea of creating a peer mentor program that would allow student volunteers to mentor new students.
Qualifications: Rosenberg serves on the Student Senate and is the vice president of Senate. He has also served in leadership positions within student programs. Ostfield said she loves working with people and has always been really active because it is important to her to know issues and try to solve problems.
Reasons for applying: Rosenberg said he loves this school and loves the work he has been able to do on the Senate. He wants to be able to make bigger changes. Ostfield said she thinks she could help students and has a “younger perspective” on campus.
Role of student government in local, state and federal politics: The ASUO should work on issues that affect students, Rosenberg said. He said that there are times when international issues do affect students and also times when there is a moral need to address an issue. He said campuses can influence local politicians, who can affect federal politicians, who then affect international politics. Ostfield said the city and state are the most important levels for ASUO involvement.
What are your thoughts on the size of the incidental fee and the 2.5 percent benchmark set for this year’s PFC process?
Rosenberg said the incidental fee needs to be controlled at some point. He said there is a need for viewpoint neutrality and that programs can not be measured on content. The 2.5 percent benchmark was “wishful thinking,” Rosenberg said, but didn’t really affect the process in a tangible way.
Note: Rosenberg and Ostfield were
interviewed separately.
—-
Ari Lesser
Age: 20
Desired position: President
Major: Political science
Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Year in school: Junior
Criminal charges: He said
he had a Minor in Possession
Phil Wood
Age: 20
Desired position: Vice President
Major: Political science
Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Year in school: Junior
Criminal charges: Wood said he had an MIP his freshman year but said it is no longer on his record.
Platform summary: Lesser and Wood are focusing on sustainability and want to make the University a more environmentally friendly place. They support purchasing biodiesel vans for campus recycling and using renewable energy sources.
Qualifications: They said they are both well-educated and love Oregon and the University. Wood said he has met some of the best people he knows while at the University.
Reasons for applying: Lesser said he wants to give back to the University, which is one of his favorite places in the world.
Role of student government in local, state and federal politics: Students could be a powerful lobbying force if they tried, Lesser said. He said students have the power to make change at all levels. Wood said they will focus on giving back to the city of Eugene.
Your thoughts on the size of the incidental fee and the 2.5 percent benchmark set for this year’s PFC process?
Lesser: The huge surplus is proof that the fee is higher than necessary.
Wood: We think the incidental fee can be reduced with better balancing of budgets. The benchmark hurts some groups more than others.
—-
Richard Nile
Age: 20
Desired position: President
Major: Undeclared
Homet
own: Eugene, Ore.
Year in school: Junior
Criminal charges: None
Platform summary: Nile wants to encourage students to participate in government. He believes this is the way to reverse the trend of rising costs for higher education and decreasing state support. Nile also wants to encourage participation in student government to ensure he is accurately representing students.
Qualifications: Nile admits he is an outsider to student government. He is not in a club or a current Senator and thinks he may not be as connected as other candidates, but believes his people skills will help him reach out to students and encourage them to get involved.
Reasons for applying: Nile decided to run when he and his friends realized they didn’t know who the ASUO President was, and for the most part, did not know what the ASUO does outside of what has been reported in the Emerald. One of his goals as president would be for people to know who he is and where his office is located.
Role of student government in local, state and federal politics: Eugene is not necessarily a college town, Nile says. He thinks that there are ways the University and the city of Eugene can be tied together. Because the city relies on the University, he would like to see a stronger bond between the two. Nile also thinks the state is not paying as much for education as it should be.
Your thoughts on the size of the incidental fee and the 2.5 percent benchmark set for this year’s PFC process?
Nile believes the University is not doing its part. The fee supports a lot of important activities, Nile said, but he wants to know if the University could be providing more money. Nile said the fee shouldn’t be completely the responsibility of students.
—-
Ty Schwoeffermann
Age: 22
Desired position: President
Major: Ethnic studies
Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Year in school: Senior
Criminal charges: None
Paul Kammerzelt
Age: 20
Desired position: Vice President
Major: Kammerzelt has applied to the Family and Human Services Program
Hometown: Eugene, Ore.
Year in school: Junior
Criminal charges: None
Platform summary: Schwoeffermann will focus on holding the diversity plan accountable every year and will push for it to be stronger. He will push for the University to save energy through things such as switching to fluorescent light bulbs and using recycled printer paper, as well as working to get fair trade coffee in all the coffee shops on campus. Schwoeffermann said he will also lobby the legislature for a better higher education budget and refund students’ incidental fee money when there is a surplus. He also said he is concerned with the “no-show factor” at athletic events and would like to expand diversity in services such as freshman interest groups and research fellowships for undergraduate students. He would also like to find a way to show what athletes achieve academically when marketing athletics.
Qualifications: Schwoeffermann said his passion qualifies him for the job. He said he has faith in the ability of the student government to make the University a better place and has been an “outspoken voice” on several issues.
Reasons for applying: Schwoeffermann said that above all, he wants to serve students.
Role of student government in local, state and federal politics: Schwoeffermann said the ASUO is on the “micro level” of politics but that everything that is done affects the “macro level,” because the things done at the lowest levels set an example for change at bigger levels.
Your thoughts on the size of the incidental fee and the 2.5 percent benchmark set for this year’s PFC process?
Schwoeffermann said he wonders why there is a huge surplus and a huge cutback in the same year. He said the benchmark could have been higher if the surplus money were used to fund programs.
Note: Kammerzelt and Schwoeffermann were interviewed separately.
—-
Ted Niedermeyer
Age: 24
Desired position: President
Major: Political science
Hometown: Santa Monica, Calif.
Year in school: Senior (5th year)
Criminal charges: None
Platform summary: Niedermeyer said the ASUO is locked in an epic struggle to overcome the threat that “douchebags” pose to the ASUO. He said this can be seen in collective decisions as well as the actions of individual senators.
Qualifications: As editor-in-chief of the Oregon Commentator, Niedermeyer has been exposed to the ASUO and the “threat” to the campus.
Reasons for applying: Niedermeyer said if he is elected, he wants to take the fight to the “douchebags” and set up “war crimes” tribunals to punish them. He is not opposed to torturing the douchebags.
Role of student government in local, state and federal politics: Niedermeyer said the threat of “douchebags” is global and the ASUO should start the fight on campus by setting an example for the rest of the world. “You’re with us or you’re with the douchebags,” he said.
Your thoughts on the size of the incidental fee and the 2.5 percent benchmark set for this year’s PFC process?
Niedermeyer said the benchmark was a good thing for fiscal responsibility but does not think the voters care. He said students should care, but don’t.
—-
Sara Hamilton
Age: 21
Desired position: President
Major: Music and philosophy
Hometown: Klamath Falls, Ore.
Year in school: Senior
Criminal charges: None
Athan Papailiou
Age: 20
Desired position: Vice President
Major: Biology
Hometown: Lake Oswego, Ore.
Year in school: Junior
Criminal charges: None
Platform summary: Hamilton said the two will focus on several issues, including an electronic ticketing system. They want to work on implementing the “EMU master plan,” which has been in the works for four years but remains unfunded. This includes millions of dollars in deferred maintenance, Hamilton said. She said this is the only student building and it is unacceptable that there are still leaky roofs. Papailiou said he and Hamilton will create a ballot measure in 2008 to address the EMU’s problems. They would like to make the EMU more energy efficient and add more retail and office space. Hamilton said they will work on Programs Finance Committee reform, including separating contracts and departments from the PFC process. She said they will look for long-term solutions to funding problems.
Qualifications: Hamilton is the current president of the Student Senate. She has worked as an intern in Salem and has been on the EMU Board. Papailiou is a member of the Student Senate (he took office in February of 2006). He is the Chairman of the academic half of the Senate and serves on the University of Oregon Bookstore Board of Directors.
Reasons for applying: Hamilton said they have identified problems within the ASUO that they would like to solve. She said there are complex issues that will not go away until someone fixes them. Papailiou said they will end “business as usual” politics in the ASUO. He said people who have experience in the ASUO have a better chance of fixing things. Hamilton said she and Papailiou both understand what students are going through and know what it takes to be a good leader. Papailiou said he and Hamilton both really enjoy working in the ASUO.
Role of student government in local, state and federal politics: Papailiou said the ASUO should not let focus on international issues overtake campus issues. Hamilton said student government exists in a larger picture of politics and can carry weight on other levels.
Your thoughts on the size of the incidental fee and the 2.5 percent benchmark set for this year’s PFC process?
Papailiou said they can’t characterize whether they agree with the benchmark because the process is very complicated. He said to do so would be misguided. Hamilton said that historically, the incidental fee has gone up when there are cuts to state funding. She said students got together and said they would fund things cut by the a
dministration.