The Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group, OSPIRG, de-funded last year by the ASUO, has been promoting a progressive agenda for years on our campus. However, a lack of transparency and accountability doomed its overall mission. It should come as no surprise that the futile, de-funded organization was recently removed from its office in the EMU. The students of the University provided nearly $120,000 to this organization each fiscal year, so what return did we see on our money?
Here are the hidden failures they don’t want you to know about: One campaign sought to convince professors to utilize open-source text books, which are free or low-cost to students. One professor signed onto the program. A major voter registration drive was conducted on campus before the election last November. Voter registration pamphlets are free, and many other organizations fulfill the same role using solely volunteers. A renter’s handbook was published to inform tenants of their rights. University Housing already publishes a much longer, much more in-depth version of the same publication.
Last week, OSPIRG was removed from its long-time office in the EMU. Is this an agenda item of the vast right-wing conspiracy in our midst, or is it a sign from the ASUO that OSPIRG is no longer needed on campus? OSPIRG duplicated actions of other student groups on campus, and took our incidental fee money and moved it off campus, away from the very students it was meant to serve.
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