ASUO elections are buzzing and you’ve probably already had to run away from people wearing neon shirts and waving fliers as you find your way to class.
This week, we have the opportunity to shake this campus with a wave of progressive, inclusive, sustainable change. Your vote on DuckWeb could be one of dozens of that swing
the outcome.
As a student leader and activist, I strongly encourage you to vote “yes” for the ASUO to restore UO funding for the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group and to select Amelie and Maneesh for executive and, or the Campus Change Coalition slate.
Funding OSPIRG staff enables advocacy on student-chosen issues and empowers UO students to engage in activism on issues they care about. Without OSPIRG staff, student-led campaigns for political and corporate accountability would be much less effective.
OSPIRG student activists and staff have achieved great victories for students and Oregonians. For example, this past June, they led a coalition of organizations to pass state health care reform to cut wasteful insurance company spending and establish a state watch-dog organization over rate increases. The governor appointed OSPIRG’s Oregon health care advocate Laura Etherton as advisor to a state board to investigate spiraling expenses. The state ended up adopting her influential set of cost-cutting recommendations almost in full. Over the next 10 years, these reforms are expected to save Oregonians $12 billion, approximately $31,600 for each UO student with insurance.
Personally, I’ve also experienced tremendous OSPIRG support for student initiatives. This fall, OSPIRG national and local staff and volunteers put tremendous energy behind the PowerShift conference. I helped plan at UO to train more than 500 students to take leadership on climate change solutions. I was blown away to see how the PIRGs used their national staff to recruit hundreds of attendees throughout the West and even sent the National PIRG Global Warming Solutions Coordinator for three weeks from D.C. to plan transportation, schedule speakers, and fundraise $4,000.
If that’s not enough, after the earthquake in Haiti, OSPIRG’s UO chapter responded right away to help me and other students organize.
Just as paid staff members at the Women’s Center and Multicultural Center provide full-time support for student programming, OSPIRG’s campus organizers are there to work with and for us on our progressive initiatives. It’s ludicrous that the ASUO zero-funded OSPIRG next year. Together, our votes can change that.
Amelie and Maneesh, running for ASUO President and Vice President, stand out to me because they prioritize sustainability issues and support student-led action. As ASUO events coordinator, Amelie led a team to organize the first ever ASUO Farmers Market, featuring local organic produce. Maneesh was team coordinator on the Climate Justice League’s bottled water campaign, helped organize PowerShift West, and is a member of the Cascade Climate Network and OSPIRG.
I also recommend the Campus Change Coalition slate because it is devoted to making all voices on campus heard. An alliance among student union and environmental leaders, 3C values building a stronger community to make all students feel valued and involved, increasing safety so that all students feel secure and have safe transportation home available, and ensuring that the University lives up to its reputation of being at the forefront of the sustainability movement.
Please vote today and help shape the U of O into the more progressive, inclusive and environmentally sound campus community we want to see.
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